I am seriously thinking of purchasing one of these and want some first hand information from those WHO HAVE USED THEM. I know a number of guys have a bias for the beam scale and I respect this however I would like to go digital and thinking of the whole system when I do. The wife wanted a gift idea and what do you get a guy who has most of what he needs? You reach for something you wouldn't necessarily buy for yourself but would like. John

Santa brought me a Lyman 1200 DPS last Christmas. Works flawless and is accurate to .10 gr. I use it constantly.

Start readin!! I've got the Lyman 1200 DPSII, but if I were buying one now, I'd go for the RCBS Chargemaster, it's faster and easier to clean, costs a bit more, though.

http://www.6mmbr.com/powderdispensers01.html

Best price I've seen on it is $240 at Natchez, but they're out right now...

http://www.natchezss.com/category.cfm?contentID=product...792&CFTOKEN=97494052

It's $280 at Midsouth and Sinclair.

I have the Chargemaster, Great machine, Fast, no warm up, takes 30sec. to calibrate and very accurate..every thing I wanted.

I've been very pleased with my Lyman 1200. It does require a 30 minute warmup, but that's not a problem since there are earlier stages in the reloading process that eat up that time.
Once you get in the rythym of having it measure your powder loads, you seat the bullet in between each measurment and knock the final portion of the loading process out very easily.

I have the Lyman 1200 DPS and I would go with "wrongtarget" on this one. The Lyman is slow by comparison and it is a booger to clean. Other than that, it works great and is very accurate. My friend has the RCBS and I know that it is better from the standpoint of speed of throwing charges and ease of cleaning.

quote:

Originally posted by wrongtarget:
Start readin!! I've got the Lyman 1200 DPSII, but if I were buying one now, I'd go for the RCBS Chargemaster, it's faster and easier to clean, costs a bit more, though.

http://www.6mmbr.com/powderdispensers01.html

Best price I've seen on it is $240 at Natchez, but they're out right now...

This is supposed to be humour, so please take it as such...

Speaking of pricing, one day in a gun shop with which I was associated, a guy came in and asked "What are you guy's gettin' for 10-22's?"


"$149.95", we answerd. "Holy Chr--!", he exclaimed, "XX-Mart sells them for $109.95!"

"So why don't you buy one there,?", we asked.

"Because they don't have any in stock right now", he countered.

"Well, shoot", the store owner said..."When I don't have any, I sell them for $69.50........"

Not to get away from the original inquiry in this thread -- but I have a question:

Folks claim the Lyman 1200 DPS is in some way hard to clean/change powder. I have not the same experience(s). I normally change powders 3 or more times during each reloading session. What makes the Lyman so difficult - for other users - to operate so far as changing powder/cleaning?

I've had 2 Lymans. The first one started giving funky readings whenever I was using my cell phone while it ran - I tested it several times it was for real. My second one worked fine for about 3 weeks and then went completely tit's up.
I bought an RCBS combo from Natchez. It's easier to clean, much faster and hasn't broken yet. It's the one to buy.................DJ

The lyman isn't hard to clean, it just takes longer due to all the nooks and crannies, compared to the RCBS Chargemaster. Mine works great, no problems at all cept for gettin a kernel of powder tween the scale pad and housing, kinda screws with the readings, but easy to fix once you're on to it. I got mine for less than $200 delivered, so that was a given at the time, but the RCBS looks like the best bet from readin the review.

I have the new upgraded PACT combo and it has been fast and accurate every time. I can't imagine being without it on the bench now.

I have all RCBS equipment including the 2 digital scalesm Chargemaster and digital calipers. In my older age I have learned that the digital units have another advantage - they are so much easier on my eyes. I concur with all of the other reasons mentioned earlier.

You will love the digital equipment.

Eexcuse my stupid question, I´m going to ask it anyway:

With my dispenser (normal handcranked version) I put the primed shell under the dispenser and the powder spills directly into the shell. This is easy.

How do you load the powder into the shell with the digital models? Is it thrown from the dispenser onto a tray and then manually through a funnel or...?

I´m no genius at practical things.

quote:

Originally posted by cewe:
How do you load the powder into the shell with the digital models? Is it thrown from the dispenser onto a tray and then manually through a funnel or...?

Correct. The dispenser feeds the charge into a pan which sits on the scale. The charge is completed when the scale registers the charge weight required. The pan is then removed from the scale, and the charge transferred to case via a funnel.

This is slower than charging directly into the case from a powder measure. However, most powder measures only work for powders with small "kernels" - forget the extruded powders like IMR7828. So the electronic dispensers stepped into this niche, and originally they only worked with powders with large kernels. I believe (not sure, I have an older RCBS/PACT dispenser), that newer electronic dispensers will work with small as well as large kerneled powders??

- mike

Yeah, my RCBS works fine with H335, I have never tried a Ball type with it though.

Elkman and other owners of the new RCBS Chargemaster combination: what voltage is used for dispenser and scale?? In the old RCBS/PACT dispenser/scale one device uses AC and the other DC (I forget which one is which). Is that still the case with the new device??

If you could be bothered to look at and report the output voltages and type of your (external - I assume?) powersupply, I'd be much obliged.

Reason: I have yet to see a new Chargemaster offfered for 220V on any of the US reloading supply websites. So I was wondering whether the new device (in US 110 V form) would work with the external powersupplies for the old RCBS/PACT dispenser/scale??

- mike

I have heard that some of the new digital dispensers sometimes tend to "clog" or get into a bind around the trickling tube when using the finer ball type powders such as H-110. This has not happend to my Lyman. (and I hope it does not because I load a lot of .45 Colt). This may hopefully be one of the improvements in these dispensers as the product evolution continues to improve.

Looks like we are generally looking at the Chargemaster in this thread, and not having any direct knowdedge of this popular dispenser, an indirect answer to the power supply inquiry -- the Lyman uses a 120VAC transformer that steps down the supply voltage to 15VAC at 350mA.

The RCBS is available in 110v or 220v models..

http://www.rcbs.com/default.asp?menu=1&s1=3

Thanks for the link, wrongtarget. I also see the 220V models here in Europe - problem is, they cost about 2-3 times what US Internet reloading suppliers charge. So I'll try to find one from the US and have it shipped over. That is what I've done with my present dispenser (and lots of other gear). Problem is: thus far, none of the US reloading suppliers offer this particular model in 220V - yet (?). Buying directly from RCBS is a bit expensive....

- mike

Buffalo Arms sells the 220V for $280, I've done business with them, they're good to deal with.

http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,4903.html

http://www.buffaloarms.com/shipping.htm

Midway International also sells it, for more but shipping may be less, dunno for sure.

http://www.intlmidway.com/intl/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?SaleItemID=454722

Wrontarget, you are a scholar and a gentleman! You are either very handy with google, or happened to know where you could get one. I'm suitably impressed! Just goes to show: there is never a question that can't be answered on AR

Thanks for that!

- mike

Thanks Mike, I just shop a lot on the internet and as you guessed, know how to use Google.

Have a Merry Christmas!!!

Tim

One more bit of info for cochran:

The Lyman has a selector switch on the underside that can be set to 240V at 50Hz. I believe this will accomodate some of the other country's power supplies.

Which ever digital dispensor you choose, you will eventually realize "how did I ever load without one of these things?"

In the meantime -- Merry Christmas to all and the best holiday season ever. I'm looking forward to another great year with the Accurate Forums.

I saw a chargemaster last nite in 220v at midway usa.

http://www.midwayusa.com/