Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Electronic powder dispenser

I currently run a Lyman that I've had for several years but lately its been acting a little wonky on me and giving false readings after dispensing the amount of powder I've called for. I stop and check the weight and its okay but I'm not feeling real comfortable with it.
For those who use the electronic units, which ones do you recommend?

I used a Lyman 1200 DPS3 for a long time. It worked fine, till it didn’t. I replaced it with an RCBS Chargemaster 1500. I prefer the RCBS unit. It might be just a touch slower, but it does have an auto trickler and throws the desired charge weight accurately more so than the Lyman did.

With the Lyman, I threw 0.2 low and trickled. With the RCBS I just put in the weight I want. The RCBS is also better with stick powders.

Just to say it, the newer Lyman units may be better than the RCBS, but I don’t know. I’m real happy with the RCBS.

Thanks. The 1200 is the one I use. I did the upgrade on it a few years ago and it made it faster, I think. As you said, they work well until they don't, Thanks for the input.

I have a Lyman 1200 and a while back it seemed like it had died. I unplugged it for a few minutes and it came back to life. Haven’t had any other problems with it. Have you been doing the calibration before each session?

I do. I calibrate it every time I power it up for use. Its been bullet proof but lately has been giving me odd readings after a load has been measured and dispensed. I have it unplugged now and may test it again later tonight to see if it acts up. I don't want false high readings by 2.2 grains... That could be a problem.

Static electricity can cause them to go wonky. Wipe it down with a dryer sheet and see if that helps.
I like my Chargemaster 1500; haven't used any other brand to compare it to though. The C 1500 can also be programmed to work faster.

I had a small Lyman electronic scale that kept trying to kill me. It was total junk.

Now I have the RCBS Charge master. It's a very good rig. I've had zero issue with it, and it holds zero very well.

Long time ago, a friend wanted to give me one... I didn't want to impose...

so he asked me to take it home and try it out for a week or two..and If I didn't like it, he'd take it back..

After a week I gave it back... the old 505 beam scale and the Lee Dippers were a lot easier, and never needed to be calibrated..

I'm so bourgeois.....

So easy even a caveman can do it.

My Lyman unit all of a sudden started throwing very wrong loads. It was very accurate in weighing those wrong loads, however. I have it boxed up. I hate to destroy it but don’t want to spend money to get it fixed.

As for beam versus electronic, I used an RCBS 1010 for decades. Still have it, but don’t use it anymore. When I got the Lyman, life got so much simpler and faster, and more enjoyable. Then, years later it died, just as I was finishing up a loading session. I decided to finish up with the Lyman 55 powder thrower and a PACT scale and trickler. Man, it was soooo slow to finish up the last 20 or 30. Went in the house and ordered the RCBS 1500 CM.

I won’t go back to a beam scale. No way! No how!

I'm running an Auto Trickler. It throws charges to the nearest kernel of powder in 10 or so seconds. Spendy, though.

https://www.autotrickler.com/

I'm considering the RCBS and the Hornady units.

Please don't subject yourself to the misery of the Hornady. BTDT, replaced it with the RCBS. One of the best choices I've ever made regarding my reloading setup.

thanks for that.

A good buddy gifted me a new RCBS a couple years ago and it worked fine. I calibrated it each time I used it.
It was really nice for working up a load, 5 of this, 5 of the next, 5 of the next.
Once I had a known load I was faster with a scoop and a trickler or just throwing the load if I was using a ball powder or short cut powder.

I have always calibrated mine when powering up. I'll run some more powder through it this week but test loads from time to time to check accuracy.

I avoided electronic scales for a long time. I finally researched the piss out of them and ended up with the RCBS ChargeMaster. It has been a great scale and I would replace it in a heartbeat if it died.

Same here, they drove me nuts until I got the RCBS Chargemaster Lite which has been great. I use it as a scale and for extruded powders.

I have used the RCBS charge master for years and love it with very few issues , I drool over the new match model but could never justify the price.
If mine were do die I would look at the Chargemaster lite

Thats what i always worried about. 2.2 grains is unacceptable and could create a very unsafe situation. Im also wondering how many seconds it takes to charge a rifle case the size of a 30-06. I ran an experiment the other day and it takes me 10 seconds to drop a light charge with my uni-flo and trickle the rest in. How much, if any, time are you actually saving? I know i trust my beam scale. An electronic device, not so much. I have to also add that this thread topic should probably be in the big game reloading section, as all of my varmint loads use powder that drops consistently from my powder measure. No need to use an electronic scale for any of my varmint rifles. The big game cartridges that use longer grain extruded powders are dropped light and then the rest is trickled in. Again, im wondering how many seconds it takes to fill a case (on average) when you are using your fancy electronic scale? I scratch my head and wonder if you are really using anything other than a powder measure when dropping charges for your varmint loads as well.. if you arent, maybe you need to re-think your powder choice.