Lucked into a Dillon XL750 setup in 223/556 with case feeder. I plan on loading 556,762, 7mm rem mag, 357 mag, and 9mm to start. What accessories/parts should I purchase? I have already purchased a mr. bullet feeder, case feeder plates, Hornady Reloading manual, and a swageit. I plan on running one tool head for processing and one for loading. I have heard good things about the inline fab mounts. What height do you have/recommend? Dies? I'm not trying to load 1/4 MOA ammo, which is why I opted for progressive over a single stage. Thanks!
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New Dillon XL750. What Parts/Accessories?
- Thread starter brennon272
- Start date
Press height is kind of like workbench height in woodworking - It's an individual preference, and whatever you pick you'll end up getting used to. The one thing to consider is ceiling clearance for the casefeeder and bullet feeder.
It sounds like you have a good start, and accessories are a whole other rabbit hole, so start reloading with what you have and grab items as you think you need them or think they would ease your process.
I'm assuming you have a scale, case prep tools, etc...
It sounds like you have a good start, and accessories are a whole other rabbit hole, so start reloading with what you have and grab items as you think you need them or think they would ease your process.
I'm assuming you have a scale, case prep tools, etc...
no scale or case prep tools. Kind of fell backwards into the press. Leaning towards ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning, as I can use it for other gun parts as well.
If you are brand new to reloading, you'll need at least a reliable scale, a good dial or digital calipers, and a comparator set or case gauges. Plus, dies for each caliber, and components (primer, powder, brass, bullets).
Search and read through this forum, there has been a spike in begining reloader threads over the past couple months. I find googling "topic + site:snipershide.com" to be more efficient. Here's a good one to start...
www.snipershide.com
Search and read through this forum, there has been a spike in begining reloader threads over the past couple months. I find googling "topic + site:snipershide.com" to be more efficient. Here's a good one to start...
Seeking to avoid your "Reload Rookie" mistakes ...
I am about to retire (Woohoo). I shoot primarily long-range with (mostly) 6.5 Creedmoor and 300 WinMag, although I also occasionally shoot my .308, .224 Valkyrie, 6.5 Grendel, and when I want to beat the crap out of my shoulder ... a .338 Lapua. I've only shot factory ammo, mostly Hornady AG...
www.snipershide.com
+1 to what T-Rex said.
Search every combo of "new", "reloader", "reloading", etc... and then finish the search with "snipers hide".
Read all of the threads, and you'll start to get a good idea of what you'll need.
and just an FYI... Dillon's can make extremely accurate ammo
Search every combo of "new", "reloader", "reloading", etc... and then finish the search with "snipers hide".
Read all of the threads, and you'll start to get a good idea of what you'll need.
and just an FYI... Dillon's can make extremely accurate ammo
For rifle rounds, or more specifically, precision loads or if you need to trim your cases, then running two heads is a good idea. If you're doing bulk rifle and you know you don't have to trim, or if you're doing pistol calibers, you DON'T need to run two heads. The best part about running pistol calibers I you can do it all in one go without case lube.
I load 9mm and .357/.38 on my 550 all in one go. I can usually do around 500rds an hour if I'm in a good groove.
Inline Fab mounts are LEGIT. I run their medium height mount out in my shop, which is on a 38" tall bench. I wouldn't wanna go any higher unless I had a shorter workbench. I run their flush mount system on my relaoding bench in our office in the house, but that bench is 44" tall, so theres that.
With a case feeder, the press is gonna be really tall, so watch out for clearance. For optimal reloading comfort, I try to position my press so I can easily see in my cases, but I don't have to lean over a ton, and so my arm working the press can move from top to bottom of the press stroke without having to move my upper body. Might wanna take a few measurements and decide from there.
For pistol you want Carbide dies, no exception (IMO). Dillon makes great carbide dies and are easy to clean, but are more expensive. I also have LEE dies that I like, and use RCBS on my 9mm. No problems with any of them and carbide does not require lube.
For rifle, use what you want. For precision, I like Forster FL dies.
Other than that you'll want:
Calipers
Comparator set for rifles
Scale - a Chargemaster works well for me
Plus you need all of your reloading components. bullets/primers/powder/etc
Acquired a wet tumbler instead after reading the rave reviews. Went with the Rebel 17. Any case dryer recommendations that do not tarnish cases? Also thinking about just getting a OHAUS 505 or 10-10 since I am going to be using it to just set the throw on the dillon. On calipers, should I go with Mitutoyo or is that overkill?
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A towel lol.... I've always dry tumbled so no idea
I think there's nothing wrong with that plan. You can find the older Ohaus 505's on ebay
If you end up wanting more precision out of your rifle loads in the future, the only upgrade over an Ohaus would be a AD FX120 autotrickler setup or something like that.
Get the Mitu's. Dial or digital, whatever your fancy. I have both - the digital are easier to use with comparators for measuring headspace and CBTO because you can zero them to 0.000 without getting lost or being off a revolution like the dials can.
Eventually you might want two pairs of calipers anyways. I just got my first pair of Starrett 120-A's and I love them. I could honestly use 3 pairs. Thinking about retiring my trusty General calipers to the shop and getting some Mitu's to sit beside my Starrett's.
I must have gotten lucky, cause the $40 pair of General calipers I bought 9 years ago have been pretty damn solid. They drift just a tad compared to my Starrett's but have always been able to count on them
Good choice on calipers and scale - you'll be happy to have the fx120 when you start reloading for accuracy.
I'd say start with just loading for 223/556 since you already have that conversion kit, and before buying a bunch of toolheads - but you're going to have to be extra vigilant searching for small rifle primers. I ran IMR 8208XBR through the dillon powder throw with +/-.2 extrme spreads on weights, but I also have used accurate 2230 and it seems to meter dead on every time- at least as far as I could tell with a beam scale. Lots of guys running the cheap 55 gr Hornady bullets, but I find it hard to find a bad shooting load with a 69 matchking over some 8208.
When you start/are setting up your dies/the first few sessions - pull all your locator pins and just run one station at a time. Think of it as an upside down turret press, follow one case through each step, and double check your work after each pull, and again when it drops down the finish chute. Make sure they all chamber with no resistance or fit a case gauge. Once everything is set, then you can start running a little faster a step at a time (multiple stations at once, casefeeder, etc). You don't want to have to break down 100 rounds at once because you were in a groove and missed something...
I'd say start with just loading for 223/556 since you already have that conversion kit, and before buying a bunch of toolheads - but you're going to have to be extra vigilant searching for small rifle primers. I ran IMR 8208XBR through the dillon powder throw with +/-.2 extrme spreads on weights, but I also have used accurate 2230 and it seems to meter dead on every time- at least as far as I could tell with a beam scale. Lots of guys running the cheap 55 gr Hornady bullets, but I find it hard to find a bad shooting load with a 69 matchking over some 8208.
When you start/are setting up your dies/the first few sessions - pull all your locator pins and just run one station at a time. Think of it as an upside down turret press, follow one case through each step, and double check your work after each pull, and again when it drops down the finish chute. Make sure they all chamber with no resistance or fit a case gauge. Once everything is set, then you can start running a little faster a step at a time (multiple stations at once, casefeeder, etc). You don't want to have to break down 100 rounds at once because you were in a groove and missed something...
Also, the rt1500 trimmer is OOS everywhere. Is there a reason to not go with the Bosch/honey badger setup?
I also have an XL750 + MBF, I really only use mine for pistol though... boatloads, I can turn out 800+rds of match-grade 9mm an hour easy. I have toyed with the idea of getting the stuff for the caliber conversion for rifle stuff though, but I have a single-stage setup just for rifle so I haven't gotten around to it.
A friend of mine who is a kick ass shooter and who actually got me into PRS shooting and bolt guns loads all his shit on an S1050, and he hangs with most sponsored shooters every match he hits. Watching how his setup rolls makes me kind of jealous actually.
I totally recommend the Inline Fab Ultramount, full height, it's perfect height if you're around 6' tall. Lyman makes a Universal Press Mount too that is actually legit (it's almost like it could've been made by Inline Fab). I also highly recommend the Inline Fab Ergo roller handle, head and shoulders better than the stocker or Dillon's roller handle.
Dillon dies suck, don't bother. Get decent dies like Redding, Hornady Match Grade, even Lee (the Lee Universal decapping die is awesome BTW).
For a case dryer I have the Frankford Arsenal one that's like $45 off Amazon and it's fine (they're all just really food dehydrators anyways). It's worth the couple bucks, I'll always chuckle when guys with a ton of pricey gear are still drying their brass on a towel or pissing off their wives using their stove lol.
I wet tumble with SS pins to clean but have a vibratory tumbler too (mostly for tumbling off lube), if you can afford both, get both. The dry media vibratory method has it's merits for certain things, but wet tumbling with SS pins pretty much returns your brass to new (Armor All Wash & Wax + a little Lemon Shine).
I'm going to be the bad guy and say you can skip the powder check (unless you'd just feel better), it's nearly impossible to throw a squib/double charge unless you purposely try to with an auto-indexing press, or without making a mess with powder spilling over. You'd have to do something impressively-amazing-stupid to mess this up filling rifle cases. I'd also skip the pricy calipers unless you just really want them, the tolerances we use for precision rifle are tight, but decent $50 calipers will do fine unless you just have to have the best, the targets won't care and your groups won't shrink because of expensive calipers. Honestly, you'll probably never regret having the nice scale, but that's not even really needed either as long as you have one that's accurate enough (legit within 0.1gr) and consistent. With a progressive auto-dropping powder into cases with a pull of the handle you may never be perfectly on your target weight, but +/- .1 - .2gr on average drops aren't unrealistic, some of the newer temp-stable ball powders are your best friend here.
For a bullet puller, get a cheap kinetic bullet puller for when you fuck up or certain tasks, hopefully you won't need it often lol, throw away the dumb collet thingy they come with and just use a single-stage shell holder in it's place, works awesome.
If you're already going progressive, you don't need to get all caught up or get too deep in the weeds with this shit. Some guys nerd out and get WAY too into this and make it overcomplicated, spending more time reloading than shooting. On the rifle side of the house over here, a lot of the guys don't even really understand auto-indexing progressive presses, and in no time you'll probably be making more ammo in a weekend than some guy, who tells you you've sinned against humanity for depriming and sizing at the same time and not uniforming your flash holes, does in a whole year. Truth is, a lot of the extra reloading steps or extra brass prep steps guys do only makes them feel better. You don't have to anneal and trim brass every single firing to get SD's in the single digits or make good ammo.
Guys get so caught up in reloading they seem to forget that unless they're purely shooting Benchrest or F-Class pretty seriously, most of the extra steps mean almost net zero as compared to just going out and practicing and getting good at reading/calling wind! Some of the guys around here will tell you that unless you buy a $5000+ Prometheus, you might as well not even bother reloading hahaha
!
A friend of mine who is a kick ass shooter and who actually got me into PRS shooting and bolt guns loads all his shit on an S1050, and he hangs with most sponsored shooters every match he hits. Watching how his setup rolls makes me kind of jealous actually.
I totally recommend the Inline Fab Ultramount, full height, it's perfect height if you're around 6' tall. Lyman makes a Universal Press Mount too that is actually legit (it's almost like it could've been made by Inline Fab). I also highly recommend the Inline Fab Ergo roller handle, head and shoulders better than the stocker or Dillon's roller handle.
Dillon dies suck, don't bother. Get decent dies like Redding, Hornady Match Grade, even Lee (the Lee Universal decapping die is awesome BTW).
For a case dryer I have the Frankford Arsenal one that's like $45 off Amazon and it's fine (they're all just really food dehydrators anyways). It's worth the couple bucks, I'll always chuckle when guys with a ton of pricey gear are still drying their brass on a towel or pissing off their wives using their stove lol.
I wet tumble with SS pins to clean but have a vibratory tumbler too (mostly for tumbling off lube), if you can afford both, get both. The dry media vibratory method has it's merits for certain things, but wet tumbling with SS pins pretty much returns your brass to new (Armor All Wash & Wax + a little Lemon Shine).
I'm going to be the bad guy and say you can skip the powder check (unless you'd just feel better), it's nearly impossible to throw a squib/double charge unless you purposely try to with an auto-indexing press, or without making a mess with powder spilling over. You'd have to do something impressively-amazing-stupid to mess this up filling rifle cases. I'd also skip the pricy calipers unless you just really want them, the tolerances we use for precision rifle are tight, but decent $50 calipers will do fine unless you just have to have the best, the targets won't care and your groups won't shrink because of expensive calipers. Honestly, you'll probably never regret having the nice scale, but that's not even really needed either as long as you have one that's accurate enough (legit within 0.1gr) and consistent. With a progressive auto-dropping powder into cases with a pull of the handle you may never be perfectly on your target weight, but +/- .1 - .2gr on average drops aren't unrealistic, some of the newer temp-stable ball powders are your best friend here.
For a bullet puller, get a cheap kinetic bullet puller for when you fuck up or certain tasks, hopefully you won't need it often lol, throw away the dumb collet thingy they come with and just use a single-stage shell holder in it's place, works awesome.
If you're already going progressive, you don't need to get all caught up or get too deep in the weeds with this shit. Some guys nerd out and get WAY too into this and make it overcomplicated, spending more time reloading than shooting. On the rifle side of the house over here, a lot of the guys don't even really understand auto-indexing progressive presses, and in no time you'll probably be making more ammo in a weekend than some guy, who tells you you've sinned against humanity for depriming and sizing at the same time and not uniforming your flash holes, does in a whole year. Truth is, a lot of the extra reloading steps or extra brass prep steps guys do only makes them feel better. You don't have to anneal and trim brass every single firing to get SD's in the single digits or make good ammo.
Guys get so caught up in reloading they seem to forget that unless they're purely shooting Benchrest or F-Class pretty seriously, most of the extra steps mean almost net zero as compared to just going out and practicing and getting good at reading/calling wind! Some of the guys around here will tell you that unless you buy a $5000+ Prometheus, you might as well not even bother reloading hahaha
!
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I'd agree with the powder check, with the caveat being using powder like Titegroup in 9mm or .357/.38
OP, I use Titegroup for both those calibers and love it as a powder...but its tiny and doesn't take much. Prolly best to just avoid Titegroup until you get the hang of things. I check every case for powder when I'm loading light loads with Titegroup, but its also worked into my process and doesn't take any more time than normal, and doesn't get skipped. I use a Lee auto drum powder measure for both on my 550.
I just finished the bearing mods for the shell plate indexer. It is super smooth now. I highly recommend it. I'll have to test to see if there's a difference in how much powder escapes the cases when indexing (happened a lot).
Parts:
The normal bearing replaces the brass "donut" that the shell plate indexing mechanism rides
Parts:
- 3/4 in 8/32 screw with tapered head. (Tapered head is used to index the bearing)
- 3/16" inner diameter, 1/2" outer diameter ball bearing
- #8 Washer
- 1/2" inner diameter, 15/16" outer diameter thrust bearings
The normal bearing replaces the brass "donut" that the shell plate indexing mechanism rides
Ordered the stuff to do those mods. Still need dies and a case trimmer and I think I’ll be set! Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Also thinking about a primer collator.
If you're going all in on reloading, then hard to be a Giraud or Henderson case trimmer. If not then, I like Girauds tri-way, or the Trim-It 2 is similar.
For pistol calibers I'd just get the LEE Carbide dies, hard to beat those
For bulk Rifle - I like the RCBS X-die so you only gotta trim once. Whatever standard seating die comes with it works.
For precision rifle - Big fan of Forster's FL sizing dies and their micrometer seaters, although the benchrest (non-micrometer) work perfectly too
Is there a good solution to do on machine trimming? If not I’ll just get a giraud and deal with it.
Ya, like T-Rex said, you can get the RT1500 or whatever it is...but unfortunately theres no tri-way cutter for it, or at least not to my knowledge, so you'd still have to chamfer/debur after trimming. But its a viable option for sure, still have to run two toolheads though.
Thats not the end of the world. How does dillon compare to the other bosch options like the honey badger? Id like to be able to convert 5.56 to 300blk. In the end, I would prefer something quiet. I know the dillon requires a vacuum which is kind of annoying.
I have no experience with either, but after looking at the videos for the honey badger, it needs a vacuum too. Anything vertical and on press will require one to pull the chips away.
I have the Giraud Tri-way for 223 and I do like that. I have it chucked in my drill press set to the fastest setting. It’d prolly do better on a small bench grinder.
No, it does contain the chips but there’s no way to press mount that.
Hurt your hands is subjective - I too have a drill press mounted trimmer, and it sucks if you have to hold 200 vibrating cases while trimming. The bench mounted Giraud option may be better, lots of people prefer it. Bigger batches are going to be a bigger pain no matter how you do it.
No, you don't need a vacuum for a Giraud or any of the drill press mounted options.
Lighting! I don't care how bright you think your overhead lighting is there will still be shadows on the shell plate. I have tried desk lamps, spotlights and LED flashlites zip tied to the press but nothing was every satisfactory and they were always in the way.
For about $30.00 you can buy the UFO lighting kit for your press that will allow you to turn off all the room lights and still see everything that is going on
I loaded for almost 20 years on my 650 before I bought this cheap LED System and it makes a world of difference.
For about $30.00 you can buy the UFO lighting kit for your press that will allow you to turn off all the room lights and still see everything that is going on
I loaded for almost 20 years on my 650 before I bought this cheap LED System and it makes a world of difference.
What is everyone’s recommendation for a a trim die? Was looking at the Dillon but it resizes and trims and I’m planning on going with another full length resizer. Not sure if you can put a case that has already been sized into another sizing die.
Is there a downside to using premium dies like the forster over the less expensive rcbs and lee you listed for bulk loading other than the price?
Not that I can think of no. The Forster dies aren’t that expensive. They’re definitely not as expensive as Redding.
As long as you get carbide dies for pistol I don’t think it really matters much what brand you get
got it. Any pro to going redding that justifies the $? I am going for good accuracy, but not bench rest. lol.
IMO, no...but i've never shot benchrest or F-Class or even PRS.
Both Forster dies I have produce very consistent cases and ammo. I've had both of mine honed by Forster to work the necks a little less for the brass I have. I also think that if you're not running a mandrel set up, the expander ball on the forster is superior, as it sits higher up I the case area and runs through the neck while supported. I used it for a few reloads and it gave me 2 thou neck tension pretty consistently.
The Forster Micrometer seater is awesome...and I think they only run like $80-90
Awesome looks like ill be picking those up! Also took the plunge on an AMP Annealer. Plan on getting the AMP mate when they restock. Seems like that one is the best. What is the benefit of going with an Armanov tool holder or any aftermarket tool holder? They say it is free float, etc. but what benefit is that in actuality?
I did a thread on it earlier this year. I have not done my official testing yet as I'm still trying 1 vs. 2 toolhead setups with 6.5cm. I just loaded up 200rds all on one toolhead. Size/deprime/prime in station 1, Mandrel in station 2, manual powder drop in station 3, and seat in station 4.
If this batch of 200 shoots as well as my first 200 loaded on a 2 toolhead setup, I'll be a happy camper and sold on the toolheads.
In summary, Armanov and Uniquetek toolheads are clamped down on the press, so the toolhead does not jiggle around, AND the individual dies are floated so they can center on their location each time a case is ran up in them.
2 toolhead setups with them have proven to give a lot of guys better consistency
www.snipershide.com
If this batch of 200 shoots as well as my first 200 loaded on a 2 toolhead setup, I'll be a happy camper and sold on the toolheads.
In summary, Armanov and Uniquetek toolheads are clamped down on the press, so the toolhead does not jiggle around, AND the individual dies are floated so they can center on their location each time a case is ran up in them.
2 toolhead setups with them have proven to give a lot of guys better consistency
Armanov Zero Play Toolhead For Dillon RL550 - Review
Searched on Google and here to find more info on the Armanov Zero Play but couldn't find any so I'll give my version of a review. I'll continue to update with more use, and hopefully get some info out there for anyone who wants to use these. I needed more toolheads for my 550, and I felt like...
www.snipershide.com
Ok guys, everything is finally in! I’m in the process of setting up my processing tool head for 308. In station 1 I have a lee universal decap die, nothing in station 2, Redding FL die in station 3, trimmer in station 4, and Lyman m die in 5. Is this correct? The honey badger website says to swap the order of the Redding and trim dies, saying that FL resizing should be done after trimming. Also, any idea how to setup the HB trimmer? The YouTube video they have shows the use of a lathe which I do not have.
You usually want to size before you trim. Sounds like you have the order correct. That said, guys use the M die in different ways sometimes depending on what they're loading (M dies come in many calibers): some use it more as just a neck-expander, while some use it as a way to be able to skip chamfering the inside of the necks... If you're doing .223/5.56, the way you have it sounds like the "usual way" that I've seen, except maybe someone will come along and explain why one might want to trim before sizing if that is even indeed a thing..?
Honestly, since the only rifle stuff I do is all for precision rifle/bolt-guns and that's what most of the guys around here are most familiar with too, the best advice I could give is to head over to the Brian Enos forum (https://forums.brianenos.com) and post there in the 3-gun and/or reloading section... those guys are SME's with the .223/5.56 stuff and really shoot, you won't get all kinds of wonky/suspect info from mom's basement mall ninja operators who shoot like 50 rounds a year and pretend they're badass like on m4carbine or the AR15 forums. This is the way.
I think trimming on the Dillon is a pretty specific thing, and while I know lots about the Dillon and reloading, you really should get your info from the guys that own the same stuff and have done it a bunch... you'll find those guys on benos.
Honestly, since the only rifle stuff I do is all for precision rifle/bolt-guns and that's what most of the guys around here are most familiar with too, the best advice I could give is to head over to the Brian Enos forum (https://forums.brianenos.com) and post there in the 3-gun and/or reloading section... those guys are SME's with the .223/5.56 stuff and really shoot, you won't get all kinds of wonky/suspect info from mom's basement mall ninja operators who shoot like 50 rounds a year and pretend they're badass like on m4carbine or the AR15 forums. This is the way.
I think trimming on the Dillon is a pretty specific thing, and while I know lots about the Dillon and reloading, you really should get your info from the guys that own the same stuff and have done it a bunch... you'll find those guys on benos.
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