Auto Powder dispenser

Having looked at a lot of reviews and posts, in the high end you seem to get what you pay for. Probably the most reliable is the Prometheus Gen 2, as it depends on a precision mechanical balance that can't drift or go out of calibration. But the $3800 price tag is generally beyond most people's willingness to invest in one. The Auto-trickler, by the time you have it and the scale is currently the next most expensive setup, at about $1100 when you shop around, but their recommended type of scale settles faster and drifts less than the conventional strain gauge electronic scales and has more resolution. The new RCBS Matchmaster ($900 on sale at Midway) is the first attempt by a well-known reloading name to get into the higher resolution (better than 0.1 grain) electronic scale versions of these devices, but I haven't heard how any users feel it compares to the other two I mentioned first.

After that, based on recent conversations here, the RCBS ChargeMaster Lite seems to be very popular. But I can find threads on various forums where people complain about getting examples of every brand that didn't work out well for them and others with examples of every brand that did work well for them. Consistent, stable performance and reasonable dispensing speeds are the combination folks desire, but the scale components seem often to have difficulty delivering. That part still seems to be a roll of the dice to some extent. So, if you buy one, just be prepared they sometimes have to be exchanged until you get one that behaves.
 
Had a Lyman 1200DPS as soon as they came out. Retired this year and bought the RCBS Chargemaster 1500 Combo. Fantastic.
 
Chargemaster lite here....it does what it is suppose to do very well and they are reasonably priced.
 
Depends on your budget Cambridge has the Autocharge/trickler/Fx 120 set for $ 960 https://ceproducts.shop/collections/current-offerings/products/pre-order-of-the-the-whole-kit-v3
RCBS matchmaster $899 https://www.amazon.com/RCBS-98941-MatchMaster-Powder-Dispenser/dp/B07WYZK242
RCBS Chargemaster is on sale at Midway for $269 https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/1...uTUfdgVXwjr883wC8m0ohxj9gvDvwqbRoCeMoQAvD_BwE
Frankford Arsenal Intellidropper $179 https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/1...ng+Equipment+(Not+Presses)&utm_content=685263

probably find good and bad reviews on all of them. If I were buying and had a deep wallet the Autocharge for sure
 
Yep. Lots of folks here with an outpouring of love for the ChargeMaster, while a fellow on the CMP forum reports such extreme frustration with his and with RCBS's robo-phone answering system that he actually took a hammer to it and went back to a mechanical balance beam scale. There continue to be folks unhappy with some units.

Glad you found the better price on the Autotrickler FX 120 setup. At that price and twice the resolution of the RCBS MatchMaster, it is probably the better deal. I've watched that scale with its hybrid load cell work, and it resolves 0.02 grains and settles fast and doesn't appear to drift. I have an analytical balance with a magnetic restoration load cell and it is also fast settling and doesn't drift appreciably. It's a better scale technology for powder dispensing than the strain gauge load cells.
 
I've watched that scale with its hybrid load cell work, and it resolves 0.02 grains and settles fast and doesn't appear to drift. I have an analytical balance with a magnetic restoration load cell and it is also fast settling and doesn't drift appreciably. It's a better scale technology for powder dispensing than the strain gauge load cells.
__________________

it's a great scale for sure. I keep waiting on my old RCBS 1500 to die and I will upgrade to a autothrow. I don't recommend the following to anyone unless they already own a RCBS or similar product and wants to step up to a bit more precision. I use the A&D to fine tune the loads my RCBS throws. I can pinch trickle a few kernels out or add a couple and seat my bullet by the time the RCBS throws the next charge
 
Last edited:
Chargemaster lite here....it does what it is suppose to do very well and they are reasonably priced.

Ditto, no settings to be done, just puts out powder to 1/10 at worse and spot on most of the time.

I got mine on sale, $140 as I recall.
 
i have the hornady Lock-n-load auto charge. It is ok by me, but I have not had the change to try any others. Once you figure out the settings, and adjust it, it throws well generally but does over throw more than I would like.
 
I got that one on sale as well. Its ok, I fire it up for bulk loads.

Its both slower than the RCBS lite and it looses the setting each time you change a load (or turn off). Fairly accurate but not as consistent as the RCBS lite.

Not thought out that it won't hold a calibration change.
 
Back
Top