Oldgoat03

Sure a lot of negative experiences reported here with the FA Vibraprime!?! I had trouble with mine when it first arrived and eventually called FA. I told them I was pretty sure the problem was poor molding on the tray as primers were hanging up in the hole to the drop tube. They agreed and not only sent me a new tray as promised but a brand new complete kit! The new one works great - out of the box. I even managed to clean up the hole on the original and works too. For the money they are a great deal and save a lot of time over the pick up tubes. By the way I load small and large primers with good result.

There shouldn't be enough difference in case length to be an issue. Just adjust the flare to the shortest case and you should be good to go. I do not use a roll crimp on plated bullets without a crimp groove. I just remove the flare and press against the bench to test / esnure proper neck tension to avoid setback.

Sean I can comiserate. I load 38sp (and other relatively tall cases) on my 550 and SDB and agree it is not easy to visually inspect charges. I have in line fabrication lights on both presses and if you lean over and get close you can see the charge. Its not easy but I visually inspect them all prior to placing the bullet. You can do it but I share your wish for an easier way. OG03

Are these new primers or spent? Need more info.

I have both a Inline Fab and a Dillon strong mount for my two presses. They both are great products. I got the inline first because they had the bullet & brass bins and brakets for a discounted price with the strong mount. You really won't be disappointed if you get them. I reload on a bar stool or standing. Bob

I use the Lee Pro Auto DIsc powder measure and the Lee Adjustable charge bar on my 4 hole classic turret and they work great. This combi throws very consistent chanrges using HP38/W231, WST, Bullseye and HS6. As mentioned the adujustable charge bar does not throw consistent small charges below 3.8 grains. IN my experience 4.0gr and up it works very well +/- .1 gr always. Lee Pro Auto disc powder meausre http://www.midwayusa.com/product/348753/lee-pro-auto-disk-powder-measure Lee Adjustable charge bar http://www.midwayusa.com/product/150005/lee-auto-disk-adjustable-powder-charge-bar?cm_vc=sugv1150005

I have a Lee 4 hole turret, SDB and a 550. I use and enjoy them all but the one I continually go back to for loading pistol is the SDB. It is smooth plenty fast for my pistol loading needs (in many calibers) and the price is hard to beat. I load rifle and other low volume stuff on my Turret or 550. In terms of bench space I share that issue. My solution was to put threaded inserts into the bench for my machines. Then its just a matter of unbolting one and bolting down the other. (quick and easy) You really can't go wrong with Dillon. I hope this helps. OG03

I agree it is very easy to change calibers on an SDB. With tool heads you can change calibers in 4-5 minutes (incl tool head, dies, powder funnel and shell plate and locator buttons). If changing primer sizes it adds another couple minutes. No big deal. As mentioned "even I can do it".

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions.....all good and expected. I think Plan B will work best for me so expect I will be contacting Brian again soon. Thanks again Bob

We recently built a weekend place accross the mountains about 2hrs from main our home. I shoot mostly at our new place since it is on a large piece of property. I love to reload and have 2 SDB's with tool heads set up for all pistol calibers I load. I also have a Lee breech lock single stage and a Lee Classic 4 hole Turret set up for all calibers too. I use the turret and SS to work up new loads and rifle. I am planning to put the SS at one and Turret at the new place so can load rile etc. Obviously will leave one SDB set up at main home. So here are the choices I considering: Plan A = set up second SDB at new place. But then I'd be hauling toolheads back and forth (not huge deal but not convenient either). (Guess I could get a 2nd toolhead/die conv for main calibers for the new place) Plan B = Thinking about selling one SDB set up for 44Mag/Spl conversion (which I rarely shoot) and buying a 550B and then just accumulate toolheads/powder dies for all the calibers. After selling the SDB the net cost for a 550 wouldn't be too much. Of course then I'd need a couple extra tool heads (with dies for the main 3 calibers) .40, 9mm, 45ACP. Another benefit is I could load rifle on the 550 as well. I have a few powder measures so no issue there. I guess I'm asking for a sanity check from you guys. What would you do? Thanks in advance for you thoughts. OG03

First let me say how much I really like my SDB. It has loaded many rounds flawlessly for me. (until recently) Problem: (Primer cup binding against bottom of shell at end of rotation) When shellplate rotates the primer cup seems to come up a bit early catching the underside of the shell plate just ahead of the primer hole. This causes the primer cup to snap as it pops up through shellplate at the end of the rotation flipping primers about 40% of the time now. Attempted remedies: (so far) I have taken the shell plate and primer assy off and cleaned. I also loosened the primer punch retaining screw and reseated back down and retightened. This worked before but has not remedied this time. Thanks in advance for your help on my SBD. OG03

I have had similar experience on my SDB with mixed brass. Some pistol brass is softer/thinner (FCC, Blazer, Speer & others) and will seat deeper with the same pressure than with thicker cases. If I presort by headstamp, test a few for length and run in batches of like brass the coal varience becomes a non issue. Be careful to test/push a seated/crimped round against your bench to see if you can push the bullet into the case. If you can then setback could be a concern. OG03

The SDB is a great press for the money. I have 2 of them (& a 550), they work great and I have only good things to say about them. As mentioned they are a bit small for large hands but I manage just fine. The SDB is a machine and they all require occasional maintenance and cleaning (including the priming system). It almost sounds like you are getting the SDB to avoid tinkering with your 550 priming system. If that is the case I'd rethink it. The 550 priming sys isn't hard to work on either. The SDB is easy to use. Caliber and primer changes take just minutes with extra toolheads etc (like the 550) and the big difference is the SDB is progressive. If you want a progressive to crank out lots of 9mm for a reasonable price the SDB will do that very well. OG03

Good experience with SDB's: I load pistol (380, 38/357, 9, 40, 44, 45, 45ACP) on my SDB and it does a fine job for me. Simple to run, change calibers and maintain. The only negative for me is I find it difficult to see in the taller cases (38/357, 44, 45C) for visual inspection due to small size. Since I don't shoot large numbers of these I have gone back to loading those on my Lee turret. I originally bought a 2nd SBD to run one large and one small primer setups. I found caliber and primer changes to so easy and quick I ended up just buying a 2nd complete primer assy (lg & Small) and just swap them out in about 2 min's. Now my 2nd SDB just collects dust until I sell it. Recommendation: In spite of my good experience with an SDB if I already had a 550B I would just get a quick change toolhead and swap them. I have used my buddies 550 and caliber/primer swaps take minutes. It'll save you a lot of money that can be spent on components or new guns. Just my two cents ... hope it helps. OG03

I tool have an older SDB that gave me a few priming problems. From that experience I recommend taking the priming assy apart and carelfully cleaing it as well as the area the primer system attaches/slides. In addition to adjusting the primer feed adjusting and set screws (13961a and 13961b) mentioned above I would also recommend inspecting the primer punch 13757 small or 13967 lg to ensure it is completely seated in the slide, straight and the set screw tight. Also check verticle dimension from bottom of slide to topof the primer cup to ensure it is within spec 1.410" +/- .003". Any mis-alignment can cause primer feed issues. I discovered on mine that the primer punch stem was slightly loose and slanted. Once corrected it has worked great since. PN's and primer spec's from Dillon SDB manual see link below. http://www.dillonhelp.com/manuals/english/Dillon-Square-Deal-B-Manual-May-2007.pdf Good luck and hope this helps. OG03