My First Electronic Powder Measure

[markr6754]

I’ve been interested in an auto-dispensing powder measure since my challenges with Universal began. With 16 lbs (maybe 15 1/2 now) on hand, and dozens of advocates of the powder on varying forums, it is a powder that I’m growing to love to shoot, but absolutely hate loading it. On one hand, I’ve really improved my manual load process, and probably produce some of the best loads I’ve ever assembled. On the other hand, it takes me nearly 2 hours to produce 100 rounds from sized and primed cases. Contrast that with the 1 hour it takes to complete all loading steps for 100 rounds with a powder like HP-38.

Well, Amazon presented an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up, especially as I had enough money on Amazon gift cards to make the purchase.



I was interested in this when it first came out, and tube reviews have been extremely favorable, but I was holding out for the Hornady LNL Auto Charge. However, one this sale at Amazon appeared I couldn’t resist. Delivered for $171.96.

[Unclenick]

Let us know how it works out for you. I don't recall OTTOMH anyone reviewing the Frankford version on the forum yet.

[hounddawg]

I also would like a review. My RCBS is ancient and I know one day it will fail. I have a couple of pieces of their gear and think they are good values for the price

[markr6754]

Originally Posted by Unclenick

Let us know how it works out for you. I don't recall OTTOMH anyone reviewing the Frankford version on the forum yet.

Of course I couldn’t wait to get started with this new tool. Naturally, my first effort was Universal...my bane!

I followed set up and calibration per the manual, including Powder Cal, which runs an algorithm to determine the best trickle speed to accurately dispense powder. This is a process that must be done at every change in powder as well as every new loading session, as the Powder Cal value isn’t saved. I was most keen to see how Universal fared in this test. It ran through slow, fast, medium, medium slow, and so on, until it was satisfied that it could accurately trickle this powder. Since my Hornady Powder Dropper can’t produce even two consecutive drops of Universal at the same I was surprised at how fast this process completed.

Next, I selected a favorite load for 40 S&W, 5.7gr, and entered that as the target and proceeded to manually dispense, accomplished by hitting the “play” button. It started with a medium speed trickle, stopped and waited for the scale to stabilize, then a momentary bump of the dispense tube, wait, and the scale settled at 5.7gr with a comforting beep-beep. I dumped the tray and hit play [poetry) and the process repeated, with the same satisfying beep-beep.
I did a couple more with the same result, then moved to Auto mode. The Mode button toggles between Manual and Auto. It took a second or two, then the unit went into action. Spin spin, pause, quick bump, Stabilize...beep-beep. Dump the pan, put the empty back on the platen, and the process repeated.

I did this until I was giddy with delight. Sadly, I just did up all of my Universal loads, so I emptied the powder and repeated the previous steps using CFE-Pistol. I’m confident that most people will agree that there are no similarities between these powders. Thus, my first actual loads with this device were 7.4gr CFE-Pistol for 155gr Berry’s CPFP. It was incredible. I’m on a Hornady LNL Classic single stage, so making up rounds is one by one. In auto mode this device is a champ. I didn’t time myself, but I could just keep with the machine.

Starting with the first pour, grab a case, afix the powder funnel, dump the powder, put the tray on the scale, grab a bullet, seat it using the Hornady Taper Crimp Seating Die, put the loaded round in the bullet box....beep...the powder’s ready. There were maybe two times that I waited half a second for the Intellidropper to complete. Aside from that I had 2 over drops in the first 50 rounds, where the scale settled at 7.5gr and erred out, though a second later the scale settled at 7.4gr. During the 2nd 50 the unit hit 7.5gr and settled there multiple times, unfortunately I was getting warmer and turned the fan on. This was a mistake and after turning it back off I had more overcharges.

While I am overjoyed with the performance of the unit, emptying the hopper is a challenge. It may get easier once all of the internals are coated with graphite, for now it’s painful. You have to maneuver the unit to the side of the bench, or perhaps pick it up. Where I very rarely spill powder emptying my Hornady dropper, I spilled a bit of Universal and a bit less of CFE-Pistol. Maybe the 3rd time will be the charm.

My next test will be Vihtavuori N320. It’s a stick, as you know, so there’s some cutting and crunching involved. Since this is an auto trickler I’d expect a smooth process with N320. With Universal being my only frustrating powder, and it passing my tests with flying colors, I couldn’t be happier...in spite of the emptying challenges.

[hounddawg]

RCBS 1500 has to be emptied the same way. At first I kept a long handled paintbrush with it to help with the stubborn kernels that did not want to fall. As it seasons in it will get easier.

Just wait till you forget to close the drain valve. Everyone does it sooner or later.

[stagpanther]

Just wait till you forget to put the cap back on or close the valve. Everyone does it sooner or later.

Seems like every other day "how did that pile of powder get there in the middle of my desk?"

[markr6754]

Originally Posted by hounddawg

RCBS 1500 has to be emptied the same way. At first I kept a long handled paintbrush with it to help with the stubborn kernels that did not want to fall. As it seasons in it will get easier.

Just wait till you forget to close the drain valve. Everyone does it sooner or later.

That’s great advice! I’ll be shopping for a long handled brush to assist with clean out. The brush they provide is useful only when removing the hopper tube. I’d prefer not to put wear and tear on the tube or its housing by handling it frequently.

[Unclenick]

Thanks for the detailed report. I'm glad to hear it seems to work well. Did you cross-check the weights on another scale? With my old Pact dispenser, scale drift was the big problem, but I think that technology has been improving, generally.

Your 0.1 grain errors are all within normal charge tolerance. You can always go down a tenth if it bothers you. You'll have a hard time trying to tell the difference at the range.

[hounddawg]

markr6754 how fast does it dispense ? Any chance you could time your next throws ?

[sako2]

use a plastic butter tub to empty the hopper

[Unclenick]

Isn't margarine what they call plastic butter?

[hounddawg]

Sako liked your suggestion but no butter tub handy but I saw something else. I have a whole set of various size plastic parts bins and the front already has a cutout that fits under the spot. Thanks, I wish I had thought of that years ago

@Nick you saying you can easily believe that it's not butter? My wife buys that yogurt based stuff

[Don Fischer]

How in the world can it take an extra hour just to dispense powder?

[Unclenick]

Balance beam scale measuring and the trickling up of every round.

That said, I shot a lot of bull's-eye matches, including a good number of cleaned targets with 45 Auto loads whose powder (Bullseye) was metered no better than a spread of about 10% of charge weight (±0.2 grains). It is really only longer range shooting that causes velocity variation to be an issue. A 200-yard silhouette round is one where I would want better consistency than 10% spread.

[hounddawg]

I throw .1 gn low and finger trickle to within a kernel either way and seat as fast as the RCBS was dispensing for match loads. It just takes practice and setting the bench up for work flow

[markr6754]

Originally Posted by hounddawg

Just wait till you forget to close the drain valve. Everyone does it sooner or later.

Yeah...that didn’t even take 24 hours. I started out to both load some 45ACP w/Universal, and get a timer on the auto throws.
I got as far as loading the hopper...well...attempting to! But it gets worse, naturally. My bench has little pukas in the top as it’s a Harbor Freight workbench clone. So yes, there was a tiny pile of powder on the table...and 4 times as much on the shelf below, and under the bench, on the floor. I saved what I could...and vacuumed the rest. Despite paying under $10/lb for this powder I still hate to waste any due to negligence. Time to add a label to the hopper....check valve before filling.

[markr6754]

Originally Posted by hounddawg

markr6754 how fast does it dispense ? Any chance you could time your next throws ?

I completed my first 50 rounds of .45 ACP with 5.4gr Universal and Nosler 230gr JHP. Pretty much the same experience as with the CFE-Pistol trial. 3 reported overcharges, one undercharge. The under measured 5.3gr, verified on a separate scale. The 3 overcharges, 2 were above 5.46gr, triggering the over charge, and one was actually 5.43gr, so I used it.

It takes 4-6 seconds to stabilize the scale before powder starts to flow, then another 2-3 seconds to stabilize after dropping all of the powder for a given charge.

Time from setting the pan onto the load cell to final load acceptance ranged between 12.5 and 15.5 seconds.

These rounds were made up from clean, once fired, sized brass. This is the primary reason for 2 of the overcharges and the single undercharge, as I was expanding and priming the cases while the Intellidropper dispensed. Although the movement is small, priming the cases did affect the scale. This wouldn’t normally be an issue as I try to have my brass ready for powder. I went ahead and primed the remaining 50 cases so I can have a smoother load experience next time.

[Unclenick]

Sounds like you need to invest in a cookie sheet for your powder hopper clearing. As to the other problem, I took a couple of layers of scrap carpet and set a small granite surface plate on them for the powder dispenser. It damps vibration. But my bench is very solid and attached to a concrete block basement wall. If yours cannot be attached to the wall structure, you might want a separate small table for the dispenser to prevent the interraction.

[Marco Califo]

I would like continue to see updates from the OP. The price point of this product is attractive. But the reviews I have read are "mixed". Very curious to know if it's operation is smooth over time, or issues develop.

[higgite]

My RCBS Chargemaster empties the hopper the same way as the Frankford, but I don’t see the big deal to empty it. I turn it sideways near the edge of the bench and hold a powder jug under the drain and open it up. I use a longer handled artist brush like someone mentioned above to knock any clingers off the side of the hopper and then hit dispense to dump the feed tube opening out the drain, with the pan in place on the platen to catch powder coming out of the business end of the feed tube. The last step is to program 80 grains and hit go and let it run until it quits spitting powder into the pan. Make that the next to last step. The absolute last step is to make sure the drain is closed. Takes about a minute, maybe 2 at most.

[markr6754]

I’m glad to do that. I have seen a few reviews that indicated a relatively short life of joy before problems set in. I’ll be sure to keep the thread updated.

I loaded up some .300 Blackout rounds with H-110, probably the finest powder I’ve used. It was perfect. Not a single over or under weight in 50 rounds. I do 300 Blackout on a turret on my 2nd bench, so there wasn’t any interference from any of the functions.

I’ve taken over a kitchen baster, which seems perfect for clearing the hopper. No brush required. I gently blow air down the sides to remove any sticking kernels, and I blow the powder out the discharge chute into the bottle. Where things went wrong is attempting to blow out the trickler tube, which worked well for Universal, but blew H-110 all over. There wasn’t much as I’d already blown the majority back into the hopper from the discharge side...but what was left was enough to make me regret it. Overall the process went smoother than prior dumps.

Next time I’ll follow higgite’s practice and dispense the final bits of powder.

One observation of a feature that I don’t appreciate...the leveling pads move far too freely. It barely takes a breath to spin them, so moving the unit tends to change the level of the device. I’m considering applying a smidge of Blue Locktite and let it dry. In my experience, dry Locktite impedes the threads, but doesn’t lock them down. I haven’t done it yet as I want to be sure that the cure isn’t worse than the disease.

[Marco Califo]

Thanks

[Unclenick]

Markr6754,

Assuming the leveling feet can be unscrewed far enough, or completely removed, try some Teflon pipe thread tape. It will increase thread friction but allow for some adjustment and can be removed or replaced as needed.

[hounddawg]

you can put a dab of nail polish or blue loctite on bare threads then let it dry before screwing it back in and adjusting. Gives screws a nylock effect

[Marco Califo]

I would like to know, after a few months now, if OP still likes the Frankford Powder Measure?