Which electronic powder dispenser??

I have the Chargemaster Lite since the summer. One of the best purchases I have made. So much a friend and the step dad bought one also, They says the same.

Set up is easy, Easy to clean. They have come along ways.
Did a lot of research. Was the best option I thought.

Amazon....
 
I was just looking at a new release from Frankford Arsenal. A 50 round automated powder dispenser accurate to +/- 0.1 grain. Looks like a plastic box you put a tray of cases in and it fills them automatically. I look forward to seeing a video of it in action, but I don't think it will be available for several months.

Anyways, I have been using a Chargemaster combo for years and it works good for my purposes. Much depends on your usage and if +/- 0.1 is good enough for you or do you want to spend more $$$ for the +/- 0.01 accurate ones.
 
CM Lite here, been pretty happy. It's not as consistent in winter when the reloading room is colder plus I'm sure the static electricity diddles it's guts a little. But it drops to within .1 gr even with chunky powder like IMR4895 so it does exactly what I bought it for. Match the accuracy that my powder measures get with ball powder, but dropping extruded. I get the occasional under charge where it beeps a few tenths under and the odd .1gr over charge but overall it just hums along while I'm doing other things like priming or seating.
 
Hornady lnl auto charge for 8 years with lot of use, the touch pad is starting to fail, but i still use it for weighing and not so much dispensing, I purchased the Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series Powder Intelli-Dropper in December and it lasted 1 day, the touch pad was screwed up, press 2 it shows 8 sometimes 5, if i pressed 3 it shows 7.

The hornady lasted 8 years, but i think i will try Chargemaster Lite next.
 
Had an RCBS Chargemaster 1500 for 8 years.
No complaints.. at the time was excellent value for money.

However, for F Class competition reloading the new standard is now the AD FX 120-i with the Autotrickler V3.
Because it is sensitive enough to weight a single kernel of extruded powder (like Varget).
It will be a long time -if ever -that a newer scale will be able to outperform it.
I upgraded to this system last spring.... I wish this combination was available 7 years ago. It would have been cheaper in the long run.
 
I have 2 Chargemaster Lites and I don’t recommend them.

They appear to work well generally indicating within .1gn. Unfortunately the scale cannot be trusted. Using an analytical balance to double check charges it’s obvious that the Chargemaster is garbage. The readings drift up to .5gn.

Basically with the Chargemaster you could be put up to 1/2gn and not know.
 
I use the hornady one. After the beeper-ectomy it was much nicer to use. It works ok for extruded powder- I regularly check on the beam scale and if I need weight really tight I trickle the last 0.2gn. Beam scale sees one kernel- electronic scale doesn't.

I do find it a bit... unnerving. It is clear they have some sort of auto-nulling happening when you use it for a while- and I have seen it get out of whack 0.2gn or so, but then it snaps back and is good again.

I also run it slowly. Undocumented feature if you hold "mode" you can increase the slow trickle band. Normally I run it on slow speed with 0.4gn gap. I'm happy with the machine- it does pretty good and really speeds up loading, but it did take some time to get comfortable with it. I have no experience with the other throwers but in general I'd say these machines are really good to have if you reload multiple powders and cartridges vs setting up a powder thrower each time. Just set it and forget it!
 
i have an older model lyman a couple of years ago the power supply failed contacted lyman for a replacement, they told me they don't stock parts but they would sell me a new one . at the time the unit was about 8 yrs old and because its runs on uncommon ac voltage an after market one is almost impossible to find i don't recommend lyman .
 
coleman1495 said:
I have 2 Chargemaster Lites and I don’t recommend them.

They appear to work well generally indicating within .1gn. Unfortunately the scale cannot be trusted. Using an analytical balance to double check charges it’s obvious that the Chargemaster is garbage. The readings drift up to .5gn.

Basically with the Chargemaster you could be put up to 1/2gn and not know.
Click to expand...

I have never seen that. I weigh a lot of my charges on a balance beam to compare. Have you contacted RCBS?

They like to have steady temperatures and no breezes what so ever. Plus need to be warmed up. If i know I am going to be doing any loading. It gets turned on first thing in the morning, with a weight on the scale as per the instructions.
 
I've used a Chargemaster since 2004, it's a slick unit that has treated me well. I have just upgraded to the Autotrickler fx120i V3, will be interesting to do some comparisons of loads to see what the real world gains are
 
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