Am I a curmudgeon?... Electronic charge dispensers... Humbug.

If you only load a green box of rifle shells a year a digital metering scale might be a bit of over-kill on the expense side for realized gain but if you load a considerable amount then a digital is well spent money.

I've had my Lyman for 10 yrs or so (still have 2 balance beam scales to use as "reference" provers also) and cant really see myself going without as long as I'm still kicking. I use a Dillon "volume drop" measure for all my pistol rounds but every rifle cartridge I load whether on my Lee rotary or the Dillon 650 has the charge weighted to within .01 gr. I especialy like the digital when using the rotary press, by the time I have a brass processed to the powder stage the Lyman has the next charge in the pan ready to pour. My digital dispenser easily cuts the time per loaded round in half with no loss of charge accuracy that I've seen in ten yrs..
 
I have one of the Lyman Gen 6 dispensers. I've found it to be extremely useful for doing bulk but fairly accurate service rifle loads using stick powders. The charge it throws is quite consistent, amd it is fast enough that it is usually done throwing the next charge by the time the first round is seated and crimped. I use a volumetric dispenser for pistol and plinking rounds. You don't need one, but if you're reloading 1000 rounds or so of .223 for a season of service rifle, it comes in handy.
 
I started reloading in the mid 1970's. Was real pleased to get a used Lyman balance scale - about the only thing that could go wrong was crud in the pivots that might make it stick. About 5 years ago I decided I had to have an auto dispenser / digital scale, so bought a Lyman 1200 DPS 3. Needs a good long warm-up - at least an hour, I prefer overnight. It will throw 99% of the time to the readout is saying to the 0.1 grains - occasionally 0.1 over. Then I got to doubting where it was reading "for real" - ended up comparing back to the balance to verify. Essentially, I guess I am using the 1200 in the same way I used my RCBS Uniflow powder measure - great for "quick", but always checking every so many with the balance scale. Never heard of a time when gravity quit working, so I guess, for me, "accurate" is the balance scale.
 
I own the Hornady electronic dispenser. Its very accurate. You have to read the instructions and watch Hornady's you tube video. Once you understand that there is a set up process, its awesome. If you pull it out of the box, plug it in, and hope for the best, you will probably call it junk. Mine has been great at Target, IMR4064, 4350, 4831, etc. No issues at all. I double check with a beam scale once in a while and its spot on.
 
I also have the hornady and agree with Ranger Dave. For putting together a bunch of ammo for a session I can't imagine giving it up. If I want to make super accurate loads I drop -0.3 grains and trickle up on my 10-10 (I'm not sure it is any better though). I used to use a Lee measure but once I got the Hornady and spent time checking, checking, checking, checking... well now I don't check so much and the lee is in a box on the shelf somewhere. My Hornady does pretty good on the 4895 and Varget it normally throws- very close to the 10-10/trickler. The auto-throwers probably aren't for everyone but I'm happy I have mine.
 
thegunnut said:
Upon research, I have seen the folowing....
Re-zero after every 10 drops, and you will be OK
Sensative to vibration
Come with a gizmo to block cell phone interference
Sensitive to drafts.
Minimum 5 min warm up.
Plug into a shielded outlet (wtf?)
Click to expand...

These are common attributes of all laboratory grade scales.
 
bertn said:
Or keep the trusted beam scale and add an auto trickler to make things easier.
Perhaps best of both?

There are ready made ones (for instance omega or targetmaster) or you can build one.
This is my build; https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...ler-project-(hooked-up-to-balance-beam-scale)
Click to expand...

I second this approach. I have a Targetmaster -- http://www.targetmasteruk.com/ -- and am pleased with it. After it's set properly it's very consistent.

I love beam scales and am developing a bit of a fetish for them. The neat thing about them is that they never fail to surprise.

Picked up an old and sort of abused Redding No. 1 a few weeks ago. No magnetic damping. Tenths poise was bent out of shape. There's light corrosion on the pivots. The pivot pockets are sort of crusty and are not the quartz or whatever material you see in modern beam scales: the pivot pockets are milled right into the metal of the base.

I just blew off the dust and tried some test weights -- and the thing is spot on. Found the instructions online where they tell you how to read a non-dampened scale scale while it's pivoting back and forth trying to settle, and that method worked just as well as waiting for it to settle and reading the scale. This old thing looks like junk and yet it still works perfectly.

Gravity never fails!
 
Never ran into any issues with my Chargemaster. Been using it for close to 10yrs. Started with a balance beam over 30yrs ago, and will never go back.
 
I use the RCBS Chargemaster combo unit and have had zero complaints. I'm not a benchrest shooter so I don't care if I can measure my powder down to the kernel.
I turn it on the day before I need it, put my cell phone on the other side of the room even though I don't notice any interference like I did with my old Lyman electronic scale, calibrate it with the supplied weights and then start loading. I don't check it against a beam scale (gave it away). When it finishes throwing a charge I wait for it to come back from the charge counter and make sure it's reading what it's supposed to and then dump the powder to the case. It will occasionally throw 0.1 over or under but I just dump it back into the hopper if it does and wait for the next one.
I don't think people need to be as anal as they are with loading unless they are competitive shooters. I load to find the middle of an accuracy node so I have a little room for error + or - for ambient temperature changes and for the occasional 0.1 grain error from the scale and it will still be accurate down range.
For shooting 100-300 yards the 0.01 grains accuracy some people feel they need is not necessary, if I was regularly shooting 1000 yards I may look at it differently.
I also don't anneal and I don't turn necks or check runout, brass is fairly cheap so when it needs that type of attention it just gets replaced.
I like accuracy and have built a few loads that perform consistently sub moa but in the big picture I shoot for fun and for hunting so 1/4 moa is a want not a need and I'm not willing to spend the time required to get that extra fraction of an moa in accuracy when I can build my ammo the way I do and practice more.
 
I use a gempro 250, changed all bulbs in the room to LED, added a UPS battery backup and surge protector. always checked the bubble to make sure its level, left it powered on for two days before i use it. Never had it drift yet, even with two cell phones in my pockets. The only thing i could do to make it drift was turn on any bluetooth device. I would throw a charge and trickle up, recheck zero after 5 charges, no issues.
 
Wife bought me an electronic scale years ago. Tried it for a while and found it too sensitive to external factors. What sealed its fate was when it started wandering on me ever so slightly that I did not notice until the end and had to pull down a bunch of loads and restart. Been on the shelf ever since.

I'll stick with my RCBS 505. Regardless of where you are or what you are near to, mass is constant and a balance beam is the most reliable method to measure that for me.
 
cr5 said:
I use the RCBS Chargemaster combo unit and have had zero complaints. I'm not a benchrest shooter so I don't care if I can measure my powder down to the kernel.
I turn it on the day before I need it, put my cell phone on the other side of the room even though I don't notice any interference like I did with my old Lyman electronic scale, calibrate it with the supplied weights and then start loading. I don't check it against a beam scale (gave it away). When it finishes throwing a charge I wait for it to come back from the charge counter and make sure it's reading what it's supposed to and then dump the powder to the case. It will occasionally throw 0.1 over or under but I just dump it back into the hopper if it does and wait for the next one.
I don't think people need to be as anal as they are with loading unless they are competitive shooters. I load to find the middle of an accuracy node so I have a little room for error + or - for ambient temperature changes and for the occasional 0.1 grain error from the scale and it will still be accurate down range.
For shooting 100-300 yards the 0.01 grains accuracy some people feel they need is not necessary, if I was regularly shooting 1000 yards I may look at it differently.
I also don't anneal and I don't turn necks or check runout, brass is fairly cheap so when it needs that type of attention it just gets replaced.
I like accuracy and have built a few loads that perform consistently sub moa but in the big picture I shoot for fun and for hunting so 1/4 moa is a want not a need and I'm not willing to spend the time required to get that extra fraction of an moa in accuracy when I can build my ammo the way I do and practice more.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more.
 
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