Thanks to everyone for the insight on my earlier post this year. I've done some reading recommended from you, and my friend is currently teaching me on his Dillon. I've decided to save my remaining 1000 rounds of brass and when I get down to 250 I'll be ordering my own Dillion. Until then I'll be slowly accumulating the components so I'm ready to go when that time comes. I'm so excited to be more self reliant doing my own 357 magnum loads. While I can still find 357 magnum, it's becoming more niche and at a buck a round or close to it I just felt now was the time to start relying on myself for my favorite round. I look forward to learning more from you all as I look into powder options and primers soon.

Which model of Dillon? There is a long wait on certain models. You can call their CS and get an idea of the wait time. 1-800-223-4570.

I bought a 450 in 1984 and later updated it to a 550b around 2000. I bought it at a gun store for $189 and the next month they went customer direct for $169. The 550c is currently $619 and I expect a price increase at the first of the year!

I have friends with the Square Deal presses for each handgun cartridge they load. But there are conversion kits for them too.

My recommendation is to buy any conversion kits you might need, much sooner than later. When I bought my 450 I bought every shell plate except 8mm Lebel and 45 Auto Rim and most powder funnels in the next six months. They were around $15; they are now $70. 357 Sig/40 S&W/10mm didn't exist back then. In the last year I bought the plate kit and waited about a month and 357 Sig Carbide dies were a 16 or 17 month wait!

I know it's easy for me to spend your money, but the prices are climbing much faster than the official inflation rate!

By the way, My F-I-L has two 1050's (now $2299, he paid less than $900 each, when he bought in the 90's). Everything about them is fantastic, except for two things: The Price increases and the Conversion's prices!

When they came out with the 750 (now $814), I thought about replacing my 550. But I'm now at 21 conversion kits ($115 each). The new press and that many conversions would cost right about $3000! (the 650 had primer feed problems! I don't know if there is an update to make a used one into a 750)

As soon as you can start loading on any of them, you will be glad yor are!

Ivan

Welcome to the crazy world of handloading/reloading. It seems you are jumping in with both feet going right for the Dillon progressive press.

As for brass, if you want to buy factory ammo for the brass buy the least expensive ammo you can find with a name brand brass case. No need to spend extra money for a high quality SD round just for the brass.

Unfortunately component prices are now prohibitive but at lease they are somewhat available unlike 9 months to a year ago. If you buy online be sure you check out the site first. There are many scam sites nowadays. Be careful of the site who has all the different primers in stock at a really good price. Like the old saying, if it sounds to good to be true.....

It's very good to have a mentor showing you how to load. Seeing it done and why is the best way to learn quickly. Safety first and don't forget to have fun...

Good luck!

__________________
Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

I am torn between the Square Deal B and the XL650, I see the benefits of both and my friend has a XL650 so that is what I am leaning towards. I do like the compact nature of the Square Deal B though.

Also, I only plan to reload 357 magnum so I will not be getting other templates for it. My wife is from China and is very anti-gun, she is open-minded enough to see why I want to do this but I only own my 686 and the only other gun I plan to own is a 12 gauge shotgun for hunting exclusively. We both like Duck so I convinced her on the 12 gauge being a useful tool which is cool, she is warming up to the idea of guns quickly which is good. Small victories for now, but in terms of reloading, 357 magnum is the only one worth it for me. If I did get a third gun it would be a 22 long rifle revolver or rifle to teach my daughter and that is so cheap I would just buy the ammo for that.

Lot depends on how much you shoot, how time constrained you are and how much space you have.

Not much advantage to the 650.750 unless u get the case feeder and possibly the bullet feeder. It is also a much more complex/complicated machine.

The SDB lacks leverage, but I haven't found that to be a problem with 357s. It is also easy to work on.

FWIW,

Paul

If you are anticipating routinely shooting more than 500 rounds of 357 Magnum ammo per month the Dillon may save you some time... But not much in the way of money.

A single stage or turret press is much more likely to suffice. And would probably make any load development a bit easier? Just an IMHO.

Cheers!

P.S. Where (when & how) do you plan to acquire your Small Pistol Magnum Primers?

My buddy mentioned potentially starting with a single stage, does Dillon make those? I like their lifetime guarantee a lot, which is a big part of why I want one. I am slowly in the process of acquiring 2-3000 primers from various sources. The same goes for bullets and powder.

Would the 550B perhaps be closer to what I would need for single stage?

Finding any 357 Magnum factory ammo in "name brand brass cases" at a rea$onable price is easier said than done now-a-days... Regrettably!

Capitol Cartridge seemed to have "washed & polished" 357 Magnum brass currently available: I have purchased from them before with no problems.

Good Luck!

P.S. It is also time to think about choosing the method one intends to use to reprocess the cases... Plenty of suggestions & threads on this forum.

P.P.S. RCBS also has a "lifetime warranty" and their Customer Service rivals Dillon's in the eyes of many... Including me, for what that's worth.

I have two 550Bs and two Square Deals. Personally I prefer the 550s, and yes you can use the 550 as a single stage. What you have to remember is the the 550 is MANUAL advance when you use it as a progressive. It requires a bit more attention in that mode vs the Square Deal which is auto advance. Some say the 550 is more suseptable to a double charge or squib (no powder charge).

I've had a 550 since the early/mid 80s and wouldn't be without one.

You can substitude small RIFLE primers for small pistol MAGNUM primers if thats all you can find. Just use "Magnum" primer data and work up. Some have had ignition problems, but I haven't.

Also, you can use STANDARD small pistol primers.


FWIW,

Paul

If she's used to liking nice fat domestic farm ducks she will be disappointed with any wild fowl.

A RCBS Rockchucker kit is hard to beat and always handy to have. It may well be enough depending on how much you shoot. How much do you shoot?

A Dillon 550 is also a great setup. I have a 450 converted to 550 and also a newer 550. One for large primers and the other for small primers.

I shoot anywhere between 200-500 rounds a month. I would like to consistently shoot 500 a month, which is about 6,000 a year.

10 or 15 yrs ago, I shot 30,000 - 35,000 rounds in one yr (based on empty 5k primer sleeves) all loaded on my 550. Looking back, I would have never come close to that round count with a "single" stage press. I realize this is only a pittance compared to some of the professional shooters but stated here to show the 550s capabilities.

These days, I load 50 or 100 rnds before I go to the range and wouldn't even do that if I only had a single stage (I've had a Rockchucker since way before the first 550 an only use it sparingly for rifle cartridges). I tire easily both loading and shooting, so my "each session" range time is limited even though I go 3 times a week on average.

I find reloading to be boring and a chore, not recreation - I load so I can shoot. Some people find reloading cathardic - they are the ones that use single stage presses for large volume production (just my humble opinion of course - not a criticism).

FWIW,

Paul

Yeah, at 500 a month I'd want a progressive press. Go for a Dillon 550. That said, if you feel absolutely sure you won't ever want to load other calibers (be advised this is a fantasy), the Square Deal might be the ticket. However, I have no experience with the Square Deal.

These were the guns that consumed most of those 30-35K rnds
.
Freedom Arms 6".475 Linebaugh, Fredom Arms M97 4 1/4" .45 Colt, and three Smith & Wesson 4" M329s .44 Mag.

The SDB has a small "footprint" and is harder to use than the others esp with large hands. I do have one in 38 sp.. It is going down the road sometime soon. I also have 2 550C large and small primers. Then there are the 2 750s. slight upgrade over the 650s..also large and small primers. I have a case feeder that I switch from one to the other. Personally if you are learning on a 650...buy what you learned on. You may have a problem going from the full progressive 650/750 to the semi progressive 550. I do forget to turn the turret on the 550 when starting out on them. I also have a 1050 and it is fully progressive with casefeeder but only use it once a year to load a few 1000 45 autos. If and when you go to reloading rifle ammo the acquisition of a single stage(RCBS RC) or Turret press(Redding T7) would be advantageous. 223 loads fine on a 650....longer like 30-06 is ok but loses a bit of time due to case wobble. Understand that I like fully progressives and yes, they cost more but with a little cleaning and care you will never lose money on quality reloading presses. That SDB I have cost me about 130 dollars at auction a few months back. I should get double that when I sell it. It loads fine but there just isn't 'nuff room for my hands around the press.

I had one of the FA revolvers in 475. 30-40 rounds at a time shooting it was enough for me.LOL course 10 rounds of 45-70 in a Contender was way more than I needed too

When I get into the mood to reload, I have too many calibers to justify a progressive. The costs of conversions would eat me alive. My time is my money, and all I need to do to change caliber on my single-stage press is swap dies and shell holder. The plus side is I don't need large volumes of ammo, just small volumes of specialized ammo.

I have a SDB for 357. As mentioned above, the working space for placing cases and bullets is on the meager side, particularly if you have large hands and I do.
Knowing what I do now and with many years of loading various handgun and rifle cartridges behind me, I wish I'd gone with the 550. I view the manual advance as an asset at this point, having been with a good friend while he loaded on his 550.
The SDB will definitely get the job done, but remember it is for handgun cartridges only, you'll need a different press if you ever move in to rifle stuff. The 550 will do them both.

__________________
I'm a plinker by choice.

Freedom Arms revolvers are so cool 😎 I hear they are the cream of the crop of revolvers.

I think I'll either go 650 because that's what I'm learning to use now or the 550. Luckily I have a few months to learn while I accumulate components and learn even more from my friend.

Paul 105...I really like that 45 Colt. One really nice looking right length revolver. Great caliber too. I have a 550 Conversion for the Colt round. My wife's shooting revolver is a Blackhawk 4 5/8 inch 45 Colt/ACP combo. I load some light ones for her with the 200 gr bullet. The house round is a standard Unique load with a 255 SWC.

You say you want to shoot 500 rounds a month but how much time do you want to spend loading those 500? Once you get an XL750 dialed in you can load those 500 rounds in about an hour.
Like I say whenever this topic comes up, you will always find a use for a single stage press, even if you do most of your loading on a progressive. Progressives aren't all that great for load development. It's too easy to skip or repeat steps when trying to load a few cases each at different powder charges. You can also keep a single stage set up as a helper for the progressive with an extra sizing die with the decapper removed, or a collet bullet puller, a decapping die, etc.

Then again, you could do all this stuff with a good quality turret press.
My take on the XL750 vs the 550C: The 750 has a better primer feed system. It has a basic case feeder and can be upgraded with an automatic system. With five die stations it can run a three die pistol set plus the powder measure as well as an accessory like a powder cop or bullet feeder. It can load about 500 rounds an hour out of the box, maybe 800 rounds an hour with add-ons. It auto-indexes with every pull of the handle. When set up correctly, it is impossible to double charge a case.

The RL550C can easily keep up with your 500 rounds a month but it will load them a little slower. You have to feed the cases by hand and index the shell plate manually. There is the possibility of double charging a case with this system. The tool heads only hold four dies but the conversion kits and tool heads are much cheaper.
If you were going to load modest round counts of several cartridges the 550 is more economical. If you are loading larger quantities of a smaller number of cartridges the 750 starts to make more sense. I left out the RL1100 and Super 1050 from the comparison because they are much higher volume machines with much higher price tags.
I bought the 750 and to be honest it's always been a little more machine than I need, even when I used to shoot 600-800 rounds a month back before 2020. Now that components have become so expensive I shoot a lot less and only fire up the Dillon every few months. I load all my center-fire rifle except for 5.56 on a single stage Rockchucker. I also use it for a bunch of other tasks which is why I suggest having a single stage as well.

Paul in Nevada makes some good points. I've had about every quality(some less so)made reloading tools over the course of my reloading "career" if thats what you call it. I have kinda migrated to using just a few machines. I have reasons for choosing what I use now that may not fit other people's ideals. My choices are based on quality and re-saleability(I'm old). The choice of the Dillon's is two fold. I can always sell my Dillons for more than I spent and to be honest I don't like to spend a lot of time reloading. In my teens and early 20s I loaded a LOT. LOT was about 50,000 ( more) shotshells a year for our pigeon shooting business. Plus 1000s of rifle and pistols every year. Wore out more than 150 lb of surplus Hodgdon powder in 8 years. Bunch of rifles too. So less time in front of a press means a lot to me ergo 1050 750 550s and Spolar and PW shotshell presses. I haven't had a Rock Chucker for years. Wore one out swaging once. Just not enough to 'em for that. But I do have a couple A2s I use. I consider the Redding T7 turret and single stage UltiMag presses the best quality reasonably priced presses made today. Had an Ulti Mag but the A2 did the same job. There are other turrets out there but hard to beat the T7. I've used the Lee CC Turret and it is ok for most pistol rounds and I think the Lyman Turret may be ok. I haven't used the new one. Guess a little long winded but what I'm saying is at this time...buy smart. Think of the future and get stuff that REALLY work for you. And if in the future you decide reloading may not be for you quality and brand sells. And believe it or not a good progressive will always sell

After consulting with my friend and bringing up some of the points you all bring up, he said I may be better with a single stage press as I exclusively shoot 357 magnum. He says that his press is more versatile and easier to use though, so I am kind of torn. I guess I still need to do more learning on his and see if I know someone with a single stage to compare the two.

Figure out how long it takes you to load your 500 rounds and then at least triple it or maybe quadruple it or even quintuple it to get your single stage loading times.

My most shot gun. RCBS 270gr SAA at 900 fps, Lee 320gr FNGC, RCBS 320gr SWC both right at 1,140 fps and POI 1" higher than 270/900 at 25 yds. Lots of versatility in a handy shootable package.

Sorry for the thread creep. Back to original discussion.

Dillon has discontinued the 650 and replaced it with the 750. I read that one of the design changes in the 750 was to change the primer feed to one like (if not the same) as the 550s.

Anyway if stuck on 650, call dillon and ask about changes 650 to 750. A used 650 would always be an option although might have to wait for one to show up.

Paul

Just make a list of the thing$ you WON'T need to buy if you start out with a single stage or a turret press...

Then make a list of those things you will still be able to use later on if you decide a progressive is the way to go...

Cheers!

I've done that. On average pistol takes about 5 times as long... rifle about 8. The prep time is different and no carbide. This is with a single hole reloading press. BTW the 750 is a bit easier to use because of the primer feed

On the other hand I can sit on the couch with my Lee hand press and size, deprime, and flare and reprime my brass while watching TV or yacking with the wife. Then just use a loading block and my RCBS powder measure and charge them and then seat and crimp on the press. It's really not too bad. However I wouldn't want to do 500 that way, at least not often.

The little Lee hand press can come in handy, especially for working up loads. I just take it along with the prepared brass, the seat/crimp die and bullets out to my shooting bench along with some of my chosen powder, my scale and some Lee dippers and finalize my load.

I still vote for a Dillon 550........ and a Rockchucker kit and a Lee hand press and Lee powder dippers. Well you get the idea.

Lee Powder Dippers. IMO the best item Lee ever made. I use them quite often with certain cals when just loading a few. I also used 'em with a Dillon AT 500 loading rifle rounds and close to max loads in 357,41 and 44 mag. AT 500 was a single stage press based on the 550 with no bells and whistles

I do like his set up, I guess I can only get a 750 to be comparable to his now.

I'm torn now between the 550 and 750. I feel the 750 will be more similar to what I'm learning on, but the 550 might better suit my needs.

I learned from my dad on his single stage setup.

I started on a Hornady LNL. The key is figuring out how to get your load setup quickly and perfectly. My machine will run quite consistently for 1000’s of rounds as long as I setup correctly.

I would avoid the 550. Too easy to double charge a case and miss it.

The square deal rotates itself would that be ok? I do agree double charge is something I'd like to avoid. Maybe I should just shell out for the 750 even if I don't need that type of capacity. In the long run IF I do get more guns that would probably be best.

I bought the 750 instead of the 550 because I planned to load 9mm, 40, and 223 on it. If all I were going to load was 38/357 the 550 would be plenty.

But let me play devil's advocate in favor of the turret design here. I had a Lee Classic Turret for awhile and it was the mutt's nuts for 38/357. The only thing I disliked about it was the primer feed and the Auto Drum measure. The turret itself was great. With four die stations you can throw powder on the press and seat/crimp in separate steps which to me is the way to go. You can set it to auto-index with every pull of the handle or index manually by removing the index rod. The turrets are dirt cheap and fast to swap so you can leave complete cartridges set up and swap over in seconds. It's really a very smart machine if you don't mind feeding primers by hand (the primer feed system sucks). It's also smaller, lighter, and cheaper than most single stage presses. It will load cartridges up to 338 Lapua in length.

Or, the other end of the spectrum would be the Redding T7. Big, heavy, built like a tank. Seven die stations on removable tool heads but they are 6X the cost of the Lee turrets. You could have a four die 38/357 set, a two die rifle set, and still have room for an accessory die, all on one tool head. RCBS makes a turret that splits the difference with six die stations and optional indexing.

I am going to go with the 750 because it is closest to what I am learning with, seems to be the most idiot-proof, and who knows I may get a 9mm glock someday because I really like them. It just gives me more options and in the end quality/versatility are worth the extra start up cost for a machine I plan to have for life. As some of you mentioned, I say I only want my revolver and a shotgun now, but when I end up getting a Glock or rifle I will be glad to be able to reload for those as well.

You know what comes next ....

About 4 days after I started reloading my own 357 mangnum / 38 Special ammo ... I realized Store Bought Bullets were not going to be cheap enough for my needs ... So ...

The first of many Bullet Moulds were bought and ...
... I jumped into the wonderful hobby of ... Bullet Making !

Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

357 & 38 ammo is not cheap, now and the brass is just as bad.

Primers are another problem but if you can find these two items,
the rest is a lot easier to find to finish your loads.

I shoot a lot of lead 158 gr swc style bullets for target work , while some prefer copper or plated bullets if getting into higher fps loads.

110 & 125 JHP bullets will work for light target work, if you can find them at a good price.

Have fun and take it easy for the first few months and double check everything.

I am saving my final 1,000 casings from my S&B/Norma to reload those. When those are no longer usable I will buy some empty brass, I hear you can reload the same brass up to as much as 20 times, is this correct? Also now that I am gathering components I was wondering whether stick or ball powder is better for a beginner and overall? Thanks in advance!

For pistol you won't really have to worry about stick powder. Most of your first loads will probably be mid range loads anyway. Gotta learn, right? Handgun powders are usually ball and flake. Some flake powders are not as consistent as ball powders. With a progressive start with ball powders if the load is what you are happy with. I still use a lot of 231/HP38. (same ball type powder)

I don't know about the other loaders but I try to use the 357 cases for top level loads, if needed
and use the 38 special for light target loads, since they are a little lower in price to buy.

However there are some that don't like to use the short 38 case in their 357 Magnum
due to the soot and wear to the inside of the cylinder.

20 light target loads might happen but Factory dup. loads with the high pressures
you might only get 4-9 reloads, depending on the case, if defective or
the PSI and how it is worked/crimped, that can shorten case life.

After reading all the posts in this thread to date, I would suggest that you purchase and read several good reloading manuals from cover to cover before deciding on any equipment to purchase. Please develop a thorough understanding of the entire process and the relationship of the various components involved before you make a potentially dangerous mistake. Reloading can be rewarding, but is best approached in baby steps, rather than just trying to start at a level beyond your knowledge and experience. Good luck and stay safe

One last thought and then I'll go quietly.

You can avoid double charges by choosing a load where the powder charge takes up more than half the case (a double charge will spill over the side of the case). Won't prevent squibs but if paying attention when shooting squibs should be easily noticed.

Must have in my mind is a KMS press light set - avail for 650/750 and 550 (have them on both of my 550s).

here's a link for the 65/750

UFO 650 Reloading Press Light for Dillon XL650 & XL750
– KMS2

Paul