I am interested in upgrading my reloading kit and am looking to buy a combined electronic powder scale and automatic powder dispenser.

The ones I have seen advertised here in the UK are made by Lyman, RCBS and Hornady.

Which one is preferable: why / what desirable features do they have compared with the others?

I have the Lyman, fast and accurate. No experience with the others.

rcbs IS pact .. yes, virginia, they are the same .. i have the upgraded one, works nice .. little slow for 80-110grs ,.. works good

I only have experience with the Lyman DPS3
I would buy the same again.

I had a Lyman and got rid of it. I now have a RCBS and like it much better. A friend of mine has used both and prefers the Lyman. In my experience the Lyman had to be calibrated way more often than the RCBS (my friend agrees with that). I never had confidence in the Lyman.

IMHO the RCSB Chargemaster is the bomb. Great with extruded powders. Usually dead on about 95 outa 100 loads using IMR4350.

I never thought I would "need" one. I really am hooked on it. I can be assured all of my rifle loads weigh exactly what I want them to.

Speeds up the process as well. While waiting for the powder to be dispensed I'm seating booolits!!

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
rcbs IS pact .. yes, virginia, they are the same .. i have the upgraded one, works nice .. little slow for 80-110grs ,.. works good

The Pact and RCBS are no longer the same unit, the RCBS is made in China, Pact is made in Texas, they don't even look alike!!

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...productNumber=772151

http://www.pact.com/index.php?...iew&id=14&Itemid=126

Q: Where is the Dispenser manufactured, I heard all this stuff comes from Red China?

A: That is a sore subject around here. None of our products are made "off shore." They are all made right here in Texas. This includes all of our electronic Scales, Shooting Timers, Chronographs and the Powder Dispenser.

I have the Lyman DPS 3. It often says it needs "calibration", but what I've found is that it doesn't really need calibration at all, at least mine doesn't. What's happening is that the measure "overruns" itself and waits too long to stop, putting too much powder in the pan.

I was experimenting with mine just this morning. Every time it would over throw the charge by more than .3 grs, it says "CAL" on it. But if you use a check weight on the scale, it's usually dead on the money. Mine was every time, with both a 50 gr and a 100 gr check weight.

Mine came shipped with an output reducer to slow the flow of powder. I think I'm going to try that and see if it helps it not over throw the powder.

I think it's the result of too many guys bitching that the older units weren't "fast enough", dunno, never had the older unit to compare it to. But the DPS 3 runs at high speed right up to the very last tenth of a grain or so, then tries to "trickle" the last tenth into the pan. This usually causes mine to throw too much into the pan.

Love my Chargemaster combo. I only read the section of the manual that covered calibration then off I went.

I don't know why I'd need to "save" any loads. Still scratching my head on that one. Punch 22.5 then 'disp' then seat a bullet while it's doing it's thing. Unless I hit stop/cancel it goes right at 22.5 again as soon as I replace the pan. Can't imagine anything easier. I hate reading manuals.

I also like to use my LNL AP as a semi-progressive. With the chargemaster combo I can do so at a production rate that isn't prohibitively slow.

What I do not like about the Lyman is the long warm up time.
I have mine on a seperate bench from my Hornad progressive press and have no issues.

I have the Lyman DPS 3, I love it, While the 30 minute warm up time can be a pain. That is pretty much standard for most dispenser/scale systems like it. I have canceled the warm up calibrated and had no issues. I also use a second digital scale to trickle up to the charge weight.

RCBS Chargemaster!

Check out the review of automatic dispenser/scale combinations on www.6mmbr.com

http://www.6mmbr.com/catalog/item/1433308/1266096.htm

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

http://www.6mmbr.com/powderdispensers02.html

- mike

I have the Lyman unit and I am very pleased with it. The 30 minute warm up isn't a prob as I usually have 30 minutes of piddling around to do before I get down to it.

quote:

Originally posted by robthom:
I am interested in upgrading my reloading kit and am looking to buy a combined electronic powder scale and automatic powder dispenser.

The ones I have seen advertised here in the UK are made by Lyman, RCBS and Hornady.

Which one is preferable: why / what desirable features do they have compared with the others?

Here's a previous discussion on digital dispensers. http://forums.accuratereloadin...=884102177#884102177

Thank you gentlemen, and ladies?, for sharing your experiences with me.

Based upon the comments of posters here, along with the benchrest shooting website review,it appears the RCBS units have the edge.

I have not seen the PACT units advertised in the UK. This does not mean they are not available in cointry, just I have not seen them in the usual shooting rags.

The Pact is only made in a 110 volt version, the RCBS and Lyman are both available in 220 volt as well, so they're available worldwide.

Another vote for the RCBS Chargemaster!

I am on my 2nd RCBS, on my way to my 3rd. the electronics go out.

I have used two of the old Lyman Autoscales that utilize the power dispensor onto a balance beam for several years, each with one powder I use frequently. I also got the original Lyman DPS and recently put in the upgrade kit. I also use a Lyman Electronic Scale with the trickeler mounted on it. With this system I can quickly meter out loads with any type powder, after a quick switch of the DPS (that also has several loads in memory) or scale. I wouldn't swap my Lyman systems for anything else. I had the original RCBS Dispensor and scale and had trouble with electronics that pissed me off enough to hollar calf rope. Good shooting.

I sure like my RCBS.

Another RCBS Combo 1500 user, make that satisfied user But I have not used the others so no comparison, other than the Combo does everything I ask of it. I let it warm up a few minutes, calibrate, and dispense. While it dispenses I'm also seating a bullet. Sure has saved me a lot of time, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

+1 on the RCBS.

I'm very happy with mine.

Another fan of the RCBS Chargemaster here.

I bought one in the US & run it off a 110v transformer here in the UK with no problems.

T & J. J. McAvoy Gunsmiths of Wigan are RCBS suppliers in the UK that I would highly recommend if you want a Chargemaster.

quote:

Originally posted by wrongtarget:

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
rcbs IS pact .. yes, virginia, they are the same .. i have the upgraded one, works nice .. little slow for 80-110grs ,.. works good

The Pact and RCBS are no longer the same unit, the RCBS is made in China, Pact is made in Texas, they don't even look alike!!

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...productNumber=772151

http://www.pact.com/index.php?...iew&id=14&Itemid=126

Q: Where is the Dispenser manufactured, I heard all this stuff comes from Red China?

A: That is a sore subject around here. None of our products are made "off shore." They are all made right here in Texas. This includes all of our electronic Scales, Shooting Timers, Chronographs and the Powder Dispenser.

NUFF SAID!!!!!!!!

Every review I've read (and I read a lot of them) the RCBS Chargemaster was heads and shoulders above the Lyman, so that's what I just bought. I've wanted to get one for a long time but just recently did. I've been loading 50bmg all week and don't know how I got by without it. When your dumping 220 grain charges it's sure nice to press a button and have it done for you.

I like and use the Pact.
http://pact.com/index.php?opti...m_frontpage&Itemid=1
I allso like the lifetime garente.
Bill

I shoot 100/200/300 competitive bencchrest. This is the most nit-picking extreme accuracy shooting discipline on the planet. Absolute precise powder charges are a must. Without exception, the RCBS Chargemaster is the best. If there was something better (more accurate) the practioners of this sport would be using it.