Electric powder dispensers

RCBS chargemaster lite works well -- I have two of them. The wall-wart for one went bad, but otherwise no issues. I would buy again.

I have the Hornady lock n load and it works great for me. I’d buy it again if this one had to be replaced. I’d expect any will serve you just fine tho.

RCBS Chargemaster works good; just remember all of them only have a one or two years warranty.

I have a Hornady and found that one can get deviations if you use the clear collection pan cover AFTER the machine has gone through its auto weight calibration. Another problem with these type machines is some powders are easier to weigh and are more weight accurate than other powders. For example, large loads of slow burning rifle powders will meter easier, faster and will work in an auto measuring mode better than a small load of fast burning pistol powders. The machines do have adjustments to compensate, but that takes be an extra step to set-up and compensate. Also, most machines will only weigh within .1 grains. An ideal situation would be within .01 grains when creating maximum loads. Machines that can quickly by-pass these possible problems often cost several hundred dollars more.

I have tried the Hornady and the RCBS Lite. While both worked ok, they were much slower than the traditional Powder dispensers imho. I only reload pistol so this might not be the case on the rifle side of things. So now I use the traditional powder dispenser and then use the RCBS lite to confirm the weight as part of my process.

Only experience is using the Frankford unit. A little slow, clean out after loading takes a little thought. But I like the repeatability, and the little extra time for it to measure out a load is ok too. As that time spend observing and rechecking the previous loading and set up for the next . IMO.

The cell phone app is neat to allow saving a good load and just pressing a button to send it back to the unit for a session.

I strongly recommend against the Hornady AutoCharge, simply for reliability issues. I’ve owned 3 which have failed within 18mos of service life, and after issuing that warning to others, found several others in a relatively small group which had had similar experiences.

I currently own the Lyman G5 and two Chargemasters (and a V3 Autothrow & AutoTrickle set up on an FX-120i), and have used the Intellidropper, the Lyman G6, the Matchmaster and Chargemaster Lite. The Chargemaster is the gold standard, but has its fits of over charging, even with the tube insert and trickle tuning. The Chargemaster Lite seems to replicate it in most ways. The Lymans seem to throw more consistently - although they DISPLAY a -0.1grn shift if the pan is left alone for a few seconds, making me THINK they under-threw, and they’re a couple seconds faster for short action charge weights. The Hornady was clunky to tune, but threw as reliably as the Chargemaster - until they burn up. The Intellidropper and the Matchmaster would be the two most interesting to me these days, except I’m drooling over the new dual tube V4 AutoTrickler set up from MacDonald industries.

I have and use the original chargemaster. I have only had one issue and I fixed that with scotch tape.... speed is not a good reason to get one.... these machines shine for load development where changes are made often, and extruded powders where others have big problems. If your a high volume, low charge weight with ball powder kind of guy just stick to a standard throw.

FA Intellidtopper, without hesitation. The powder calibration function is excellent. Repeatability is excellent. Handgun speed is faster than I can I keep up with, small rifle is just about ideal. No experience with anything above .223 Rem. Actually bought it because Hodgdon Universal drove me nuts trying to dispense from a manual dropper (it won't), and hand measuring each round and trickling for target handgun is ridiculous.
First unit touch screen stopped switching between Manual and Auto. Factory replacement has been spot on for the past 20 months.
Ball, stick, flake, this unit does it all without a hiccup. Price is flexible, picked mine up for $172 after tax. Always coming on sale.
I'll get another if this ever quits.
Emptying the unit is a bit tricky, the exit spout leaves much to be desired, but it works.

The RCBS charge master light is my recomendation .I got one on a black friday sale this past year .What a time saver for me, i should have got one years ago !

I only have the old Hornady Auto Charge, bought it about 7 years ago and it still running ok, but it's obsolete,
https://www.scheels.com/p/hornady-lock-n-load-auto-charge-powder-manager/09025550068.html
This must be new old stock. I paid $159.95 for mine new, wouldn't pay $300.00 for it.
When mine dies I wouldn't have a problem buying the RCBS lite or the Lyman.

I've been using the RCBS 1500 Chargemaster for over 6 yrs now. This old unit allowed you to tune parameters for use, not sure the newer ones do. I have made full length tubes with a reduced inlet and I get very few over shoots, maybe 1 in 100. The accuracy has been very good when compared to my GP250 scales. One thing I have learned is to keep the pan on the scales when using, dump then put back. If you don't it causes zero drift. If I recall these units have changed at least 3 times according to Power Supply requirements.

I have a couple of charge masters that work as well today as they did new. I am sure I would like them better if they gave the user any information on the numerous parameters. First “feature” I would turn off is the “auto zero” one.



In any case they are not as repeatable as a proximity sensor on a beam scale, stopping a gearmotor driven trickler. Many can and do argue if the deference enough to mater and I suppose both are right under certain conditions.



If you already have the manual equipment and just want to push a button and get the charge when the machine is done, you can get there for under $50.

It’s a fairly simple circuit no need for PHD in EE.

I have had an original ChargeMaster since around 2007 or so. I've been happy with it. I use an old Herters scale to keep it honest and have had very little to no problems.
A shooting buddy came over to use my stuff during a move where he was without a room. He said he liked my ChargeMaster better than his Lyman. I didn't think to ask him why, or maybe I just don't remember.
Most likely any of the models offered today should serve you well.

I’ve used RCBS in the past but I really like my Frankfort Arsenal Intellidropper. It’s been spot on for over 2 years now

I have both, the RCBS Chargemaster and the Franklin Arms Intellidropper. Both have been pleasingly accurate and reliable. The Franklin will drop two light weight pistol loads in the time it takes the RCBS to measure and drop one. The RCBS will measure and drop a heavier load (rifle) just as fast as the Franklin. Seems the RCBS is just slow on lighter weights. There are YouTube videos and forum posts somewhere, I can't remember where I saw them, that explain how to reprogram the RCBS to drop quicker but I could never get it to drop anywhere near as fast as the Franklin. ANY air movement in the vicinity of either will result in inaccurate drops or no drops at all due to both not being able to zero for the subsequent drop. In comparing weights, both of mine will drop the same weight as the other. Franklin phone app is okay. RCBS can be programmed to store commonly used weights. The Franklin will give you a different “drop complete” audible tone if the drop is as much as .1 grain under or over the weight that was requested. The Franklin was cheaper to buy. I like them both.

Chargemaster, had one for 5 years. It worked well enough. Buy one, tune it a bit, straw mod it. Make sure you either leave it on, or let it warm up for 30 minutes before use. I used everything from very fine ball, to chunky magnum powders, worked about the same for all.

Bought an AutoTrickler, and before I sold it I did some testing on both the Chargemaster and my buddies Hornady. I found that most of the time they were about +/- .15gr with most powders, so a .3gr swing. So generally accurate enough for most usage, but on some stuff it might not be good enough if its finicky. One thing I have seen with my Chargemaster is that if they instantly hit the number you want, generally that charge is off .2gr+ and it can be either way, so throw those back and make it trickle up, because thats where its most accurate.

I have 2 of the Lyman Gen 6's. Neither is very old, but they work very well for me. I cross check them with an RCBS scale every now and then, and they are dead on. I only use them for rifle.

rcbs lite, liked it better when it didn't turn itself on on occasion. That just started a few weeks ago. Past warranty of course ,but I think it paid for itself. Christmas is coming, may have to start looking at the options. Keep talking guys, good thread for me.

I have a RCBS lite and really like it. If it ever dies on me I will probably give the FA Intellidrop a try just for the heck of it.

My RCBS Lite has been in use for ~5~ yrs or so. 1st dispenser, so nothing else to judge it by.
It survived a 7 ft. fall to the floor a couple years ago. (YMMV!)
The power button has become a bit wonky. Press on the bottom half of the button and it sticks. Press on the top half and it seems to work OK, at least for now. (I've since adopted a 'leave it on 24/7' policy if I'm going to be loading anything in the next week or so)

Kicked myself for not buying a 'spare' Lite last Xmas. ($200 on close-out @ BP. Less than I paid for mine new.)
Kicked myself again a couple months later when the wonky power button issue showed up.
Been looking for a new dispenser while mine is still limping along.

In my case, paying extra for 'better than 0.1 gr accuracy' isn't even a consideration as I can't shoot the difference.

I have the Lyman Gen6 and Intellidropper.
The Intellidropper is definitely the better of the two, but both work well.
The Intellidropper has less over/under charges , but both let you know when it happens. The Intellidropper has a powder calibration feature that tunes its speed to the powder you are using. This gives it a big advantage in speed, especially with rifle loads,, but either one is fast enough to keep up with me and my Classic 4hole turret.
The Lyman is a little easier to clean between powder changes since the whole reservoir and metering system can be removed, but
I did have a problem with powder getting inside the Lyman under the load cell and causing a calibration error. A call to Lyman and a quick adjustment solved the problem.
For equal money, the FA would be my choice of the two.