How to Temporarily Disable Auto Indexing on a Dillon XL750

[COSteve]

Most of us don't have the resources in both money and space to buy both a single stage or turret press to learn on and also a progressive press once we learn. In addition, many don't feel the need for a single stage or turret press once we are proficient on our progressive press. The Dillon XL750 is a great progressive press and it turns out there is a simple way to temporarily disable the Auto Indexing feature so that advancing the shellplate becomes a temporary manual operation. That will allow a new reloader to take his/her time and learn each step, one at a time.

When I first learned on my first press, the RL550B some 20+ years ago, I had no mentor so I started out using my Dillon like a turret press. I placed a single case in the 1st station and then processed that single case through all of the steps, one at a time, without adding another case. This allowed me to concentrate what was happening in each step until I became familiar enough so that I could operate the multiple steps together. I used this process on the pistol caliber I started with for only a 50-75 rounds or so until I became comfortable with the process and then started loading a new case each time I advanced the shellplate and worked with all the steps as the RL550 was designed to do.

Anyone can use this same process with the XL750 as long as the Auto Indexing process is suspended. I've taught two new reloaders how to reload using my XL650 with the first using this process and the second on my new XL750 which has the exact same assembly. Both of them found the learning process simple and were ready to proceed with the auto indexing capability in under 200 rds of pistol cartridges. Both of them bought a Dillon progressive press, one an XL650 some 15 years ago and the other an XL750 in early 2020 right after I got my new XL750 and taught him how to reload. Both used their new presses out of the box with their full capability as they'd learned with my simple process.

So, the $64 Million question is how does one do it? How to disable the Auto Indexing without damaging the press or modifying it? The answer is a simple one and best of all, it doesn't require any modification to your press or any of the parts, takes no tools at all to accomplish, will not harm your press, is completely reversible, takes only 20 seconds, and best of all, it's 100% free!

All one need to do to change the XL650 or XL750 to a manually advancing press is to remove the shellplate (you do this every time you change calibers so it's nothing new) and temporarily remove the Index Pawl (#13667) and Pawl Compression Spring (#13938). The Index Pawl is a small, flat, hammer looking device about 1" tall, riding in a slot in the Platform Assembly (#75103) and the Pawl Compression Spring is below it providing the Pawl with the spring force to operate.

A picture of the pawl and spring and their location can be found by downloading Dillon's XL750 manual at: https://www.dillonprecision.com/media/m ... nglish.pdf and scrolling to page 61.

Removing the Index Pawl will mean that the Shellplate will not be advanced by the rest of the mechanism as the Pawl is the piece that drives the shellplate to its next position. To manually advance the shellplate, one needs only to push on the case being loaded in the 3rd station until the shellplate indexes into its next position. It's a simple push or pull with one's thumb to advance the shellplate to the next position.

Once the new reloader is comfortable with the process enough to activate the Auto Indexing feature again, all they need to do is re-insert the Pawl Compression Spring and then the Index Pawl in the correct orientation as shown in the manual and the press is now fully Auto Indexing capable again. It couldn't be simpler.

[Griff]

I'm still using my 550C for the majority of my loading... but inquiring minds want to know... how does disabling the auto indexing feature affect things like a bullet or case feeder? I (As Terry Murdoch would say), I don't know enough about any of them to ask a truly intelligent question, so I'm asking one all encompassing question.

[Rockrat]

You could just take off the adjustable index block, that way you don't have to take the shellplate off.

[COSteve]

You could just take off the adjustable index block, that way you don't have to take the shellplate off.

True, however, it's adjustable and getting it back in adjustment so you don't have the shellplate jump into position and spill powder can be a pain.

Besides, it's one bolt to remove the shellplate, you have to do it anyway when you change calibers, so its the easiest way to accomplish the task.

[Rockrat]

You could just take a Sharpie and outline the block so you can put it back in the same spot

[COSteve]

Yes, you could. However, adjusting that block to keep the shellplate from jumping into it's final position and spilling powder is a major pain as it has to be driven into place completely by the pawl. That means that the block has to be exactly in the right place.

I guess that it's what feels right for the individual handloader. I load 16 different calibers so I'm use to removing the shellplate during caliber changes. Removing the indexing pawl and spring is a one time thing when one is learning and once you are ready to go auto indexing you put it back in and you're done.