How do you like your RCBS Chargemaster Combo???

ruger22

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Ok guys how do you like your RCBS Chargemaster Combo?
Just for hunting loads, and fun target loads, not competition.
I use mostly stick powder.

I always figured if I bought one I would set it for .4 grain under then trickle charge on the triple beam scale.
Over doing it perhaps?

When you weigh after how close is the differential between charges?

Do you trust the machine for warm hunting loads? Or check every charge?
 
We use ours to cast powder loads for .223 (currently 25 gr Varget) and .357 (16 gr Li'l Gun). All those electronic scales / loaders are rated for 0.1 gr accuracy - the scale only measures down to 0.1 gr increments, or at least, that's all the read-out shows.

"They" recommend getting a couple of stout soda straws, and sticking the cut-off end of one up the exit chute; makes 'em less prone to spit-out globs of powder. I did this from the first with mine, so I don't know how necessary it was - but every so often, the dispenser runs-over ~0.3 gr; when it does, that load goes back in the hopper and I wait for the machine to dump another one. Probably every 20 rounds or so; no big deal, not a major pain, and just like everything else in reloading, you gotta watch what it's doing; I do that anyway.

We bought it because the charge thrower on the Hornady LnL AP does not like rod powders - a granule gets stuck in the gap while the powder bar is rotating. I have this problem with powders as fine as VV N310; it isn't affected by Win 231, and it routinely cuts individual granules of Trail Boss, but Varget granules are big enough to "stop the presses" - and since you're working the charge thrower by pushing the mouth of the case up it, it'll damage the case when this happens. And, wondering "What the...?" everytime this happened, I started weighing the charges it was throwing; and I wasn't very happy, a 0.3 gr variation was normal, and they'd go bigger.

Both our .223's are bolts - if I wanted to reload for a hungry AR, I'd go with a flattened-ball powder that the LnL charge thrower could work with so I could crank reloads through the LnL by the dozen, but finding powder down here is AWFUL and having 2 lb of Varget (and shooting my first-ever sub-MOA group with it), I was gonna' use-up that Varget, so help me - and having an excuse I could zing-past her for new reloading kit, I wasn't gonna' pass it up! Helps I reload for hers, too. As well, it gets her in the game - she runs the charges, fills the cases and hands 'em to me, I put bullets on the cases and run 'em through the Press.

We do the same thing with Li'l Gun for .357; we only reload ~100 or so of them a year anyways, and our dies are bad - old Lee carbides, the sizer die shaves the brass, and I couldn't bother replacing it for 100 rds a year - so we assemble them in steps, throwing the charges with the RCBS. Beats resetting the LnL to make 100-or-so .357's when my .45 boxes are empty, again, as usual; do-up 50 .357's with the powder charges thrown by the RCBS, and then go back to loading .45's.

And again, she works the RCBS - and she just bought her very own .357. We do a 'Ladies' Night Out' at the club every quarter-or-so, and the last one we did, I made a point for our female guests by having her shoot a cylinder-full of hot .357 magnums (small wife, big revolver, LOUD ammo); guess she liked it! :rolleyes:
 
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I have 2 of these units, and have to say they are really very good.
The MacDonald's straw trick works, and there is a poster on here
who makes a small restrictor for the dispenser tube that will almost
eliminate any overthrows that occur otherwise. Dave.
 
Love mine. You must do the mcdonalds straw trick to be good for precision rifle. Without it it is ok for pistol.

My best rifle rounds get droped through the chargemaster 2 tenths light so I can trickle the last on a gem pro.
 
I can't complain with mine, it was a splurge item I really didn't need to buy, but it is nicer than using the beam scale for the stick powders. I still use the beam scale to verify the Chargemaster once in a while, and for small batches. I still use the thrower for non-stick style powders, when there is volume loading to do. I've been using an electronic scale for a good 25+ yrs now, so, got familiar with their foibles before getting the Chargemaster. Just a matter of learning what to look at, to make sure it is doing what it is supposed to be doing, and setting it up properly in the first place.
 
I hate mine. It let me down after 13 years. The number pad is hooped. You push 6 and a 9 shows. It put up the number to the right of the number you pushed. Even broken it still works better than the pos Hornady LNL Auto Charge.
I have to weigh out my charge weight for the round and then hit dispense and when I put the empty cup back on it automatically dispenses the right weight.
 
Love mine, I use it for all my loading except for pistol cartridges that I just use the volumetric but I use the chargemaster to verify that the volumetric is set correctly.
With my 223, 308, and 338 Lapua loads it is consistent enough that I have a few sub moa loads. Just make sure you wait after it beeps for the weight to come back to the display to verify that it didn't throw too much. It's rare but it will drop a clump now and then. The McDonald's straw helps but doesn't eliminate it completely.
I also find the RCBS scale to be much less sensitive to fluorescent lights and cell phone proximity. My Lyman scale would wander all over if I had my phone close by.
 
I hate mine. It let me down after 13 years. The number pad is hooped. You push 6 and a 9 shows. It put up the number to the right of the number you pushed. Even broken it still works better than the pos Hornady LNL Auto Charge.
I have to weigh out my charge weight for the round and then hit dispense and when I put the empty cup back on it automatically dispenses the right weight.

So contact rcbs and they will replace it.
 
The straw trick reduces the clump drop at the time that cause over drop.
Programming make the drop a lot faster (CM has three drop speed, initial fast, slower midway, trickle at end).
 
I have 2 of these units, and have to say they are really very good.
The MacDonald's straw trick works, and there is a poster on here
who makes a small restrictor for the dispenser tube that will almost
eliminate any overthrows that occur otherwise. Dave.

+1 I went with the machined restrictor and it settled down very nicely..
 
After the straw and reprogramming it I don't worry about the occasional over throw anymore, even having to dump one back in the hopper once in a while it's still faster than measuring each load by hand. I dump the charge in the case then while it's getting the next one ready I'm seating the bullet and a quick final inspection, by the time I'm ready for the next one it's usually waiting for me. Just don't bump the table while it's trickling or you can mess it up.
I've used mine for powders as fine as H110 through to varget and others like it.
No complaints here.
 
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