Hi

Has anyone got any experience with the RCBS chargemaster 1500 or the Lyman 1200 DPS. I was thinking of investing in one for reloading my 30-06 an 6.5 x 55 I'll be reloading with Vihtavouri 150 and 160.

Do these actually work as well as they say in all the promotional material?

mine is the rcbs & it works just fine, but it is slow. if you're just loading 50 rds or less or big cases its ok, but if you have a couple hundred to load better take lunch with

Hi

Thanks for the reply, I'll be throwing charges mainly around the 43 grain weight with occasional loads of 53 grains for the 30-06 so it shouldn't be too bad. Are they as accurate as claimed?

I love the RCBS to me it is very fast compared to the PACT, which I had for years. I use mine mostly for big bore rifle loads and it works great. Accurate with all my digital scales.

Michael

I have the Chargemaster 1500. Even when loading for my 338-378 (104 + grains of IMR 7828) I haven't finished seating the bullet from the previous throw. It's fast, accurate and I have had zero problems with it. My '06 load is done WAY before I get the previous bullet seated .

Ken....

I read good things lots of places about the RCBS Chargemaster. So, if I was inclined along the lines of using that kind of a set up, that's what I'd buy. But, I did buy a Chargemaster for my oldest son who loads a lot, and he is very satisfied with it. I have no experience with any of them as I'm a throw light, trickle up guy using an old Ohaus beam and balance scale.

Don

what does speed up the process alot is to use your powder measure and dump a charge in the pan that is just a couple grains under and let the chargemaster finish the job

I have gone through two RCBS chargemasters. BUT electronic stuff eventually breaks. The warrantys are 12 mos on electronics. If you have the cash and need the flash of something spifferino get one they are neat "for a while"

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
what does speed up the process alot is to use your powder measure and dump a charge in the pan that is just a couple grains under and let the chargemaster finish the job

Good suggestion...

I don't have one but have been researching it for a while. Seems the Chargemaster is the better of the three (pack rcbs, and lyman). SOme were getting heavy charges and it seems that one little trick used was to tape a short piece of straw to the end of the dispenser to lengthen it a little. I guess this helped fix the inaccuracy problems for many of these guys. By far, most of what I have read is positive reviews of the chargemaster.

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
what does speed up the process alot is to use your powder measure and dump a charge in the pan that is just a couple grains under and let the chargemaster finish the job

I got the RCBS and like it a lot. It is great for working up incremental charges for load development, but it's slow on big cases (375 H&H and 358 STA). butchloc's idea is one of those "why didn't I think of that" ideas and I'll definitely use it.

I bought a Lyman 1200 DPS III last week from Natchezs. I will let you know how it works. I did quite a bit of looking before I bought this, and the RCBS Chargemaster has been hard to find for a decent price. I think on their website they list it for over $400.00. Natchez has them for a decent price, but they are on backorder with no outlook on stocking date. Good hunting!

I've got the Dillon Scale and auotomatic dispenser. I don't have any complaints, it's quick and easy to use.

.

I would hate to go back to my "BC" loading
days. That is, Before Chargemaster.

.

I have the Pact unit and it worked very well with Varget and not worth a shit with Win 748, then it broke and I just put it back in the box. The scale that came with the unit still works well. FS

I just bought a Lyman DPS 3 and after I set it all up, it refused to throw the first charge. I emptied all the powder and try running it dry and everything seems to be working properly, but when I added the powder to the hopper, it would jam up. I called Lyman and they said they found out they had a bad batch of powder tubes and powder trays installed on some of their machines and would send replacement parts to fix the problem. I would love to tell you all how great this machine works, but it's not looking that way so far.

FWIW,

One of the good articles I read about the Chargemaster was about Walt Berger using his Chargemaster for all of his loads for benchrest shooting. Jake Gottfredson wrote the article, after interviewing Berger about thoughts on the Chargemaster. Berger had a whole lot of praise for the RCBS unit.

Don

Thanks for all the usefull advice, I've decided to go with the Lyman 1200 in the end as I was offered one second hand at a good price. All the people that I've spoken to that use them think they are great, so I just hope I have as much luck.

If you have already decided, well this is gratuitous advice.
I have both lyman and RCBS; the RCBS is twice as fast.
Plus, RCBS is really a good co to deal with. Mine broke after 2 years, I sent it in for repairs, and they sent me a new one free!
In the meantime, I had tried the Lyman and bought a new RCBS.
So now I have 2 chargemasters, viz OK with me, I keep different powders in each
Funnily enough, the charge master I got in replacement from RCBS is a lot faster than the one I pickedf up a month beforte that at cabelas!

Another useless post: Lyman has put out an upgrade kit for the older, slower models. The new Lyman can remember loads, too. I have the PACT which works fast enough for me, but I think that load memory would be a good thing to have.