Kiwi cop
Member
My new Square Deal B arrived last week. I opened the box and used the quick setup guide to check everything was there. While not going through all the little bits sealed in plastic it looked good. I put it aside until I could dedicate a couple of hours to put it together. Yesterday was the day!
Everything I had read from both Dillon and the local importer said that the press came fully set up for a single caliber. It wasn't. Even the Dillon manual said the conversion kit box would be empty (nope, full of strange to my eyes tubes) and there would be two dummy cartridges, one with a dummy primer seated by the press and another with a loaded bullet showing where the dies were set. Both were missing as was the fourth "spare" brass pin.
First off I fitted the mounts for the loaded bullet catcher and the primer catcher. Then I bolted the press to my bench. So far so good. Next i set up the powder measure arm and the powder measure, making sure I followed each step in the set up manual properly. Then the fun began.
I opened the caliber conversion box and set the shell plate in position. On working the press the shell plate advanced then sprung back again. Some online research found the reason, the ball detent was missing. Hunting through all those small sealed plastic bits I found the ball and the loaded round ejector wire and installed both. Now the shell plate refused to turn when the ram was cycled!
Some careful experimenting found that the pawl assembly was loose and needed to be pushed by hand to make the shell plate advance. Some more online research revealed the bolt on the rear of the ram that gave access to the pawl assembly screw. Only problem was my bench was in the way of removing the bolt.
So I unbolt the whole press and carefully turn it over to access the bolt on the back of the ram. The primer assembly return spring caught on my sweatshirt sleeve and was pulled out so that it was now almost a foot in length (see pic).
A phone call to the importer I bought the press from revealed (surprise, surprise) no spare springs or kits. I did get a contact name at Dillon for requesting a replacement spring though.
With the pawl assembly tightened I worked the ram and saw the shell plate was moving as it should I bolted the press back to the bench then took a break.
After dinner I went out and found the place in the manual for changing dies to another calibre. Removing the powder measure, the top plate and inserting the dies I tightened everything down again. With that completed, and with the night chill falling (hey it's mid-winter here) I once more left everything and sent off an e-mail to Dillon for the replacement spring.
This morning I received a reply, the spring was on its way by USPS. The last item I had mailed to me by Amazon took six days to reach me. The time before that it took six weeks!
This afternoon I went back out to my shed and followed the manual's instructions for changing the primer system from small to large. I tried to cut the stretched spring and reuse it but it flew off the press to who knows where. A spring from a ballpoint pen was too weak for the job, so I left the priming system as it was and proceeded to set the dies.
A digital caliber, old case and bullet soon saw the seating die set up, while a loaded round from my store allowed me to set the crimp. Running my old dummy case and bullet through the crimp die looked good so I threw some puwder into the measure and set the powder drop. I got a little confused at one point on which way to turn the adjustment bolt, but soon had five consecutive powder drops right on the weight I wanted. By now the old case I was using to operate the powder die was belled so far it was never going to be used again!
At the same time I also set up my new Pro 1000, which until the 9mm conversion kit arrives for the square deal will handle loading that round. Eventually it'll become my .38 Special press. While the one I saw set up in the LGS came with the auto drum powder measure this one had the old auto disc unit. I have to admit, setting up the dies to seat 124 gn PC lead bullets was easy. It was so familiar. I found three Lee micro charge bars in my box of old Lee gear, one of which was marked close to the powder charge I wanted. I also swapped out the chain reset for a spring reset on one of the old auto disc units I had in the box.
Setting the powder charge was a bit more fiddly than the one on the Dillon, and the dummy round, at 1.145" with the bullet seated beyond the second lube groove, is longer than I am used to loading, but the length Hodgden gave for 124 gn lead bullet and Tightgroup powder was 1.150", so I left it.
A mate has two SDB presses and is looking for a spare primer return spring I can use until the replacement one gets here.
And. despite the issues, when the time comes for a dedicated 9mm press again I just might be in the market for a second SDB.
Everything I had read from both Dillon and the local importer said that the press came fully set up for a single caliber. It wasn't. Even the Dillon manual said the conversion kit box would be empty (nope, full of strange to my eyes tubes) and there would be two dummy cartridges, one with a dummy primer seated by the press and another with a loaded bullet showing where the dies were set. Both were missing as was the fourth "spare" brass pin.
First off I fitted the mounts for the loaded bullet catcher and the primer catcher. Then I bolted the press to my bench. So far so good. Next i set up the powder measure arm and the powder measure, making sure I followed each step in the set up manual properly. Then the fun began.
I opened the caliber conversion box and set the shell plate in position. On working the press the shell plate advanced then sprung back again. Some online research found the reason, the ball detent was missing. Hunting through all those small sealed plastic bits I found the ball and the loaded round ejector wire and installed both. Now the shell plate refused to turn when the ram was cycled!
Some careful experimenting found that the pawl assembly was loose and needed to be pushed by hand to make the shell plate advance. Some more online research revealed the bolt on the rear of the ram that gave access to the pawl assembly screw. Only problem was my bench was in the way of removing the bolt.
So I unbolt the whole press and carefully turn it over to access the bolt on the back of the ram. The primer assembly return spring caught on my sweatshirt sleeve and was pulled out so that it was now almost a foot in length (see pic).
A phone call to the importer I bought the press from revealed (surprise, surprise) no spare springs or kits. I did get a contact name at Dillon for requesting a replacement spring though.
With the pawl assembly tightened I worked the ram and saw the shell plate was moving as it should I bolted the press back to the bench then took a break.
After dinner I went out and found the place in the manual for changing dies to another calibre. Removing the powder measure, the top plate and inserting the dies I tightened everything down again. With that completed, and with the night chill falling (hey it's mid-winter here) I once more left everything and sent off an e-mail to Dillon for the replacement spring.
This morning I received a reply, the spring was on its way by USPS. The last item I had mailed to me by Amazon took six days to reach me. The time before that it took six weeks!
This afternoon I went back out to my shed and followed the manual's instructions for changing the primer system from small to large. I tried to cut the stretched spring and reuse it but it flew off the press to who knows where. A spring from a ballpoint pen was too weak for the job, so I left the priming system as it was and proceeded to set the dies.
A digital caliber, old case and bullet soon saw the seating die set up, while a loaded round from my store allowed me to set the crimp. Running my old dummy case and bullet through the crimp die looked good so I threw some puwder into the measure and set the powder drop. I got a little confused at one point on which way to turn the adjustment bolt, but soon had five consecutive powder drops right on the weight I wanted. By now the old case I was using to operate the powder die was belled so far it was never going to be used again!
At the same time I also set up my new Pro 1000, which until the 9mm conversion kit arrives for the square deal will handle loading that round. Eventually it'll become my .38 Special press. While the one I saw set up in the LGS came with the auto drum powder measure this one had the old auto disc unit. I have to admit, setting up the dies to seat 124 gn PC lead bullets was easy. It was so familiar. I found three Lee micro charge bars in my box of old Lee gear, one of which was marked close to the powder charge I wanted. I also swapped out the chain reset for a spring reset on one of the old auto disc units I had in the box.
Setting the powder charge was a bit more fiddly than the one on the Dillon, and the dummy round, at 1.145" with the bullet seated beyond the second lube groove, is longer than I am used to loading, but the length Hodgden gave for 124 gn lead bullet and Tightgroup powder was 1.150", so I left it.
A mate has two SDB presses and is looking for a spare primer return spring I can use until the replacement one gets here.
And. despite the issues, when the time comes for a dedicated 9mm press again I just might be in the market for a second SDB.
