Square Deal B or 550

[Ed Robinson]

I am looking at a new dillon but can't decide which way to go. Looks like the SDB is auto indexing while the 550 is manual indexing. Is that right? Why would the higher press be manual indexing? Seems the biggest downfall to the SDB is it's only a 4 station and uses proprietary dies. Thinking of retiring my old RCBS piggyback but sure hate to go to a manual indexing press. Thanks.

[Greg Bell]

Why would the higher press be manual indexing?

To add another wrinkle to your decision, you could bypass the 550 and jump to the 650 which is auto-indexing

Edited September 22, 2008 by Greg Bell

[lcs]

I am looking at a new dillon but can't decide which way to go. Looks like the SDB is auto indexing while the 550 is manual indexing. Is that right? Why would the higher press be manual indexing? Seems the biggest downfall to the SDB is it's only a 4 station and uses proprietary dies. Thinking of retiring my old RCBS piggyback but sure hate to go to a manual indexing press. Thanks.

We really need to know your reloading goals before trying to provide you with information to enable you to make your decision. Each model has pros and cons.

[Jon Merricks]

We really need to know your reloading goals before trying to provide you with information to enable you to make your decision. Each model has pros and cons.

I agree but I will still suggest that if you are doing much reloading to go with the 650 or better yet the 1050.

[maineshootah]

We really need to know your reloading goals before trying to provide you with information to enable you to make your decision. Each model has pros and cons.

I agree but I will still suggest that if you are doing much reloading to go with the 650 or better yet the 1050.

Look at that... in 5 post we went from a sub $400 press to over $1500.

What are your reloading needs?

under a thousand rounds per caliber a year?

Over 10,000 rounds per caliber per year?

Brian has a great comparison guide at his store location, just head to www.brianenos.com and click on store.

The Square deal is really for pistol loading only, using Dillon's dies.

They work fine. Shooters here have used them for years, and cranked out over 100,000 rounds on them.

However, they are pistol only.

If you shoot one caliber and under 5K a year, it is a great solution for you.

While the 550 is not auto indexing, it offers flexibility in the fact that you can load rifle and use non Dillon dies.

Then auto indexing on a SDB and the manual on the 550 should not be a decision, on those two presses, that should not be the issue to make a decision on.

The 650 and 1050 are great presses - but most have to reload 10,000 rounds a year plus to justify the cost of the press. They are often more expensive to change calibers, etc.

Your reloading growth to other calibers and possible rifle rounds should be one of the decisions used to make the decision of what press to buy.

Check out Brian's comparison, he has done a great job with it - give him a call, he won't steer you wrong and you can support the board here as well.

[HI5-O]

Had a SDB, have two 550's and one 1050

The SDB worked well but everything was cramped together.

The 550 worked well for me for the last 20 yrs and would continue to use it but my wife bought me a 1050 this year.

If I had to choose between the two, I would definitely go with the 550 (even without the auto indexing). You can always add on a case feeder later; it uses "regular" dies; it would be easier to sell when you want to upgrade and there is a lot more room to work with in the shellplate area.

For a little more money, get the 650 (has auto indexing) and set up for a case feeder and you can get a K.I.S.S. bullet feeder.

SDB or 550? Go with the 550

ba

[rr4406pak]

If you're just shooting pistol I'd go with the SDB.

The auto indexing is a nice feature and really speeds things along..

[Ed Robinson]

AS a P.S., I load approx. 5000 a year which is relatively low volume. I only load 38 Super and 45 ACP on progressive. I load all rifle ammo single stage and do not care about the progressive having rifle capability. One downfall to the SDB is tha fact I can't use standard dies. The 550 does take standard dies but I lose the auto index feature. I know this may be a bad word on the Dillon forum but I'm intrigued by the Hornady LNL AP. Seems much better engineered than my RCBS piggyback or ammomaster (which are basically identical presses) and at $380 plus 1000 free bullets from Hornady, it end up being a $200 press that is auto indexing, well made, great customer service AND takes standard 7/8-14 dies. Now I'm really hard pressed on a decision!

[Hi-Power Jack]

I've been using the Square Deal for the last six months,

and I have it set up for 9mm, and can load 250 rounds/

hour - over the course of a day, with a lot of breaks, its

easy to load 500 rounds / day.

I'm loading the equivalent of 10,000 - 15,000 rounds/year

and having No Trouble at all.

My time is Not too valuable (I'm semi-retired) - if my time

were more valuable, I'd go with the 650, not the 550.

Jack

[SA Friday]

There are advantages and disadvantages to both, auto vs manual indexing is just one of them. Only loading 5K a year in handgun, you are better off going with the 550 and getting the ability to change calibers faster and easier than the SDB. Also, IMO the case feeder will speed up the reloading more than the auto indexing. Many trusted friends have told me if I feel the need for auto-indexing and a Dillon go straight to the 1050. I don't know the guts of the reasoning, but I do know them and trust their judgement enough to pass it along.

I've reloaded with an RCBS 2000 Pro for almost 10 years now, no auto-indexing. I have also used a Piggy-back. They also make an auto-index for the RCBS 2000 Pro now essentially making it work much like a 650 without a case feeder.

[Singlestack]

I've been loading on a 550 for about 10 years. I like the easy caliber conversions, standard dies, un-cramped construction, and easy operation. Dillon's support is unsurpassed. I don't miss auto-indexing and I find it easier not to have it when adjusting dies or powder. The only thing I can think of that I don't like is the primer system. It can be a PIA.

[jfrey]

For pistol ammo you mentioned, I would go with the SDB. I have loaded over 5000 rounds on mine since March, in both .45ACP and .45 LC and it runs beautifully. I'll no doubt load 10,000 rounds by the end of the year and I see no reason to upgrade on a reloader. The auto index is great and not found on the 550. Don't worry about the dies on a SDB, they work fine.

Edited September 22, 2008 by jfrey

[lcs]

AS a P.S., I load approx. 5000 a year which is relatively low volume. I only load 38 Super and 45 ACP on progressive. I load all rifle ammo single stage and do not care about the progressive having rifle capability. One downfall to the SDB is tha fact I can't use standard dies. The 550 does take standard dies but I lose the auto index feature. I know this may be a bad word on the Dillon forum but I'm intrigued by the Hornady LNL AP. Seems much better engineered than my RCBS piggyback or ammomaster (which are basically identical presses) and at $380 plus 1000 free bullets from Hornady, it end up being a $200 press that is auto indexing, well made, great customer service AND takes standard 7/8-14 dies. Now I'm really hard pressed on a decision!

Don't know anything about the Hornady, but I have had an SDB, 550 and now a 650. The SDB is a fine reloader for basic pistol reloading.

You mentioned 38 super. I have to presume you mean reloading for shooting OPEN in USPSA and the downside of the SDB is the DIES. The Dillon dies do work fine until you encounter buldged brass. I would go with a 550.

I really liked my 550 and only went to a 650 because I got a great deal on a 650 with a case feeder. If not for the great deal, I would still be on the 550. I can load just as fast on the 550 as I can on the 650 and I think the 550 is easier to change calibers. I seem to have to "tinker" a lot with the 650 to keep it in adjustment.

If the Hornady meets YOUR needs and is a good deal--go for it. We'll still let you shoot USPSA

[Ed Robinson]

[

If the Hornady meets YOUR needs and is a good deal--go for it. We'll still let you shoot USPSA

After doing some study I may go with the red press as long as the blue guys will still let me shoot!

I'm also an RV'er and if you own a generator that is anything but a Honda, you can't hang out with the cool kids!

The Hornady seems to fit my needs and budget although I havent ruled out a SDB just yet. Thanks again,Ed

[Greg Bell]

I'm also an RV'er and if you own a generator that is anything but a Honda, you can't hang out with the cool kids!

Too funny my gen set is a yellow Kipor

[Merlin Orr]

SDB rocks......for pistol.

If you shoot 2 calibers. Get 2 SDBs.

[dwr461]

The other wench that could be thrown in the works here is that Dillon Presses hold their resale value really well. If finances are an issue for you than you could buy a SDB use it for a while and then sell and purchase another more expensive model with much less depreciation than you would have with another brand.

Dave

[Irishlad]

I "gauge" the reloader I use by two factors:

How much "time" I'm willing to reload per week for the amount of shooting I do...per week.

How much I'm willing to spend for the reloader...which is related to how much "time".

For me, and no particular reason, I'm comfortable with about one "hour's" worth of reloading time/effort for the week of shooting.

[Ed Robinson]

Greg Bell- Funny too that my genny is a red kipor! AND I pull a 5th wheel with a half ton! Can You Believe It? They guys at the RV.net forum will shun a non Honda owner that tows with anything less than a 400hp diesel! I guess I'll be an outcast all the way around!

But seriously, I think the Hornady LNL AP will suit my purpose as well as anything. I'd love to go ahead and buy a 650 but I can't justify the price. Maybe it will far outlast the Hornady or RCBS but I've been loading on my piggyback for 13 years and have just started having minute little problems out of it. It's not that big of a deal to fix any of it just a pain in the arse waiting on parts. I've ordered enough spares from RCBS that I can keep it running as a spare or second caliber.

[Graham Smith]

Well, it's not a fair comparison for me to make, but...

I started with a Lee Pro 1000. Good press for the money, but a simple problem could take quite a bit of time to fix and a lot of problem ammo to examine.

When volume became an issue with the Pro, I got a LoadMaster. This solved a lot of the issues I had with the Pro (particularly the primer seating) but introduced it's own issues. The case feeder was a lot more erratic and I ended up using a semi-manual case feed.

But both the presses had one thing that bugged me, when something was a bit off, there was no simple way to pull a case out of the turret and look at it and the auto-index meant that sometimes I had to go through some touchy steps to clear things.

I recently bought a 550. One of the main reasons for choosing that over the SD was that I didn't want an auto-index. I realize that this is a purely subjective decision based on my experience, but given the nature of reloading, I'll take a little extra work in exchange for better control over the process.

Now, if I can just figure out how to take the case feeder from the Lee press and attach it to the 550...

Edited September 23, 2008 by Graham Smith

[benos]

Ed,

My Dillon articles maineshooter referred to are here;

Dillon FAQ:

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillonfaqs.html

“Which Dillon”:

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillon.html#which

Check them out and give me a call.

be

877 219-5598

[TM262]

I use to have a 650, but sold it when I got out of shooting for a while. Now I am back shooting and I have two SDBs. There are a neat little press and work great. You can also pickup a used SDB really cheap. If you are not going to be shooting more than 1000rds a month, it will probably suit your needs.

[steel1212]

I would pick the 550. I load rifle as well so that is one thing the SDB can't do. I also like to pick my own dies.

[Johann the Horrible]

Think twice about the Hornady. Both guys I know that load on them had problems with reliability that took for ever to sort out. I load on a SDB and do about 5000 rounds a month. It used to wok fine but broke down utterly just before our Nats. I ended up shooting bottom of the barrel scrapings at Nats. For you guys in the States it is much easier, if it breaks down you just send it to Dillon and they make it new. We are left to the tender mercies of the local agents and I am now for 3 weeks without my press. The guys in the club using 550`s and 650`s all seem to think that the sun sets when they pull a cover over their presses.

Generally I find the Dillon dies in my SDB of good quality and for the few cases that could not be sorted by the Dillon stuff I just used my single stage Lee with a factory crimp die to fix. If I have my live over I will skip the Lee presses I used to try and load ammo on and get a SDB and get it over and done with.

[maineshootah]

After doing some study I may go with the red press as long as the blue guys will still let me shoot!

I'm also an RV'er and if you own a generator that is anything but a Honda, you can't hang out with the cool kids!

The Hornady seems to fit my needs and budget although I havent ruled out a SDB just yet. Thanks again,Ed

Ed as a fellow RV'er.. it doesn't matter what you pulled up in, as long as you sleep well for the match the next day.

As far as reloading, it doesn't matter what press you use as long as they make bullets that go bang.

*HOWEVER*... I still think you should give Brian a call.. "Big Blue" rocks.

A link to his post in this discussion thread.