Lee Pro 1000 Progressive verses the Dillon Square Deal B...

[Rezarf2]

I am getting into reloading with zero experience, but I have been doing some homework and these two presses really both have a cult like following. I want to load 45acp. From what I can tell the Dillon is close to being "dialed in" as it comes out of the box, where as the Lee takes a little tweeking to get dialed in. Otherwise, I feel like I am comparing apples to apples right?

Both seem to have good customer support.

The Lee is under half the price of the Dillon. Am I missing something here or is the Dillon that much better over the long haul?

I am not trying to start a pee-ing match between brands, I am just trying not to have to buy twice, nor pay twice the amount for the same quality. I do see that Dillon has some proprietary dies/parts etc. and both seem to have good reputations.

I am willing to put the time in and learn the process for either.

The Lee is $149 this month at Midway.
The Dillon is $370 from their website.

Thats a big difference. Thanks for any advice/personal experience with either machine.

[5pins]

A”little tweaking” is an understatement. I tweaked mine for over two years then I finally tweaked it out the door and got a Dillon 550.

[shootist~]

The best way to turn a good pistol into a jam-o-matic is a cheap loading setup. Spend the extra money and cry once. For more versatility down the road and the ability to use standard dies, the 550B is really the better choice.

[lcfuller]

The square deal b is the better set up. I have 2 set up now in my work room. One is mine set up for 45 acp and the other is a friends set up for 9mm. If I had it to do over, I would get the 550b. HTH

[ayank]

I owned a Dillon 550B for years and helped a family member get their Lee up and running. If the Dillon was four times the price of the Lee, I'd still say to go with the Dillon.

Consider going with the 550B over the SDB unless you're sure that you'll never want to reload rifle ammo.

—Andreas

[VirginiaTactical]

+1 for the Dillon.

I have a dillon 650 and I load 9mm with it. I have over 20 thousand rounds loaded through my press and I am extremely happy with it.

Questions: Have you thought about the warranty between the two presses?

If anything breaks in your dillon ... dillon sends you the parts for free no questions asked. I have had over 10 parts break in my dillon over the last two years (its 20 months old now), and those are 10 parts I never had to pay for. I actually just broke something yesterday while making some ammo, and dillon is sending the part over.

I noticed that the Lee has a 2 year unconditional warranty ... Dillon's warranty is for life. I know some of the parts I have broken in my dillon are worth 20-30 bucks. There are plenty of big parts worth more.

I would highly recommend you go with dillon precision. I would recommend a 550 or better as well .. if your wallet can afford it.

[Rezarf2]

Thanks guys, this is the real world info I was hoping to get. The 550b is just another $60 more but I from my understanding it doesn't come set up for any particular caliber?

So for those in the know, besides the actual press and caliber dies, what would you add to a first time order from Dillon?

Thanks

[VirginiaTactical]

Thanks guys, this is the real world info I was hoping to get. The 550b is just another $60 more but I from my understanding it doesn't come set up for any particular caliber?

So for those in the know, besides the actual press and caliber dies, what would you add to a first time order from Dillon?

Thanks

The press does come with caliber dies. It comes ready to roll for one specific caliber at no extra charge.

You do need other things though as you reload.

Here are the important things:

You need a case gauge. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/25548/catid/3) This device is used to "gauge" your loaded round. The round should drop in freely to the gauge and drop freely out of the gauge. It should also not stick out at all from the gauge.

You need dial calipers. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/24584/catid/30) This device is used to check ammunition manually. You should consult a reloading manual for your ammo dimensions and you should check your ammo randomly or if you think there is something wrong with your ammo. This device is super accurate and also comes in handy when mounting iron sights on a pistol.

You need a case cleaner. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23659/catid/8) This device is pretty much does what it sounds like. It cleans your brass. You don't want to use dirty brass as this can gunk up your dies and cause inaccuracies in your finished product.

You need some media to clean that brass. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/25218/catid/8) This stuff is put into the case cleaner to polish and clean the brass.

A powder scale. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/25213/catid/7) This device measures the amount of powder you put in one round. This is pretty important unless you have something at home that can measure small amounts as well.

Now there are some other things which are very nice to have .. but are not a necessity. I am going to put those down here for you. I would even rank them in order of importance (note this is just my opinion as I have only been reloading for 20 months).

Media Separator. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23663/catid/8) This device seperates the brass from the media .. It will save you some time.

Primer Flip Tray. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23608/catid/3) This thing will just ensure your primers are facing the right way with your pick up tubes (your dillon comes with 1 pickup tube). This can also save you some time. If you end up buying winchester primers they are usually all the same way and this is not really needed, but its a nice to have.

Extra pick up tubes! (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23516/catid/3)These tubes are quite handy when you have a crap ton of them. Note the link I just gave you is to large ones since you mentioned you wanted to load 45 ACP. You would need the small ones if you were making 9mm. I have 10 of these, and I usually reload with a friend. She fills up my pick up tubes and case gauges everyone of my rounds while I work the machine ....

Polish. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23664/catid/8) This stuff is going to make your brass cases shine better. Its a nice to have ... but I personally use "NU-Finish" and Mineral spirits from walmart and I make my own version. Im quite happy with it.

The Strong Mount (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23596/catid/3) This puts your dillon in a perfect place on your bench. It raises the press so you dont have to worry so much about clearance. This really made my day ... I also custom made my bench to fit perfectly in a small room in my apartment. I really like this mount.

Well thats pretty much all I would recommend. There are many other things you can buy to make your reloading experience nicer, but unless you have the capital for those small things, you can do without them. If anyone has any other things one would need please chime in! I did not put in reloading manuals as you can usually pull up the data from the interwebs. By no means am I an expert in reloading, but if there is anything I can do to help you out feel free to give my cellphone a call, or shoot me an email noel@virginia-tactical.com.

[Spiffums]

If you have someone local who can help you get started and set up, go with a progressive. If you are a total noob like I was and just have the reloading book and the internet (I didn't when I started), I vote go with a Lee Turret.

It will keep you safe while you learn the process. It's faster than a single stage but not automatic to the point where you miss a mistake or 10 in the process and get hurt.

[Pumpkinheaver]

I used a Pro 1000 for quite a while but got tired of all it's issues. Run Dillon now.

[Rezarf2]

Thanks this is great stuff.


The press does come with caliber dies. It comes ready to roll for one specific caliber at no extra charge.

You do need other things though as you reload.

Here are the important things:

You need a case gauge. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/25548/catid/3) This device is used to "gauge" your loaded round. The round should drop in freely to the gauge and drop freely out of the gauge. It should also not stick out at all from the gauge.

You need dial calipers. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/24584/catid/30) This device is used to check ammunition manually. You should consult a reloading manual for your ammo dimensions and you should check your ammo randomly or if you think there is something wrong with your ammo. This device is super accurate and also comes in handy when mounting iron sights on a pistol.

You need a case cleaner. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23659/catid/8) This device is pretty much does what it sounds like. It cleans your brass. You don't want to use dirty brass as this can gunk up your dies and cause inaccuracies in your finished product.

You need some media to clean that brass. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/25218/catid/8) This stuff is put into the case cleaner to polish and clean the brass.

A powder scale. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/25213/catid/7) This device measures the amount of powder you put in one round. This is pretty important unless you have something at home that can measure small amounts as well.

Now there are some other things which are very nice to have .. but are not a necessity. I am going to put those down here for you. I would even rank them in order of importance (note this is just my opinion as I have only been reloading for 20 months).

Media Separator. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23663/catid/8) This device seperates the brass from the media .. It will save you some time.

Primer Flip Tray. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23608/catid/3) This thing will just ensure your primers are facing the right way with your pick up tubes (your dillon comes with 1 pickup tube). This can also save you some time. If you end up buying winchester primers they are usually all the same way and this is not really needed, but its a nice to have.

Extra pick up tubes! (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23516/catid/3)These tubes are quite handy when you have a crap ton of them. Note the link I just gave you is to large ones since you mentioned you wanted to load 45 ACP. You would need the small ones if you were making 9mm. I have 10 of these, and I usually reload with a friend. She fills up my pick up tubes and case gauges everyone of my rounds while I work the machine ....

Polish. (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23664/catid/8) This stuff is going to make your brass cases shine better. Its a nice to have ... but I personally use "NU-Finish" and Mineral spirits from walmart and I make my own version. Im quite happy with it.

The Strong Mount (http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23596/catid/3) This puts your dillon in a perfect place on your bench. It raises the press so you dont have to worry so much about clearance. This really made my day ... I also custom made my bench to fit perfectly in a small room in my apartment. I really like this mount.

Well thats pretty much all I would recommend. There are many other things you can buy to make your reloading experience nicer, but unless you have the capital for those small things, you can do without them. If anyone has any other things one would need please chime in! I did not put in reloading manuals as you can usually pull up the data from the interwebs. By no means am I an expert in reloading, but if there is anything I can do to help you out feel free to give my cellphone a call, or shoot me an email noel@virginia-tactical.com.

[chadbag]

I don't have or use a SDB. But I do have 550s, 650s, and a 1050. I don't have any Lee Progressive, nor have I used one.

That said, being a Dillon dealer since 1996 ( and a user since 1994), I have sold a metric butt load of Dillon presses to people upgrading from Lee Pro 1000 presses. They all told of the same woes of spending more time screwing with the press than loading.

Pay once, cry once. Pay twice, cry twice.

[Semper Paratus]

I have loaded on a SDB in the past and now use 550s. I keep one set up for large primers and the other for small primers. What can I say? I got a heck of a deal on the second 550.

I've tried to reload or should I say help on the Lee. After lots of tinkering it would sort of run but would periodically go out of adjustment or time, for no discernable reason. Then the drill is tweek it in and load for a while. Either the SDB or the 550 are light years ahead of the Lee.
If you are loading only one pistol caliber and no rifle calibers the SDB is OK. However when you buy the .459 slobber knocker louden boomer and try to convert the the SDB and find none of the proprietary dies the 550 pays for itself. Pretty much if they make 7/8"-14 TPI dies you can reload it on the 550. In the current Dillon Catalog (May) the SDB is $370 ready to load. The 550 is $430 set up for on caliber needing only dies to load.