Looking for opinions on a new electronic powder dispenser. What is the best bang for

anthonyfrechette

anthonyfrechette

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I am in the market for a new electronic powder dispenser. Any opinions you guys can give me on which one gives me the best value for my buck.

Current considerations include RCBS Chargemaster, Lyman Gen 6 Compact and Hornady Lock'N'Load Auto Dispenser.

Thanks for the help!
 
I have the Lyman Gen 6 and it's great. I don't have any experience with the others, but the scale on the Lyman is excellent. It reads fast and has not drifted for me. It does have a bit of trouble dispensing really fine spherical powders (H335), and they include a bushing to slow down the feed rate for them. It does help, but I sometimes get over charges with the smaller powder. I think I will turn a bushing that is just a bit longer and it will solve that problem. With the lager powder it seems to be spot on and it will drop 40 grains of IMR 4350 in less time than it takes me to seat a bullet.
 
I have used the RCBS Chargemaster for approx 5 yrs with no issues. Like the previous post - I have no experience with the others.
 
I have both the Lyman and the Chargemaster. The Chargemaster is the better unit, IMHO.

Easier cleanup, and fewer overcharges with it. Slightly slower than the Lyman.

Both are decent units, though. Dave.
 
RCBS chargemaster......I can't comment on it, but I've done enough research that it's on my Xmas list.
Very little bad things have been said about the RCBS chargemaster..and the thing always seems to be on sale at Natchez Supplies
 
1899 said:
What is the advantage of an electronic dispenser vs a Harrell Premium?
Click to expand...

Chargemaster is great for quickly assembling test ammo for load development, but once a load is developed and I'm looking at 100/200 cases to charge the Harrells and 10-10 beam scale are used. I might have the slowest Chargemaster, takes 40/45 seconds for 47 gr Varget. Harrells and 10-10 using powder dribbler less then 20 seconds/load. CM's scale is very accurate and works well in my shop.
 
Electronic scales can be very frustrating when dealing with less than lab quality.
I have tried all the scales mentioned above, all specialty scales for the handloader, I expected much better perfomance.

It seems like I allways go back to the old and cheap. An old Lee that throws a pretty close charge and dribble the rest
directly on the scale.
What makes it fast is the quality of the scale. Very little drifting, if any, auto zero, almost instant response and
excellent repetition.
My charge thrower was modified to give me a hammer stop, the trickler was modified to feed one kernal and the tip was painted white so I could actually see it, the interior was filled with old nuts and bolts to give it some weight.

I throw a charge, dribble and pour into the case, that simple and that fast.
Every time you dump the powder, you can check the tare, with auto zero it takes only seconds.

scale.jpg
 

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CET,

Your set up looks very good. I am interested I the way to have set it up.

A couple of questions.........

Scale_Set_Up.JPG



Best regards!

B
 
I have a Lyman Gen 6 and am quite satisfied. The Gen 5 and Gen 6 are huge upgrades to the older Lymans based on the reviews I've read. The difference between the 5 and 6 are size and features; the 6 is tiny with no memory features but I don't see myself using them and wanted to save the desk space. Because it has a +/- 0.1gr tolerance it stops 0.1gr below the set weight 95% of the time so I usually set it 0.1gr above the goal. It's annoying but realize what that means; it catches itself at the bottom end of tolerance 95% of the time.
I've never timed one charge throw but it cut my powder charging time by more than half versus throwing close and trickling up by hand on a balance beam scale.
I can empty it and switch powders in 2-3 minutes without rushing if using stick powders. Fine ball powders are closer to 5 minutes.
I check loads periodically against a known good balance beam scale and they always measure zero tolerance on the scale. The scale is 0.1gr increments so I guess it's less than 0.1gr off from what it says.

I do know that scientific scales are significantly more accurate (in university we used some that measured grams to 4 decimal places with an accuracy of +/-0.0002g which is 0.003grains) but if top tier long range competition shooters don't need them, my mediocre skills wont notice a difference. I can barely hold 1/2 MoA most days so I'm no world class shooter by any account.
 
I have the first gen scale & dispenser that PACT made. Its slow, but the newer models are much faster. Bought it in '96; its dropped a "ton" of powder.
 
RCBS Chargemaster from Natchezss $289.00USD add another $11.00 in RCBS products and you can get upto $75.00 in cash back.

The Chargemaster with modified tube (McDonalds Straw mod.) works great.
I have a set of the RCBS checkweights which I use periodically and the scale is always dead on.
For those wondering how you know if it throws an under or over charge the scale beeps when the charge is reached.
It then displays the drop count then it goes back to showing the weight of the charge.
There are under and over indicators that will show you if it didn't drop the exact charge.

If you want to get stupid accurate you can get a Magnetic Force Restoration scale which start at $1,000 or the ultimate in reloading the Prometheus II FOR $3250 USD
 
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