Dillon 750 vs. Dillon 550: The Ultimate Showdown for Precision Reloading

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If you're deciding between a Dillon 550 or 750/650 reloading press for precision reloading ,I'll show you some pros and cons of each so you pick the right one for your needs and abilities. Both are capable of producing high quality ammunition but each has their own quirks so knowing your capabilities and loading style is important when choosing one over the other.
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Videos on this channel are for informative, and entertainment purposes only. Using any of the information is at the risk of the individual using the information. We (including KZbin) will not be held liable for any injury to yourself or damage to your firearms resulting from attempting anything shown in any our videos. By viewing or flagging this video you are acknowledging the above.

[@hleigh842]

Perfect distinction, "tinkering". I use both and agree that the 550 is much better for tinkering and experimenting. On the other hand if you have a favorite setup and seldom deviate then the 750 is like a well tuned, fun to fly rocket ship. The new primer system on the 750 is a major process improvement IMHO. Great video, really enjoyed it. Thanks

[@FClassJohn]

Thank you and I totally agree.

[@fireyourrocketts]

I would like to get the XL-750, even when it first came out, I have the 550B, I dont think it exists anymore but the thing is i bought extra blocks for all the variety of calibers; to pay for a step up then all that again I would be 4 or 5k and even selling all related to the 550B I am still like 2k out of pocket or more; for what I do and when I do it, the 550B it is; I can do 1000 rounds in about 4 hours, yes, I am slow and i work slow, not in any hurry when reloading and enjoy the routine

[@360joseph360]

Because of your videos I just got a 550 and actually shot one of my best groups with ammo from it.

[@FClassJohn]

That's fantastic!! Keep it going!!

[@dyerseve45]

Thanks for the info and the honest insight. I've got the 650xl. Pretty basic set up but I'm definitely leaning towards the case feeder and electric trimmer

[@emoryzakin2576]

Awesome, thank you again John for spelling it out! I’m still pretty green so my 550 is gathering dust till I feel better on my single stage but always looking to the future with your insight

[@FClassJohn]

Thank you for the kind words. I’m glad something I’m doing is helping you.

[@squib3083]

I’ve got a Dillon SDB, love it, and am currently debating between a 550c or an xl750. Great video and info thank you.

[@bltefft]

I chose the 550C (it is arriving this Friday - 12/8/23) for the reasons you stated. The 550C is better for me. For 40+ years I used a red Hornady auto-indexing progressive press. The only squibs I ever had was on that progressive press. When I saw the 550C, i thought that's the press for me.

[@FClassJohn]

550 is a great press for sure. I'm sure you'll love it.

[@bradbarley6639]

Great review... I choose to stick with my 550C. Its a little slower, but I have more control over the whole process. I prefer to do all the brass prep, short of priming, I prefer to do by hand. Helps me maintain my QC. But... Im also a control freak by my nature. 😆😆

[@DimaProk]

You really don't need to put all the brass back one step if you make a mistake. When mistake happens its usually at one particular station, you just pull that piece of brass and put it aside and keep going! If you put everything back one step you really going to screw things up and up with the double charge, etc.

[@FClassJohn]

Yeah I know what you mean but sometimes it's not that practical when on a short stroke. I've had several 650s in the past but used them for mass production of rifle and pistol so it was a different animal than loading precision with external powder measures and such. On a short stroke all stations move forward without completing their step just enough which DOES require pulling all the brass out. I was trying to convey a worse case scenario for people to consider compared to how they would handle it on a 550, that's all. In any event, I appreciate the feedback.

[@DimaProk]

@@FClassJohn I have a Dillon 550 I picked up 1-2 years ago. It's been sitting in the box. It's "new" and I don't want to mount it since it only got 4 stations, I really want 1050 which looks like been replaced by 1100 now. I have Hornady LNL and what I noticed is that if not all of my stations are not preloaded I get variance in seating depth something like 10 thousands and that's a lot in my book. Does this happen in 550? I am thinking maybe to setup for 223/300blk/308 loading or to sell it and just get 1100 with all the bells and whistles - the 2 most features I am looking towards is primer pocket swagging on .223 and primer seating on downstroke and of course more stations for neck expanding and separate crimping, etc. With Hornady I forget to push forward sometimes and end up with cases leaking powder without primers and I have to clean up the mess, if this was happening on downstroke I would not forget. Right now to avoid I prime by hand off the press and load fully processed brass which only requires powder dump, bullet seat and possibly crimp so this is why I am thinking maybe 550 might work for that. Do you spill powder when you rotate 550 by hand? It was happening to my Hornady until I did a mod with dremel tool and now even 9mm filled to the brim won't spill.

[@JohnDoeEagle1]

@@DimaProk It happens on all progressive presses I have ever used. I always preload all my stations when making seating depth adjustments. They always come out dead on every single time that way.

[@DimaProk]

@@JohnDoeEagle1 I know that now because I have Dillon RL 1100 and you're right the preload does effect but not as much as Hornady, also I get way better case feeding with Dillon and that helps a lot with consistency.

[@JohnDoeEagle1]

@@DimaProk I have a RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme, Lee 90045, Dillon RL-550B and a Dillon XL-750

[@JohnDoeEagle1]

I have a RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme, Lee 90045, Dillon RL-550B and a Dillon XL-750. They all have their purposes and I use them all. I seldom if ever load bottleneck rifle calibers on the progressives though and prefer to do it on the single stages where precision is the main focus. I used to have a Mec 600 Jr 12 gauge shotgun press but sold it. I want to replace it with a Mec 9000GN once all this Political crap settles down a bit. I've been loading and casting bullets for over 30 years and have acquired a wealth of information in that amount of time. So much so that people tell me all the time "I wouldn't shoot that guys reloads, but I would yours!" That is the ultimate compliment considering most of these guys have a business and mine is just for personal use and satisfaction of being able to load higher quality ammo than you can buy factory new. There is also the cost savings when times are normal which you won't see that now with how scarce, expensive and unavilable components are.

[@hbudsmalley6317]

Yep, 550 for me. No auto indexing. Have that on the Square Deal-B and don't want to deal with that for my rifle ammo.

[@hamedizzy6441]

Nice video. Decent presses

[@yellowlabdavis7170]

I would upgrade to a 750 but I have too many dies and kits for my 550. Cost a small fortune to get what I have now and replace it with a 750!

[@FClassJohn]

I totally get it and agree. Both presses are great and honestly the more calibers you do, the more sense the 550 makes.

[@yellowlabdavis7170]

@@FClassJohn , besides that, I’m retired and the money tree isn’t producing what it once did!

[@stephenstanley7655]

Can you show the Projectile Tipping set up on a Dillon xl650/750!? I would like to know how to do that! Thanks

[@FClassJohn]

Yeah actually I've been working on that. It works great and I'll be showing the process off soon.

[@tylerb2055]

Can you please share the parts your using for your powder funnel. Looks like an area 419 funnel with a drop tube and a dillon powder die but what is that piece in between the drop tube and the powder die?

[@BoltActionReloading]

Hi John, I have been very seriously been looking into a XL 750 for precision reloading. I really would like a list of everything (Dillon 750 related) that you need. For example I see you are not running stock Dillon tool heads, should I be looking at different ones? (which ones?) I plan to still weigh my individual charges with my fx120i. I am using a forester, but looking for a speed increase without loosing performance. I saw the bearing replacement video. I know I can add the case feeder later, but I really want to know the entire list of equipment I need to pick up to be able to set up and load. I saw the video where you are using the area 419 funnel but is the powder drop die that you use with that a different option? I cruise around all the parts you actually need to pull this off is exactly what I am looking for. I don't what to figure out the 3 pieces that I forgot to order that are on back order for 6 months that I should have ordered at the same time. Thanks in advance and sorry for the complicated question. BAR

[@FClassJohn]

How about I make a video just doing an overview of what I have done to my machine for both brass prep and loading. Then I can just point out all the things that are different than how you would receive it from Dillon and also things you might need to buy separately. I’ll try to put something together this week. Thank you for the suggestion.

[@BoltActionReloading]

@@FClassJohn That would be awesome.

[@eberhoozen]

Do you need to use Dillon dies in the 750?

[@vinceedwards3267]

Excellent video! Where did you get the blue tabs for the locator pins.

[@FClassJohn]

You can get them on Amazon here amzn.to/3iXtE6M

[@brettinnj]

It seams to me that it would be very easy to double charge a pistol load on the 550. For that reason, I'll pass. I load my rifle loads using a Forester to size and a Wilson chamber die to seat (arbor press). It takes longer but my runout it .001-.002 and ES is low single digits (0-5 is not uncommon).

[@Russell-1]

brettinnj - if you think about the process - to double charge you’d have to also forget to try to seat a bullet in station 3 & forget to try to insert a new case in station 1. Once you have a full carousel you can’t make the single mistake of trying to double charge, it has to be combined with two other very visible mistakes. In any event where rifle cartridges are concerned a double charge is going to dump powder all over the press so you can hardly miss it.

[@scottb1002]

Get a powder that will fill that case and you won't have this issue. I load with 231 and to double charge a case it will be pretty much full to the top.

[@r1ght1left1]

What powder thru die did you have on the 750 that attached to the Area 419 drop tube adapter?

[@FClassJohn]

Just the standard powder die. Area419 make an adapter for their tubes that fits it.

[@dmalcolm24]

Do you have a video that tells me how to set up the powder funnel you use, or something similar. I have been unable to find a way to mount the funnel. I have a Dillon powder funnel for my caliber, but not the extension that allows me to use a manual powder funnel.

[@planeiron241]

Great Vid

[@FClassJohn]

Thank you

[@michaelbattin6717]

nice video "thanks"

[@FClassJohn]

Thank you

[@jasonwik]

Good video, thanks. Have you compared runout between the 750, 550 and single stage?

[@FClassJohn]

In my experience the runout has been about the same between the 550 and 750. I can easily turnout brass run out under .002" and finished round runout under .005". Before everyone gasps, those runout aren't even close to being big enough to have a noticeable effect on target despite what popular theory says. As for a single stage and arbor press combo, I was under .001" on brass with my CoAx and finished round under .002" with a 21st Century arbor press. As always, YMMV.....

[@jasonwik]

F-Class John thanks for the reply! That is exactly what I needed to know.

[@Howlin23]

Is a Dillon as accurate for sizing brass as a higher end single stage? I’m asking specific to sizing and no other process.

[@FClassJohn]

The simple answer is no, in my experience it will never be as absolutely accurate as a high end single stage. The question however is if it really matters. I had no issue loading and shooting at a very high level using mine and several other high level F Class shooters (including at least one national level winner) uses one.

[@ef2967]

If these presses are so great for long range ammo, then why do most competition shooters use single stage presses?

[@FClassJohn]

There could be any number of reasons, but at least in F class, there are more people using progressives than you probably realize. I won my national championship using one and I know at least three other guys who have won their national championships using them as well. Not to mention, at least half of the guns at the last world’s championship for team USA (where they won the gold) were all loaded using progressives. There’s a time of place for both and lots of reasons why people might choose one or the other.

[@northernsky6117]

Now after sometime has gone by, do you have more accurate ammo than when you were using XL750?

[@FClassJohn]

Honestly not really. I just enjoy reloading with my current setup more and it fits my needs better than the 750 did.

[@trevorschuetz1530]

I see the Redding Imperial Dru Neck Lube on the bench there. Do you use that along with the One Shot or is that dry lube for something else? Also thank you for making all of these videos! I have gotten so much out of them and you've helped me make my reloading process take half as long as it used to!

[@FClassJohn]

Thank you for the kind words. It was actually on my bench for something else. I’ve honestly gone back and forth using it and testing for results. Currently however I’m only using One Shot.

[@fordcobra37]

John, I have a shell plate that has about .004 variance between all five spots. How much does yours have? Do you have any recommendations for getting one without this variance?

[@FClassJohn]

I think it's a crapshoot. I've tried to find a way to get one made with CNC but it's very costly. I've tested all five stations on mine and they're around .002 variance. Wish I had a better answer but make sure you hone the bottom side of the shell plate if you haven't. it's helps.

[@michaeldoyle5001]

@@FClassJohn John you lost me here. How and why are you honing the shell plate? Thanks.

[@FClassJohn]

@@michaeldoyle5001 so it doesn’t rock. It’s not totally level underneath because it’s a cast part.

[@michaeldoyle5001]

@@FClassJohn Thanks John, I found your other video that explains it. Looks like I'll be pulling the 750 apart.