Yard Sale Stuff

[dennie]

Saw a yard sale in today's paper that sounded interesting. Went to check it out, and along with the usual junk was a little used late '80s Dillon Square Deal Press that was factory set up to run .38spl DEWC bullets. It came with an as new Dillon Eliminator scale, 160 rds of nice Win. .38spl brass, about 200rds of 148gr DEWC bullets, and couple of books on loading. I think I did ok for $150 for all. Didn't need it at all, but it looked interesting enough to play with. I was thinking of replacing my Lee scale, so that worked out. Gotta make a place for it and see if I can make her run! Will check to see how much it would cost to switch to .45acp. That would be nice.
dennie

 

[RICHGCOOP]

Nice deal.

RICHGCOOP

 

[shaner]

sounds good

 

[AUSSIEBOB]

Good buy

 

[Lost Sheep]

I hear about these finds all the time. You got a good deal. A complete Square Deal new today lists for $380. Dillon will refurbish it for you (lifetime warranty), but if accessories are missing I don't know what their policy is. I have heard that if actual PARTS of the core machine are missing, they are covered by the warranty.

If you don't want to deal with it, I will take it for your price, pay shipping and you can keep the scale.

I don't expect you will take me up on it, but it is a sincere offer.

You made a good deal. I have just about given up on progressives because I had trouble keeping track of multiple simultaneous operations. But I have always wanted to try a Dillon.

Lost Sheep

 

[dennie]

Thanx for the comments. I got to play with it a little last night. Seems like it will work fine, I just need a learning period on adjustments. I did not get it mounted where I wanted it, just screwed it to a piece of 2x4 and clamped it to my workbench. Can probably work with it and get it mounted tomorrow. I have my Lee Classis TP to use, if needed. It works fine, just wanted to try something different.
Lost Sheep, should it not work out I will contact you. I really only wanted the scale when I saw it. The scale is $70 bucks new, plus shipping!
dennie

 

[Sax.45]

That was a great deal, Dillon has a lifetime no BS warranty, I have a 550B, been using for over 20 years. Around here we have a once a year community yard sale, They even print out little maps so they are easy to find. The wife was off so we went looking. Got lucky the first place we stoped an old gent had reloading equiptment or sale. I got a old Lyman #55 powder measure, Lyman scale loading blocks and 2 old antique 12 gauge reloading tools for 20.00 bucks. Sometimes it pays to check out the yard sales, Ya never know...

 

[dennie]

Got to play a little more with the press today. Tried loading a couple dummy rounds, I thought would be easy enough for a dummy like me, but nope, I was getting no expansion on the case mouth. It was shaving a ring off the lead bullets when seating them. After several attempts to adjust this, with no difference, I found the expander measured only .355" diameter. Not good. It would seat the plated bullets I have with no problem. I will contact Dillon and get the correct expander, then try again. I will try to get the press mounted where I want it today.
dennie

 

[dennie]

Finally got the press mounted. I am totally unfamiliar with progressive presses and this one was wearing me out! Powder would not feed consistently, primers would only feed when they felt like it. Then they might feed up, down, or sideways. Today, something was hanging up in the primer feed system and it was shooting primers across the basement! The powder would throw a couple good throws, then start throwing charges all over the place. Then the powder charge kept getting lower and lower, and finally would not drop any powder! Time to stop and think about this. :roll: I noticed that powder was sticking to the inside of the hopper. Finally took hopper off and emptied it out. I ran several new drier sheets inside and out of the hopper and this nearly eliminated the static. It now throws consistent charges of Bullseye. Cool! Pretending to know what I was doing, today I took the priming system off and cleaned out the dirt and crud. This really helped, but the priming still sucks. I did manage to load about 150 rounds today. When I bought the press it had been stored for many years in the original box made of styrofoam.(sp?) Possibly could be where the static came from. Plus all the little white foam balls all over everything. Anyhoo, we are getting there. I read today that Dillon upgraded the priming system on this press and will send the upgraded parts for free if I call. Sounds good.
Later, dennie

 

[ErikO]

I love driving around areas with older populations. Improperly advertised estate sales are awesome. I happened across one where a guy was liquidating 30+ years of accumulation to move from St Louis to Florida. Had it been a payday weekend, I would have scored an Ithica, several Humback rifles and shotguns. I've also gotten great deals like the OP's (not as good, but close!) on reloading gear.

This stuff is out there, gotta kick over some rocks to find it sometimes.

 

[dennie]

I did manage to load some good rounds, but the priming system will probably need the upgrade. And yes, this thing sure is busy compared to my Classic Turret Press.
dennie

 

[dennie]

Finally have the primer system working on the SD. I cleaned the primer tube inside. I then cut the bottom straight wire off an old clothes hanger. I cut the wire leaving a small hook on one end. I then cut the length so the hook would catch the wire just before I ran out of primers. I just set this wire on top of the primers in the tube and load away. Got the idea from the loaders with the primer warning. I have loaded about 100 rounds so far without primer feed issues.
dennie

 

[Sgt Garcia]

dennie,

Sounds like you have an older SD that needs some upgrades. I've had zero issues with the new style powder measures and the primer systems problems were corrected many years ago. Call Dillon, tell them what you have and let them help.

I don't think there's a better press for handgun cartridge loading for the money. I bought my first SD over 20 years ago and now have several set up ready to go when I need them.

Dennis.