Dillon SDB vs 550B........

by Gunner , St Louis, Saturday, January 27, 2024, 16:25 (98 days ago)

Recently I went against my gut but with my wallet in mind and bought dies and a conversion kit for my Dillon 550B to reload 9 mm subsonic ammo all the while my gut said spend the extra money to buy a Dillon Square Deal B press for that job.

I have a Square Deal B setup for 45 acp and love it, auto rotate head, short stroke and quick to use, in 20 years time it has reloaded 40,000+ rounds and the only issue I have ever had is the primer arm return spring breaks the end loop off, Dillon will happily send you a free replacement if it happens, I keep extra springs on hand but have only ever needed 4 so far.

While the 550 is more versatile and quick change heads etc make it a great press but it's long stroke and handle throw makes it a monster to reload little bitty 9 mm cases, kinda like putting a 454 cu engine in a Pinto, gets the job done but creates problems.

I know what some of you are thinking......Gunner has lost his mind because Dillon offers conversion kit for the Square Deal and you would be right but I ain't having any of that. When it come to the Square I like to load primers, fill the hopper with powder and get to work, as I shoot a lot of 45 acp ammo . The SDB takes a bit of time to convert, adjust and I would just prefer not take that road.

In my opinion the Square Deal is the go to press for short case ammo that you will shoot a lot of like the 9 or 45 and the bigger brother 550 handle bigger cases, just food for thought.

By the way I have been reloading lots of 45 acp ammo on the SDB lately, weather sucks so I have been cranking out ammo (185gr Sierra JHP today) waiting on the weather fairy to smile on me.

Dillon Press list

Gunner

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