Heads up on a good deal :)

[Ledd Slinger]

Natchezz Shooter Supply has the RCBS Chargemaster combo (scale and dispenser) on sale for $289.99. But the kicker is that if you buy a little more RCBS equipment and get your total up to $300, you get a $50 mail in rebate. So I bought a couple little RCBS trimmer pilots I needed anyhow to get my total up. Anyhow, this is a really good deal for anyone looking to get an auto dispenser for high volume loading. Being that I'm so picky I can't bring myself to trust a powder thrower, this should make loading varmint rounds go a lot quicker

 

[Sniper338]

I run two of them at the same time when i load... its awesome! Lol

 

[Ledd Slinger]

I run two of them at the same time when i load... its awesome! Lol

I never thought of that? That's a great idea! I better not though. I'm probably gonna catch a little flak from my better half over buying just the one

 

[Sniper338]

You will want a 2nd once you get going with it and get the rythem down... two is great... makes it quicker... stay busier and dont have to sit and wait as much. Made life way easier for me.. if one over charges dump it and let it go again meanwhile the other throws fine... vice versa... let sitting around waiting... just gotta watch the scale and monitor the zeroing weight.... i gotta recalibrate mine here and there sometimes while loading cuz it gets off by .1 here and there... no biggy tho... ill zero it at 159.9 for the powder tray... then it ends up saying 159.8.... i am completely happy tho... beats the **** out of trickling out every load. And when you load for many rifles its a must...

 

[Ledd Slinger]

That sounds really efficient. I have a turret press, so i hope theres not too much waiting. Figure I will hit the powder dispenser, size and prime the case, then run the case up into my case charging die. By then the charge should be thrown and ready to dump in the die. Dump the powder, cycle the turret and seat a bullet. Round complete.

I had a powder measure on top of my charging die, but I get so paranoid that it's off I always dump it out on the scale and double check even though it's usually the right weight. So the charging stage has always been my ball and chain when reloading a massive amount of varmint rounds.

For more serious rifles, I have a much nicer electronic scale. But I could still use the RCBS to throw it, then just check it on my other scale. Would still end up saving a good amount of time by not having to pour and trickle the powder myself. Might only have to add or take away a kernel or two to correct it.

 

[Boxcar77]

If you buy one make sure to reprogram it and do the straw mod. You'll be better off in the end.

And I don't recommend a Chargemaster for pistol charges, it doesn't throw flake powder very well at all. And light charges take forever.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

If you buy one make sure to reprogram it and do the straw mod. You'll be better off in the end.

And I don't recommend a Chargemaster for pistol charges, it doesn't throw flake powder very well at all. And light charges take forever.

Just watched a video on it after reading your post. The fella had one straight out of the box against one with the programming mods and the McDonald's straw. Both using the extruded powder RL-15 (Which I have a ton of). The modified one dispensed almost twice as fast as the unaltered model and was much more accurate. Modified dispenser threw 45.5 grains right on the money in about 5 seconds and the unaltered one took about 10 seconds and went .2gr over but finally settled on .1gr over. Looked very simple to reprogram so I will definitely do that. Thank you very much for that great tip

 

[Sniper338]

Both of mine are set up reprogrammed to that with the mcdonalds straw... its way better and an easy fix...

 

[michaelnel]

Having owned one, I wouldn't give $100 for 3 of them.

 

[Danattherock]

I wouldn't sell mine for twice what I paid for it.


Sniper, send me a PM about the reprogramming.

I put a small straw section in my tube recently. Last 2-3 batches I've loaded, not one single throw went over. 100% on 120+ charges. Prior to that, I would get 1-2 out of 50 that would throw an extra 1/10 gr of Varget, which is all I've used in my Chargemaster so far.


Dan

 

[Sniper338]

Pm replied to... the reprogramming is on youtube... very easy step by step. Do it and dont look back! Been running one like that for 6 years now and another for about 2 years now. Its awesome.

 

[Sniper338]

8541 tactical youtube channel....

 

[Ledd Slinger]

8541 tactical youtube channel....

Yep. That's the video I watched and was planning on using for instructions again when mine shows up.

 

[Danattherock]

Thanks Sniper. Was looking online an hour ago for that. Had mine out and was going to reprogram and get some before/after times. It's accurate now, but would be great to speed it up a bit.


Dan

PS, I have 1.5" sections of McDonalds straw for sale at $99 each. Mine have custom jagged points cut into tip. You can't get that just anywhere. Best free mod ever. Hah.

 

[michaelnel]

It's accurate now

I am curious as to how you know it is accurate. Have you tested it against another scale of known accuracy or against known accurate check weights in the range where you are measuring in order to determine that?

 

[Danattherock]

When I put a 50 gram check weight on it, the screen says 50.0.

When I put two 50 gram check weights on it, the screen says 100.0.

And I'm shooting 0.2-0.5" groups and have all my fingers

All joking aside, how else would I check it? My RCBS 502 is spot on with Chargemaster as well. My comment here is obviously a bit tongue in cheek, but I appreciate the skepticism to trust an electronic scale. It's the sole reason I bought the 502. So far, I have nothing but favorable views of the Chargemaster. Love it.




Dan

 

[michaelnel]

Well, the two 50 gram check weights are of dubious provenance to begin with. 50 grams = 772 grains. 100 grams = 1544 grains. Do you load a lot of cartridges in that range of powder weights or are you weighing more down around 30-50 grains?

Checking a scale at 772 or 1544 grains with cheap check weights and then using that scale to weigh small fractions of those weights does not really inspire much confidence in the accuracy, to me.

If you are weighing charges <50 grains, the scale should be checked with known good weights down in that range.

The thing that really bothers me about the Chargemaster is it is a cheap Chinese scale hooked up to a rather clever dispensing device. I got rid of mine because it was far from accurate. It wasn't even particularly repeatable.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy yours, but please don't fool yourself into thinking it is accurate.

 

[Danattherock]

Sound like you got a dud. Haven't seen check weights that light, but it's a good idea. But how would I verify the lighter check weights actually weigh what they are claimed to weigh? What are the odds that my 502 is exactly as inaccurate as my Chargemaster? Not very good. It's a vicious cycle. Truly.

Dubious provenance?? Really. Now I got to go Google stuff


Dan

 

[Danattherock]

I posted this in another thread. Based on this testing, which sounds to be incredibly extensive, I am not going to lose sleep over weighing charges to a 1/2 tenth. Got bigger fish to fry. Far bigger. Read the article, it's very interesting. I found many references to it scouring through old threads here lately, but just found the actual article the other day.

Be careful weighing bullets and judging your scales. My buddy weighed a bunch of 77 SMK the other night and they varied far more than I would have thought. 3-4 tenths from end to end as I recall. Ironically, the smallest batch? Yep, 77.0 gr.

I'm happy with my RCBS 502. Use a Chargemaster too and love it. Would take a far better shooter than I to benefit from a scale that will detect half tenths and single kernels of Varget. I've got bigger fish to fry and 1/10 gr accuracy is fine by me. You might also read the Houston warehouse test, or similar name.


Dan


Found it...

http://precisionrifleblog.com/2013/10/18/secrets-of-the-houston-warehouse-lessons-in-extreme-rifle-accuracy/


Read the whole thing (after you start a pot of coffee). But this is the line I was referring to...

Powder charges, as long as they were fairly consistent and bracketed within a couple of grains, were not important. He threw all of his charges with a Belding & Mull powder measure, and for one experiment he shot groups using three different powder measure settings (51, 52 & 53) … all three groups were identical.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

I'm not buying the RCBS for benchrest precision accuracy. I have a lot nicer scale if I want to get that picky. I bought it for speed and because it will be a LOT more accurate than my powder measure with an EXTRUDED style powder. 0.1gr variation in any of my varmint rifles don't make a difference to me. If you do a ladder test with your loads, you'll find the charge weight that allows a decent amount of variation up or down with minimal consequence.