Where to buy Dillon Presses?

Mr-X

Mr-X

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I searched the forum and came up with nothing on the topic so I hope I am not asking a question that has been asked 100 times over.

I have decided that after loading about 5000 rounds of .45 and 9mm on my Lee Turret Press that its time to treat myself with a Dillon progressive!

My problem is that I cant find a dealer in Alberta that stocks Dillon presses. I found them on The Shooting Edge and Wild West website but They only have a couple in stock and they are not the one I looking for.

I am actually looking for the Square Deal B in 9mm or .45 and it seems to be harder to find that I thought. So I figured I would reach out to my fellow gun nutz for some help!
 
You should try Custom Reloading Services here in Vancouver. I am not sure if they have the Square Deal B in stock but they are awesome guys to deal with and are a site supporter.
If not try Murray Gardner and shoot him an email to see if he has any Square Deals.

I looked at the Square Deal B and I decided to go with a 550 cause the costs for both presses with conversions, dies and ect parts came to around the same. The big difference is the fact the 550 can do rifle rounds which to me is a big plus and changing over conversions is easier than with the Square Deal where you need to remove 4 bolts and remove the die bodies, while with the 550 I can remove two pins and slide in another conversion and be ready in less than a few minutes.
 
243pete said:
You should try Custom Reloading Services here in Vancouver. I am not sure if they have the Square Deal B in stock but they are awesome guys to deal with and are a site supporter.
If not try Murray Gardner and shoot him an email to see if he has any Square Deals.

I looked at the Square Deal B and I decided to go with a 550 cause the costs for both presses with conversions, dies and ect parts came to around the same. The big difference is the fact the 550 can do rifle rounds which to me is a big plus and changing over conversions is easier than with the Square Deal where you need to remove 4 bolts and remove the die bodies, while with the 550 I can remove two pins and slide in another conversion and be ready in less than a few minutes.
Click to expand...

The 550 was my first choice but I am not a big fan of the manual indexing shell plate.
 
You are correct, the 550B does not auto index. But that does not slow me down. I can get about 450 - 550 high quality rounds an hour on the 550B spinning the shellplate by hand. Both are great machines, you will be served well by either.
Auto indexing is nice but not a deal breaker IMO.
 
Mr-X said:
I searched the forum and came up with nothing on the topic so I hope I am not asking a question that has been asked 100 times over.

I have decided that after loading about 5000 rounds of .45 and 9mm on my Lee Turret Press that its time to treat myself with a Dillon progressive!

My problem is that I cant find a dealer in Alberta that stocks Dillon presses. I found them on The Shooting Edge and Wild West website but They only have a couple in stock and they are not the one I looking for.

I am actually looking for the Square Deal B in 9mm or .45 and it seems to be harder to find that I thought. So I figured I would reach out to my fellow gun nutz for some help!
Click to expand...

Ordering directly from Dillon is a good option. A Square deal comes in a manageable sized box ..arrived in Ontario in 5 days from Arizona..and will cost about the same as it would in Canada if you found a dealer who had one in stock.
A SDB is an excellent choice for handgun cartridges ...fast and easy
 
sdlonyer said:
Ordering directly from Dillon is a good option. A Square deal comes in a manageable sized box ..arrived in Ontario in 5 days from Arizona..and will cost about the same as it would in Canada if you found a dealer who had one in stock.
A SDB is an excellent choice for handgun cartridges ...fast and easy
Click to expand...

Have you ordered from them before? I figured the shipping would be expensive.
 
Mr-X said:
The 550 was my first choice but I am not a big fan of the manual indexing shell plate.
Click to expand...

I've had my 550 for less than 3 weeks and I've done 4000 rounds of 9mm. To me the auto index features of the Square Deal, 650 and 1050 are awesome but I like the manual features of the 550 for just simplicity of use. You can get into a rhythm that loading 100 rounds will only take 15 minutes but for me I like being able to go over what I am doing and not have to worry about having a shell index itself without powder or primer. Plus its so smooth to index that I only push with only the slightest amount of pressure from my thumb.

It really comes down to what you want to do with the press. If you are only gonna load pistol rounds then the Square Deal is the way to go, if you are going to reload pistol and rifle rounds then the 550 is the better route.
 
Since you live in Edmonton have you called P&D or Phoenix Range? Both carry Dillon, not sure of there inventory at the present time.

There are some places that sell out of the states that can be cheaper than Dillon itself. Biggest thing is you have to make sure they can ship by USPS and not UPS or FEDEX as both those two are scam artists when it comes time for the brokerage fee's.
 
Mr-X said:
Have you ordered from them before? I figured the shipping would be expensive.
Click to expand...

I have ordered multiple times from Dillon. Sometimes I get nailed with having to pay duty another times not. My last order was for $146 and change even after paying $24 in duty and exchange compared to what I would have payed here locally I still saved $22..and I receive get my order faster than I would if I have my local shop order.
 
Forgot to mention that most of the US suppliers that ship to Canada usually have a sale in October each year. 2 years ago I bought a 550, 6 caliber conversion kits, spare parts, 6 extra primer tubes and shipped to me by USPS all for the same price as walking into P&D in Edmonton and buying the 550 alone with one conversion kit.
 
Just an update incase someone runs into the same dilemma I did...

So I ended up ordering the Square Deal B press in 9mm, .45ACP conversion kit, quick change kit, 4 spare primer pick up tubes and a primer flip tray direct from Dillon.

Shipping came out to $61 (shipped to Edmonton) but the prices on there site were better than any other store I spoke too so I did save a little buying right from Dillon which is always a bonus!
 
For those too new to remember, Dillon used to be mail order only. After many years, they relented and began offering dealer pricing, barely.

A current dealer can correct me if I'm off the mark, but Dillon used to discount the cost of presses and other accesories by only 5-10%. Tools and second party merchandise wasn't discounted at all. The premise was the storefront would have a few display models, but would keep just a minimum stock of anything on hand and order as required.

The storefronts made a little money, and could offer a better product than Lee.

A few operations like Brian Enos set up as essentially phantom storefronts, trouble shooting orders for customers (often saving them money and agravation in the process) and shipping direct from Dillon.

International dealers get screwed with shipping costs and timelines. It's damned hard to make a buck when the margin is trivial and the cost of shipping is killer. The only model that makes sense is like P&D or CRAFM who can use the Dillon line to bring in more walk in trade, or Custom Reloading who need a steady supply of parts so they add the line as a retail item.
 
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