Elec Powder scale/dispenser?

[TonyM]

I do a lot of 223 loading... and a lot of 458 SOCOM reloading as well lately... :killingpc

I'm considering buying one of these things... but they are not exactly cheap. I've read HORRIBLE reviews for the RCBS Chargemaster, and the Hornaday LNL... the Lyman 1200 DPS 3 also has consistent bad reviews from various places... They all have good reviews as well... but when the bad reviews all reference the same issues, it becomes a bit worrisome (Especially with that kind of money).

So... e-pinions? I would really not like to spend more then about $250... for the right unit however, I could see spending a little more. This little Lee scale and "Perfect Powder Measure" are not giving me the consistency I'm trying to achieve, and it takes FOREVER to switch powders/charges.

[Dark Helmet]

Pact scale and dispenser combo

[kcajeel]

I have the Pact and it works for me.

[TonyM]

Do you guys use the Pact on your reloading bench? I've read that the scale is bukku sensitive to ANY kind of disturbance while in use. This will be no good for me, because I have all my stuff on one table/bench, and if I can't crunch or do other tasks on the bench while the dispensor is dispensing... it kind of defeats the purpose for me.

[Dark Helmet]

You will probably have to isolate it from the bench if it isn't beaucoup solid- you can put it on a small table next to your bench. I have mine on top of a file cabinet with the balance beam beside it at eye level.

[cricco]

I have the Hornady. I paid $230 for it, and I LOVE it. I have no complaints, and I did post a review of it on the forum somewhere. Money well spent in my opinion.

[mike in co]

benchrest guys use the chargemaster.....

what is so special about your requirements that cannot be met with the lee scmall scale ??

THE ARE ALL PLUS OR MINUS 0.1 till you move up to lab stuff like the mx123 or better.


mike in co

[TonyM]

benchrest guys use the chargemaster.....

what is so special about your requirements that cannot be met with the lee scmall scale ??

THE ARE ALL PLUS OR MINUS 0.1 till you move up to lab stuff like the mx123 or better.


mike in co

My dispenser varies a half grain or more at times. Especially if im using a stick powder like 3031 or 4198. It likes the Unique a little better, and the LG... but I still find myself varrying much more than I like to with loads. My SD on some loads is around 50-60... or more in some cases. (Although recently with LG I was able to get consistantly around 7-8 with this last batch). I like to be down at 15 or below if possible. Eliminating mechanical variances with plastic parts is where I'd like to start...

Who knows, maybe one of these units will not make the loads more consistent, it will however, cut the time it takes me on the powder weighing and dispensing time when changing powders or charges.

[buck1]

I had the pact combo (High quality). It worked well and was not overly sencitive. It meatered well and it worked as advertised and all made in the USA 100%! BUT.. They are not overly fast and I was faster with a powder measure and balance beam scale.
They may be right for some, but for me they were the answer to the question that was never asked.
I sold it for what I paid, and have no desire to have that type of tool again(anyones). A waste of money for me.
But to each his own. If you do get one The PACT is the way to go IMHO........Buck

[Lloyd Smale]

I have a newer pact and a newer lyman. The lyman is a tad faster but it needs a 20 minute warmup period. Not a big deal as i never shut either off. one adavantage to the pact is if it ever craps out and as we all know everything eventually does you still have a scale and if one of the two craps out its cheaper to replace one then the whole unit like you would with a lyman.

[justingrosche]

I have the PACT and I like the accuracy of mine. Although it is slow, you do have to wait on it quite a bit for the big charges.
My only beef is with there customer service, it is piss poor. I tried to call them to get some information and the voice mail said that they were out for a week. Wow, the whole company took the week off.It actually took three weeks to get a hold of some one . Made me wonder what I had gotten myself into with this dispenser. I wonder if some guy is making these in his garage.

[cheese1566]

I got a nearly new in the box ChargeMaster direct from RCBS a few months ago that was used for trade shows.

So far it has worked great with IMR 4064, TAC, Unique, and WIN231. I always double check the first few drops with my beam scale, just because I'm a little anal. (I will say my Hornady powder drop with pistol insert is faster and just as consistent with the small WIN 231 drops, but that was an experiment to see what it would do.)
But as far as rifle and dropping various loads for development, I like it.

Fast and no warm up, just the calibration at each start which takes about 30 seconds.

I found this article at 6mmbr.com:
http://www.6mmbr.com/powderdispensers01.html

I think any of them will make your reloading a little more enjoyable.

[Jon K]

I have the RCBS Chargemaster, and I'm using powders I would not use before, like 4198,4759 stick & bulky powders.

Wouldn't hesitate to do it, and couldn't be happier. :smile:

Jon

[mike in co]

My dispenser varies a half grain or more at times. Especially if im using a stick powder like 3031 or 4198. It likes the Unique a little better, and the LG... but I still find myself varrying much more than I like to with loads. My SD on some loads is around 50-60... or more in some cases. (Although recently with LG I was able to get consistantly around 7-8 with this last batch). I like to be down at 15 or below if possible. Eliminating mechanical variances with plastic parts is where I'd like to start...

Who knows, maybe one of these units will not make the loads more consistent, it will however, cut the time it takes me on the powder weighing and dispensing time when changing powders or charges.

how do you know it varies a half grain ??

what scale do you use ??

essentially all reloading scales beam or electronic are plus or minus 0.1.

the mx123...is .02 readable with .03 sensitivity...
the chargemaster is great for the average shooter that shoots a lot and wants better accuracy than some powder thorwers with certain powders..long stick stuff, maybe flake.

mike in co

[TonyM]

Thanks for all the input guys... after much review reading, and info derived from here, I think I'm going to try the RCBS...

It appears that this dispenser will give me the best chance of working in my somewhat limited reloading real estate. Everyone seems to say the same thing about sensitivity with the PACT unit... and I won't be able to isolate it from the rest of my stuff so... that would be a huge issue it appears..

[John D]

I have the RCBS Chargemaster and am happy with it..

[winelover]

I have the RCBS Chargemaster and am happy with it..

I like mine also, didn't know I needed one till I tried it! Added plus is that it is two separate units and if one goes haywire, no need to replace both.

Winelover

[noylj]

Had a PACT. PITA. Need to keep the two units lined up for IR communication. It needed a long calibration run and wasn't all that fast dispensing.
I love my ChargeMaster.
It is much faster then the PACT, calibrates itself with each dispensing of a charge.
It is accurate. RCBS supports it well. It has a very convenient wind screen. It discharged from the side rather than the back. There is nothing that I ask for that it doesn't do and it does it very well. It is fast, accurate, but not cheap.
The only thing I didn't like about the RCBS was the plastic powder pan. My brass pans were too large to fit well. I sprayed it with Frankford Arsenal Cast Bullet Mold graphite spray. The propellant attacked the plastic a little, but it works MUCH better after. Powder no longer clings.
The biggest problem with most is operator error—forgetting to close the drain spout.
The Lyman used to be a PITA to clean, but they have improved. They even have an upgrade kit for the older dispensers.

[Doc Highwall]

I have the Lyman 1200 DPS 3 and it has a 30 min warm up. I have read the test on 6mm BR and the consensus is the RCBS unit is the best and that is what I would buy if my Lyman goes belly up.

[mdi]

I am interested in these digital scales too. Does anyone use the scale alone, without the dispensor? How do they preform under flourescent lighting?

[winelover]

I am interested in these digital scales too. Does anyone use the scale alone, without the dispensor? How do they preform under flourescent lighting?

I have a 4 foot flourescent shop light hanging over my loading bench and have zero problems with my RCBS Chargemaster. Just yesterday I checked a scoop charge of 296 powder with the scale and it weighed exactly 13.0 grains as it should. Last week I weighed boolits that I casted with a new mould to get an average weight. Scale preformed flawlessly. No need to separate the dispenser from the scale either.

Winelover

[LowPE]

I have used the Lyman for about a year or two now and I am quite happy with it.

It does take 20 minutes to warm up, but I never turn it off.

It has metered a whole range of powders quite nicely.

I bought it because it was on sale at the time....

[1hole]

"I'm considering buying one of these things... but they are not exactly cheap. I've read HORRIBLE reviews for the RCBS Chargemaster, and the Hornaday LNL... the Lyman 1200 DPS 3 also has consistent bad reviews from various places.. "

And you're still "considering buying one"?

No digital dumpsters for me. Those who get good ones love 'em (until they quit), and those who don't give us different opinions. Clearly, what anyone gets is luck, not brand, and I won't depend on luck with that much investment.

My present measure, trickler and beam scale work as well as they did the day I got them in ''65 and they are still going. Ain't no Chinese digital anything, at any price, going to last like that.

[kcajeel]

I do use mine on my bench but my bench is sturdy. I even lag bolted it to the wall studs. I have no problem with jostling things around on the bench while measuring/pouring powder.

[kfarm]

Got my Hornady Auto Charge today and will send it back tommrow. After set up and calibration it will throw a charge about .7gr shy. I let it warm up all day and now it does the same thing but in addition it will trickle just a tad more just as you pick up the pan. I wanted a simple unit no memory just key in a charge and go so I got the Hornady.

Called Hornady and was told just send it back and we will get you another one. Not faulting the guys at Hornady but I waited 6 months to make my decision to get one and now I gotta send it back

Just wondering if I should send it to Hornady for replacement or send it back to Midway with a little more cash and get another brand. Decisions decisions.

[Heavy lead]

I have a 4 foot flourescent shop light hanging over my loading bench and have zero problems with my RCBS Chargemaster. Just yesterday I checked a scoop charge of 296 powder with the scale and it weighed exactly 13.0 grains as it should. Last week I weighed boolits that I casted with a new mould to get an average weight. Scale preformed flawlessly. No need to separate the dispenser from the scale either.

Winelover
Don't ever use it for 296 or any other ball powder (except 8700) but I've got flourescent's all over and NO issues, I wouldn't be without my Chargemaster. Before this I had one of the Lyman auto's that had a balance scale, it was a good measure, slow, accurate, but it died.

[kfarm]

Got my Hornady back Monday and it works great. After loading 200 or so 7-08 and 50 30-06's it was only off by .1 over on one charge. I tried it on all speed settings and found thet it worked fine on all. The normal setting it would give time to seat the bullet get a drink and be ready for the next charge. Not a bad unit so far, well see how it last. Thanks to Hornady for a quick turn around and good service.

[noylj]

My RCBS ChargeMaster works great and I can't imagine a better one.
The Pact consists os two units that you have to keep aligned so they can communicate. The RCBS CM locks the two units together.
The RCBS is very fast and accurate. When you first add a new powder, the first load dispensed will overshoot as it is learning how the powder feeds. That load goes back in the hopper and the next load is right on. The Pact and the old RCBS had to go through a long calibration cycle to learn how the powder feeds.
I had the old RCBS unit (PACT unit in RCBS green) and the ChargeMaster is much better.

[Lloyd Smale]

I would guess that the bad reviews come from inexperienced loader who think that accuracy plus or minus a .1 of a grain isnt accurate enough for making precision ammo. Both my pact and my lyman dispensor will stop plus or minus a .1 of a grain. Ive shot 1/2 groups with ammo like that. If you think that isnt accurate enough try weighting some factory ammo once. I once had a box of 280 corelocks i pulled and the powder varied up and down 4 grains. It was a stick powder like 4350 or 4831 and even that ammo shot inch out of my 280

[Trifocals]

I use the Lyman and am happy with it. To keep vibration down, I charge all cases using the Lyman before I seat bullets. I find I get more consistent charges than I do using conventional powder measures. A plus is that the Lyman does not have a bridging problem with stick type powders as so many conventional powder measures do. Accuracy of charges from my Lyman are within .1gr.

[Bad Water Bill]

I got a Lyman from Midway. It would not turn ON. Called Midway and made a mistake. I told them to replace it. Should have got my money back. The replacement had to be re calibrated after EACH drop. I still had to trickle about a grain each time.

Now it is just 2 years old and it has died, makes a very expensive BOAT ANCHOR. My Ohaus vintage 67 can still keep up with the $$$ ones any day. Use a tablespoon and a trickler and I can keep up with the Lyman any day and I trust it more.

Would I buy another Lyman electronic tool? At 74 years of age I will not live that long.

[AZ-Stew]

I bought a Lyman DPS 1200 II from a guy on e-bay for a VERY reasonable price a year or two ago. I also bought the version III speed upgrade from him. The only thing mine doesn't do that the latest model does is it doesn't start measuring the next charge when you put the pan back on the scale. I have to touch one of the buttons to get it to start measuring the next charge.

I bought mine to deal with coarse stick powders. It does VERY well with them, and is fast enough to measure a charge for a .300 Win Mag load while the bullet is being seated on the previous cartridge. I've tried it for light charges of powder, but it is inconsistent below about a 20 grain charge. That experience was some time ago. I haven't used it for small charges in a while. When the NRA convention was held here in Phoenix a year and a half ago, I asked the Lyman rep what the problem was. He suggested that it might be due to static electricity. I spent some time trying to figure a way to ground the unit without disturbing the scale, but came up empty. The unit runs off a wall-wart power supply that isolates it the unit from ground. Then someone here suggested wiping the unit with a dryer anti-static sheet. I've done it, but haven't tried weighing the lighter charges yet.

Anyway, I like the Lyman. No problems for the use for which it was purchased.

BTW, my shop has nothing but fluorescent lighting. No problems there, but I can make the Lyman measure "beep" by using my Ham Radio in the next room. The harmonics of the signal get into the electronics of the measure and set off the tone generator.

Regards,

Stew

[dale2242]

The only one I have used is the Hornady LNL. I am very satisfied with it........dale

[35isit]

I have the Lyman DPS1200 III. I love it. It's + or - .1 grain most of the time. I too wondered why I bought one when I first got it. After learning through trial and error how to make it work properly. I will never hand trickle loads again. I use it to measure SR4759 and large amounts of H4895.

[GLShooter]

I got a PACT scale around 15 years ago and it is still running strong. I bought th PACT dispense set up two years ago and I am pleased with how it does. It is setting on the back of my bench and I have no issues with it in operation. I do turn off the over head fan though!!

I understand they have a faster one out there. I need to look in to that upgrade this winter. It sure makes load development charges a piece of cake with the button changing.

Greg

[browntown]

Aren't those RCBS ones made in china now? They used to be made by pact for rcbs, but everyone I've seen has a big made in china stamp on the bottom of the box which rules it out for me. That's why I bought a pact, which btw is on sale at cabelas right now. I think the dillon eliminator scales are US made as well.

[Suo Gan]

The RCBS Chargemaster is a the gol durn cats meow as far as I am concerned. They can be had for $250 and they have a $50 off coupon for orders over $300. What the heck are you waiting for?

[AZ-Stew]

The RCBS Chargemaster is a the gol durn cats meow as far as I am concerned. They can be had for $250 and they have a $50 off coupon for orders over $300. What the heck are you waiting for?

Sounds doggone near like a free RCBS mould (well, not quite, but close). I still have to send in my $10 rebate for the .45-270SWC I bought a few weeks ago. Good deal.

Regards,

Stew

[Rocky Raab]

Tony, I think the Hornady actually has the smallest bench "footprint." It is certainly a LOT smaller than the original RCBS two-unit (scale and dispenser) that I replaced. I believe the Hornady is also a good amount less expensive. Mine is not sensitive to "bench bumps" but my bench is fairly sturdy and anchored to the wall behind it. My older RCBS in the same location did jar the scale with normal press handle movements.

My official review of the new Hornady will be in the January issue of The Varmint Hunter Magazine. The bottom line is that I recommend it highly.

[zomby woof]

I have the Lyman DPS1200 III. I love it.

I like the "auto-charge" feature. I like the fact that it counts the charges. This comes in very handy when charging small amounts of powder in large cases. It's a double check for me.

I had a problem with it at first. I sent it back and was told it had static. A wipe down with a dryer sheet and all is well. Warm up and calibration are a must.

I would buy again.