Many fellow shooters have asked me about my reloading press setup. In this post, I’ll try to list all the important options and upgrades I’d recommend.
First and foremost, the press. I chose Dillon XL650, but now there’s a newer option available, the Dillon XL750 (and you can even try and win this press here). It is a true progressive press with auto indexing and it’s very easy to change calibers if you are planning to reload more than one (I currently load .45ACP, .32ACP, .38 Special and going to buy a single stage conversion so that I can reload rifle calibers).
Now for the options:
- I opted for the electric casefeeder and it really saves time. Loading that brass by hand would slow me down significantly;
- Dillon Strong Mount works perfectly with my bench height;
- For the .45ACP the Dillon dies are ok, but for the crimp stage I got the Lee Factory Crimp Die;
- I replaced the standard powder thru expander with the one from PhotoEscape;
- On the station 4 I installed Mr. Mini Bulletfeeder;
- Uniquetek micrometer powder bar allows me to precisely dial my powder drop;
- Got a cheap LED light strip on eBay so that I can see inside the case and visually confirm that powder had been dispensed;
- Also on eBay I found a spent primer catcher that drops all spent primers into a small jar;
- Finally replaced the original Dillon powder drop bracket with the stronger one sold by PhotoEscape.
And my .45ACP load recipe is:
- Starline 45ACP brass;
- CCI large pistol primers;
- 3.7gr Alliant Bullseye powder;
- Brazos 200gr LSWC bullets, coated.
I got this live primer catcher and it is SO much better than the Dillon ski jump.
https://dillonupgrades.com/xl650missedprimerupgrade.html