Which scale setup

[gunmutt]

Do I want a rcbs charge master 1500 or a gempro 250 setup (dandy trickled and Redding powder throw)?
I plan on want 1 MOA or less loads for PRS type shooting out to 1250 yards with 6xc and 600+ yards .223

 

[Sheldon N]

Lots of guys shooting very well in PRS using chargemasters. With a well selected powder charge weight in a forgiving node you'll be fine.

Personally I use a RCBS powder throw and trickle up on a Acculab VIC-123 scale (similar price/precision to a GemPro 250). I'll go slow and weigh to the kernel when building ammo for a match, and when I'm putting together practice ammo I still throw/trickle but I go pretty fast and tolerate a bit of error a couple kernels of powder either way (ie. I'm not getting out the tweezers).

 

[Shynloco]

Gunmutt,
I've tried both and actually use a smaller RCBS scale that works fine for my uses. But after reading a bunch of post of how great the gempro 250 was, I broke down and bought me one. I already know all the gempro lovers are gonna diss me, but talk about a temperamental pain in the ars. I used it a few times and sold it. The thing is super sensitive and likes to drift where my RCBS's didn't in the same setting. And I took extreme measures in setup to avoid outside interference. So if I were you, I'd buy the RCBS Chargemaster that not only weighs, but dispenses your powder. Just my .02 worth.

Alex

 

[joshb]

I use the same RCBS scale that came with the kit I bought 40 years ago. I upgraded my spoon and bought a trickler. Just a thought from the "old school".
I have a deep mistrust of electronic gadgets. Slow, careful and steady can still get ya there.

 

[Twoboxer]

Everybody sees the Chargemaster differently. Once I weighed a few hundred Chargemaster throws on a precision scale, I decided to use the Chargemaster as a PM throwing ~1gr low and tweezering (later trickling) up.

My Chargemaster? On "well metering" powders, it proved more variable than a Hornady PM. It did better than the PM on long grain powders, and about equal on short grain. While better overall on the granular powder, when the Chargemaster erred the variation was wider than the PM.

My GemPro 250 doesn't respond well to trickling that last kernel and the workaround of tapping the pan often led to grabbing the tweezers to pull out a kernel. And like most digital scales in the price range (strain gauge) it is subject to the flutters depending on the level of transmissions in the area.

If you've got a favorable, wide powder charge node the Chargemaster will probably keep you in it almost all the time. If you're looking for +/-0.02gr precision, The GemPro and a trickler (powered or manual) is going to get closer to your objective than the Chargemaster. An A&D FX120i and Adam's scale-driven trickler (or tweezers or manual trickler) would reach that objective without frustration.

 

[Homerange]

Here's the Speed Up Your RCBS ChargeMaster page if you haven't got it bookmarked:
http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-reviews/speed-up-your-rcbs-chargemaster/

 

[Martin52]

The Gempro 250 is a good value scale but as others have said, it does not handle trickling well. I got good weighing accuracy with mine, throwing charges from a Harrels thrower then onto the Gempro but it required more time, extra steps such as removing the pan and re-weighing. Eventually I took the plunge and bought a Lyman Gen 6, an A&D FZ MFR scale and a Dandy trickler. Perfect combination for what I need, very time efficient and produces consistent loading to 0.02 gr. I still use the Gempro for weighing cases and projectiles and its very accurate once set up properly with sufficient warm up time.

Martin.

 

[fguffey]

I believe you should get a year or two of experience with dippers and balance beam type scales, and tricklers; I believe you should trickle a thousand+ a few rounds. And then there are test weights, I have 80 pieces, I have one scale with no markings, I no longer use it but I have it just in case.

F. Guffey

 

[Homerange]

I believe you should get a year or two of experience with dippers and balance beam type scales, and tricklers; I believe you should trickle a thousand+ a few rounds. And then there are test weights, I have 80 pieces, I have one scale with no markings, I no longer use it but I have it just in case.

F. Guffey

Why on earth would you need 80 test weights?
Educate me please

 

[rardoin]

I believe you should get a year or two of experience with dippers and balance beam type scales, and tricklers; I believe you should trickle a thousand+ a few rounds. And then there are test weights, I have 80 pieces, I have one scale with no markings, I no longer use it but I have it just in case.

F. Guffey

^^^^

You should also revert to a flintlock and learn to cast your own round balls, shoot a smoothbore. Riding your horse and carriage to the range will only improve your knowledge base even more. Modern extruded powders are for those who truly are lazy and don't understand how to modulate your load as a function of temperature. And then there are the catapults.......

 

[gunmutt]

I like the idea behind the rcbs setup but the reason I am on the fence is the reviews are up and down. I dont want to chunk that amount of cash down on something that typically lasts 1 year. The prometheus would be really nice but that is too much.
Like I said before I am not looking for benchrest accuracy but more of a repeatable accuracy for a PRS type of shooting. High volume but precise.

 

[eric n]

Many people, including myself, have had charge masters for more then a year trouble free. I've put a lot of powder through mine without a hiccup in the 6 or so years I've had it.

 

[carlsbad]

I use both, kindo. No experience with gempro but it is supposed to be a magneticly damped, very accurate lab quality scale--which is what I use. I use a Sartorius lab scale. I throw a .1 gn low with the Chargemaster and then put it into the Sartorius and trickle to load. Pretty fast but not a race car. Accuracy is +/- .01 gn. To get any better I would have to split powder kernels.

--Jerry