Prometheus powder dispenser or something else?

[Hengehold]

Given the astronomical cost of the Prometheus powder dispenser, is there another product on the market that is relatively close in capability but less expensive?

 

[powderbrake]

Fx120i plus the auto throw and autotrickler from Adam McDonald
This will throw and trickle 30 gr of Varget in 10 seconds, within .02 gr. It works wonderfully.

The big choice is waiting for the new model of auto thrower, or trying to get the old model. Adam has stated the new model will NOT be any more accurate than the old model.

 

[1bamashooter]

Auto trickler without a doubt

 

[shoot4fun]

I just got my V3 AutoThrow/AutoTrickler about 3 weeks ago but I may have been on the end of that era so to speak. If I see it correctly the V4 will be an all in one unit with throw and trickle from the top?
I would think there will be quite a few of the V3 models for sale here as soon as the V4 begins shipping.

 

[clowdis]

The auto trickler as mentioned above with a FX120i is your best bet for an accurate and repeatable system, still not cheap though. I'm sure you're aware of the RCBS chargemaster and similar machines. I'd say it just depends on your budget. Accuracy and speed increase directly proportionally to the price.

 

[mike mccormick]

The v3 autotrickler set up is fantastic and worth the price. On top of that, Adam is tops when it comes to customer service. I have not had any problems, but if I ever do, I know it will be taken care of.

 

[David Christian]

How about 3 scales and auto tricklers for the same cost!

 

[XTR]

There are 2 pieces of reloading kit that I can’t imagine going without, and the autotrickler is one of them. (Giraud trimmer the another)

 

[Hengehold]

The auto trickler as mentioned above with a FX120i is your best bet for an accurate and repeatable system, still not cheap though. I'm sure you're aware of the RCBS chargemaster and similar machines. I'd say it just depends on your budget. Accuracy and speed increase directly proportionally to the price.

Thanks Blair. I actually have a chargemaster now. When I first got it felt it was a quantum leap above the process I used to use. Chargemaster is not bad but is not great either depending on which powder is being dispensed. I find that with some of the powders I use, I usually have to use it to dump an initial charge then trickle the last couple 0.1 gr by hand. This is slower than I would like and defeats the purpose of having an auto trickler type system.

I like the idea of the Prometheus not requiring a scale that can drift, etc.

-Trevor

 

[Hengehold]

There are 2 pieces of reloading kit that I can’t imagine going without, and the autotrickler is one of them. (Giraud trimmer the another)

Agreed!
After I got a Giraud trimmer I couldn’t imagine going without one. If my house burned down and I had to buy everything all over again, a Giraud would be one of the first items I would buy.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Thanks Blair. I actually have a chargemaster now. When I first got it felt it was a quantum leap above the process I used to use. Chargemaster is not bad but is not great either depending on which powder is being dispensed. I find that with some of the powders I use, I usually have to use it to dump an initial charge then trickle the last couple 0.1 gr by hand. This is slower than I would like and defeats the purpose of having an auto trickler type system.

I like the idea of the Prometheus not requiring a scale that can drift, etc.

-Trevor

The FX 120 doesn't drift. It's a magnetic force restoration design.

 

[Erud]

Having owned and extensively used both a Prometheus Gen 2 and an Autotrickler/Autothrow combo, I have to say that the Autotrickler is superior in every way. Being 1/4 the price of a Prometheus is a nice bonus.

 

[Hengehold]

Having owned and extensively used both a Prometheus Gen 2 and an Autotrickler/Autothrow combo, I have to say that the Autotrickler is superior in every way. Being 1/4 the price of a Prometheus is a nice bonus.

That is a great perspective. Thank you for sharing that.

does the auto trickler perform well with all powder shapes? I have found that the charge master I use does not work as well with all powder shapes/sizes.

 

[hkm]

I have problems with the Autotrickler with large kernel powder like N570 . Auto throw jams . Any. Charge over 50 gr requires two dumps that you have to do by hand. That slows things down what I have to do to speed things is to dump a charge close to weight with my charge master then use the Autotrickler to hit target weight. With powders like H 1000 it works great.

 

[Erud]

Trevor,
I don’t use a lot of different powders, mostly Varget and N140 because I really only shoot .308. The thrower is just a regular Lee Perfect Powder measure though, so I’d guess that any powder that works in one of those probably works in the AT.

I can say that the Prometheus is very sensitive to powder size and shape though, and really only works well with large extruded powders. Varget works well, Re-15 does not. I know this from experience, as I was a Re-15 shooter until I got the Prometheus, but had to switch to Varget because it just wouldn’t work with Re-15. It’s a very precise machine, but it takes a long time to set up and adjust, has a lot of tiny fragile parts, and is really complicated. It’s a brilliant invention, but I think that since the AT came out, it really doesn’t have a realistic place anymore.

 

[Hengehold]

Trevor,
I don’t use a lot of different powders, mostly Varget and N140 because I really only shoot .308. The thrower is just a regular Lee Perfect Powder measure though, so I’d guess that any powder that works in one of those probably works in the AT.

I can say that the Prometheus is very sensitive to powder size and shape though, and really only works well with large extruded powders. Varget works well, Re-15 does not. I know this from experience, as I was a Re-15 shooter until I got the Prometheus, but had to switch to Varget because it just wouldn’t work with Re-15. It’s a very precise machine, but it takes a long time to set up and adjust, has a lot of tiny fragile parts, and is really complicated. It’s a brilliant invention, but I think that since the AT came out, it really doesn’t have a realistic place anymore.

Thanks for that

 

[RegionRat]

The V3 version of the Auto-throw uses a unique powder measure with a polymer wiper. No thrower is perfect with very large powder kernels, but this one comes very close in terms of not jamming on them.

The design of the V4 looks to be radically different in that the bulk of the charge will be pumped instead of thrown. There will be a large tube for the bulk dump and then the fine tube to trickle. The two different tubes will be integrated rather than two separate units as in the V3.

I plan to keep my V3 indefinitely even after the V4 comes rather than retrofit the V3. I used to run two Charge Masters to do batches over 100 and it meant faster loading. I’m running the V3 with two matched ”cups” now, and it helps speed things up. I’ll try a similar game with the V3 and V4 and see how things run.

https://autotrickler.com/pages/autotrickler

 

[MSS]

+1 for the AutoTrickler! Love mine.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

The Rat is correct; the V3 version that you can buy now has its own powder measure design. I had the prior version with the Lee Perfect Powder thing and it leaked, would jam and had issues. The V3 solved all those issues and has been working really well for me.

 

[marchboom]

I'm all for accuracy and consistency but do you really need .02 gr consistency? Does it make a noticeable difference over a .1 gr throw consistency?

Are the benchrest shooters using them?