Autotrickler alternative?

SDHNTR

WKR
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
6,202
Is there anything out there that is as accurate and fast as an autotrickler, but is all one unit, like a Chargemaster? I know the AT is top quality and folks love it, but to me it seems like something an overly intellectual mad scientist threw together in his garage, without regard for simple engineering. Why 3 parts to do one job? Why all the assembly and separate parts? Can’t someone just figure out a more accurate Chargemaster type rig that’s all one unit? I don’t really want to have to buy a bunch of accessories and assemble a contraption to make it work. Would like to just pull it out of a box, set it on bench, plug in and go. I also have to move my stuff around my bench regularly, so multiple component pieces is a no go for me.
 

JFK

WKR
Joined
Sep 13, 2016
Messages
696
Not what you are asking for, but I set my powder dispenser to throw a few thousandths less than my charge weights. That goes into a pan on my scale with a manual trickler over it, and I spin that to hit my charge. Whole process takes about 10 seconds, is reliable, cheap, no extra large piece of equipment on my bench.
 

Lawnboi

WKR
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
7,685
Location
North Central Wi
I’m tempted to do a throw and trickle up manually with the fx120 scale. I’m on a wait list for the v4 auto trickled, which is one unit like you want. But I’m not counting on getting it for a while.

In the mean time I’ll continue to swear at my chargemaster
 
OP
S

SDHNTR

WKR
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
6,202
Ahhh, so Autotrickler is coming out with a one piece unit? That sounds like the ticket. How long are we supposedly gonna have to wait?
 

BBob

WKR
Joined
Jun 29, 2020
Messages
3,587
Location
Southern AZ
Ahhh, so Autotrickler is coming out with a one piece unit? That sounds like the ticket. How long are we supposedly gonna have to wait?
The V4 has been out for some time now, I’ve had mine since 11/21. There’s been huge demand so like many things you have to place an order and wait. It is an improvement in many ways over the previous generations.

My chargemaster collects dust. It’s not in the same league as an auto trickler. Do you need an auto trickler? Mby not but they are far superior in speed and function to a chargemaster. On previous versions of the auto trickler I used the chargemaster to throw pre-charges for the auto trickler setting up a new charge weight but with the V4’s ability to input a specific weight through the app it’s not needed to do that anymore.

 
Last edited:
OP
S

SDHNTR

WKR
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
6,202
Hmmmm. Anyone have any experience with the rcbs Matchmaster? I see now that it appears to be a more accurate and faster version of the Chargemaster, which is exactly what I want. Does it live up to its claims? Kinda tired of waiting 6+ months for stuff.
 

Lawnboi

WKR
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
7,685
Location
North Central Wi
Ahhh, so Autotrickler is coming out with a one piece unit? That sounds like the ticket. How long are we supposedly gonna have to wait?
You can preorder one now with no money down. Might have it next year.

I ordered March.

You still have to buy the scale separately.
 
OP
S

SDHNTR

WKR
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
6,202
You can preorder one now with no money down. Might have it next year.

I ordered March.

You still have to buy the scale separately.
Kinda tired of that program. Any experience with the Matchmaster?
 

Lawnboi

WKR
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
7,685
Location
North Central Wi
Kinda tired of that program. Any experience with the Matchmaster?
None. Use a chargemaster lite currently that is everything from tolerable with xbr to a swear fest with h4350.

I’m going to deal with it till my auto trickler ships.

There’s a whole in the market for this.

You could go real nuts and get a Prometheus.
 

BBob

WKR
Joined
Jun 29, 2020
Messages
3,587
Location
Southern AZ
Any experience with the Matchmaster?
Nope but a lot of them get put up for sale on Accurate Shooter. The Auto Tricklers you generally see for sale are older versions if that tells you anything.

Oh and the Matchmaster's get fiddled with just like the Chargemaster's with drop tube mods and the like.
 
OP
S

SDHNTR

WKR
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
6,202
Arrrgghhh, why can’t someone figure this out. Frustrating.
 
OP
S

SDHNTR

WKR
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
6,202
He (Adam Macdonald) pretty much did, that’s why so many want one and have to wait in line 🤣
Ok, then why can’t some company with resources buy that guy out and actually bring these things to production on a big boy level.
 
Joined
Dec 30, 2014
Messages
8,168
I have the v3 autotrickler and a chargemaster 1500. Setting up the v3 isn't complicated or difficult but i would agree that it isn't ideal to be moving it on/off the bench a bunch.
 
Joined
May 18, 2019
Messages
332
Chargemaster Lite works fairly well. I check my throw's every so often and its always where its supposed to be. A step up from doing everything manually. What issues are you guys running into with them?
 
OP
S

SDHNTR

WKR
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
6,202
My Chargemaster is only accurate about 1/2 the time. The other half it’s .1-.3 gr off. And I’m not talking about the scale it comes with. I’m talking about double checking with a balance beam. Even when that POS says 62 gr, in actuality it’s anybodys guess whether that’s really 59.8 or 62.2. I want that chit spot on and I don’t want to have to add or subtract powder manually to get it there.
 

Chanimal

FNG
Joined
Apr 19, 2018
Messages
54
Location
CO
I'm posting mostly to help folks decide between upgrading to an autotrickler or not. I have used a chargemaster 1500 for the past 6 years or so, no real functional issues with the chargemaster, except static electricity. But I have been curious about the accuracy of the chargemaster because of some reviews and comments made on podcasts. I wanted to test the accuracy of the chargemaster for my own knowledge before upgrading. I first purchased a fx120 balance only, no autotrickler. I ran a test of 50 powder throws with the charge master to see the accuracy of the scale. I used N565 and a target charge weight of 57.0gr, which is a realistic load for my 6.5 PRC. Below are the results of the 50 powder throws. NOTE: The chargemaster overthrew several charges, (5+, I don’t remember), I did not keep record of these charges and tossed them back into the hopper. The chargemaster display read '57.0' for all charges in the data below.

Chargemaster vs. FX120.png

The autotrickler throws charges to within +/- (0.02gr), or around +/-(1) kernel of powder. 21/50 test charges were within the tolerance of the Autotrickler setup.

OP - I've had the V4 for a couple weeks now, I believe if you had a spot on a shelf or in a cupboard to put the V4 setup when you aren't using it, that you would be happy with it.
 
Top