Over 45+ years, I've loaded hundreds of thousands of rounds of pistol ammo using some new brass, but far more range pick-up brass. I've never had a catastrophic case failure, not once. I've had cases split after having been loaded several times, but no catastrophic failures, damaged guns or injured people. I don't load light loads either. Most duplicate factory velocities for a given caliber. I carry factory ammo in my self-defense handguns (except for .38 Super), but I load 9mm 124 Gr. Gold Dot ammo that matches +P velocities for practice. I do this so I can practice with the same ammo I carry, but at a much more economical price. I even load for 9X23 that works at 52,000 - 55,000 CUP, dwarfing the hottest 9mm ammo. I don't gamble with safety, but I don't obsess over the minutia either.
If reloading is your hobby, then spend as much time on it as you wish. After all, shooting is just a way to create more cases for you to load. But if shooting is your hobby and reloading is a way to support that hobby, then don't buy into the claim that progressive presses won't yield quality ammo. That simply not true.
Chas.
Search found 2 matches
- Mon Jun 22, 2020 7:06 pm
- Forum: Reloading Forum
- Topic: Dillon 750
- Replies: 15
- Views: 23086
- Sun Jun 21, 2020 11:09 am
- Forum: Reloading Forum
- Topic: Dillon 750
- Replies: 15
- Views: 23086
Re: Dillon 750
I don't have any experience with the Dillon 750, but I have many years experience with Dillon presses. I currently have two XL650s, one set up for small primers and one for large primers. I have previously had a Square Deal B (for .45 ACP only) and I've owned and used a 550. Many years ago I used a Star progressive on loan from a friend. Prior to going to progressive presses, I've used RCBS, Herters and Lyman presses. The RCBS was a single-stage press, while the Herters and Lyman were turret presses.
I've been reloading for over 45 years, primarily handgun calibers, but also .223 and some .308. In the early days of using progressive presses (Square Deal B and 550), I was concerned about the "quantity v. quality" issue. I fired hundreds of rounds in the same calibers/powder/bullets that were loaded on the Lyman/Herters/RCBS presses and on the progressives. There was no difference in accuracy. Sure, you can theoretically get greater accuracy if you load only the same heads-tamp cases, weigh your cases, etc. like bench-rest shooters do, but I'm not about to do that. (You can also achieve greater consistency and lower standard deviations if you use powers that fill more of the case, but that can be done with any press.) I know that the difference in accuracy, if any, will be so marginal that it won't impact my shooting in IDPA or self-defense drills. If I was a silhouette shooter trying to hit rams at 200 yds. with a pistol, then perhaps it would be worth the additional time and effort.
My coasting-rate of pistol ammo production from my XL650s is 600-650 rounds per hour and that includes adding primers, checking powder charge/OAL/crimp, running all rounds through a Shockbottle 100 rd. case gauge, then dumping them into a 100 rd. plastic case. (The Shockbottle fits a 100 rd plastic ammo box perfectly.) I can go faster, but then reloading becomes work instead of relaxing. (I have a case feeder, but not a bullet feeder.) Admittedly, I have two Dillon RL 100 Primer Filler machines, one each for large and small primers. (They were MUCH cheaper when I bought one and my son gave me the second one as a Christmas present.) That does same time, but not as much as some would think. I use primarily Winchester primers that come in trays with each primer in a separate hole. The size of the tray fits an RCBS Primer Flip Tray, so all you have to do is turn them over and start loading a primer tube. That MAY take 30 seconds. When I use CCI primers, I use the Flip Tray to turn the primers over and that may add an additional 10 seconds. With the Dillon Primer Filler machines, I just dump 100 primers into the machine, then go back to reloading. When I load 100 rds, a full primer tube is waiting. It takes only about one minute for the primer machine to fill a 100 primer tube.
As for the XL750, I have to admit my bias, even though I've never used one. The primer system is the same as the one on the 550 that was known for having problems. That's one reason I went to the XL650. Perhaps the primer system on the XL750 is better than the 550, but it's the same basic system. The excuse Dillon gave for abandoning the rotary primer system on the XL650 is to ease changing primer sizes. That's bogus; it takes about three minutes to make the change. If I needed a third press, I'd try to find an used XL650, but that won't be easy. Nobody gets rid of XL650s!
I've had a lot of people ask me over the years whether they should start with a single-stage press, then move to a progressive. I'm in the minority, but I always advise against that approach. Granted, I learned and honed reloading skills on single-stage and turret presses, but you can do the same thing with a progressive. Simply put one die in and use it like a single-stage press until you are comfortable with the process and are ready to up the production rate.
Dillon equipment is excellent and their customer support is the best in the industry. If you decide to get the XL750, you will be happy, even if you have to deal with the primer feed system on occasion. (Hopefully, I'm wrong about it.) When deciding between progressive v. single stage or turret presses, it all boils down to how much you shoot and how much time do you have to devote to reloading. My personal time is in very short supply, so I have to be as efficient as possible, if I want to keep shooting in volume.
Chas.
I've been reloading for over 45 years, primarily handgun calibers, but also .223 and some .308. In the early days of using progressive presses (Square Deal B and 550), I was concerned about the "quantity v. quality" issue. I fired hundreds of rounds in the same calibers/powder/bullets that were loaded on the Lyman/Herters/RCBS presses and on the progressives. There was no difference in accuracy. Sure, you can theoretically get greater accuracy if you load only the same heads-tamp cases, weigh your cases, etc. like bench-rest shooters do, but I'm not about to do that. (You can also achieve greater consistency and lower standard deviations if you use powers that fill more of the case, but that can be done with any press.) I know that the difference in accuracy, if any, will be so marginal that it won't impact my shooting in IDPA or self-defense drills. If I was a silhouette shooter trying to hit rams at 200 yds. with a pistol, then perhaps it would be worth the additional time and effort.
My coasting-rate of pistol ammo production from my XL650s is 600-650 rounds per hour and that includes adding primers, checking powder charge/OAL/crimp, running all rounds through a Shockbottle 100 rd. case gauge, then dumping them into a 100 rd. plastic case. (The Shockbottle fits a 100 rd plastic ammo box perfectly.) I can go faster, but then reloading becomes work instead of relaxing. (I have a case feeder, but not a bullet feeder.) Admittedly, I have two Dillon RL 100 Primer Filler machines, one each for large and small primers. (They were MUCH cheaper when I bought one and my son gave me the second one as a Christmas present.) That does same time, but not as much as some would think. I use primarily Winchester primers that come in trays with each primer in a separate hole. The size of the tray fits an RCBS Primer Flip Tray, so all you have to do is turn them over and start loading a primer tube. That MAY take 30 seconds. When I use CCI primers, I use the Flip Tray to turn the primers over and that may add an additional 10 seconds. With the Dillon Primer Filler machines, I just dump 100 primers into the machine, then go back to reloading. When I load 100 rds, a full primer tube is waiting. It takes only about one minute for the primer machine to fill a 100 primer tube.
As for the XL750, I have to admit my bias, even though I've never used one. The primer system is the same as the one on the 550 that was known for having problems. That's one reason I went to the XL650. Perhaps the primer system on the XL750 is better than the 550, but it's the same basic system. The excuse Dillon gave for abandoning the rotary primer system on the XL650 is to ease changing primer sizes. That's bogus; it takes about three minutes to make the change. If I needed a third press, I'd try to find an used XL650, but that won't be easy. Nobody gets rid of XL650s!
I've had a lot of people ask me over the years whether they should start with a single-stage press, then move to a progressive. I'm in the minority, but I always advise against that approach. Granted, I learned and honed reloading skills on single-stage and turret presses, but you can do the same thing with a progressive. Simply put one die in and use it like a single-stage press until you are comfortable with the process and are ready to up the production rate.
Dillon equipment is excellent and their customer support is the best in the industry. If you decide to get the XL750, you will be happy, even if you have to deal with the primer feed system on occasion. (Hopefully, I'm wrong about it.) When deciding between progressive v. single stage or turret presses, it all boils down to how much you shoot and how much time do you have to devote to reloading. My personal time is in very short supply, so I have to be as efficient as possible, if I want to keep shooting in volume.
Chas.