Auto Powder Measure

[*chris*]

Which ones do you like? The Hornady Auto Charge looks nice, but really slow during the end of a charge. The RCBS seems to use the same electronics and display, but it much faster.

I am going to use it for precision rifle (.223 right now) and some of my lesser used calibers such as 44mag.

Chris

 

[Moderator]

I have the RCBS Chargemaster and haven't regretted buying it one bit.

 

[EddieCoyle]

I tried 4 of them before I bought one and chose the RCBS Chargemaster. There are a couple of threads on it here somewhere.

 

[*chris*]

Thanks, have you used the Hornady? Looking at the Amazon reviews, the speed issue is addressed by the following article:

http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/LNLAutoCharge-TrickleSpeedAdjustment.pdf

Let me do some searching here on the Chargemaster.

Chris

 

[EddieCoyle]

Thanks, have you used the Hornady? Looking at the Amazon reviews, the speed issue is addressed by the following article:

http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/LNLAutoCharge-TrickleSpeedAdjustment.pdf

Let me do some searching here on the Chargemaster.

Chris

Yes. I tried the Hornady and found that it frequently over-threw charges, same with the Lyman. One of those two (I can't remember which) also had a drifty zero. I also tried the PACT and found it to be unreliable to the point that I checked every charge on a separate scale before dumping it into the case.

 

[JackO]

I bought RCBS Chargemaster on the info from EddieCoil, and am very happy.

 

[noylj]

Been very happy with the ChargeMaster.
They will all occasionally throw a 0.1gn heavy charge (which for rifles is a non-issue). All I do is touch the powder and a couple kernels stick to my finger and I have the "right" weight.
Get instructions for programming so you can optimize your unit for the charge weight you want to throw.

 

[wolo]

Thanks, have you used the Hornady? Looking at the Amazon reviews, the speed issue is addressed by the following article:

http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/LNLAutoCharge-TrickleSpeedAdjustment.pdf

Let me do some searching here on the Chargemaster.

Chris

My brother has the Hornady and he's happy with it, although it does throw heavy more than my RCBS chargemaster. Google for the McDonalds straw trick.. I used some heat shrink instead but having something smooth on the last 1/4" or so of the trickle tube, with some "fingers" cut in the very end to allow single grains to get out without clumping, helps to prevent the overweight charges. As someone already mentioned, fixing them with nothing more than a finger is pretty easy.

I thought I'd use this more for producing large runs, but where it really speeds things up is working up new loads. Once I've found the optimal charge weight, I can throw it pretty consistently with a normal mechanical measure (depending on the powder, of course). I had read that in other threads before but it didn't sink in until I had one.

In addition to Jim's advice on the chargemaster, the other thing that sold it for me was RCBS's willingness to share parameter information. There are some good web pages out there documenting how to tweak and tune to get to the final charge a bit faster and with just as much if not more precision than the factory settings. I couldn't find anything like that for the Hornady.

If you get the chargemaster, shop around for the best price. I got mine for $289, and then a $50 rebate for an actual cost of $239.

 

[KTech2316]

I have the RCBS chargemaster. I used it a ton before I went progressive. It is slow. I don't really use it anymore...I use regular powder throw now to get me within a grain and I trickle to the precise weight for my target loads. Its actually faster than the chargemaster doing it this way.

 

[jpm]

Good deal on the chargemaster at Amazon right now!

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00139UC6O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$309 with free shipping