Comm's Dillon Square Deal "B" Review

[CommsNBombs]

I have owned my Dillon's not even a whole month yet but I have already put close to 2000 rounds of 45ACP and 10MM through the both of them. I have a third on the way to take care of 9mm. Figured now that I have effectively taken them apart and put them together and got some real "behind the wheel" time I can make a more informed synopsis of what I think of them.

 

I originally was looking into a Progressive style press that would be cost-effective, would at least auto-prime (and auto-index), would be easy to perform mechanical maintenance on and take up as little room as possible - the one that fit the bill was the Square Deal. This is not a "Pro-Blue" thread, I have never used any Hornady stuff. I was unimpressed with RCBS Dies but I have had all Lee equipment before I picked up Dillon's.

 

The Good

- Cost Effective - MSRP is around $400ish if buying from Brian Enos or Dillon - Street Value is more around $280-$330 it seems for a complete set up.

 

- Warranty - Dillon has the 100% Lifetime "No B.S" warranty; I have broken primer system followers, springs, broken a powder hopper among other things and every time Dillon has been very nice and sent me replacement parts right away, and given me extras too!

 

- Auto-Indexing - This will go two ways (bad and good); this is great because the shell plate moves as you work the press, it is one less thing to worry about. On the 550B for instance you would have to spin the shell plate after every stroke. This is one less thing to worry about when reloading

 

- Ease of Maintenance - The press comes apart very easily to perform maintenance, the priming systems is held together with three hex-head screws, the feed ramp has two, the shell plate has three. It is very easy to identify a critical failure and perform maintenance on it. Granted, I am a bit more of a mechanically inclined fellow - but if you know how to change oil or a tire, this is not much harder

 

- Carbide Dies - Though proprietary to the Square Deal - the Dies have excellent fit and finish, are easy to manipulate, they do not wobble or unscrew themselves and they are carbide - so one less step needed to reload

 

- Space/Compactness - Granted I am using these without the Strong Mount (riser) and without extra bins hanging off of it - Here are the measurements that I took:

> W/ Hopper: 22"H x 10.5"W x 10.5"D (Depth is from the end of the mounting bracket to the furthest part of the handle)

> W/O Hopper: 22"H x 5-3/4"W x 10.5"D

> Overhang (how far the press sits over the bench-edge): 4", and to the top of the handle: 6"

 

- Auto-Priming - Again this will be good and a bad. This priming system primes on the up-stroke, after the shell plate returns to "zero" you push forward a little bit on handle and it will seat the primer. It will fit 100 Large Pistol Primers, I have been able to get closer to 115 in to the magazine, and as long as all the parts are not ghetto-rigged it will work without a hitch.

 

- Powder Drop - There are two powder sway-bars that go into the system, one that does 1-15gr and the other that does 15-50 (or 60?). It is very easy to use and is adjusted by a 7/16th" bolt on the side - you can buy a knob that goes for it so you do not have to use a ratchet/wrench but it meters VERY well. I have run "corn flake" powders like 800-X and Unique through it and I never get variations over +/- .1gr of powder. Have not blown up yet.

 

The Bad

- Auto-Indexing Problems - Auto-indexing is great unless you forget to seat a bullet or a primer - usually it isn't any worse than fishing out the last bullet on Station 4 that did not get a Crimp. The other problem that when it locks into place while indexing it turns pretty fast - I had rounds in station 4 get shot out, it will jar the bench top and sometimes spill powder. I have found that at least my 10mm Square Deal does NOT like new factory brass on the resize/deprime station. Granted you do not have to run them through, I was just being anal

 

- Priming System - The priming system is pretty ingenious on how it works. However, there are a few points to watch for. The magazine tube that feeds the primers is not really set in tightly, so if you are using a primer pick up tube to feed them or the Frankford Arsenal Vibra-Prime feed tubes, if you knock that Dillon magazine out fiddling with it the primers will go EVERYWHERE and will get stuck in the feeder system. Other points of failure include the return spring, sometimes it will work itself loose, and if you are working the handle at a high rate of speed it will put in primers upside down or sideways. Just things to watch out for - the 350 rounds/Hr is doable but you just have to be careful.

 

- De-Priming - Stock the Square Deal does not come with a spent-primer catch system. It shoots out the bottom of the press - nothing a box/bottle underneath will not do but if you have carpet or small kids you do not want your spent primers just shooting everywhere. Dillon and 3rd party vendors sell some systems to correct this problem

 

- Dies - The "bad" part about them are that they are proprietary - can't use other Dillon dies, Redding, RCBS, Lee, etc. Also - this makes caliber changes expensive - especially if you want a Toolhead AND separate powder funnel system. 

 

- Four Stations - I do not mind it, but for some this can be a deal breaker, there are only 4 stations Resize/Deprime, Flare/Powder Drop, Seat and Crimp. If you want a Powder Check, bullet feeder, swager or some other fancy Die you will HAVE to get the 650XL at the bear minimum 

 

- Straight-Walled Pistol Only  - The one thing about the Square Deal is that it is only for straight-walled pistol calibers. So those of us who shoot .357SIG, 9x25 Dillon, or some other bottle-necked pistol round - or ANY rifle round you are out of luck and will have to get at least the 550B. 

 

 

There are not many things that are WRONG with the Dillon at all. The things I listed are more quantifiers of the quirks and learning curves. If you take care of it, and do not try to load like a cyborg it will work. It is a great progressive press, granted I have never used any others and could not tell you how it compares but for someone getting into the game of pushing out a decent amount of rounds an hour for volume shooting the Dillon is something you should consider.

 

The press is not hard to take care of, it is built to last and will take a beating. There is not a lot of friction points on it, so running it through the stations is a very smooth process. The primer magazine tube is kept in place by a screw on top that seats the follower, the powder drop is screwed in at the sides and will not work itself out and spill powder everywhere. The shell-plate really grabs onto the casings so you do not have to keep pushing them into place during normal operation.

 

I do not think the Strong Mount is a worth while investment for it unless you HAVE to have it an additional 8" off the ground. The bullet tray and the extra bins are more for ease-of-use, and really do not save you much time - on average when I timed myself, the time it took to feed a new case, prime the next one and seat a bullet was on average 4-5 seconds. The only real "time consuming" task is refilling the primer magazine tube.

 

I DO recommend buying additional primer pick-up tubes - they are about $22 for a bag of 4 from Dillon. The Frankford Arsenal Vibra-Prime is a pretty neat investment too however mine has the habit of dropping in the primers sideways or upside down - I do not have the patience to work with it so I just feed them by hand when I am watching TV.

 

If you are wanting to also reload rifle, or a bottle-neck pistol caliber then the 550 or 650 is the thing for you. I will most likely be adding a 650XL to my line-up as I need something to load 5.56, .357SIG and 6.8SPCII so a review on that will be coming in the not-so-distant future.

 

Hope this proves useful to someone. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about it. 

[1gewehr]

I only use mine to reload 9mm and .38spl. It is excellent for that purpose. Those are my high-quantity shooting calibers. So I'm cranking them out a case at a time.
When you really get into reloading, you find that one press isn't enough. I have the SDB, a 550B, Lee single-station, and a Lee hand press.
All get used. Edited November 6, 2015 by 1gewehr

[Major Kong]

Thanks for the review. I like the idea of a dedicated press. I've been using a Rock Chucker single stage for years but wouldn't mind using that solely for rifle rounds and picking up a couple of these also.

[Flyboy]

I have two and love them, Yet there are some things that you talked about, but if you want to go big spend some more money. It list what calibers it can do. I have no problem with the primers with a plate to shake and flip. Stuff them up the tube and your good to go, but if I open the plate or drop them yea its a pain to pick up. Haven't done it yet.

 

For pistol loads Straight wall it works great. I have no issues with it.