Digital powder dispenser recommendations?

[LRRifleman]

Hello. I have been reloading since about 1980 using a single stage press and balance beam scale. In 2006 I upgraded to a Lyman 1200 DPS dispenser. Sadly, due to an unexpected accident, I didn't get to start using it until 2012 when it was well out of warranty.

I am finding that the base of the powder reservoir is leaking powder like a sieve. Both ball powder and extruded stick powder is leaking out, yet there are not any cracks or breaks in the reservoir base. Since I am now shooting F class I need a higher degree of accuracy, which requires a more consistent powder throw. This dispenser provides the consistent throws, but I can't afford the powder loss.

Can anyone recommend a powder dispenser that dispenses powder consistently, but also holds all of the powder in the dispenser reservoir and doesn't leak powder into the base? Being on fixed income as a result of the disabling accident that has removed me from across the course matches, I can't afford trial and error experimentation to find a dispenser that meets my needs.

Thank you for any and all recommendations.

 

[LRDD]

I sure love my RCBS chargemaster.

 

[Powermac]

Get the RCBS Chargemaster 1500 and be done with it first time, it's the gold standard of electronic powder dispensers for a reason.
Quality wise it's better then Lyman and Pact no doubt about it.
Yes it costs a few dollars more, but imo it's certainly worth it.
Do the McDonalds straw mod to help counteract overthrows and reprogram it to dispense faster to make it work even better.
The Hornady LNL would be my second choice.

There is also a model Smartreloader ISD that i am not familiar with, but maybe others are?
Specification wise it looks very similar to the CM.

Have the CM and it works really well, as for accuracy it's about as advertised 0.1,-0.2 from my finidings.
This is as good as any of them does, and my first one is working well still although the warranty is out, my second one i got just last years, but it's been performing as expected this far.
If you need better accuracy then this, you will have to underthrow and trickle up on your beam balance no matter witch one you choose.

And if money is tight make a proper search, and look by Hide vendors for discounts to save a few bucks.
Not being from the US i can't really tell you where you will find one at the best price, but someone else here should be able to.

 

[pinklbd]

Bought the Lyman first. Sent it back after two weeks. Got the RCBS and have been very happy. If you are looking for extreme accuracy, I don't feel u will get it from a electronic dispenser. U can expect +-.05 gr accuracy with the rcbs.

 

[idahoorion]

I got a chargemaster this spring and really like it. over at accurateshooter.com they have some info on speeding it up. But I haven't done that yet.
There is a$50 rebate this spring on them. so if you considering look at that too.

Idahoorion

 

[cleric]

What's the next step after charge master?

 

[ghostwriter247]

I just got mine and loaded up 100 223 rounds. Performed flawlessly. Natchez had the best price at 289 so I tagged on another rcbs item to get the 50 rebate.

 

[mercracing]

I recently bought a CM and don't know how I lived without it!!

 

[BGE541]

What powders are you all throwing with the CM? What powders does it struggle with?

 

[LRDD]

With the straw mode it throws everything pretty good. If you do the straw mod and reprogram it, it throws pretty damn consistent charges.

 

[para72]

Bought the Lyman first. Sent it back after two weeks. Got the RCBS and have been very happy. If you are looking for extreme accuracy, I don't feel u will get it from a electronic dispenser. U can expect +-.05 gr accuracy with the rcbs.

Go with the hornady...no straw needed and +-.01 accuracy

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[pinklbd]

Go with the hornady...no straw needed and +-.01 accuracy

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

I think u mean 1/10th of a grain not 1/100th of a grain accuracy.

 

[para72]

Yes, thank you for the correction

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[KYpatriot]

I just started using the hornady unit I bought from a hide member...it has been within .1 with retumbo. I have used but not owned a chargemaster and see no difference so far. If you want exact then set whatever electronic dispenser you have to .1 under, then take the pan off and put it on a beam scale and trickle a kernel or 2 up to your desired weight if it is necessary. This will prevent annoying overcharges, and you will see and prevent " drift" on the electronic dispenser since beam scales don't drift. It adds maybe ten seconds to the process per round though.

 

[GardDog]

A couple years ago, my OCD got the best of me and I purchased a Sartorius scale to serve as a second step to my Chargemaster. I began wondering if the added step was netting me any significant gains, so I ran this test:

I picked up a Sartorius AY-123 scale a few months back, with the intent of using it to increase the effectiveness of my hand loads. I'll never get a Prometheus, so this (for me) is the next level of accuracy in thrown charges. I attempted to use the scale right after buying it, but I never could get a repeatable zero. I learned that I had not given the scale a proper warmup cycle, so my impatience was affecting the trial.

Today, I set out to test charges thrown by my Chargemaster and see if I could get one kernel accuracy out of the Sartorius. I had 49 (#50 was lost on the mile tower at NTRP, never to be found) pieces of once fired Winchester .300 wsm brass prepped. I ran 49 charges of 67.2 gr of R-19 on my RCBS Chargemaster. I then took 25 and reweighed the charge on the Sartorius. The results were as follows:

I then took the 25 and got them to 67.20 gr, down to the kernel. I left the other 24 as they were thrown, to use as my standard. Next week, I'll shoot the 49 over my chronograph and check accuracy and performance at 100, 300, 500 & beyond.

I'm already getting .4 moa accuracy with the CM thrown loads, so I'm looking forward to seeing if I shoot well enough to notice a difference in the Sartorius loads. I'm getting the hang of the new scale and I will see if it's worth the extra effort.


The results showed that I wasn't seeing any significant improvement in groups or 1st round hits to justify the second step. The Chargemaster does a good enough job.

 

[Powermac]

THe CM does a good job, but if your using a AY 123, it has a strain gauge weigh cell, and the balance drifts quite noticeably just by itself, so i would take the measurements with a grain of salt.

The video below quite clearly shows this when comparing a AY 313 to a AZ 313.
Magnetic force restoration balance verses strain gauge digital scale - YouTube

http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/digital-scales-gempro-500-ay123-sartorius-gd503/

I use a Quintrix one of they're new analythical models, and there is a difference between weighing the loads to a single kernel accurately.
And using it as it comes out of the CM, the biggest improvement is in ES/SD witch shows a lot more clearly down range.
If it's worth the extra time it takes to make each load, is up to each and every one.

But if someone is looking for single kernel accuracy, to be weighed reliably buy at least a A&D FX 120i, it's as cheap you can go if you want a reliable balance.
The clue here is the Magnetic force restoration weigh cells, that are actually capable of measuring a single kernel at a time.
Strain gauge cells are not accurate enough to reliably measure a single kernel of powder, and they are only ment to be uses for a static weight, not dropping 0.02-0.03 grain of anything at a time.
And the anti drift software normally used in these will make it even worse.

 

[longrangefool]

+1 for the FX120i. Got one a little over a month ago and will never look back. It's big tho...

 

[Bradu]

A couple years ago, my OCD got the best of me and I purchased a Sartorius scale to serve as a second step to my Chargemaster. I began wondering if the added step was netting me any significant gains, so I ran this test:

I picked up a Sartorius AY-123 scale a few months back, with the intent of using it to increase the effectiveness of my hand loads. I'll never get a Prometheus, so this (for me) is the next level of accuracy in thrown charges. I attempted to use the scale right after buying it, but I never could get a repeatable zero. I learned that I had not given the scale a proper warmup cycle, so my impatience was affecting the trial.

Today, I set out to test charges thrown by my Chargemaster and see if I could get one kernel accuracy out of the Sartorius. I had 49 (#50 was lost on the mile tower at NTRP, never to be found) pieces of once fired Winchester .300 wsm brass prepped. I ran 49 charges of 67.2 gr of R-19 on my RCBS Chargemaster. I then took 25 and reweighed the charge on the Sartorius. The results were as follows:

I then took the 25 and got them to 67.20 gr, down to the kernel. I left the other 24 as they were thrown, to use as my standard. Next week, I'll shoot the 49 over my chronograph and check accuracy and performance at 100, 300, 500 & beyond.

I'm already getting .4 moa accuracy with the CM thrown loads, so I'm looking forward to seeing if I shoot well enough to notice a difference in the Sartorius loads. I'm getting the hang of the new scale and I will see if it's worth the extra effort.


The results showed that I wasn't seeing any significant improvement in groups or 1st round hits to justify the second step. The Chargemaster does a good enough job.

I have wondered for a while how accurate the chargemaster was when weighed on another scale. My old man had a digital scale which is the same used with the chargemaster and I never did have good luck trickling powder into the pan, it didn't want to read it without pulling the pan and placing it back on the scale. I realize that I am probably not capable of shooting the difference but I like to know that it's not the equipment causing the problem.

 

[shoot4fun]

Chargemaster with reprogram and straw mod. I have two of them. Highly recommend them.

 

[19dsniper]

I have the Charge Master combo as well and really enjoy it. I haven't done the straw mod yet but plan on doing it tonight. Recently when weighing out Varget i was having some problems with it throwing overcharges when the powder hopper got down to about 1/3 or less of powder. I have noticed that if i keep it filled to 50% or more, that i have fewer overthrows. Im going to do the straw mod and see if this helps. But i have still been very happy with my CM either way.

 

[samnev]

I have been using the CM for 4 years now and even with the straw mod it will occasionally over or under throw charges. So I always recheck the weight on a beam scale when I am loading precision loads and I add or remove the amount of powder required.

 

[elfster1234]

I cant even remember the last time i had an over / under throw with my chargemaster since i started using my pen insert mod

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...chargemaster-optional-pen-straw-mod-pics.html

I have been using the CM for 4 years now and even with the straw mod it will occasionally over or under throw charges. So I always recheck the weight on a beam scale when I am loading precision loads and I add or remove the amount of powder required.

 

[samnev]

I cant even remember the last time i had an over / under throw with my chargemaster since i started using my pen insert mod

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...chargemaster-optional-pen-straw-mod-pics.html

That was true until about 2 months ago when I noticed the scale would read the correct amount but after going thru the round count it gave a final reading and occasionally it would be off from the initial reading when the measure stabilized. I then checked on my 1010 triple beam balance it sure enough it agreed with the final reading. Perhaps my scale is getting long in the tooth as it had never done that before. I calibrate the scale every time I use it and wait at least an hour before I start reloading. I have even tried leaving it on overnight, no difference.

 

[Powermac]

That was true until about 2 months ago when I noticed the scale would read the correct amount but after going thru the round count it gave a final reading and occasionally it would be off from the initial reading when the measure stabilized. I then checked on my 1010 triple beam balance it sure enough it agreed with the final reading. Perhaps my scale is getting long in the tooth as it had never done that before. I calibrate the scale every time I use it and wait at least an hour before I start reloading. I have even tried leaving it on overnight, no difference.

It simply has to do with the scales weigh cells not being accurate enough to always register a few kernels when it trickles, and a straw mod and reprogramming has no effect on that what so ever.
A strain gauge cell does not respond instantly and necessarily have the accuracy to measure tiny differences induced at a pace.
Hence why they are ment for weighing static loads on a budget.
I assume it also has a auto drift compensation software in it that helps induce this problem, i guess RCBS would know as i use mine to underthrow i have never bothered to check.
The straw mod simply helps against it overthrowing due to the fact it trickles out the kernels better in a more controlled pace.
And the programming helps speed it up, and go at a slower pace at the final stage.
Keeping it filled up helps to even out the pace the kernels flow down the tube at.

When it then starts to become old and worn, it certainly does not help.

 

[samnev]

Well if if becomes bad enough I will send it back to RCBS and pay the $40 for a new replacement assuming the replacement charge is still the same.