Great video! I have a 750 that I bought a year ago and haven’t gotten around to setting it up. At one time I had two 550s and two 650s. Lost it all to a thief.
@@Iscariot18 they took everything I owned except my guns. I drive a truck and am gone weeks at a time and they were able to clean me out at their leisure.
Glad to see precision ammo being loaded on progressives more and more. I’ve been running a 550 for my 6.5 prc, I was a bit leery at first but tested it against my other press and saw no difference. I also use a Lee die to brush necks and it works well.
Yeah I did it for years, then went to the Zero but I'm back. I have absolute confidence that when progressives are setup correctly they make great precision ammo.
Can u show how you tighten the shellplate just to see how you do it. I know there is videos about it, but they all move and there is too much movement on the plate on those videos. Thanks. Great channel.👍
A bad shoulder, 2 surgeries, and no longer being able to sling up, is why I had to quit highpower 8 years ago. Cortisone injections can become your best friend.
Yeah it's a hard decision right now. I did the cortisone shots on my c5/6 issue and they had little effect but I'm sure on the cuff it may be different.
Can you show the bearing install and explain how you hone the plate? Might sound boring but i hope to get a 750 soon and this would be a great series on how to perfect them.
Hope ya shoulder gets better. Both of mine are blown out. Ive worn out 3 bodys but i still have the same ole ugly head. Seriously, great vids, thanks for sharing.
Its funny you posted this, I was just looking at my 750 trying to figure out what process I could use it for. I just need to get a shell plate honed and Ill probably start in this direction too.
Following this - and picking up that cool armanov cam block, thanks for posting! I have 2 750s, one with autodrive and the other setup for manual operation. So far I've been pretty happy with the autodrive but am early in the setup phase and only have banged out practice 6.5 creed on one head, and 6x47 brass processing on another. I'm also pretty low volume but want to be able to speed up brass processing so I can do larger batches.
Never hurts to take a look at what people have done in the way of upgrades from where you were on the 750, and if that's what it takes to make it comfortable, go for it.
Been running that same exact setup down to the inline fab mount last couple years. PRS and field matches. Two Armanov heads for each caliber. Deprime/size on one head. Prime(sometimes off press)/powder(drop with ball or trickle and dump thru with stick)/bullet on the other. The case feeder is the magic avoiding the case handling. More than good enough for my purposes.
Very nice. My next PRS build is going to be 6 mm ARC and I bought a Lee pro 6000 to try out for loading once I’m out of factory ammo. I might throw powder off press and I might prime off press. We’ll see though
You are probably on the right track. Cant speak to the Lee press, but not all press priming systems are equal. I find that the Dillons are very good in this regard, by design. I do not like the priming systems (flipper or tube-fed slider thing) on my Redding T7, they just dont have as good of a feel. RCBS seems similar to the T7 (Not side by side, my club range has a reloading room for small work-up tasks). I also throw powder from a Chargemaster Lite dispenser, off-press for precision loads. I find it well precise enough, and you can buy 3-4 of them for less than an Auto-Trickler. I will be adding a 2nd one soon enough since I can out-pace it handily on my progressive.
I’ve got two a Hornady progressives setup right now for doing mass-production and a zero. Thinking about a 750 before the end of the year and relegate the Hornady presses for 9mm and .45 ACP.
Thank you so much for this detailed video and to show the updates from your previous 750. I hope you can exercise enough your shoulder to avoid drastic measures. Get well.
Nice very nice. It would be awesome to see some measurements from from those loaded on the zero and compared to the 750. Maybe even a few 5 shot groups between them. Most importantly take care of that shoulder and yourself!
Thank you. The Zero is already gone but I'll definitely be showing what this press is capable of as I start loading on it. I've done precision loads on a 550 and 750 before with great success so I'm confident I'll pick back up where I left off. And yeah, torn rotator cuff sucks and I'm working to nurse it back to some better level of health best I can.
I am surprised you cannot buy a third party high quality shell plate for the 750. If someone knows of one, do let me know. I know of some for pistol cases, but I load BRA (308 shellplate)
Thank you for the video. Quick question, for this setup, will you deprime and clean the brass or clean the brass before depriming? In other words, with this setup, how important is it for you to have a clean primer pocket?
I'll run the brass through the first toolhead to decap and size, then tumble clean, then run it through the second toolhead to clean out any rice in the flash holes, expand the next and brush the neck.
Thanks for sharing, loved your first series precision reloading on the 750/550. I’m currently loading on a single stage with Wilson hand dies. Curious what your process is like on the progressive? Right now I deprime, SS tumble, anneal, resize, dispense powder with AutoTrickler v4, seat with arbor press.
John, I have purchased the Henserson trimmer after thinking long and hard. Is it normal to have the throat of my brass have light scuffs from the pilot? I am concerned about neck tension from the galling.
with the bad shoulder, I'm surprised you didn't go with the shorter ultramount. The shorter mount gives you better leverage and is more ergonomic in general.
I appreciate that. Yeah I wasn’t sure and so far it seems ok but I mostly wasn’t worried because it will be on an Autodrive system within the next few weeks. That’s the real goal toward helping my shoulder.
How are you making sure the first couple and last couple of cases are sized the same. I notice some slop and movement in the shell plate when not all the stages are filled up. Im considering going back to a 750 but only doing one step at a time on my auto drive 750.
Was recently watching one of your older videos titled "Testing out Mighty Armory and FW Arms Decapping Dies" as I'm in the market for a decapper. I am contemplating the auto-centering FW Arms decapper Gen 2 which seems to have come out since your video. While I was watching this video I see you have the FW Arms Simple Decapper installed on one of your toolheads. Did you end up getting rid of the Mighty Armory Decapper and FW Arms auto-centering decapper in lieu of the simple decapper? Any major upside or downsides to note in the several years worth of use since that video? Much appreciated!
I’m currently fly using a gen2 fw arms in my main setup and the simple decapper on my secondary toolhead just to clean out tumbling media. Love the FW arms
Hey, I have a lead on a good auto Drive would you recommend me putting it on a 750? I heard a lot of complaints before I follow you and I believe your word. All I load is 223 556 that’s what I prefer. I’m not gonna load any other caliper.
I only have personal experience with the Mark7 system and I didn't have too many complaints. Yes you'll break some parts and getting everything set up just right take a little longer. Overall it can be worth it but have some patience as you work through things.
Do you plan to use the Dillon powder dispenser, or use your trickler? I use “crossover symmetry” to rehab my shoulder (and PT), crossover symmetry is really really good.
I’m just trying my hand at rifle reloading, I’ve been doing pistols for a while. I hope you will show us your overall workflow at some point thanks for the videos!
Oh forgot to mention, get a dowel and cut off plugs for the holes in your bench. Some wood glue and poly the top and you’ll never mind those old holes.
Thank you and yeah, that's the plan at some point but sometimes it's so easy for me to get lazy about those little things. I just need to do it. Thanks for the kick.
If I had known you were looking, I could have sold you mine w/ the auto drive, or made a trade for the 419 press. I understand about the shoulder. I had rotator cuff surgery a couple of years ago. Wish I hadn’t waited 15 years to do it.
Sorry for the timing or I would've taken you up on that most likely. And yeah, trying to figure out what to do with the shoulder is hard. I had a c5/6 surgery several years ago and regret that decision for a couple reasons and don't want to be in that boat again so I'm treading lightly on options right now.
@@FClassJohn I’ve always said you’re not cutting on my back and you’re not cutting on my eyes. I am curious to see the new gadgets you put on the 750. I paid close attention when you had the old one.
@@bryonjmordhorst Just enough for shellplate wobble and it's very very little. If you take too much off it can affect how the shell plate advances. To be fair, I'd say make all the other upgrades first and only sand it down if you feel you need to.
I recall your stated justification for your first 750 & then the radically different rationale for the Zero Press - now it’s turned full circle. Each rationale was of course valid at the time but circumstances & the balance of press related priorities changes. I’ve reloaded plenty of rifle cartridges on a Dillon 550 where the base of the case is directly supported by the head of the ram when sizing (essentially no different than a single stage press). As I understand with the 750 the case sits on the shell-plate carousel which could possibly tilt at the sizing stage. In practice is this likely to cause inconsistent sizing or is the degree of shell-plate tilt too small to matter?
Thank you and I appreciate your understanding of how things change in our lives and we have to adjust accordingly. You are 100% correct about the difference between the 550 and 750. I almost went to the 550 again for this reason but still more work in terms of feeding brass and handle pulls compared to the 750 with the eventual auto drive and case feeder. Honing the shell plate does a lot of fix the tilt but it's always going to be there but I can live with the variance.
John, thanks for the response. Did you consider the Dillon 1050, 1100 or the Mark 7 Apex 10 presses? If so I’m sure it would be of universal interest to hear what made you pick the 750 again. That’s not an implied criticism of your choice - it’s just interesting to learn via a video of how someone see’s the pro’s & con’s of the various presses in the context of ‘precision’ reloading.
@@Russell-1 I coindiered the 1050 (the 1100 isn't tall enough for magnum rounds) but it's more than I needed for a single cartridge and low volume plus everything is more expensive not to mention the shear size of it is more than I need. The Mark7 systems are cool (and come with their own quirks) but there's zero way to make any of their systems run magnum caseloads effectively. I spoke with them and several others who are in the large progressive industry and they said don't bother.
@@mastermoarman now, apparently it’s more than that based on my conversation with them. I found somebody that makes a magnum shell plate, but then it gets trickier with all of the case feeding, and it was more than I wanted to risk going down that road. Especially since I’m only doing one cartridge and nothing else and I don’t care about speed or quantity.
Multi-mega million dollar Dillon charges us an average of 800.00 for the bare-bones xl-750 and yet wont even provide us with a die station that isnt crammed into such a small space that it makes many things a pain in the a$$. They can in fact make the turret have at least 1/2" more spacing between stations while still providing the proper tolerances for producing quality ammo
Yeah I don't disagree. Some of the other companies have figured that part out but it's always a trade off. Dillon still has the most options out there so it still works the best for me and I just learn to work around the little annoyances.
For no other reason than I'm very familiar with their system and how to make it work for my needs plus was more aftermarket accessories especially in the auto drive arena which is critical to me.
Great video! I have a 750 that I bought a year ago and haven’t gotten around to setting it up. At one time I had two 550s and two 650s.
Lost it all to a thief.
Wow, someone stealing reloading equipment. Terrible.
@@Iscariot18 they took everything I owned except my guns. I drive a truck and am gone weeks at a time and they were able to clean me out at their leisure.
That sucks. Sadly I hear about this more and more lately.
Glad to see precision ammo being loaded on progressives more and more. I’ve been running a 550 for my 6.5 prc, I was a bit leery at first but tested it against my other press and saw no difference. I also use a Lee die to brush necks and it works well.
Yeah I did it for years, then went to the Zero but I'm back. I have absolute confidence that when progressives are setup correctly they make great precision ammo.
Can u show how you tighten the shellplate just to see how you do it. I know there is videos about it, but they all move and there is too much movement on the plate on those videos. Thanks. Great channel.👍
@@FClassJohnhey wanted to ask why the xl750? Why not the super 1050 or rl1100?
A bad shoulder, 2 surgeries, and no longer being able to sling up, is why I had to quit highpower 8 years ago. Cortisone injections can become your best friend.
Yeah it's a hard decision right now. I did the cortisone shots on my c5/6 issue and they had little effect but I'm sure on the cuff it may be different.
Awesome video brother! Would love to see a follow up on how you setup everything.
Can you show the bearing install and explain how you hone the plate? Might sound boring but i hope to get a 750 soon and this would be a great series on how to perfect them.
Here's other videos I've done that could help answer your questions. www.youtube.com/@FClassJohn/search?query=750
Can you please do a video on how to hone the shell holder plate
You’re the man!
Hope ya shoulder gets better. Both of mine are blown out.
Ive worn out 3 bodys but i still have the same ole ugly head.
Seriously, great vids, thanks for sharing.
Thank you. Torn rotator cuff sucks. I'm doing what I can to save it now.
Awesome will be following this very closely. I have one sitting in my reloading room ready to set up
Its funny you posted this, I was just looking at my 750 trying to figure out what process I could use it for. I just need to get a shell plate honed and Ill probably start in this direction too.
Following this - and picking up that cool armanov cam block, thanks for posting!
I have 2 750s, one with autodrive and the other setup for manual operation. So far I've been pretty happy with the autodrive but am early in the setup phase and only have banged out practice 6.5 creed on one head, and 6x47 brass processing on another. I'm also pretty low volume but want to be able to speed up brass processing so I can do larger batches.
Never hurts to take a look at what people have done in the way of upgrades from where you were on the 750, and if that's what it takes to make it comfortable, go for it.
Been running that same exact setup down to the inline fab mount last couple years. PRS and field matches. Two Armanov heads for each caliber. Deprime/size on one head. Prime(sometimes off press)/powder(drop with ball or trickle and dump thru with stick)/bullet on the other. The case feeder is the magic avoiding the case handling. More than good enough for my purposes.
Very nice. My next PRS build is going to be 6 mm ARC and I bought a Lee pro 6000 to try out for loading once I’m out of factory ammo. I might throw powder off press and I might prime off press. We’ll see though
You are probably on the right track. Cant speak to the Lee press, but not all press priming systems are equal. I find that the Dillons are very good in this regard, by design. I do not like the priming systems (flipper or tube-fed slider thing) on my Redding T7, they just dont have as good of a feel. RCBS seems similar to the T7 (Not side by side, my club range has a reloading room for small work-up tasks). I also throw powder from a Chargemaster Lite dispenser, off-press for precision loads. I find it well precise enough, and you can buy 3-4 of them for less than an Auto-Trickler. I will be adding a 2nd one soon enough since I can out-pace it handily on my progressive.
I’ve got two a Hornady progressives setup right now for doing mass-production and a zero. Thinking about a 750 before the end of the year and relegate the Hornady presses for 9mm and .45 ACP.
I've never used the Hornady progressives but I have total confidence in the 750 to load precision ammo.
@@FClassJohn you can make the Hornady work but there are less options with it. No auto drive options either. That’s why I’m going to get a Dillon.
@@thepracticalrifleman totally agree
Thank you so much for this detailed video and to show the updates from your previous 750. I hope you can exercise enough your shoulder to avoid drastic measures. Get well.
Thank you.
Nice very nice. It would be awesome to see some measurements from from those loaded on the zero and compared to the 750. Maybe even a few 5 shot groups between them. Most importantly take care of that shoulder and yourself!
Thank you. The Zero is already gone but I'll definitely be showing what this press is capable of as I start loading on it. I've done precision loads on a 550 and 750 before with great success so I'm confident I'll pick back up where I left off. And yeah, torn rotator cuff sucks and I'm working to nurse it back to some better level of health best I can.
Hey John so no more free floating the sizing die? holy pile of bergers!
I am surprised you cannot buy a third party high quality shell plate for the 750. If someone knows of one, do let me know. I know of some for pistol cases, but I load BRA (308 shellplate)
Thank you for the video. Quick question, for this setup, will you deprime and clean the brass or clean the brass before depriming? In other words, with this setup, how important is it for you to have a clean primer pocket?
I'll run the brass through the first toolhead to decap and size, then tumble clean, then run it through the second toolhead to clean out any rice in the flash holes, expand the next and brush the neck.
Thanks for sharing setup
Thank you for watching.
Thanks for sharing, loved your first series precision reloading on the 750/550. I’m currently loading on a single stage with Wilson hand dies. Curious what your process is like on the progressive? Right now I deprime, SS tumble, anneal, resize, dispense powder with AutoTrickler v4, seat with arbor press.
John,
I have purchased the Henserson trimmer after thinking long and hard.
Is it normal to have the throat of my brass have light scuffs from the pilot? I am concerned about neck tension from the galling.
with the bad shoulder, I'm surprised you didn't go with the shorter ultramount. The shorter mount gives you better leverage and is more ergonomic in general.
I appreciate that. Yeah I wasn’t sure and so far it seems ok but I mostly wasn’t worried because it will be on an Autodrive system within the next few weeks. That’s the real goal toward helping my shoulder.
I've had a 550 sitting on the loading room floor for 3 years, I may be right behind you
550 is actually even technically better for precision loading because of how the case pushes on the base instead of a shell holder.
How are you making sure the first couple and last couple of cases are sized the same. I notice some slop and movement in the shell plate when not all the stages are filled up. Im considering going back to a 750 but only doing one step at a time on my auto drive 750.
Can you provide more info on the modified lee die and diamond brush please
Was recently watching one of your older videos titled "Testing out Mighty Armory and FW Arms Decapping Dies" as I'm in the market for a decapper. I am contemplating the auto-centering FW Arms decapper Gen 2 which seems to have come out since your video.
While I was watching this video I see you have the FW Arms Simple Decapper installed on one of your toolheads. Did you end up getting rid of the Mighty Armory Decapper and FW Arms auto-centering decapper in lieu of the simple decapper? Any major upside or downsides to note in the several years worth of use since that video?
Much appreciated!
I’m currently fly using a gen2 fw arms in my main setup and the simple decapper on my secondary toolhead just to clean out tumbling media. Love the FW arms
@@FClassJohn Thank you, appreciate your videos and sharing your knowledge so freely.
That's Cool man I'm hoping to a rifle to start shooting F Class by the end of the year 👍
Awesome, welcome to F Class!
Hey, I have a lead on a good auto Drive would you recommend me putting it on a 750? I heard a lot of complaints before I follow you and I believe your word. All I load is 223 556 that’s what I prefer. I’m not gonna load any other caliper.
I only have personal experience with the Mark7 system and I didn't have too many complaints. Yes you'll break some parts and getting everything set up just right take a little longer. Overall it can be worth it but have some patience as you work through things.
Do you plan to use the Dillon powder dispenser, or use your trickler?
I use “crossover symmetry” to rehab my shoulder (and PT), crossover symmetry is really really good.
Thank you for the tip on the shoulder. As for the Dillon, I’ll throw all my powder on a trickler system off the press.
I’m just trying my hand at rifle reloading, I’ve been doing pistols for a while. I hope you will show us your overall workflow at some point thanks for the videos!
What parts and how do you order them to set up for cartridges that dillon doesn't offer like 6xc, 7-6.5 prc etc.
Are you locking down your toolhead along with the Cortina sizing die, or just the sizing die itself?
I've been currently locking down the die but leaving the toolhead loose.
Oh forgot to mention, get a dowel and cut off plugs for the holes in your bench. Some wood glue and poly the top and you’ll never mind those old holes.
Thank you and yeah, that's the plan at some point but sometimes it's so easy for me to get lazy about those little things. I just need to do it. Thanks for the kick.
If I had known you were looking, I could have sold you mine w/ the auto drive, or made a trade for the 419 press. I understand about the shoulder. I had rotator cuff surgery a couple of years ago. Wish I hadn’t waited 15 years to do it.
Sorry for the timing or I would've taken you up on that most likely. And yeah, trying to figure out what to do with the shoulder is hard. I had a c5/6 surgery several years ago and regret that decision for a couple reasons and don't want to be in that boat again so I'm treading lightly on options right now.
@@FClassJohn I’ve always said you’re not cutting on my back and you’re not cutting on my eyes.
I am curious to see the new gadgets you put on the 750. I paid close attention when you had the old one.
Can you give us the info on the lee die and Dimond brush please.
Can you add a link for the diamond brushes?
www.brushresearch.com/brushes.php?c2=183
Are you not using the Armanov floating rings anymore? Why?
Because sadly I haven't been able to get them this time around. Armanov isn't selling them anywhere I can find right now. That's all.
Are you still using your competition primer seater?
No. I’m currently priming on my 750 that I just went back to.
Will you put a auto drive on it FC John?
Yes I'm putting a special kind of drive system on it. Should have it in the next week or so.
Can I get a link to your ball bearing for the shell plate?
Also I would kill to see a video on your shellplate honing process
amzn.to/3OSZ27S for the bearing kit but I don't have a video on the honing, sorry. I actually have a friend now that uses a surface grinder on it.
@@FClassJohn thank you! The one I had in my cart did not include the actual ball and spring. You are a life saver!
@@FClassJohn do you grind it deep enough to remove case wobble or just shellplate wobble?
@@bryonjmordhorst Just enough for shellplate wobble and it's very very little. If you take too much off it can affect how the shell plate advances. To be fair, I'd say make all the other upgrades first and only sand it down if you feel you need to.
@FClassJohn thanks! Hopefully the uniquetech bearing will reduce powder flick
Can't go wrong with the Dillon.. I use a 550b and it does everything I need and I make some precision ammo. Keep it simple
You need the "teenage daughter" auto drive. Works for any press.
I recall your stated justification for your first 750 & then the radically different rationale for the Zero Press - now it’s turned full circle. Each rationale was of course valid at the time but circumstances & the balance of press related priorities changes.
I’ve reloaded plenty of rifle cartridges on a Dillon 550 where the base of the case is directly supported by the head of the ram when sizing (essentially no different than a single stage press). As I understand with the 750 the case sits on the shell-plate carousel which could possibly tilt at the sizing stage. In practice is this likely to cause inconsistent sizing or is the degree of shell-plate tilt too small to matter?
Thank you and I appreciate your understanding of how things change in our lives and we have to adjust accordingly. You are 100% correct about the difference between the 550 and 750. I almost went to the 550 again for this reason but still more work in terms of feeding brass and handle pulls compared to the 750 with the eventual auto drive and case feeder. Honing the shell plate does a lot of fix the tilt but it's always going to be there but I can live with the variance.
John, thanks for the response. Did you consider the Dillon 1050, 1100 or the Mark 7 Apex 10 presses? If so I’m sure it would be of universal interest to hear what made you pick the 750 again. That’s not an implied criticism of your choice - it’s just interesting to learn via a video of how someone see’s the pro’s & con’s of the various presses in the context of ‘precision’ reloading.
@@Russell-1 I coindiered the 1050 (the 1100 isn't tall enough for magnum rounds) but it's more than I needed for a single cartridge and low volume plus everything is more expensive not to mention the shear size of it is more than I need. The Mark7 systems are cool (and come with their own quirks) but there's zero way to make any of their systems run magnum caseloads effectively. I spoke with them and several others who are in the large progressive industry and they said don't bother.
John, thanks for the response. It shows just how versatile the 750 is especially with a few little extra tweaks.
@@BelieveTheTarget ❤
Hm... So speed in components? I remember asking about the autodrive, and I currently am saving for one.
Thank you for videos like this!!
why the dillon over a mk7 or a x10?
MK7 and X10 have no ways of doing magnum cartridges.
@@FClassJohn is it just the shell plate that needs to change?
@@mastermoarman now, apparently it’s more than that based on my conversation with them. I found somebody that makes a magnum shell plate, but then it gets trickier with all of the case feeding, and it was more than I wanted to risk going down that road. Especially since I’m only doing one cartridge and nothing else and I don’t care about speed or quantity.
Can you load 6.6prc
Do you mean 6.5prc? If so then yes.
Multi-mega million dollar Dillon charges us an average of 800.00 for the bare-bones xl-750 and yet wont even provide us with a die station that isnt crammed into such a small space that it makes many things a pain in the a$$. They can in fact make the turret have at least 1/2" more spacing between stations while still providing the proper tolerances for producing quality ammo
Yeah I don't disagree. Some of the other companies have figured that part out but it's always a trade off. Dillon still has the most options out there so it still works the best for me and I just learn to work around the little annoyances.
Why Dillon over Hornady? The Hornady ammo plant is way higher quality than a dillon. Just sucks it's red.
For no other reason than I'm very familiar with their system and how to make it work for my needs plus was more aftermarket accessories especially in the auto drive arena which is critical to me.
@@FClassJohn Yes, Autodrive then Dillon hands down. That's all Dillon has over Hornady.
I'm guessing a B team engineering autodrive
🤫 you’ll ruin the surprise…great guess by the way. Most people don’t even know they exist.
Cortina Precision dies 😍
Coming very soon!!!
Sell me that press sir
Sorry a friend already took it.
Get some peptides for that shoulder
Wanna sell your zero press?
Thank you and I'm sorry but the Zero is already at a friends house.
Going carnivore will fix your shoulder... Oh... and 1000 other issues you have.
Give me your zero then
Sorry a friend already took it.