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RCBS Chargemaster Lite vs Hornady Auto Charge?

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Minuteman
Dec 5, 2007
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Has anyone used both? Which one would you recommend? The Hornady is getting mixed reviews on the net mostly related to often overthrowing charges, I asked my Hornady distributor about it and was told the issue was using wrong/factory settings. Any input on this?
The RCBS Chargemaster Lite costs about 30% more than the best Hornady deal now (fingers crossed for Black Friday). Is the difference better features, accuracy or quality?
 
I don't have any experience with the hornady system but the rcbs lite unit is nice. I like the chargemaster lite unit as well as the original rcbs unit. I'd buy the rcbs and be done with it. The panhandle precision guy on you tube has a good video on them. I've had the same good experience he has had with them
 
I bought a Hornady given the rock bottom price of it. It arrives today and I will be reloading this weekend. The absolute accuracy doesn't matter to me as I will finish each charge on a much more accurate scale regardless. So, I throw about .2 grains short and finish with my own trickling.
Anyway, I will be able to tell you how it handles rl16, rl22, rl26, superformance and h4831.
 
I had overcharges with the Hornady Auto Charge when I first set it up until I learned to set throw speed to medium and switch to a low speed trickle at least one full grain below target charge weight. That and making sure the heat and AC is off and the cell phone is in the next room. I have no florescent lights.

I don't know whether the cell phone ever really interfered with the electronics since I moved it the same time I shut down the AC.
 
I purchased the Hornady on clearance... I haven't had any issues, it works fine. That said I prefer the RCBS menus and general operation.
 
I've spent a day with it now. It works just fine for me. I never did have an overcharge. If anything, I had consistent under charges by .05 grain (sometimes .1) compared to my other scale. Which is what I basically wanted anyway, the other scale being more sensitive and accurate and I can trickle down to the last stick of RL16.
It comes with a very helpful DVD that goes into detail how to set up the speed of dispensing and trickle. They are separate functions. It is necessary depending upon the type of powder. Once you set it up for stick powder, it works fine for fine ball powder(in my case superformance) and the ball powder was also more consistent with the throws. I imagine flake powder like bullseye would be much the same.
My only real complaint was that I was ham handed and hitting the dispensing tube and knocking more kernals into the pan. The tube lies low in relation to the pan.
I can't compare to the RCBS, I have no time with it. It may very well be better. For the difference in $$, I'd say whether it's worth it depends on your expectations. The controls for just changing the throws is fine, the steps to modify the discharge and trickle speeds require watching that video. It's not intuitive and straightforward. That's my biggest complaint.
On the whole I thought it worked out well for my purpose and the way I reload. The next throw was always done by the time I was ready for it. The first throw makes you wait a little though.
This isn't a game changer by a stretch, but a competent entry level powder thrower. Its advertised as +/- .1 grain. My experience was consistent -.1 grain.
 
My Chargemaster lite gave me fits with staying zeroed and over throwing after I tried different techniques.

I would pay the extra for the larger charge master. You can do the straw modification with it, on the lite model you can't. The dispenser tube is too large.
 
The large tube and the propensity to all of a sudden drop 3 or 4 kernels when you needed one is a drawback with the Hornady as well. I don't know if there is a fix.
 
My Chargemaster Lite overthrows H4350 on occasion. A member on the Hide makes an insert for the Chargemaster and Lite that helps with that. Once I get the insert I'll update.
 
My Chargemaster Lite overthrows H4350 on occasion. A member on the Hide makes an insert for the Chargemaster and Lite that helps with that. Once I get the insert I'll update.

i have the insert for both of mine... definitely helps with overthrows, but does slow it down a bit
 
i have the insert for both of mine... definitely helps with overthrows, but does slow it down a bit
I'd take accuracy over speed for what it is right now. I'll save up my lunch money for an Auto Throw/Trickler setup one day.
 
Thanks for all the feedback, very interesting. It seems neither of them is perfect, don't know if the different experiences are because of powder types or if these electronic things can't be really trusted. Have heard Varget will give automatic dispensers a hard time for some reason, and that generally extruded powder is harder to dispense accurately. I will be using Vihtavuori powder. The detailed reviews I have found states that the Chargemaster Lite might be better than the 1500, and I know alot of people are using that one. I started looking around for deals on the Lite and found it will cost me exactly the same to import it from the US as the Hornady costs on sale over here as it is on sale on Amazon now. So I'm leaning towards the Lite, there seems to be less negative feedback on that one. If it turns out to not work as well as I hoped, I can sell it used over here with a profit.
 
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