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Prometheus Powder thrower (Thoughts/Experience?/Where to buy?)

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Sins4u33

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Minuteman
Sep 8, 2011
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Springfield, VA
I have been doing some research on powder throwers, and this has caught my eye for some time now. Question is tho for people who have it or have used it before, how hard is it setup, and where can you buy them now a days? Is it a phone call order or online order? Pics and your experience would greatly help since i cant find much on it. Been on this site for 2 years now just reading and stalking behind the line. But this unit has sparked my interest in the last few weeks. Thanks for the feedback if u do leave any.

also how would you all compare this to rcbs chargemaster i know the price difference is greatly different but as far as people who have had experience with both units what would you think/suggest.

Regards,
Ben Y
 
You have lots of questions about the Prometheus powder measure, I'll answer a few. First, there is an early and a late version, usually referred to as Prometheus I and II. You can find the Prometheus I for sale on SH, but rarely. The Prometheus II is not sold but leased for 25 years. For information about the lease, contact Brand Cole, he used to be BrandX on SH and may still be.

The Prometheus is unlike any other powder measure, including the Chargemaster series. Here are a couple YouTube videos you can check out:

Prometheus II - YouTube

Prometheus Gen I and II Powder Dispensers - North Texas Rifle Precision - YouTube

Call Brand and ask about the PII. The phone number on the front of the PII is (425) 239-9100 (about 6:00 into the second video).
 
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I sort of lost interest when I found it was being "leased" for 3,100.00 and 2 year wait.
Nice rig though!

The Prometheus is much more accurate than the Chargemaster. Faster too!



A cheap powder measure for volume the the GD503 with an Omega powder trickler (or equivalent ) is as at least as precise.
 
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The only comparison to a chargemaster and the Prometheus Gen 2 is that they both trickle powder without the reloader having to do anything. The Prometheus is significantly more accurate, with no overthrows, and is much quicker than using a chargemaster. It's expensive, is a bit of a pain to get set-up initially, and it is most definitely leased...but only to keep commercial reloaders away.

Once the machine is up and running, and you get the feel for how to quickly get to your desired charge weight, it's a pretty cool thing to watch. I can have a loaded round, accurate to the kernel of powder, in under 15 seconds, assuming prepped and primed brass is already there. My ES and SD dropped immediately, and my vertical at distance is significantly less than with my chargemaster. I'm not sure that it matters that much for tactical shooting, but it is comforting to know that my misses are my fault and not my ammo.

I'm very happy with it, if only for the time savings without giving up accuracy. Brand Cole has built something amazing, and he is a great guy to talk with. He also is selfless with his time for all of my questions, and supports his product 100%. He's a super guy.
 
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I will say this a Prometheus is not for everyone. That being said they are a great piece of machinery. If you do a lot of shooting and value your time then they are worth the price.

Yes they are expensive but so are all the latest scopes and custom rifles.

If you own and shoot a bunch of different rounds and only load up 20 to 50 rounds at a time then I wouldn’t recommended a unit for you.

If you shoot a lot and typically load a few hundred rounds at a time, or would like to be able to have more ammo loaded and you care about quality accurate ammo that shows minimal vertical at distance plus you value your time I would recommend you call Brand asp.

I have owned a charge master, and for about a year I threw and trickled over a GD-503 scale, I consider this scale to be base for this type of loading. I hold the GD in high regards and it is a great scale and will produce high quality ammo that is very accurate, however more time, movement and concentration is required to load over one. In the end my Gen II ammo shoots the same as my GD-503 ammo, but I am able to load a lot more ammo on the gen 2 in the same amount of time. Plus with the gen 2 just simply move a lever and let it do its thing, no throwing moving the tray, working the omega, pulling out a kernel or 2, etc. So its less stressful. Both scales are stupid accurate and loading to the kernel on either is easy one just gets you there faster and easier, you can decide if the cost is worth it.

For the money a chargemaster is good, but to talk or compare it to a gen 2 or gd-503 is pointless
 
jayjaytuner said:
Gd503 is more accurate, and a lot less money, but still expensive at 12 to 1400 bucks. with the ogema powder trickler its amazing.
Click to expand...

Which part of this setup will split kernels of powder in half? Until it will do that I will have a very hard time believing it is more accurate than the Prometheus.

Dustin
 
I had a Prometheus I, and it worked just fine for mass loading of a single cartridge. Unfortunately, I load for and use multiple rifle cartridges at the same time over the same weekend (for example, 6x47L + .308, or 30-06, + 7 Dakota or 7WSM). For me, the Big "P was not the best alternative, as changing over from cartridge to cartridge did not go as quickly as I had hoped.

I can't use an electronic scale in my garage (location and type of the lights, fuse box and sometimes not so gentle drafts of the blowing desert), so I never tried the RCBS or other electronic scales. That leaves me and my beam scale to the do the work.

JEffVN
 
Dustin Morris said:
Which part of this setup will split kernels of powder in half? Until it will do that I will have a very hard time believing it is more accurate than the Prometheus.

Dustin
Click to expand...
Prometheus Splits Kernels?? I haven't seen that.
 
In the overall scheme of things...
What is the practical value of discerning a half-kernel of powder in a 45 grain load? Is there even a way to scientifically isolate this variable, and measure it?

There are certainly variables in long-range shooting which we cannot control. And there are things we can...to varying degrees.
I'm sure even match-grade bullets have tolerances.
I suspect that there are variations in ignition among the same brand primers. Perhaps even the way the powder settles in the case creates minute variations in burn.
Neck tension, to some extent with bushing dies. Even then, I doubt you can exactly the same result with every single case simply due to variations in the brass itself and the number of reloadings to which it's been subjected.

Just saying...
Someone please explain to me where splitting hairs- or kernels of powder- becomes more of a "feel good" exercise than producing realistic and measurable results for the person driving the rifle?
 
shibby575 said:
Prometheus Splits Kernels?? I haven't seen that.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure his point is that the Prometheus will dispense charges accurate to one kernel of powder, and very fast at that. I can't understand comparing this GD503 to a Prometheus because it's a scale, not a powder dispensor. I watched the video of the guy using the GD503 in conjunction with the RCBS Chargemaster and by the time he started dispensing from the chargemaster, trickled to desired weight and seated a bullet, I could have dispensed the charges and seated atleast 12 bullets with the Gen 2 Prometheus.
 
dearl allen said:
It was almost painful to see how slow he was loading. LOL
Click to expand...

Agreed - The first stage of his setup was completely unnecessary and could be vastly sped up by using a cheap powder thrower or those Lee scoops as he's underthrowing and trickling up anyway.
 
Just looking at the 2012 PRS top 20, I see at least 9-10 Gen2 users, and the first few matches this year have been won by Gen2 users, the Gen2 is just as accurate as a GD503(without splitting kernals) and 5 times faster. It cost a pretty penny, and was totally worth it, my time is limited, work, family, chores come before shooting, having a scale that's 1/3 kernel accurate every 8-10 seconds is the best money spent on reloading ever, you either get it, or you don't.
 
Fast, accurate, and cheap... pick two
 

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Dogtown said:
Agreed - The first stage of his setup was completely unnecessary and could be vastly sped up by using a cheap powder thrower or those Lee scoops as he's underthrowing and trickling up anyway.
Click to expand...

Pretty much what I thought as well.

If I have the charge-master throw a close amount and then trickle the rest I can get 2 done by the time he has 1 with the same accuracy.
 
Joe it's hard to quote a price, I know what I paid for mine, I recommend calling Brand and discussing the terms with him, (425) 239-9100.
 
Boss has his on top on of highly modified Dillon 550
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I'm not sure I wanna go this route, but I don't have a Dillon yet.
 
What's the difference between the I and II? Can you still buy a new version I? Over three grand is out of my price range.
 
I had a Gen I and never looked at the Gen IIs.

The only time Gen I is available is when a current owner sells one. The Gen II is not available for purchase at all, you lease it from the manufacturer (and must return it when the lease is up). Set up for different cartridges that vary in volume greatly - as in 40 grains for a .308 up to 100 gr for my 338LM Improved - is not very fast, and proved a bit frustrating for me.

I liked my Gen I while I had it, but I load for so many different cartridges so frequently (meaning I will shoot on average 3 different cartridges in the same weekend, and up to 4 or 5 different cartridges over the course of a month), I sold mine and went back to my throw and trickle approach to the world.

I currently load for 6CM, .308, 30-06AI, 7WSM, 7 Dakota, .338LM Improved single stage. I use my dillion 550B for my .45ACP.

Jeffvn
 
I wonder if any of these laboratory - grade analytical balances + dispensers could be used for this role.

[video=youtube;z-3tqzdgiCY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-3tqzdgiCY[/video]
 
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The Gen1 is completely manual, and accurate to 3/4ish of a kernel of Varget, the Uniflo dispenses into the hopper, and the Trickler(a Franklin Arsenel which is no longer made) trickles into the hopper, the beam adjusts in 2 grain incurements, and there are poise weights to set odd numbers and 10th of a grain, you need to position yourself to look into a magnifying glass to the needles, loading to within 1 Kernel of Varget or H4350 is easy but slow, once a rythem is established I was able to charge a case every 25 seconds, but remember it's all manual. I bought it for 1250 and sold it for 1250. The Gen2 is accurate to 1/3 a kernel, it's still a balance beam that adjusts in 2 Grain incurements, instead of poise weights for odd numbers and 10th it has a knob, there are 3 clicks between each 10th of a grain, two photo eyes control the trickler, there is a fast mode and slow mode of trickling, the green glow of COOL shines on the needle and the shadow is projected on the face on the machine, and since it's a shadow the projection is upside down, ie low charge the beam is high and high charge the beam is low in the window, now the Gen2 is a Lease, DON'T start your fucking bitching about it being a lease, nobody who has a Gen2 that I know of cares, it's not like a car lease where at the end you either turn it in or pay more money, so STFU about the lease, Brand simply wants to keep his invention his. I posted Brand Cole phone number already in this thread, please call him and ask him any question.
 
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I have a P II and it's the best investment I have made I reloading.my wife blew a gasket when I told her what it costs, now that she see 's how much more honey do time I have she's trying to get me to buy another! I agree ,quit whining about the lease, by the time it's up Brand will be too old to give a shit where it is. As for the idiot that seems to always pop up talking about " can it split kernels " get a fuckin life! Just explaining the accuracy of the scale. And for those that don't believe a kernel of powder matters, try some 1 k shooting! I also have a HD 503 and an Omega , I can load 5 rnds with my P II in the time it takes to load 1. I do use my GD and trickier for ball powder as the Prometheus is designed for stick powder, however since obtaining the Prometheus I have all but eliminated ball powder from my reloading. Find stick powder to be much more stable and forgiving. Support for the Prometheus is next to none. By the way this is full time for Brand nowadays so the wait time is considerably less than 2years. Don't know what the time is now but I had mine up and running in 45 days.
 
Google A&D Fx-120I. Got mine from a (here's the link) FX-120I - Cambridge Environmental Products Inc. Scientific Distribution Network - Laboratory Supplies, Scientfic Equipment. It's only 400$ now, shit it was 475 when I bought it.
Basically here's how I run it. I've got three charge masters running to within .2 grains... Then I use the omega powder trickler to finish off the charge on a spare pan that has been tared onto the fx120i. I can charge within .02 grains or .4 depending on the powder 100 cases in 25 minutes or so. It goes REALLLLY fast. I could probably do more but I can't keep up
 
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