bemanuel Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 (edited) I have a Dillon Square Deal and primarily load 40 S&W. Have had for about 1 year and loaded around 12,000 rounds. During that time I have broken 2 shell plate bolts. Is this a common problem with Dillon SD? Any advice on how to prevent or what might me going on? Edited January 2, 2018 by bemanuel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerba Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 I had the SD before and have loaded more than twice as much as you did for about 3+ years...9mm., 40cal., 38 spl, and .45 acp., I did not break the bolt once...I have heard of them breaking, but seems unusual for it to break twice within 12,000 rounds... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronicTwitch Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 I broke that bolt once in about 5K, BUT it was due to me pushing too hard to seat primers in shallow primer pockets (poor sampling of 45ACP HRTRS). I do recall I felt the bolt start to give and stupidly just pushed through until it snapped. Had to drill out the middle of the broken bolt and jam a screwdriver on it to back it out. Dillon sent me two as a replacement and I haven't had any issues since in over 10K rounds and counting. I also know not to overexert on the priming stroke now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Not sure why you would need to drill anything that bolt is under zero tension once the head shears off, a pencil with an eraser on the end will back it out when it breaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoMiE Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Are you using case lube? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bemanuel Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 1 hour ago, IronicTwitch said: I broke that bolt once in about 5K, BUT it was due to me pushing too hard to seat primers in shallow primer pockets (poor sampling of 45ACP HRTRS). I do recall I felt the bolt start to give and stupidly just pushed through until it snapped. Had to drill out the middle of the broken bolt and jam a screwdriver on it to back it out. Dillon sent me two as a replacement and I haven't had any issues since in over 10K rounds and counting. I also know not to overexert on the priming stroke now. I do press the handle forward "solidly" because if primer is not seated all the way sometimes will not go boom. However, it doesn't seem excessive. Regarding removing broken bolt, luckily I was able to remove it both times with my fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bemanuel Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 2 hours ago, racerba said: I had the SD before and have loaded more than twice as much as you did for about 3+ years...9mm., 40cal., 38 spl, and .45 acp., I did not break the bolt once...I have heard of them breaking, but seems unusual for it to break twice within 12,000 rounds... I agree, that's why I was thinking there was something I'm missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bemanuel Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 44 minutes ago, HoMiE said: Are you using case lube? No case lube. I am tumbling in corn cob media and using brass polish. It does seem that any pressure against the bolt is on the downward stroke as brass releases from powder funnel. Unless IronicTwitch is right about seating primers. Do you have a case lube that you would recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoMiE Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I like the Dillon case lube, only takes a couple of pumps from bottle for a couple hundred rounds at s time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9x45 Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 More common with the 9mm because of the greater amount of taper on the upstroke, not down stroke, pulling back out of the seating die, not so common with 40S&W. It's a shoulder bolt, and you have to check to make sure it's seated every few thousand rounds. I broke one at about 150,000 rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootymacshootface Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 I have broken a shell plate bolt, 2 handles, and several links. If I knew about Hornaday one shot I might still have my sdb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerba Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 On 1/2/2018 at 8:31 PM, 9x45 said: More common with the 9mm because of the greater amount of taper on the upstroke, not down stroke, pulling back out of the seating die, not so common with 40S&W. It's a shoulder bolt, and you have to check to make sure it's seated every few thousand rounds. I broke one at about 150,000 rounds. I think pulling out of the sizing die would give it more stress than the seating die. I never used the one shot when i had the SDB...I just used case lube while tumbling. I would put in about a cap full or so every time I tumbled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9x45 Posted January 6, 2018 Share Posted January 6, 2018 Yes, pulling back out of the seating die requires the most force. The rest of the stations are easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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