DPS III vs. Chargemaster 1500

[encoreguy]

I know that they did a nice comparison on here of the 1500 VS. the DPS but has anyone compared the new DPS III? Any thoughts?

 

[Rustystud]

Can't speak for the DPSIII. I just got a RCBS 1500 Charge Master a week ago after measuring with a balance beam for 45 years. After experimenting for three hours with 5 powder measures and IMR 4350 and double checking with the balance beam I said to myself, what took me so long? If the proformance continues that I have seen there will be no looking back. I threw 25 measures with each measure and I threw 25 loads using the RCBS and the comparison was not even close. 24 out of 25 within .1 or less. The one was within .12
Rustystud

 

[encoreguy]

Man you would think someone on here would have a DPS III.

 

[Rtheurer]

Im using the Ole DPS I, and I love it. I just had a chance to test it on a Denver Instements TP153 Scale that reads to the hundreths. Im very pleased with the results. That was weighing over 4000 rounds of ammo in a two week time span. I wish I would have kept a log of its performance it would have made an excellent article. Im thinking of getting another one and use this one for back up or to decrease my loading time if I need to.

RT

 

[encoreguy]

Im using the Ole DPS I, and I love it. I just had a chance to test it on a Denver Instements TP153 Scale that reads to the hundreths. Im very pleased with the results. That was weighing over 4000 rounds of ammo in a two week time span. I wish I would have kept a log of its performance it would have made an excellent article. Im thinking of getting another one and use this one for back up or to decrease my loading time if I need to.

RT

Thanks for the reply. I have read that it was temp. sensative and took a long time to warm-up and was slower. But my thought was if that is because it is trying to be more accurate and have less errors then that is great. I can live with that. I hope the new DPS III wasn't just made faster to meet customer demand but at the sacrifice of accuracy.

 

[6BRonwheels]

I am using the upgrade kit for the DPS II, making it equal to the DPS III in speed. I have checked it against the Denver Instrument MX123 scale for accuracy. It hangs right around
-/+ .1 grain. It is faster than the DPS II, as I can drop a 30 grain charge of Varget in about 20 seconds.

 

[memilanuk]

Interesting... I'd heard reports from a couple users on another forum that it was dumping charges in the 24-25gr range,.223 Rem Service Rifle ammo) in about 5-6 seconds or so. Now you're saying ~30 seconds for 30gr. Quite a difference. I don't have reason to doubt either party, but the disparity is rather striking.

As for 'right around +/- .1gr'... how much is 'right around'? Does it exceed 0.1? Just under?

If some of you guys w/ access to both the DPSI/II/III and an MX/Acculab-123 could run say, 20-30 charges,more would be better) and write down the weights as indicated on the 123 and do a Avg/ES/SD on them... that would be *really* handy for others trying to get a good handle on 'how accurate is it really?'

If you aren't familar w/ how to do the calculations, forward the info to me and I can plug it into a spreadsheet which will do it automagically

I've got a Chargemaster 1500 and an Acculab 123, and I can run the same sort of test on it as well. It might be interesting, because in my experience, and from what I've read of others informal testing... the results listed in the reports on 6mmBR.com bear little resemblance to reality,i.e. 8-10 seconds for a 42gr charge - hah! more like 30-45 seconds on mine). Maybe RCBS did a programming change somewhere in the production, but it does make the information presented somewhat misleading.

Monte

 

[encoreguy]

Interesting... I'd heard reports from a couple users on another forum that it was dumping charges in the 24-25gr range,.223 Rem Service Rifle ammo) in about 5-6 seconds or so. Now you're saying ~30 seconds for 30gr. Quite a difference. I don't have reason to doubt either party, but the disparity is rather striking.

As for 'right around +/- .1gr'... how much is 'right around'? Does it exceed 0.1? Just under?

If some of you guys w/ access to both the DPSI/II/III and an MX/Acculab-123 could run say, 20-30 charges,more would be better) and write down the weights as indicated on the 123 and do a Avg/ES/SD on them... that would be *really* handy for others trying to get a good handle on 'how accurate is it really?'

If you aren't familar w/ how to do the calculations, forward the info to me and I can plug it into a spreadsheet which will do it automagically

I've got a Chargemaster 1500 and an Acculab 123, and I can run the same sort of test on it as well. It might be interesting, because in my experience, and from what I've read of others informal testing... the results listed in the reports on 6mmBR.com bear little resemblance to reality,i.e. 8-10 seconds for a 42gr charge - hah! more like 30-45 seconds on mine). Maybe RCBS did a programming change somewhere in the production, but it does make the information presented somewhat misleading.

Monte

I would be interested in the accuracy test on your 1500. Like I said speed is not a huge factor for me, but accuracy is. It would be very interesting to see the same info on the DPS III.

 

[6BRonwheels]

I think the speed of the DPS III has a lot to do with what kind of powder you are using. With Varget, you need to use the "plug" in the drop tube. If you do not use the plug it drops a 30 grain charge in about 6 seconds and overshoots/undershoots by a few tenths of a grain.
As for the accuracy of the DPS III upgrade kit, I checked ten charges and had an average variance of -/+ .15 grains, so not quite as good as advertised.

 

[encoreguy]

I think the speed of the DPS III has a lot to do with what kind of powder you are using. With Varget, you need to use the "plug" in the drop tube. If you do not use the plug it drops a 30 grain charge in about 6 seconds and overshoots/undershoots by a few tenths of a grain.
As for the accuracy of the DPS III upgrade kit, I checked ten charges and had an average variance of -/+ .15 grains, so not quite as good as advertised.

Good information! Thanks!

 

[Rtheurer]

Gosh now I really wish I would have kept a record of all those rounds comming out of the 1200DPS
On average of the 4000 rounds that were dispensed It kept them under a half a tenth. or 4 hundredths. Some times a coulple of kernals would fall off the tube at the same time and it would be over. It would show up on the screen every time though and I new it was going to be .1 over my target weight when I set it on the Lab Scale. I would just toss those back in the hopper and hit the button. I weighed EVERY,all 4000)charges on the Denver TP 153 as a back up assurance. My Tolerance was -.02 to +.02 of the target weight or they went back in the hopper or I put in 3 more Kernals of powder. It takes about 3 Kernals of R-15 to = one hundredths of a grain. Kinda neet to see the scale increase in weight by just putting on two or three kernals of powder!

This is what it seamed to be for me and is in no way scientific since I did not write down any of the Data. So you are going to have to take it with a grain of salt guys. I stared at that damn screen till I was blue in the face.

These machines are not perfect but they work pretty darn good. I always check the loads on another scale.,Paranoia?) I had a fella pouring with a BR30 powder thrower next to me and trickling in the last little bit. I was getting about 100 more a day then he was. So as far as speed in a short time span its about the same for the Old Model of 1200DPS. Now the newer one may be a difrent story, Ive yet to use it.

RT

 

[reloader243]

I've used the DPS II for 3 years, except for me,drafty area) it worked fine and was +/- .1 when warmed up.Loading by hand,not an auto press), it did ok time wise. I upgraded with the kit available, and now it has a load quicker than I have a cart and bullet ready for it, any faster and it would be waiting on me longer to empty the pan. I load using a T-7 press and in an extra hole I use a Lee Universal powder die, and do away with funneling and load blocks. I use the load blocks just to hold finished rounds and for sorting brass by weight groups of 5. I'm sure I could spend more money on a "better " scale, But I know I can't shoot as good as my equipment and rifles, I just tell myself I can...lol .2s and 3's are my area, and if I get any 1's, I figure it was accidental anyway. .223,.243, .243Ack, .280,.308,.243WSSM. they pretty much shoot about the same .