The Accurate Reloading Forums
Lyman 1200 DPS
06 February 2005, 06:15
GvanLyman 1200 DPS
Has anyone tried this. It is an automated powder dispencer and scale in one. I just ordered one from Cabela,s. Let ya know how it works.
06 February 2005, 06:22
steve4102I purchased one for myself for Christmas, haven't made any loads yet but, I messed with a bunch. Set it for a bunch of diff. grains and tested them on my 505. It is balls on. Just remember to let it "Warm up" according to the directions. I moved mine off of my bench so using the press will not be a problem.
06 February 2005, 11:52
waxmanI use mine for loading stick powders.This it does very well. Also, when working up loads, the ease of changeing weights is very convienant.
06 February 2005, 12:02
billtI've had one for about a year now, and am pleased with it overall. I'll second the note on letting it warm up good. It has a pre programmed 30 minute warm up cycle built in, but I let it warm up even longer. I'll turn it on early in the morning if I know I'll be reloading that day. I use a set of Lee Powder Dippers to help speed thing up. I'll select a dipper about 5 to 6 grains less than the charge I want, dump it into the pan, then let the machine top it off. It also has a nice dump gate to make cleaning up after your finished nice and quick without wasteing a lot of powder. Bill T.
06 February 2005, 19:33
SpringI got one for Christmas and used it for the first time this past Friday (except for some initial experimentation). After moving from a standard RCBS scale, I must admit I was a bit concerned about accuracy. I even compared the charges the 1200 generated with my old scale and was surprised to see that there was a material difference. After working up some loads from a very conservative starting point, I began to realize that maybe it was my old scale that was off and not the Lyman. The chronographed bullets from my Lyman loads were almost dead on the expected fps from my reloading books.
As for speed, it does a good job and I think I'll hurry up the overall process as I multi-task better in the future. For example, I initially would sit there and load all of my cases with their powders before beginning the process of bullet seating. This created a 45 second or so wait for each charge to be completed. I soon learned that I could seat the bullets while the powder was being charged and quickened the entire process significantly.
I'm still not sure how often I should re-calibrate the 1200, but right now have been doing every 10 loads. So far, I really do like it.
06 February 2005, 21:12
billtWhat helped put my mind at ease was to purchase a set of RCBS DeLuxe scale check weights. The calibration weight that comes with the unit is quite heavy, (308 grains I believe). With the check weights you can calibrate the unit more closely to the charge weight your throwing. You will see any discrepancys in an instant. Mine has been good thus far, but as I said, I give it a very long warm up. Bill T.
06 February 2005, 21:22
KoryI've been using one for about 6 months and it has been great. Never more than +/- .1 grain off and most of the time, dead on.
I have heard of others having problems with it if they talked on their cell phones at the same time that it was disspensing powder. It seems the cell phone causes EMI problems with the circuitry. I don't ever talk on the phone when I'm reloading, so I've never had this problem.
Regards,
Kory
07 February 2005, 03:23
phurley5I have been using one for some time now and love it. I also have two of the old Lyman Autoscales set up with commonly used powders that I can just turn on and use anytime. The 1200 can undergo a powder change quickly, therefore I use it for many powders. The warm up is necessary.

Good shooting.
phurley
07 February 2005, 04:37
djpaintlesI love mine, the only problem I've ever had with it was with my cell phone. My Motorola cell phone definately makes it start to read funny, I've tried it several times. But like the previous poster said you shouldn't be talking on the phone while reloading anyway.......DJ
....Remember that this is all supposed to be for fun!..................
08 February 2005, 23:03
Fast EdI've been using mine for a while, but had my first problem with it the other night. The plastic bushing that holds the powder tube in place was assembled incorrectly the last time it was emptied. (I have absolutely no idea whatsoever who may have done that, especially since I am the only human that comes close to the thing. I just know it couldn't have been me that didn't watch what he was doing) The bushing slid out of the hole and the powder tube started to wobble all over. I still got accurate loads, but after the bushing came out, it dumped powder all over the inside of the unit. I am going to find out who did this to my 1200 and make sure it doesn't happen again. Otherwise, I love the thing. It is great when loading a bunch of the same charge weights and it is great when loading many different charge weights. It is a littel putsy to empty, but not bad as long as you put it together correctly when you are done. Not like the mystery reloading terrorist that put mine together last time.
Fast Ed
Measure your manhood not by success, but by significance.
09 February 2005, 03:45
Collinsquote:
Originally posted by billt:
I use a set of Lee Powder Dippers to help speed thing up. I'll select a dipper about 5 to 6 grains less than the charge I want, dump it into the pan, then let the machine top it off. Bill T.
That's a great idea. Won't matter too much on .223 but on the WSM it would save a lot of time.
One other thing I've noticed, it sounds like "Dino" from the Flintstones while it's running.
As far as the warmup. mine came in today and the instructions say the first warmup period should be 24 hrs. After the 30 mins it's working quite well.