Dillon XL750 Review: Is the Blue Press Worth It?

The Dillon XL750 has a reputation that precedes it — the blue press serious reloaders point at when someone asks what to buy, backed by a warranty that has become industry folklore. Most of that reputation is deserved. But there’s something about buying one that the product listing doesn’t make obvious, and it changes the math considerably: what you’re purchasing is a base machine, not a working setup. Understanding that before you order is the difference between a great decision and an unpleasant surprise.

What “Base Machine” Actually Means

This is the most important section on the page, so we’ll be direct about it.

The base XL750 arrives with the press frame, the five-station toolhead with standard 7/8″-14 die threads, the auto-indexing shellplate mechanism, the automatic primer feed system with large and small primer tubes, a powder measure with standard large and small powder bars, the operating handle, a spent-primer catcher with bin, and a loaded cartridge bin.

It does not arrive with dies. Or a caliber conversion kit. Or a case feeder. Or a bullet feeder. Some retailers state this in capital letters on the product page because enough people have missed it.

Without a caliber conversion kit, the press cannot load anything — the conversion kit supplies the shellplate, locator buttons, and powder funnel for whichever cartridge you intend to make. It’s not an accessory in the way a roller handle is an accessory. It’s the part that makes the machine functional.

The clearest illustration comes from Dillon’s own configurator, where a fully-optioned XL750 prices out at several times the base machine. None of this is Dillon being cynical — it’s the logic of a press that supports a huge cartridge spread, where shipping it configured for one caliber would mean most buyers immediately paying to reconfigure. But it means the sticker price is a floor, and you should price your actual first setup before deciding this is the cheaper option.

Your Typical First Purchase

Here’s what a working setup actually looks like depending on what you plan to load. Dillon publishes their own minimum requirements list, and we’ve built on it.

Conversion kits generally run around $150 to $175, die sets from around $140 depending on cartridge, and the case feeder assembly plus its plate is a few hundred more. Verify current pricing for your specific calibers — the point isn’t the exact figures, it’s that a working two-caliber setup is a meaningfully different number from the press alone.

What Can Wait?

Most people can’t buy everything at once, and they don’t need to. Here’s a sane sequence.

Buy immediately — you cannot load without these. Caliber conversion kit for your first cartridge. A die set. A powder scale to verify charges. Calipers. At least one current load manual. A primer flip tray. Case lube if you’re loading bottleneck rifle cases.

Buy soon — these prevent frustration rather than enable loading. A spare parts kit, for the reasons above. Extra primer pickup tubes, which Dillon themselves recommend past roughly 100 to 200 rounds per session — filling one tube at a time becomes the bottleneck faster than you’d think. A machine cover if the press lives somewhere dusty.

Buy later — real upgrades, but the press works without them. The case feeder, which is where much of the headline speed comes from. An electric primer filler, which Dillon suggests for sessions past 500 rounds. A bullet feeder. Dedicated toolheads and Quick Change Kits as your caliber count grows. Comfort items like a roller handle, bullet tray, and strong mount.

Someone loading one pistol caliber can get running for considerably less than a fully-kitted setup and add automation as volume justifies it. That’s a legitimate path, and it’s how a lot of owners actually do it.

The Warranty Is Real — and There’s a Trial Period

Dillon’s “No BS” warranty gets mentioned so often it starts to sound like marketing. The owner accounts suggest it isn’t.

One reloader bought a used XL650, found the primer feed wouldn’t index properly, and described the problem to Dillon with photos. Their response was to ask for his mailing address and send free parts covering every possible cause — on a press he hadn’t bought from them. Another sent in a failed digital scale with a check for the quoted repair cost; Dillon sent back a new scale and the uncashed check, because the item had been under warranty when purchased. A third ordered replacement parts for pieces he’d lost himself, got a phone call asking why he needed so many, and received a refund.

The pattern across a decade of forum threads is consistent: a primer detonation that took out parts of the feed tube, a cracked case insert on a ten-year-old press, a machine pulled out of storage in rough shape. Parts shipped, no charge, no argument.

Less widely known: Dillon offers a 30-day trial on the XL750. If it doesn’t meet their claims or your expectations, you can return it for a refund. On a purchase this size that’s a genuinely meaningful risk reducer, and it’s worth knowing before you agonize over the decision for three months.

Two honest caveats. The warranty is described as a lifetime limited warranty against defects and normal wear — not a blanket promise covering anything. And Dillon’s commercial-grade machines sit outside the No BS warranty, which surprises people moving up the line. As the spare-parts advice above makes clear, free replacement still means downtime; the warranty removes the cost of a broken part, not the wait.

The Priming System: The One Real Complaint

Every progressive press has a weak link, and on the XL750 it’s the same station it is on most machines.

Early XL750 production had a documented issue with the priming mechanism — specifically the wire form link and upper guide pulley, where the lower guide could sit out of alignment and contact the housing, causing feed and indexing failures. Dillon addressed it with a running design change and will send the updated parts to owners who call. If you’re buying used or old stock, it’s worth asking which version you have.

Beyond that specific fix, the most common ongoing report is intermittent primer feed — roughly one in ten or twelve primers failing to seat in the cup, then ejecting on the following stroke, sometimes even after following the manual’s alignment procedure. It’s a nuisance rather than a defect, and it’s the single most-discussed troubleshooting topic among owners.

Two habits reduce it substantially. Keep the primer slide clean — experienced owners blow out primer residue with compressed air every fifty rounds or so, and describe it as the difference between smooth sessions and frustrating ones. And deal with crimped brass before it reaches the press. Military and NATO-headstamp cases have crimped primer pockets that will fight the priming station regardless of adjustment; those need swaging or reaming first.

Worth noting for context: some long-time Dillon owners preferred the rotary primer disk on the previous XL650 and have said so at length. Neither system is problem-free, and this remains a live debate among people who have loaded hundreds of thousands of rounds.

The First 500 Rounds

The XL750 is more forgiving out of the box than some competitors, but it is still a progressive press, and the same expectation applies: your first few hundred rounds are a learning exercise, not a production run.

That time gets spent setting die depth, dialing the powder measure and verifying throws on a scale, learning where the primer system likes to be topped up, and developing a handle stroke consistent enough that the machine behaves the same way every pull. You’ll stop more than you load. That’s normal.

What changes around the two-hundred-round mark is rhythm. Your hand knows the stroke, your eye knows which station to check, and the stopping tapers off. That’s when the numbers people quote start to look achievable — and they arrive fairly suddenly once they do.

Plan the first session as setup, the second as slow deliberate loading with frequent verification, and expect the third to feel like a different machine.

How Fast Is It Really?

Retailers commonly cite figures north of 800 rounds per hour, with more available running both a case feeder and a bullet feeder. Dillon’s own description is less specific — large quantities of match-quality ammunition in a short period — so treat the higher numbers as retailer-sourced rather than a factory specification.

What isn’t in dispute is that this is a fast press. Owners running realistic sessions describe production well into the hundreds per hour without feeling rushed, which is the more useful benchmark than any ceiling figure.

The practical constraint for most people isn’t the press. It’s how fast you can prep brass and fill primer tubes — which is exactly why the electric primer filler exists and why owners loading in volume consider it essential rather than optional.

One planning note: this machine produces ammunition faster than most people plan storage for. Our guide to ammo storage covers where several thousand rounds are going to live.

Caliber Range and Changeover

Dillon lists the XL750 as producing match-quality ammunition for over 35 different rifle and pistol calibers, spanning .17 Hornet through common belted magnums on the rifle side and .32 ACP through .500 S&W in handgun. The conversion-kit catalog covers a wide spread within that range, and several cartridge families share components — .308 Winchester, 7.62 NATO, .30-06 and 8mm use the same shellplate and buttons, so you buy one conversion for the group. Common pistol rounds group similarly.

Changeover speed depends entirely on preparation. Owners report swaps in roughly ten minutes when each caliber has its own dedicated toolhead with dies permanently set. Without dedicated toolheads you’re re-adjusting dies every time, which is where “ten minutes” quietly becomes an afternoon. If you load several cartridges regularly, the Quick Change Kits are the accessory that makes the press feel as flexible as its reputation suggests.

A few cartridges carry extra requirements — some need an oversize powder die, and certain magnum rifle rounds need a specific casefeed kit. Dillon flags these on the conversion chart; check yours before ordering rather than after.

Mount It Properly

A progressive generates far more force than a single stage, and the XL750 is a heavy machine with a four-hole base. Bolt it to something rigid — two inches of hardwood or the structural equivalent — and use all four holes with washers to spread the load.

Bench flex shows up as vague handle feel and inconsistent indexing, and people spend hours diagnosing it as a press problem when the bench is what’s moving. If your bench shifts when you lean on it, fix that before you blame the machine. Dillon’s Strong Mount accessory exists partly to raise the press to a comfortable working height and partly to stiffen the whole assembly.

Plan for height as well. The machine stands roughly 32 inches from the bench on its own, and closer to 38 with the electric case feeder installed — enough to matter when you’re choosing bench and seat height.

What About Resale?

Worth a mention, because it’s unusual in this category. Dillon presses have a strong reputation for holding value on the used market — used machines change hands readily, and it’s common to see owners buying used and immediately getting factory support on a press they didn’t purchase new. Part of that is build longevity, and part is that the warranty and parts availability follow the machine rather than the original buyer.

That softens the upfront cost in a way spec sheets don’t capture. If your needs change or you move up the line, a Dillon is generally easier to move on than most competing presses. Treat it as a genuine consideration rather than a decisive one — market conditions shift — but it’s a fair point in the machine’s favor.

How It Compares to the Hornady Ammo Plant

These two come up together constantly, and the comparison is less about which press is better than about what you’re buying.

The Hornady Lock-N-Load Ammo Plant arrives as a complete kit — press, case feeder, pistol bullet feeder, powder measure, and roughly thirty accessories. You add dies and a shellplate and you’re loading. The Dillon arrives as a base machine that needs a conversion kit before it can produce a single round, with feeders sold separately.

Compare a fully-equipped Dillon against a fully-equipped Hornady and the gap narrows considerably from what the headline prices suggest. What you’re paying the difference for is build quality, a wider cartridge range, easier caliber changes with the right accessories, the service reputation described above, and the 30-day trial. Those are real things. They’re just not free.

Dillon XL750 Specs

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Who Beats It?

Dillon RL550. The manual-index sibling. Slower because you advance the shellplate yourself, but simpler, cheaper, and preferred by some reloaders precisely because the manual index gives you a moment to look into every case. If your volume needs are moderate, it’s the more sensible buy.

Hornady Lock-N-Load Ammo Plant. Cheaper to get running and cheaper per additional caliber, arriving with both feeders included. Asks more of you during setup and has a tighter cartridge-length ceiling. For multi-caliber pistol loading on a budget, it makes a strong case.

A single-stage press. Still the right answer for precision rifle work in small batches, for load development, and for cartridges you’d rather not run through a progressive. Many serious reloaders keep both benches.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

The Dillon XL750 earns its reputation. The build is heavier and more refined than most of what it competes with, the cartridge range is broad, caliber changes are genuinely quick with the right accessories, and the support behind it is the closest thing the industry has to a guarantee that the machine will outlive you. The 30-day trial removes most of the risk from finding out whether it suits you.

What it asks in return is honesty about the total number. The press is the cheapest part of this decision — add a conversion kit, dies, a dedicated toolhead, the basic measuring tools, and eventually a case feeder and spare parts kit, and you’re a long way from the sticker. Buyers who price that out in advance and decide it’s worth it are among the most satisfied owners in the hobby. Buyers who order the base machine expecting to load that weekend are the ones writing frustrated posts.

Know which number you’re actually spending, plan the first few hundred rounds as learning rather than production, keep the primer slide clean, and this press will still be making ammunition when you hand it to someone else.

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Related Reading

Our complete reloading guide is coming soon.

Authority reference: cartridge and chamber dimensions, pressure standards, and interchangeability data are published by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI). Always cross-reference published load data against a current manual from your component manufacturer.