chargemaster 1500

[chick533]

I'm thinking about buying a Chargemaster 1500. What is the general impression of this unit? Has anyone had issue's with it. Is there a better scale/dispenser out there?
Your thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I've had mine for over 5 years now and I would not be without it.

 

[nwflycaster]

I couldn't be happier with mine. I've only used it for 6PPC so far but starting with the .223 this weekend.

 

[Heavies]

I have been using this dispenser for about 2 years now. It has its pros and cons. Sometimes, it is the best thing since sliced bread, while at other times I want to throw it out a window.

Search on all the tips and tricks with this dispenser, like the drinking straw tips, clean power tips, static cling, and reprogramming for faster operation. You'll see the pros and cons.

New magnetic resorations scales is where I want to be, however, the cost of these more accurate devices are keeping me planted with the chargemaster at the moment.

 

[7stubby]

Had a Chargemaster for 2 years sold it and bought the Hornady thinking Im "upgrading". Boy was I wrong. I dont know if I got a bad one or what, but junk. Got my money back and bought another Chargemaster. Happily ever after since then.

 

[civil82]

I've had a Chargemaster for about 4 years. On the first unit, I did have an electronic failure. Since it was out of the one year warranty, RCBS replaced it for $45 no questions asked. I thought that was a fair deal. I do like the item and would recommend it to others.

 

[Bradley Walker]

I've had mine for over 5 years now and I would not be without it.

x10

Turn off the ceiling fan!!!

 

[Bradley Walker]

I've had a Chargemaster for about 4 years. On the first unit, I did have an electronic failure. Since it was out of the one year warranty, RCBS replaced it for $45 no questions asked. I thought that was a fair deal. I do like the item and would recommend it to others.

Same here.

 

[Dave T]

Heaveis hit it right on, I have a chargemaster and it is a love hate relationship, last Saturday it was drifting so bad I felt like slamming it against the wall. Heavies was also correct unless you want to pay a grand for a top of the line scale, then get the hobby priced scales like the chargemaster. Oh and the hobby reference came from an RCBS technician. I have a Parker tuned beam scale and just use my chargemaster as a powder throw and trickle with an omega. This is the most brought up topic on all the forums I use and also the most controversial, just watch the fur fly....
Dave T

 

[DougMH]

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-gempro-250.html?gclid=CKCjkqii3bACFYpM4Aod5h241A
http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-reviews/gempro-250-digital-scale-review/

I would spend $140-160 on the MyWeigh GemPro 250 with 5 times the accuracy of the Chargemaster 1500. Much smaller footprint also

 

[Bradley Walker]

Good lord... I remember when the Chargemaster 1500 came out. It was state of the art!! Now its junk...

Ah, the Internet.

 

[jhelmuth]

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-gempro-250.html?gclid=CKCjkqii3bACFYpM4Aod5h241A
http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-reviews/gempro-250-digital-scale-review/

I would spend $140-160 on the MyWeigh GemPro 250 with 5 times the accuracy of the Chargemaster 1500. Much smaller footprint also

I bought both.... the CM does a great job, but some loads are more finiky than others and for the BEST precision, I go to the GemPro...

 

[joejo]

Heaveis hit it right on, I have a chargemaster and it is a love hate relationship, last Saturday it was drifting so bad I felt like slamming it against the wall.
Dave T

what do you experience when its "drifting"? is it just throwing different weights?

 

[DougMH]

Heaveis hit it right on, I have a chargemaster and it is a love hate relationship, last Saturday it was drifting so bad I felt like slamming it against the wall.
Dave T

what do you experience when its "drifting"? is it just throwing different weights?

Since I've had the GemPro, I've done two 100 round loads and on 50 round load. In those 250 rounds, The GemPro has only settled off zero after a dump 5 times. In all 5 cases, it settled at .02 grains instead of .00 grains. I have a D. I. MXX-123 which is also accurate to +/- .02 grains. I use the GemPro now exclusively. Given the 250 round scenario I speak of above, had I used the D.I. I could have expected at least 15-20 times when it didn't resettle to 0 and it would have been off from .02 to .10 grains. I believe the GemPro to be a better unit... and for the price it's a double-value.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Does the GemPro you talk about dispense the powder for the next charge while you are seating the bullet and doing final cartridge inspection?

 

[DougMH]

Does the GemPro you talk about dispense the powder for the next charge while you are seating the bullet and doing final cartridge inspection?

Great question. Actually, I also have a Hornady Auto Charge so I use it to speed things up. If I want say 44.00 grains of powder, I set the Hornady to very slow trickle and to 43.9 grains so I'll always come in a bit low. When the Hornady signals, I dump to the GemPro and replace the pan on the Hornady. While I'm trickling up to 44.00 grains on the GemPro by hand and dumping into my cases, the Hornady is coming up to the next 43.90 grains dump. When I set the pan back on the GemPro to check for re-zero, the Hornady dump is ready... so it goes pretty fast. Always a pain when you're doing 100 or more rounds, but about as good as it's going to get I think.

I don't have any special fine trickler. I have a small cardboard box with one side cut out. I put several grains of Varget in it. It turns out that one grain of Varget is right at .02 grains. If my dump puts me at .06 grains short, I just use a pencil tip and run 3 kernels of Varget into the pan from the cardboard box. Voila! 44.00 grains.

A combination of testing and the GemPro produced this
300yds
8 rounds
Lapua "Palma" brass
Berger 155.5 gr BHTP
CCI #400 primers (small for the Palma case)
45 gr Varget
Wind negligible
Target is 500 yds F-Class target (I made a mistake when I pulled it out of the box). X-ring is 2.5" and 10-ring is 5". Even on a 300yd F-Class target it would have been within the 3" 10-ring.

Honestly, I've never grouped this good and I think it was mostly dropping to the 155.5 gr round and hitting on the right COL for my barrel. If I can group this good at 300yds, I'll shoot the 155.5s from any range and trust in my ability to read the wind.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Right. I've noticed that it takes five kernels of Varget to increment/decrement the CM by 0.1 gr. I sometimes pop one or three on or off as needed.

So, in the grand scheme of things, each kernel of Varget represents 0.04% of my load. Are you familiar with infinitesimal arithmetic?

 

[amlevin]

I predict that someday someone will start marketing a device much like one of those pill cutters. It will be for cutting a grain of Varget in two or three pieces. Then one can just use their magnifiers and small tweezers to get their loads down to +/- .01 gr or less 8) Of course they'll have to be careful they don't pick up a piece of fly poop.