Dillon Square Deal help needed

[DFence]

Hey folks,

Picked up a Dillon Square Deal in 45acp and a conversion kit for 9mm. I've got a separate tool head to set the 9mm up with but have some questions on the setup.

The manual is pretty vague and can't find any answers on the net. Looking to see what is the best way to set up for proper flare, seat and crimp.

Any quick tricks to get me close and then fine tune from there? Obviously once it's set up I can just swap tool heads, primer set up and powder charge.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[damndave]

Which reloading manual do you have?

Don't got a Square Deal, but I would assume the setup is nearly the same.

You only need enough flare so that the bullet stands straight up without wobbling off. Adjust dies until you are there. Excessive flare will only lessen the life of the brass.

Adjust the seating die until the desired COAL is attained.

When you crimp pistol ammo, all you need to do is take out the flare you made.

[HighLander51]

I have been running a Square Deal for 12 years. Put just enough bell in the case to load the bullet. Use a factory round of the same bullet to make a quick seating die and crimp die setting. Check overall length with a caliper. Run the crimp about 1/8 turn beyond factory and then check with the case gage. Also try to knock the bullet out with a puller, it should take 3 to 4 raps if properly crimped.

[DFence]

Using a factory round as a "jig" for lack of better terms makes total sense. I was thinking the same but wanted to see if I was on the right path.

Thanks

[Revoman]

You will love the SDB, a great little press and easy to adjust as you will soon find.

I would suggest that once you get everything gelled and how you like it, take some finite measurements with a caliper, write them down and keep them in a memorable, safe spot for future reference. (Your loading log book would be a good choice.) That way if the dies are changed or adjusted for something else, or accidentally bumped, you can revert back to the same settings very easily for any of the calibers that you shoot.

I have also found that it's helpful to buy one of the adjustable knobs for the powder. ebay has them usually. Some will say to go to the Depot and buy a plastic 'rose handle'. while that works, it does not have the capability to approximate a repeat powder load. The knobs I'm talking about have graduations on them and you can easily adjust by counting back or forward each graduation to get you very close to where you were for any one of you loads after adjusting for a different load. Like 2.7gr for 38 going back to 5gr for 357 magnum by counting the graduations.

Polishing the flaring/powder drop tube will help a lot too. Sometimes Dillon doesn't finish them quite right and they will hang up. Just high polish with Flitz or Simichrome to smooth it out and it will function much better.

Any other questions, just PM me and if I can help, I will.

[DFence]

Awesome advice. Thanks!