วีดีโอ

I will gladly pay ~$20 every 5-10k rounds loaded to replace an index ring (and all springs since they wear out due to throughput). That's 5-10k handle pulls I don't need to make. As for lifetime warranty, anything automated doesn't have warranty beyond 1 - 2 years anyways. I will agree that I am lazy and cheap as I see no reason to do the unnecessary work and pull the handle, and I will gladly save the $1-2k over the RL1100 or Apex 10 since I don't really need the extra stations when I am only loading 9 major.

@@garykfko you get zero warranty the minute you put an automated bot onto your machine. hopefully your machine lasts that long, the xl750 and 650 have aluminum bodies and link arms that aren't meant to handle automation no matter how "sensitive" your sensors are

@@HotReloads Turn down the digital clutch and torque sense and I even stopped breaking indexing rings because the machine stopped before damage could occur. My current indexing ring is probably 15k rounds in. If I tuned it to the point where it’s not even breaking plastic indexing rings anymore, I don’t see how metal hold up worse than plastic. I suppose if someone decide to go wild with the power from automation then it can exert much more force than human can and potentially break the metal on the press. But that’s a user error and not automation’s fault. Anyways I am not going to change your mind and you are not going to change mine so we will just agree to disagree.

@@garykfkoespecially spending the extra for the rl1100…. Let’s be real you only get to swage while reloading…. That’s it… xl750 you swage in prep and that’s all ya get…

double alpha makes a special short bar and it works well for pistol loads. The maximum it could do was around 22 grains of accurate 2230 which is barely enough for my match 223 cartridges at around 135 power factor. They are good enough for matches but probably not good beyond 100 yards due to lack of velocity.

If I knew what I know now, I would have gone for an automated mark 7 evo right away, but that's 5000 - 6000 up front cost which was way too much for me as a newbie back then. I spent less than $1000 on a XL750 to get started, and slowly automated it over time as I got a good sense of my practice volume. It's also much cheaper to change calibers on the XL750. Currently I load 4 calibers. I think eventually I will get an automated apex 10 dedicated to loading 9mm for production and pcc, and the automated XL750 for .40 limited.

@@garykfkoseems like a lot of indexing rings to match the cost of apex 10 ….. what is it that makes you go apex 10 that you learned?

These days I run it at mostly at 900 - 1200. It's less likely to have an issue that require my intervention. I just sit there a little bit longer which isn't a big deal, I just watch two TV episodes instead of one before I go back into the house.

@@garykfko I'm glad to hear that you slowed it down, let us know your results. My setup is finicky, and a few things you discussed I have looked over and it did help, thanks again.

If I recall correctly, around $350 for the bullet sense, $40 for the primer sense, $250 for the powder sense. The decap sense was included when I bought my auto drive, but I wouldn't pay money for it as I think it's useless.

It does work for long periods of time. If I load pistol rounds, a reliable output rate is around 700 rounds an hour with very little stoppage. At this rate I can usually put on a movie or dry fire, while letting the machine run on its own and stop automatically when the sensors detect a problem. The maximum output rate is 1800 rounds per hour I think, but I slowed down indexing (to avoid powder spillage when moving from station 2 to station 3) and top stroke (for reliable bullet feeding in station 4).

If i recall correctly - two 45 casings with one 230gr bullet inside it. It’s heavy.

Mine works without any weight.

I run my torque sense at 2-3 when loading, and over 5 when brass processing at 1800 rph - at lower torque sense settings I get stoppages at that speed. I think that was definitely the reason why the ring indexer broke prematurely. Lately I have been loading only, and kept settings at 5 clutch 2 torque at around 800 rph with top slowdown. 15k rounds loaded with the same ring indexer. Next time I do batch brass processing I am going to slow down from 1800 rph and try to keep torque sense below 3 to see if it helps.

@@garykfko how you guys can run the torque sense at 2-3? Mine has to be at 7 or 8 because if not it stops every time it resizes, definetly this systems are made to do case prep first?

which type of resizing die you are using? because my resizing die it stops the machine if I set it less than 7 or 8. Of course I have been through 4 indexing rings since got the machine 3 months ago

@@angelscomputers I use the Dillon resizing die. But I also use a light coating of homemade case lube (1 oz lanolin oil to 12 oz red iso heet). Really saves your indexing rings and makes the machine run smooooth.

Very easy. One toolhead per caliber and just swap it. Install the correct caliber conversion kit. Adjust powder. That’s normal stuff you would do to change caliber anyways. For mark 7 specific sensors, you adjust the powder check rod to the new charge (just adjust the heigh of the rod by screwing it in or out), and you move the bullet sensor up or down depending on the new OAL, that’s it. Different calibers like different mark 7 settings (digital clutch, torque sensor, etc). Once you find the sweet spot, you write it down and go back to them in the future.

@@garykfko Thanks! I have 3 calibers on all toolheads right now of 8, I kept hearing its difficult to change over and only should buy if you're sticking to one caliber. I havent found any videos on setting up new dies with the autodrive, is that difficult at all?

B m that hasn’t been my experience. I have 6 toolheads - a pistol case prep, a 223 case prep (with a rt1500 trimmer), and 4 caliber loading toolheads (9,40,45,223). it’s really no different from setting up a toolhead without the autodrive. The autodrive really just pulls the handle for you. A clamped toolhead really helps with consistency when you change toolheads. The biggest setup problem is the seat and crimp die, when you switch a toolhead something may be slightly off and the crimp height / seating depth is also off. Just waste 2-3 rounds to dial it in - put one through, case gauge / plunk test, adjust crimp if necessary, put in a round at correct oal, screw down the seater so it touch that round (so you get the same seating depth), and you are going to be close. I am so used to doing this that it takes maybe 5 minutes. Then run the machine, caliper the first few rounds, and make small adjustments on the seater. Within 10 rounds I get my oal. The other is the powder drop. Get a powder bar with click adjustments. For each load I developed, I write down how many clicks from the smallest setting to get to the correct charge. From the get to I am usually already within 0.2 grains of my target charge. Anyways I batch up the work - a whole bucket of brass, a few thousand rounds of the same load each time - etc. some people practice in one division and use just one load, makes total sense for them to have just one machine for that. Me, depending on my mood, I do idpa (my production home defense gun), uspsa limited, uspsa pcc, and uml 3 gun. I don’t have enough money for multiple dedicated machines :).

3d printed

I also do not use my de cap sensor I found it to time consuming to keep clean with a pipe cleaner and compressed air. But I also found processing my brass first makes the whole reloading go WAY smoother but I use shitty (free) range brass 9mm

@@snowgorilla9789 Totally agree, that's the way I run it also. It doesn't matter what brass you use. The inherent problem on the XL750 is that case feed is combined with decap in station 1. Run the press too fast and you get stoppage when case feed isn't perfect and the decap die gets stuck. The way to solve it is to separate brass prep, and run empty station 1 when loading.

@@garykfkois it possible to pre prime brass and powder station 1 with spring on Dillon or another powder measure?

Yeah maybe an update video is a good idea, I will capture some vids next time I fire it up and do an batch. I ordered every sensor available - optical decap, low primer sense, bullet sense, powder sense. Optical decap doesn’t really work unless you keep it clean, and it’s a hassle to clean, but the press will get stuck at the priming station anyways if the case is not decamped. Low primer sense is awesome, it prevents the mistake of running the press on empty primer, where you end up with a bunch of seated cartridges without primer. It also stops the press every 100 rounds which I use to random quality control (pick one round from the batch and case gauge / measure OAL). The bullet sense is freaking awesome, it had caught every single upside down bullet so far. The powder sense works - I’ve actually never had it catch an actual no / double charge since I had not made that error, but in testing it works fine. Once the primer tubes are loaded, I kinda just sit there and watch Netflix while it does its thing, and feed components when necessary.

I have unit #3 for the XL650 and have over 80,000 9mm rounds produced and still runs like new. Have to change springs on the press as required. I would buy another one without question.

Took a week or two to dial it in and work out small issues here and there to run it smoothly. It’s running awesome now, I love this thing.