RCBS Chargemaster

[Rogmay]

Loading for F-Class, currently weighing every load with my Dillon D-Terminator, and try to be very meticulous about it, seems to work well! Not trying to set a record pace or anything but would the RCBS be any faster? (more important) Would it be as accurate? Just don't have the funds for a $700 scale! As always your thoughts are appreciated!

 

[Sniper338]

I have two chargemasters.

Erik cortina did a review on his youtube video and compared it to trickling on another scale.

End result was the chargemaster was pretty dang close. Close enough for me not to want to change to a different way of weighing out charges. I have had nothing but good luck with mine.

 

[Homerange]

Not long had mine and it showed up inaccuracies in my 40 yr old Ohaus 505 scales (now fixed).
You'll need to do the McD's straw mod or get the dispensing tube insert and probably muck with the dispense Fast, Slow and Trickle settings, the info for all of which can be found online.
At the bottom of the page in Similar threads is a good place to start looking.

 

[Barrel Nut]

Here's my experience.

My Chargemaster, with all the popular mods, is accurate to plus and minus .1gr but once in a while it goes outside that range and I think that's pretty common. I know for sure that's enough charge weight variation to make a difference for 600 yd F-Class or 600 yd BR. So I re-weigh each charge on my rather inexpensive Gem Pro 250, which has a resolution of .02gr which works out to be one kernel of Varget.

That process is pretty quick and not too tedious and it's affordable. About 80 percent of the charges coming out of the Chargemaster are either .02 or .04gr different from the desired weight. I just add or subtract one or two kernels to hit the proper weight. Charges with larger errors require a few seconds of further adjustment and a careful re-weigh to make sure I'm within .02gr but that's only about one in five loads.

This fine tuning involves simply using some tweezers to pick up a kernel or two spread around on a piece of paper positioned next to my scale. I don't trickle. I'm not yet crazy enough to cut kernels in half, but I hear some people are.

I compete against a couple of shooters who say they dump their Chargemaster loads directly into their cases without correction. I nearly always beat them in spite of them using equipment costing three times what my gear cost.

 

[Steve Ladino]

Loading for F-Class, currently weighing every load with my Dillon D-Terminator, and try to be very meticulous about it, seems to work well! Not trying to set a record pace or anything but would the RCBS be any faster? (more important) Would it be as accurate? Just don't have the funds for a $700 scale! As always your thoughts are appreciated!

I'm glad I bought my RCBS Chargmaster.....I keep on top of mine and getting to know it's likes and dislikes is key, frequent calibration, it's environment etc. are things to study in order to get top performance from it.

 

[Sheldon N]

Might want to check my approach in this thread here... it would likely improve both your charge weight accuracy and speed of loading. I can hold +/- 0.02gr consistently with this approach, and it's quite fast. I weighed out powder and seated bullets on 100 cases last night in just under an hour.

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/th...g-a-different-approach.3910201/#post-36838001

Cost is quite reasonable for the scale, no other fancy gear required.

 

[M-61]

Have had mine for a few years. Done NOTHING to it. Works flawlessly. I have paid strict adherence to the supplied instructions. Since the environment in my reloading room never changes I plug it in, turn it on and use it. I'm not in any rush, so whatever the speed is fine with me. Met every expectation I had hoped for.

 

[savagedasher]

I have 3 one is set for loading 40 GR or less the other is for larger drops . 3rd is in ny camper it is set for mid range loads .
It is all in the speed settings is how accurate they repeat the one I have set in the 40 GR range seldom over drops it is great for my dasher it seldom over drops more than .2 GR over whe my does I can pick 2 or 3 kernels with my fingers.
By internal capacity checking the cases I get Es 5 and under . They are great machines if you had the drop speed settings set right .
The problem is most reloaders want to hurry .
Larry

 

[Gina1]

I have one (RCS 1500), did the McDonald straw mod, keep it from clumping at the end of the drop tube, into the scale pan. For the most part it's right on, +/- .1 grain. Since I'm looking for better, I move the pan to a Bald Eagle BE1188 electronic scale, which has an accuracy of .001g. I than add or remove powder to get my load right on +/- .003.
BTW the Bald Eagle BE1188 is on sale at Bullets.com right now for $79.95, down from their normal price of $109.95
Gina

 

[Rogmay]

Is it even worth it to consider a Lyman, Lee or Hornady? Or are those "bad words"!

 

[Homerange]

Is it even worth it to consider a Lyman, Lee or Hornady? Or are those "bad words"!

I took ~2 years off and on research before buying mine, initially to seek which unit to buy then seeking and knowing the idiosyncrasies that a CM has to gaining as much knowledge on how to work with it.
As they're very popular and RCBS <wink> the deal was done IMO and all that remained was to get one at a good price.
Black Friday special on Amazon had the best price I'd seen after watching them for a while so we jumped.
Furthermore as we live in NZ with 230VAC mains I was reluctant to spend ~US$80 more for the 230V version which after all is only a different wall wart. (Grrr) BUT the latest version has a universal PSU which was a very pleasant surprise when it arrived as I was prepared to swap out the 110V wall wart for any # of old 230V ones I have on hand.
Did I mention I'd looked at these for quite some time.....and never once saw any mention online of the wall wart being changed to a universal type.
I made the dispensing tube insert on my lathe and the thing's worked perfect from the first load it threw, not changed anything else......yet. At this time have only loaded for 223 and rifle accuracy has been as good or slightly better than any historical load from my old Ohaus 505 scales.

I load in my attic with a 5' fluorescent well above and a small LED closer and the CM works just fine.
Note: to preempt any power issues (described online) I spun a few turns of the wall wart lead through an iron powder toroid.

Turn on, leave a few minutes to warm up, calibrate before loading and away you go.

 

[hoz53]

I have 3 one is set for loading 40 GR or less the other is for larger drops . 3rd is in ny camper it is set for mid range loads .
It is all in the speed settings is how accurate they repeat the one I have set in the 40 GR range seldom over drops it is great for my dasher it seldom over drops more than .2 GR over whe my does I can pick 2 or 3 kernels with my fingers.
By internal capacity checking the cases I get Es 5 and under . They are great machines if you had the drop speed settings set right .
The problem is most reloaders want to hurry .
Larry

Boy Larry You must be a man of means ( read lot of $). You own several race cars, a big 5th wheel and 1 ton dually to pull it. Plus 3 charge masters. Are you sure you don't have a 4th chargemaster out in the shed with those presses that you could lend me? Can I really go faster with a chargemaster than a powder measure and a good beam scale?

 

[savagedasher]

Boy Larry You must be a man of means ( read lot of $). You own several race cars, a big 5th wheel and 1 ton dually to pull it. Plus 3 charge masters. Are you sure you don't have a 4th chargemaster out in the shed with those presses that you could lend me? Can I really go faster with a chargemaster than a powder measure and a good beam scale?

Race cars are all others money . The charge masters are mine . My camper is small 5 wheel and tow it with a 2002 dodge 4wheel truck Red and silver it has 10140 miles on it . Reloading has always be fun for me .
Race cars I like to make fast
Speed reloading isn't and never been my thing . Good luck with your speed
Smile Larry

 

[Lapua40X]

Loading for F-Class, currently weighing every load with my Dillon D-Terminator, and try to be very meticulous about it, seems to work well! Not trying to set a record pace or anything but would the RCBS be any faster? (more important) Would it be as accurate? Just don't have the funds for a $700 scale! As always your thoughts are appreciated!

My Chargemaster's accuracy depends on the type of powder I'm loading and the cut the powder. Nevertheless, it is typically accurate within .10 grains. I have learned to adapt to its idiosyncrasies (recognizing that it isn't going to adapt to mine) and test a few loads prior to making any allowances. Most frequently, if an allowance is needed, I dump the load slightly lower than I want and polish the charge using my beam scale. Once you get the rhythm of dropping a charge with the Chargemaster, moving the measured powder to the beam scale while the next load is dropped, things go a lot faster. I don't believe the Chargemaster was ever intended to provide pinpoint accurate outputs regardless of the power used. That's OK with me cuz it saves me a lot of time when I want to be an accurate load nitpicker and even more time when .10 - .20 variables don't matter.

 

[Homerange]

My Chargemaster's accuracy depends on the type of powder I'm loading and the cut the powder. Nevertheless, it is typically accurate within .10 grains. I have learned to adapt to its idiosyncrasies (recognizing that it isn't going to adapt to mine) and test a few loads prior to making any allowances. Most frequently, if an allowance is needed, I dump the load slightly lower than I want and polish the charge using my beam scale. Once you get the rhythm of dropping a charge with the Chargemaster, moving the measured powder to the beam scale while the next load is dropped, things go a lot faster. I don't believe the Chargemaster was ever intended to provide pinpoint accurate outputs regardless of the power used. That's OK with me cuz it saves me a lot of time when I want to be an accurate load nitpicker and even more time when .10 - .20 variables don't matter.

I'd agree 100% however if you're loading just for hunting to medium ranges and you already have a reliable load the CM accuracy (with mods) is quite good enough.
Long range and competition reloading is a different matter.

 

[A j shooter]

Midway has them on sell 296$

 

[hoz53]

Race cars are all others money . The charge masters are mine . My camper is small 5 wheel and tow it with a 2002 dodge 4wheel truck Red and silver it has 10140 miles on it . Reloading has always be fun for me .
Race cars I like to make fast
Speed reloading isn't and never been my thing . Good luck with your speed
Smile Larry

Those dodges --Mines a 2003 Dakota with 300,000 plus on it and original engine. I like to load and so I'm not usually in a Hurry. That's one reason I haven't sprung for a chargemaster and the redding PM and Lyman M5 are plenty good for me for now. So many people tell me charge masters are so great but I've never seen it- need to try one for myself. Mabie you should soup up your dodge and make it into a race truck! Go Fast Take Care

 

[mac86951]

OK, I'm sure it's been said already, but I'll say it again. I love my chargemaster; but accurate for long range not quite.

I use my charge master to bulk dispense approx. 0.1gr low and trickle up on my ohaus. Works wonders and saves me time from the old spoon method...

AR fodder feed, pistol, and varminting; I absolutely love the charge master and take the extra 2s to double weight a thrown charge to ensure it isn't over my limit. I'll use a classic powder measure for ball powder.

-Mac

 

[kerjo]

I bought my first Chargemaster 1500 back in '05 from Midway. After changing some of the programming when I first got it, I have never had an issue with it. When I heard that RCBS was not going to make them anymore, I called RCBS to verify and the person I talked to said that they were not. She said that Natchez had them on sale for $259.99 so I bought another last week. A man with a spare ......

 

[Comrade Terry]

I bought my first Chargemaster 1500 back in '05 from Midway. After changing some of the programming when I first got it, I have never had an issue with it. When I heard that RCBS was not going to make them anymore, I called RCBS to verify and the person I talked to said that they were not. She said that Natchez had them on sale for $259.99 so I bought another last week. A man with a spare ......

From RCBS today:

The Chargemaster 1500 scale alone was discontinued. The Chargemaster 1500 Combo 98923 that includes the dispenser is not discontinued. It is still in the RCBS catalog.

Best Regards,



Dora Paul
Technical Services


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