Which Dillon?

[bunsen]

Can someone out there give me some advice. I'm looking into getting a Dillon press. I'm having trouble deciding between the Square Deal B and the RL550. It will be used mainly for 45acp, also some 44mag and 357. I have reloaded quite a bit but pistol shooting eats up a bit of ammo and on a single stage press eats up a LOT of time.
  Some things I'm mulling over are: Auto indexing on the SDB but the 550 is rated at more rounds per hour and its not auto indexing. The 550 looks sturdier in the pics(I've never even seen a Dillon). Does the Auto indexing cause any problems as the press gets older/more used?
  I also like that the 550 uses standard dies, but thats not a clincher. Also from what I've read, on the 550 you can seat and crimp seperatly, which I always do on the single stage press. I guess I'm trying to convince myself to get the 550 but the $$, the auto indexing, and the $$ keep coming to mind.
  Thanks in advance for any advice!  Bunsen

[rbt50]

i have the sd,550,and 650 and like them all.
the first one was at 450 that i got years a go and over the years it has been upgraded to a 550.
the 550 is a strong press will last for ever.and if you ever want to load rifle cases you will be all set.
the s d  you will only be able to load pistol and will have to use dillon dies were on the 550 you can use any one's dies.
on the 550 when buying dies make sure the first die is beveled so when loading cases in the first station they dont hang up if you dont sometimes you will have to adjust the case to go in the die.
if you do not want to buy dillon dies you can just buy the resizing die from them and use someone elses dies for the rest of the set up.

[ButlerFord45]

I have a SDB that I use for 45 acp only, it's a good press and I have no legitimate complaints with it, but  I would gladly sell it to you at a reduced price to help fund a replacement 650,

[Forest T]

I have loaded thousands of rounds on my 550b and would not traid it for anythinm the first perss I had I turned into a canoe anchor (cheep lee press) not saying some lee presses arn't good but the one I had was junk another good thing about the 550b is if it breaks they will fix it it has a no bs warranty and you can't beet it   Forest T

[Gun Runner]

I've loaded over 2m rds on my 550. Several probs that a quick phone call to dillon and they either helped me out or got a replacement part to me next day, at no cost. I've had mine 14 or 15 yrs, had 5 probs and 3 of them were operator malfuncition ( :eek: ), little hard to beat their support service.

Gun Runner

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive got both and ill tell you first that dillon is nuts if they say a 550 is faster then a square deal. The stroke is shorter and you dont have to index how could it be slower. Second all square deals seat and crimp in seperate operations. Now the disavantage. The conversion is more expensive. If you allready have dies a 550 conversion is cheaper but if you dont have dies there simualar. A 550 will do rifles a square deal wont. A 550 is definetaly stronger but a square deal is plenty strong for handgun ammo. With a 550 you have to pay attention more as its alot easier to double charge a round without auto index. Biggest disadvantage as far as im conserned with the square deal is that there more time consuming to swap calibers on. Thats why i have 5 of them set up in different calibers. But given a big box of brass to load id take a square deal over a 550 anyday and even over a 650 without a case feeder.

[Questor]

I had the same decision to make and went with the 550B. The reason is that I assumed my interests would change over the years and I'd perhaps want to switch from 45ACP to 38 or 9mm or 32.  So far that hasn't happened, but I don't regret the decision and it's nice to know that I can switch if I want to.  Versatility is the only trade-off that I can see.  

If you get the 550 it will be worth also owning the spare parts kit and the maintenance kit. These aren't very expensive and give you the stuff on hand to keep you press running and in good shape.  It's nice to have some of those soft and easy to lose parts on-hand.  Also get some "canned air" as is used for cleaning copy machines. Department stores sell it in the computer departments.  It's great for blowing off the inevitable crud that accumulates during a reloading session.

Dillon dies are also better than others because the sizing die is made so that it's easier for the case to enter it on the up-stroke.

[Steve P]

I have two 550s.  The second one was purchased by trading in a new 450 that I picked up for about half price.  (guy read the instructions, too complicated, so he sold it)  Yes, I feel rotten   :cry:    :wink:

I load mostly rifle type ammo (not straight wall) on my 550s.  When I am in the groove, I can load 3-4 hundred rounds in an hour.  This is with the primer tubes already loaded up.  Some of my match loads are down to 100 an hour when I am trickling the powder.

A friend of mine shoots 38 super and 9mm.  He a 650 for one of them and still has the old SD for the other. (doesn't have to change over now.)  He loaded, on average, about 1800 rounds a week for a number of years.  He said the 650 is a little faster than his SD because of the hopper and a few other details.  He said he can still knock out over 500 rounds an hour on the SD.

You will not be disappointed with either.  The 550 will load rifle, the SD will not.  The SD is faster, and with a little practice, can knock out 500+ in an hour.  If you load a lot, this may be the way to go.  If you just load a little, and may pick up a rifle, get the 550.  

Steve  

p.s.  I bought the spare parts about 10 years ago.  I might even open the bag some day if I ever need anything out of it!!  (10k rounds a year average thru my 2 550s.) Two minor mistakes (tool head pins) and Mike Dillon sent out free parts same day.   :grin:  :lol: