Benefit of a Electronic Powder Dispenser?

[338 dude]

I use the Chargemaster to throw the load then verify the weight with a second digital scale before dropping the powder into the brass. This method has worked great for me for years.

That is exactly my method as well

 

[General RE LEE]

I have been considering upgrading the powder throw and scales over the past year. Every time I get ready to place an order, I just come to my senses and realize that I really don't need it. I'm a slow and meticulous reloader. I don't shoot the volume that would require churning out faster finished rounds. I will buy a A&D FX120 at some point for more precise and easier weighing of charges.

I believe this is the category I fit in as well. I enjoy having time in the garage away from the chaos. The most I load at a time is 50 but usually I'll load 20 rounds or less. I think throwing powder in a pan, weighing and trickling works for me and results in some fine ammo.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Is there a benefit to an electronic powder dispenser like the RCBS Chargemaster?

Speed and convenience, IMO.

I use a Chargemaster 1500. It is capable of enough consistency to produce .5moa ammo on a regular basis. Recently, I rebarreled a rifle in 6mmBR. I am getting SDs of 2 and 3 with charges thrown with the Chargemaster.

If you are a competitive benchrest shooter I can see dropping $1,000 or more on a trickler/scale combo but for building accurate hunting ammo, that isn't measured in hundredths of an inch, it just isn't necessary.

 

[QuietTexan]

Speed and convenience, IMO.

Yup, that's it. No magic, nothing special. Faster and fewer steps.

great success using a Hornady powder hopper, scale and trickler

I used to do this. Bulk dropped on a bench measure then a Hornady AutoCharge, moved to a stand alone scale and trickled, with a Redding manual then a Dandy electric. I can't overstate how much an improvement the Dandy was in my three-step process, it was very easy to slide the weight on the stem and drop single kernels of anything, even ball powder - much easier to be precise than a manual trickler and I highly recommend them if you want to stay with the manual process.

I could drop to the individual kernel, all my charges were sub-.1gn variance, it was everything but fast pretty much. It got to be a beating and I do not enjoy weighing charges, so I upgraded.

My Auto Tricker V4 over the A&D FX-120i combined the speed of my bulk dropped, precision of the trickler, and accuracy of the scale all into one 15 second or less hands-free process. The prime benefit of the AT is that I can remove it and use the scale separately, I measure case volume and other weight variances often enough that I would keep a lab balance around either way, the AT sits on top of the scale I would have if I had kept my AutoCharge. So it's actually less tool duplication for me. RCBS makes multiple lines of Chargemaster/Matchmaster options, their only downside (for my use) is the scale is built in and I want it separate.

 

[birddog 68]

I use the hornady dispenser. It's okay, but I only use it to get close. I have a much better scale that I dump the dispensed powder into. With the better scale I trickle up to the nearest 2 hundredths of a grain.
The electric dispenser really speeds up the process.

Same here. I would have a hard time just dumping into the case without verification. I'm sure the higher priced models will throw much closer but I would rather spend my money on hunting trips!

 

[bomberodevil]

I use the Chargemaster to throw the load then verify the weight with a second digital scale before dropping the powder into the brass. This method has worked great for me for years.

This is what I do also. I've got the RCBS Chargemaster Lite and a Franklin electronic scale next to each other. I dispense and measure every load on the RCBS to the exact weight. I then I move the powder on the dish from the RCBS to the Franklin. If it's exact, I drop it in the case. If it's off .1 grain or more, I re-weigh it on the Franklin. If it's still off, it goes back into the RCBS hopper and then gets re-dispensed. I probably load 50-60% of first run loads. I also recalibrate when the number of off-loads become more frequent.

 

[338 dude]

This is what I do. I've got the RCBS Chargemaster Lite and a Franklin electronic scale next to each other. I dispense and measure every load on the RCBS to the exact weight. I then I move the powder on the dish from the RCBS to the Franklin. If it's exact, I drop it in the case. If it's off .1 grain or more, I re-weigh it on the Franklin. If it's still off, it goes back into the RCBS hopper and then gets re-dispensed. I probably load 50-60% of first run loads. I also recalibrate when the number of off-loads become more frequent.

 

[jrock]

I got a Chargemaster to help out doing larger batches. I can place and seat a bullet in the amount of time that a charge drops. Its a time saver there. If I drop low and trickle up, I'm not sure there is much of a time savings over using a dropper and beam scale to trickle up. I think that effect is magnified when doing large charge weights like 90 grains. It takes a bit of time for the Chargemaster to spit out that much powder where as a dropper can drop it in a fraction of the time. The scales do take some time to settle and that's lost time. I was considering getting an FX just because it reads much faster than the RCBS and gives more significant figures. I haven't bit that 'bullet' yet

 

[LAGS1573]

I have had an RCBS Chargemaster for about 5 years...Christmas gift from my wife. I have had no issues with accuracy...if it starts to drift after a while, I recalibrate.
Advantages...more consistent than my hand and a beam scale with a trickler, and it simply saves time.

 

[Teri Anne]

That is exactly my method as well

A few years ago a friend bought an electronic powder measure and I wasn't all that impressed. Despite the electronic precision not all the charges were the same. He had to weigh every one after the charge was thrown then usually either take out some powder or trickle some in. I somewhat blame this on the powder, cylindrical powders did not throw as well as ball or flake, but few of them were dead on every time. After watching this I decided that my RCBS powder measure worked just about as good and I simply weigh each charge and trickle in to the exact weight for consistent loads . Seems to work and it doesn't cost me a couple of hundred dollars for an electronic powder measure so that I can do the same thing with my manual powder measure. The price of a new electronic one pays for a lot of powder, primers and bullets.

 

[Deviant]

I've been reloading for a couple years now with great success using a Hornady powder hopper, scale and trickler. I load to the tenth of a grain and have developed sub MOA loads with low SD, ES numbers.

Is there a benefit to an electronic powder dispenser like the RCBS Chargemaster? I'm considering one to simplify a step but I don't want to sacrifice results.

I have tried the three top brands and have been disappointed with the accuracy and inconsistencies of all three. It wasn't until I upgraded to the autotrickler V3 that I found one that was accurate and dependable. I use an A&D scale with mine.

 

[RckyMtnRutt]

I started with hand me down reloading gear from my dad and old redding powder throw and old rcbs electronic scale. I produced some accurate loads but it was slow going soni bought a v3 auto trickler. The accuracy in the throws is unreal and fast. Somewhere out there a guy did a comparison on the accuracy difference between chargemaster and auto trickler. The measurements for the powder throws in weight were like thousandths to tenths. All in all unless you are shooting fclass or super meticulous they both produce accurate loads.

 

[emp1953]

I use my RCBS Uniflow to throw a bulk charge close to my target charge weight, then I hand trickle grain by grain up to my target weight on an RCBS 5-10 beam scale. I had a Chargemaster and was happy until we went through a stretch where the power went out. I was just setting around and decided to do some loading. Of course with no power I had no scale. I didn't like that restriction and the likelihood that if there were some social crisis there would be no power, etc etc. I sold the Chargemaster and bought a spare RCBS 5-10 used on line, and only use my above process.

 

[jrock]

I use my RCBS Uniflow to throw a bulk charge close to my target charge weight, then I hand trickle grain by grain up to my target weight on an RCBS 5-10 beam scale. I had a Chargemaster and was happy until we went through a stretch where the power went out. I was just setting around and decided to do some loading. Of course with no power I had no scale. I didn't like that restriction and the likelihood that if there were some social crisis there would be no power, etc etc. I sold the Chargemaster and bought a spare RCBS 5-10 used on line, and only use my above process.

I too keep a beam scale around as a backup to the electric.