Newbie Looking To Reload

[Loui3]

Hello all,

Well it's been a very busy 3 months for me. I just started shooting about 3 months ago and loving it. So far I bought two 9mm that I love. (XD , Glock) Tonight I'm picking up a starter AR.. excited about that one since it looks like fun shooting at the range. Now my question is since ammo is getting expensive for me I thought reloading would be much better for me.. The last 2 weeks I been doing research and watching video on youtube regarding different ways of reloading. I even ask some friends about it.

I found one that I think will be good for me since I'm just starting.

https://www.dillonprecision.com/dillon-square-deal-b_8_1_25237.html

Now if someone could help me out with this . Since the site is asking me to choose what caliber I want i choose 9mm. Now down the road I would like to reload 223 , 556, 300, and 308.

Would this model be good for all the different rounds I want?

Please let me know your thoughts about this.

Thanks,

[highpower790]

Hello all,

Well it's been a very busy 3 months for me. I just started shooting about 3 months ago and loving it. So far I bought two 9mm that I love. (XD , Glock) Tonight I'm picking up a starter AR.. excited about that one since it looks like fun shooting at the range. Now my question is since ammo is getting expensive for me I thought reloading would be much better for me.. The last 2 weeks I been doing research and watching video on youtube regarding different ways of reloading. I even ask some friends about it.

I found one that I think will be good for me since I'm just starting.

https://www.dillonprecision.com/dillon-square-deal-b_8_1_25237.html

Now if someone could help me out with this . Since the site is asking me to choose what caliber I want i choose 9mm. Now down the road I would like to reload 223 , 556, 300, and 308.

Would this model be good for all the different rounds I want?

Please let me know your thoughts about this.

Thanks,

.223 and 5.56 are essentially the same.Uses the same die from whatever mfg you choose to use.

[Dave626]

i think you should start with the single stage first. you learn the basic fundamental first.

[jericho89]

The square d is a good press and as long as you understand what each station does and start slow it will work well for your pistol rounds. The square d is not meant for rifle cases so it will not do you much good there.

[roc_my_tims]

Start with a single stage and move up from there. You will always keep the single stage for other stuff.

Shameless plug, i posted rcbs rock chucker for sale today

[dsltech]

550b. You can reload rifle if it, square deal b can't do rifle. Ideally, you should be using a single stage for rifle though.

[kpdiamond54]

I'm 62, been reloading for 3 yrs. I never used a single stage press, but I agree it would help you learn the fundamentals of reloading. I read alot and asked alot of questions. I went for the Dillon 550b and truly love the machine. It does everything I want to do. I started with 9mm, and now load 45acp and .223. You'll find rifle rounds are more work, time consuming but I still enjoy doing it. The thing I have found with reloading is take pains to make sure all is good and done right. I've seen the results of trying to go too fast and not checking they're work. Squibs are real and can be deadly. What ever you decide to go with, be safe and have fun. Good luck.

[kriller134]

I started off on a square deal and I love it. It can only load straight walled pistol cartridges. If you're mechanically inclined and understand what is going on on each station, there's no reason why you can't start off on a progressive press. What I did before I started reloading is buy the lymann 49th and read it. I then youtubed a lot of videos and got a better understanding of what's going on. If you're in OC, drop by reload OC and talk to Brian. He's a champion for reloading and is very helpful even if you don't buy from him. He's a great guy and answered all my questions before I ever bought a single item from him.

[Eljay]

As people noted the square deal is pistol only.

So what kind of shooting volume are we talking about? You don't save much per round loading 9mm or .223 so unless you can load a ton of rounds quickly (or don't value your time) there's not a lot of point.

So your options are to either get a non-progressive, like a Lee Classic Turret, understand you won't be pumping out more than 150-200 rounds per hour even once you're used to it and making good time (if you save 10 cents/round on 9mm you can figure out how much you're making per hour) or you are shooting vast amounts of ammo you can cost justify a high end Dillon but you need to be extremely disciplined when you learn. I know lots of people who started that way but they typically only load a single caliber and do it for USPSA or some other similar competition.

[dsltech]

Since you were looking at Dillon go to this website.

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillon.html#which

He explains the differences between the square deal and the 550b to help out on the decision.

[mikeyr]

You don't save much per round loading 9mm or .223 so unless you can load a ton of rounds quickly (or don't value your time) there's not a lot of point.

I have to agree with the above but something not mentioned is that some of us, I am one of them, really enjoy the time spent reloading in the garage. Its my quiet time and I look forward to reloading, sometimes I joke I only shoot so that I can reload.

The Square deal won't do rifle as others have noted, so skip that one if you want to do rifle OR plan on having 2 presses down the road. I also am one of those people that say there is nothing wrong with starting on a progressive if you have a half a brain. I remember getting my 650 and wow I was making mistakes all over the place and really messing up (no double charges and only 1 squib). I think I am a better reloader now because of it and I now have a square deal for .45Colt and my 650 is for 9mm that I shoot a lot of and .308. The single stage is much safer to start with but it gets expensive to start with a press that you will only keep a while. If you really want to single stage there is a converter for the 650 to single stage

[Eljay]

I have to agree with the above but something not mentioned is that some of us, I am one of them, really enjoy the time spent reloading in the garage. Its my quiet time and I look forward to reloading, sometimes I joke I only shoot so that I can reload.

Absolutely but he said "Now my question is since ammo is getting expensive for me I thought reloading would be much better for me." so if saving money is his motivation those are issues that need to be raised.

Personally, I enjoy some aspects of reloading but after the load development's done and I have a final load and I just need to crank out a thousand rounds I don't necessarily enjoy pulling a handle as much as all that.

[Win231]

I also think you should start with a single stage. A Progressive Press is faster, but safety, not speed should be a priority for a beginner.

[trackcage]

Started with a 550b, never looked back. It will load all the calibers you mentioned and then some. Skip the square deal and upgrade to the 550. As others mentioned, 9mm and .223 are loss leaders but reloading is a hobby so make sure to look at it with that lense

[AGGRO]

If you eventually get into oddballs and wildcats or what not you can save a significant amount per round. Some calibers you have to reload for.

Besides, it's just fun.