Electronic Powder Dispenser/Dropper options

[colbyshoots]

What does everyone use? What else have you tried and not liked?

I'm currently using a dipper, pouring it into a pan on a digital scale and then double checking it on a balance beam. This is becoming very tedious...

[Harpoon1]

How much are you willing to spend and what are your goals?

The RCBS ChargeMaster lite is decent, inexpensive and gets a lot of love for “general” reloading.

[trubulator]

How much are you willing to spend and what are your goals?

The RCBS ChargeMaster lite is decent, inexpensive and gets a lot of love.

That is the one I have in mind, personally. Have been hand measuring my test load drops one by one. I did use my basic Lee powder measurer to load up a small run of my chosen load with H335 and it metered very well, but constantly checking the drop is a pain and not every powder meters that well. Will upgrade when budget permits.

[colbyshoots]

How much are you willing to spend and what are your goals?

The RCBS ChargeMaster lite is decent, inexpensive and gets a lot of love.

Well, I have $11 in my wallet currently. Anything more expensive than that and I'll have to consult the accountant/wife.

Goals? I guess I'd like an accurate powder dropper that works well with 8208XBR (extruded). I'm mainly going to be 600 yards and in but may venture to the 1200 yard line someday.

I am curious how the Frankford Arsenal, Hornady, Lyman, etc... droppers line up with the RCBS offerings.

[Harpoon1]

Well, I have $11 in my wallet currently. Anything more expensive than that and I'll have to consult the accountant/wife.

Goals? I guess I'd like an accurate powder dropper that works well with 8208XBR (extruded). I'm mainly going to be 600 yards and in but may venture to the 1200 yard line someday.

I am curious how the Frankford Arsenal, Hornady, Lyman, etc... droppers line up with the RCBS offerings.

I understand!

Was thinking if you had an eye on “competing” F-Class, PRS, whatever, then maybe something more accurate and faster would be more appropriate.

Out of those, I only have experience with the Chargemaster Lite.

If you win the lottery anytime soon, I’d highly recommend getting the Gen 4 Autotrickler with an A&D FX-120i. Crazy fast and extremely precise, accurate! Little over 1K US, all in! “Time is money”!

https://autotrickler.com/pages/autotrickler-v4

https://ceproducts.shop/products/fx-120i...g-x-0-001g

[trubulator]

I understand!

Was thinking if you had an eye on “competing” F-Class, PRS, whatever, then maybe something more accurate and faster would be more appropriate.

Out of those, I only have experience with the Chargemaster Lite.

If you win the lottery anytime soon, I’d highly recommend getting the Gen 4 Autotrickler with an A&D FX-120i. Crazy fast and extremely precise, accurate! Little over 1K US, all in! “Time is money”!

https://autotrickler.com/pages/autotrickler-v4

https://ceproducts.shop/products/fx-120i...g-x-0-001g

Hahaha, wow. I wish I were born with the kind of eyesight that would allow me to shoot that far and make use of something that precise.

[603 Country]

I replaced a dead Lyman 1200 DPS II with an RCBS 1500 Chargemaster. Very fond of the RCBS, which is fast and accurate. Considerably more accurate than the Lyman, though newer Lyman units could be much improved by now. I don’t compete long range, or short range, for that matter.

[colbyshoots]

I understand!

Was thinking if you had an eye on “competing” F-Class, PRS, whatever, then maybe something more accurate and faster would be more appropriate.

Out of those, I only have experience with the Chargemaster Lite.

If you win the lottery anytime soon, I’d highly recommend getting the Gen 4 Autotrickler with an A&D FX-120i. Crazy fast and extremely precise, accurate! Little over 1K US, all in! “Time is money”!

https://autotrickler.com/pages/autotrickler-v4

https://ceproducts.shop/products/fx-120i...g-x-0-001g

PRS is a possibility. My local range does a PRS style league every Thursday which tops out at 600 yards. My eventual goal is to stretch the Grendel out to 1000 yards though.

[Harpoon1]

PRS is a possibility. My local range does a PRS style league every Thursday which tops out at 600 yards. My eventual goal is to stretch the Grendel out to 1000 yards though.

Rgr. I don’t shoot competitively, so some one else will have to chime in there. I’m guessing the Chargemaster would be fine for PRS shooting and borderline useful for F-Class. F-class looks like a lot work, high volume reloading! Speed is relative and after weighing each charge out on a balance beam scale, everything else seems fast!

Sounds like the Chargemaster Lite would be a good fit, using 2 trays will speed that process up considerably. And eventually upgrading to 2 Chargemasters with 2 trays, is even better! And all at half the cost of the Autotrickler!

[Harpoon1]

Hahaha, wow. I wish I were born with the kind of eyesight that would allow me to shoot that far and make use of something that precise.

I hear you, my eyes aren’t what they used to be!

The FX-120i and Autotrickler is way overkill in the precision department for what I do, but, it’s the speed, how fast it dumps that I like the most!

[mtnlvr]

Chargemaster 1500 works well for me. I'm not doing any competitions, but have shot to 1000 yds on several occasions. It doesn't dispense as fast as I would like, but I can fill the few seconds with other tasks. You can find these on sale for a good price, at least pre covid you could.

[Kosh65]

I’ve been using the Chargemaster 1500 since it was first released into production. Never had a bit of trouble. I think @ that time they retailed for right around $300.

There is a little trick using a McDonalds drinking straw to help with metering extruded powders like 4350 and likes. it helps tremendously.

[Zeneffect]

Chargmemaster lite. For extruded powders like xbr it's great, for ball its slow as I trickle up to .01 accuracy so just throwing normally to about .1 under is faster than waiting on the rcbs in this case.

[Jimla]

RCBS ChargeMaster on sale at amazon, for $269.99 (best price in a year)
I have older one that is still working great.

https://www.amazon.com/RCBS-ChargeMaster...r_hp_atf_m

[outbreaker]

Used the charge master and hated how it would get out of calibration and be inaccurate. I now use the frankford arsenal intellidropper and love it.

https://www.frankfordarsenal.com/reloadi...82250.html

[Old Bob]

Still using my Lyman 55 powder measures. Got my first one in the early '70s & a couple more were given to me later on. Each one had been dedicated to a specific cartridge for when I was shooting 3 gun. One was for .45 ACP, one for .223 Rem/5.56mm NATO & one for .308 WIN/7.62mm NATO. Now that I'm not doing 3 gun anymore, the two I'd been using for the rifle cartridges have been my measures for my Grendel & 6mm ARC reloads. Lyman 55's work better with ball powders but I never had too much of a problem with extruded powders. I set them to throw a load close to my target weight & then trickle it up to what I want.

My scale is a made in China digital jewelry scale with an accuracy of .02grains. The brand name on it is "Tree." Seems like a pretty good scale so far -- after two years of use. Used a GemPro 250 over 10 years when it started going haywire on me. It would weigh the first 20 or so loads OK but then it would start drifting both up & down several grains without ever settling. If I shut it off & let it set awhile, it would still drift when powered up again. To get it back where it would be OK for the first 20 loads, it would have to be off several days. Been using a Frankford Arsenal digital pocket scale for weighing fire forming loads.

[603 Country]

I still have my Lyman 55. I use it for pistol loads these days. I never thought of having more than one, so they could be set for various loads. Great idea. Wish I’d have thought of that.

For rifle, I used to use that Lyman and an RCBS 1010 scale, which I still have, but is retired. If my Chargemaster died, I’d order another one quickly.

[Harpoon1]

Chargmemaster lite. For extruded powders like xbr it's great, for ball its slow as I trickle up to .01 accuracy so just throwing normally to about .1 under is faster than waiting on the rcbs in this case.

Not only that! But………the Chargemaster Lite, per the manufacturer, is only accurate to +/- .01 of a grain! And…….if some one is inclined to use the “Satterlee” 10 Shot ladder with .2 grn increments! You can quickly see we have a problem! We’re asking the scale, which is a perfectly decent scale, to do something it’s not capable of! And was the main reason why I purchased the A&D FX-120i and have never looked back!

I’ll say it again, the FX-120i over kill for a lot of people and “generic” reloading practices. However, it has its place and IMO , has allowed me to cut corners, and save money on components! To be fair, “my” evidence is only anecdotal and heavily biased!

[SCJim]

I use the RCBS Chargemaster then finger trickle to weight. If you want something more budget friendly go with the Lee AutoDrum because the elastomer wiper handles stick powders better than any other I have used. Throw a little low then hand trickle. Here is what I Use for a backup scale and also to weigh case volumes and bullets. For accuracy it rivals my A&D 120, the two are always within .01 gn of each other, best $20 I have ever spent. https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Weigh-GEM20...3067&psc=1

[Old Bob]

I still have my Lyman 55. I use it for pistol loads these days. I never thought of having more than one, so they could be set for various loads. Great idea. Wish I’d have thought of that.

For rifle, I used to use that Lyman and an RCBS 1010 scale, which I still have, but is retired. If my Chargemaster died, I’d order another one quickly.

I wouldn't have had three Lyman 55s if two of them weren't given to me. My brother gave me his & a fellow 3 gunner gave me the one he had. I've considered one of those new RCBS Matchmaster dispensers. Been seeing them at a $100 discount recently but at $799 it's still a big chunk of change. Don't know what need more right now, a Matchmaster or a new scope.