crimp die for SDB

[sdm74]

Thinking of getting my first reloader and have been told to get the lee factory crimp for 9mm.

is this possible with the SDB?

Thanks

Steve

[The_Vigilante]

Sorry, you're out of luck. SDB uses only Dillon proprietary dies.

[G-ManBart]

Thinking of getting my first reloader and have been told to get the lee factory crimp for 9mm.

is this possible with the SDB?

Thanks

Steve

No, it's not possible.

It's also absolutely not necessary...9mm loads fine with SDB dies...even cases that have been shot in Glocks, and other guns with more generous chambers. R,

[sdm74]

Is there a dillon crimp die for tthe SDB? And is it worth it? I will only be loading 9mm so I figure id start with SDB

[caz41]

Is there a dillon crimp die for tthe SDB? And is it worth it? I will only be loading 9mm so I figure id start with SDB

The SDB comes with all dies needed for whichever caliber you get it in. If you only need it to load 9mm, then buy one in 9mm and you are good to go. Get a loading manual, do some research on powder, bullets, etc and get to work playing with it!

[Sarge]

Thinking of getting my first reloader and have been told to get the lee factory crimp for 9mm.

is this possible with the SDB?

Thanks

Steve

Look into the 550B For just a little more money you can get quite a bit more flexibility as far as dies go.

Just a thought.

[sdm74]

The only other question was, is it more difficult operating because of the smaller size. watching the videos it seems much smaller then the 550. Has anyone used both? Is it more of a problem with inserting brass and bullets on the smaller machine? Seems the 550 is a smoother operation

[jfrey]

I've used both the SDB and 550. I own 2 SDB's and there is no trouble loading brass or bullets. The SDB is a great machine and works really well on 9mm and .45 ACP. The dies resize ammo correctly regardless of what size chamber you are shooting them in. I haven't had any problems at all in that area. Just keep it lubed and clean like any other machine and it will serve you well for many years. The SDB is probably the best kept secret in the Dillon line. There is always someone suggesting you go to the 550 but for 9mm there is absolutely no reason and with the auto indexing you cut down on the chances of double charging cases. The 550 is a manual index machine. Personally, of I were of a mind to upgrade my machine I would go to the 650 and skip the 550 all together.

[sdm74]

is the fourth station used on a 550 when you first purchase it? is that where you would put the LEE FCD? what about the sdb, are all 4 stations used?..thanks in a real noob to reloading

[G-ManBart]

The fourth station is used on both 550 and SDB as the crimp station. I've had an SDB since 1991, have used a 550, 650, and not long ago bought a 1050. I still load 9mm on the SDB...I can load 100 rounds in 9:30 without rushing and haven't had any need for special dies. Many people feel the Lee FCD causes as many problems as it "solves", some think it only hides any problems you have in your process, and others absolute love them. I've never had any problem putting cases or bullets in place on an SDB...I'd suspect it would take some really meaty hands to have issues there, but it is quite a bit smaller than a 550. There are tons of threads on both SDB Vs 550, and on the FCD...do a couple of searches in the reloading area, and you'll find more than you can read. R,

[noylj]

Any time someone appears to be "swallowing the blue Kool-Aid" without all the facts, I simply must jump in a say:

Look at the Hornady L-N-L progressive. It is a great 5-station press. I prefer it over the 550b and 650 I used. I don't really care for the Square Deal B as it uses proprietary dies, has only 4 stations, and, I have heard, is not used friendly to change calibers.

None of the Dillons are as easy to switch calibers, or as inexpensive, as the Hornady.

Any of these presses are, to me, a major investment and you really need to be sure that you are getting what you need.

Also, the only reason for a progressive is because you are shooting a lot of rounds every week or month. Otherwise, get a single stage or a turret.

Go to the various press manufacturer's web sites and download and read the manuals. Watch any help videos they have. Go to YouTube and be sure that the press you want to buy is the press for you (and not the press your buddy thinks is the best thing since sliced bread because others told him it was to "best" without reference to the rest of the market.

Read the stickys or whatever about starting to reload and what you really need, versus what some people feel you should buy to make them feel that their decision actually made sense.

Then, after you get your reloading equipment, you can join the "my brass is shinier than your brass" group.

[sdm74]

Any time someone appears to be "swallowing the blue Kool-Aid" without all the facts, I simply must jump in a say:

Look at the Hornady L-N-L progressive. It is a great 5-station press. I prefer it over the 550b and 650 I used. I don't really care for the Square Deal B as it uses proprietary dies, has only 4 stations, and, I have heard, is not used friendly to change calibers.

None of the Dillons are as easy to switch calibers, or as inexpensive, as the Hornady.

Any of these presses are, to me, a major investment and you really need to be sure that you are getting what you need.

Also, the only reason for a progressive is because you are shooting a lot of rounds every week or month. Otherwise, get a single stage or a turret.

Go to the various press manufacturer's web sites and download and read the manuals. Watch any help videos they have. Go to YouTube and be sure that the press you want to buy is the press for you (and not the press your buddy thinks is the best thing since sliced bread because others told him it was to "best" without reference to the rest of the market.

Read the stickys or whatever about starting to reload and what you really need, versus what some people feel you should buy to make them feel that their decision actually made sense.

Then, after you get your reloading equipment, you can join the "my brass is shinier than your brass" group.

i just came across them and for the same price as a 550. and right now {till tomm.12/31} 500 free bullets so actually its the price of a SDB. how long hasve you had yours?

[noylj]

I had one of the first Hornady progressives (Pro-7??) from sometime in late '70s to early '80s. It was the first affordable 5-station press. Dillon had their 450 (I think) 4-station press that they only sold direct, so it was relatively inexpensive since you were buying wholesale. First time I saw the Hornady press in a magazine, I simply wondered why a press that "simple" hadn't been out for years.

Never had any problems with my Hornady and I was able to upgrade my press as different models came out for a reasonable price. Biggest problem I had was breaking a pawl and replacing it.

Even had all my shellplates re-worked for about $10/shellplate for the model before the L-N-L.

The L-N-L was such a different press, in terms of the bushings and the primer system, that I couldn't upgrade to it. So, I sold my press and bought a L-N-L. It came with 1000 180g JHP bullets for .40/10mm.

I know that my decisions are almost always based on different criteria than others have, but I just think that anyone making a significant purchase should take advantage of what the 'net has to offer to be sure that they are getting the press that will fit them the best.

I NEVER needed a case feeder on the Hornady. Placing cases into station 1, flipping out the loaded round at station 5 while inspecting the charge in the case at station 4 before placing the bullet on the case was always easy. Until the E-Z-ject system, I never could get the Hornady case ejection system to work reliably. Also, never found any need to worry about it as, see above, flipping off the round while going to place a bullet on the charged case was automatic.

At the beginning, there were no die sets expressly made for progressive presses, except for the proprietary dies used in the Star and others.

A typical handgun die set had a steel sizing die, a steel expander die that included the depriming pin, and the seating/crimp die.

I had to buy special sizing dies that included the decapping pin and separate crimping dies from the bullet seating dies. There were no case-activated powder-through expanding dies so you had to manually cycle the powder measure. Presses that did not place the seating station under the operator's eye had lots of squibs (another reason I so liked the Hornady).

I currently have 3 Dillon presses and they are NOT blue. They are fantastic, but they need a case feeder. Case feeders have their own problems and I wish the 1050s were laid out sort of like the Hornady so a case feeder would NOT be a virtual requirement.

My own personal recommendation to a beginner/newbee is to buy the Little Lee single-stage press (~$27, or ~$35 with the Lee book) and learn reloading on it. It will only take you a week to a month at the most to learn what you need and then you can think about a "real" press. That little Lee press will always be a back-up and can do small jobs (depriming fired cases before cleaning, working a bulge-buster, or sizing cast bullets with the Lee kit). Get the Lee Perfect powder measure and a good scale (either a decent beam for ~$70 or an electronic for about ~$120. You can start by simply wiping the fired cases clean on the outside, use you gun's barrel as a case gage, hand prime with a Lee or RCBS auto-prime, and weigh your charges or use the Lee dippers for powder measuring. There is really not anything else you have to have. When you have worked out the kinks and fired a couple hundred rounds, you will have a good idea about all the steps and understand what equipment you want to make the job easier or faster.

Lots of people want to know "exactly" what each powder charge is, so they use a dipper to get close the the right weight and then use a "powder trickler" to get the "correct" weight. Others are perfectly happy knowing that they can get consistent charges using the dipper and, by never trying for max loads, will load everything with just a dipper. You, if you are like most people, will want a press with a powder-through expander that automatically dispenses the powder. For this, if you get the Hornady it comes with the L-N-L powder measure that is excellent. However, there are a lot of people who can't get the powder-through expanders (PTXs) to work right. I never had any problem and wonder if Hornady changed the design and shot themselves in the foot. Despite the Hornady measure being so good, I always had a Dillon powder measure (with the appropriate "powder funnels"--their term for the powder-through expander) and at least one Lee Pro Auto-Disk measure. I found that there were days when any one of the measures would simply not dispense repeatable loads and I would switch to another. Also, the Lee is an easy measure to switch over quickly when developing loads (I never could get the Lee adjustable charge bar to work, however).

People complicate a simple activity such as reloading, but at least my way, you KNOW why you are complicating things.

[sdm74]

I made it easy for options and went with the 650....thanks for all the info