[leaderc]

I am going to begin reloading finally (.45 ACP and 9mm). I am pretty convinced that the Dillon Square Deal B is the way to go based on posts I've seen here and comparing it to others on my own. My question is just based on getting a progressive for a starter. Personally I subscribe to the "do it once, do it right" philosophy, so I can't see any good reasons to get a single stage, then later upgrade to a progressive. Any good arguments as to why I should reconsider this course of action?
Thanks in advance,
Charles

 

[Sistema1927]

I think that even with a progressive that you will find that you will have plenty of uses for a single stage press as well. There are times that only "one-at-a-time" will do.

 

[dla]

Buy the SDB.

But remember something: the reason for using a progressive is that you want to crank out a lot of ammunition in a short period of time. So you can spend more time shooting, than reloading.

You can still produce small runs of "work up" loads - I do on mine.

Because I only shoot a couple hundred rounds of rifle ammo a year, I find it OK to use my old RCBS Rock Chucker to make rifle rounds.

By the way, are you sure you want to reload 9mm? The stuff is so cheap that I just a buy case every now and then. Everybody around my house wants to shoot 45acp, and that would get expensive if I didn't reload.

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Have a great day!

 

[Sheldon]

As long as you pay attention to what you are doing, you should have no problems with the Square Deal or any other progressive press. Make sure you push forward on the end of the upstroke to seat a primer in the casing and be sure to take a peek at the case you are seating a bullet on to see that there is powder in that casing and that the amount looks about right ( a double charge should look obvious depending on the powder you use). You will get into a rhythem and sail along, but use your senses and be aware of the sounds and feels of the machine to spot problems. The Square Deal is a nice press, but if you ever want to reload rifle cartridges the 550B is the better choice and it's conversion kits are cheaper and it uses standard sized dies too. Something to consider for the long run.

 

[SA45AUTO]

Yup! square deal B is a great press, but......Like mentioned above, "pay attention to detail" My preference is to check the powder charge every 10 rounds. About feel, especially when seating primers, if it feels wrong (hum! this one feels stuck)STOP! I forced a primer into the case when the primer tube was full (large pistol primers)! Ignited all the primers in the tube (ceiling looked like I hit it with 12 ga full of birdshot). My wife came running from the back room, thought I bought the farm. The good news is the tube saved my sight (primers shot out the top of the tube). When I called Dillon and explained what happened, they sent me a whole new priming tube setup, no charge! After a few rounds through the press you'll get the feel for it.

Be safe and have fun!

 

[col132]

I think starting out with the SDB is a fine idea. Taking your time is the key. You can inspect ammo just as closely with a progressive as you can a single stage, and I would highly recommend that approach to someone just starting out with a progressive, who had no prior experience with reloading.