Article: RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Combo Review

[J.Baker]

You can view the page at http://www.savageshooters.com/content.php?321-RCBS-ChargeMaster-1500-Combo-Review

[LoneWolf]

I've been using my Chargemaster to load for my 243win match rifle for about a year now. It's currently the only thing I load for and have no issues with accuracy of charge weight. I usually load up 50-100rds at a time and only have a couple of over throws a batch. I've noticed that keeping it in a good level area shaded from unnatural lights has kept it more accurate. Also it's best when the air is nice and dry. I have quite a few more over throws when the humidity kicks up, so I usually try to do my loading early in the day before the heat kicks up the humidity.

[rotts4u]

I have used balance beam scales, digital scales, volumetric powder chargers over the years until I got the charge master. First all I don't suggest weighing tiny charges of pistol power for plinking with a 38 or 45acp etc. For those small charges I use a volumetric charger and it is WAY faster that anything else. I guess that is why most all progressive reloading equipments like a Dillon use volumetric chargers. Also for trail boss you will find that it performs much more consistently if you do NOT WEIGH it. Thats right don't weight it but charge it volumetrically. I set my charger to dispense "about" 10 grains and then let it vary as the size and density of the kernels are very inconsistent. I find that my velocity spread has been cut in half when dispensing Trail Boss this way.

When I am using the charge master I am mostly using it to do high volume of tightly weighed charges for rifle shooting. I too have adjusted my parameters to some slightly different than yours and my last loading session I loaded 100 rounds of 6.5x47 Lapua with 40.6 grains of H4350. Over that 100 rounds I only had 1 over charge and it was only .1 grains. I think part of using any tool is knowing when to use it and when to use something else and I don't think the charge master is suited for 3.0 grains of pistol powder. There are much easier and faster ways of doing that.

[Handloader]

I use a Hornady, and have the same issues. I find (if) I use it, I set it to stop about 1 to 1.5 grains shy of my final weight. I then use my Lee dipper to add to final weight. The only real benefit is the the speed to get to the final drop weight by typing in a weight number vs adjusting a powder drop.

[rotts4u]

I use a Hornady, and have the same issues. I find (if) I use it, I set it to stop about 1 to 1.5 grains shy of my final weight. I then use my Lee dipper to add to final weight. The only real benefit is the the speed to get to the final drop weight by typing in a weight number vs adjusting a powder drop.

What charge weight and what powder are you using? surely it is not over charging by 1-1.5 grains is it? Before I made any changes to the program I would occasionally get a .1-.3 grain overage but never 1.0 unless I was bumping the table the scales sits on or something.

[J.Baker]

I have used balance beam scales, digital scales, volumetric powder chargers over the years until I got the charge master. First all I don't suggest weighing tiny charges of pistol power for plinking with a 38 or 45acp etc. For those small charges I use a volumetric charger and it is WAY faster that anything else. I guess that is why most all progressive reloading equipments like a Dillon use volumetric chargers. Also for trail boss you will find that it performs much more consistently if you do NOT WEIGH it. Thats right don't weight it but charge it volumetrically. I set my charger to dispense "about" 10 grains and then let it vary as the size and density of the kernels are very inconsistent. I find that my velocity spread has been cut in half when dispensing Trail Boss this way.

When I am using the charge master I am mostly using it to do high volume of tightly weighed charges for rifle shooting. I too have adjusted my parameters to some slightly different than yours and my last loading session I loaded 100 rounds of 6.5x47 Lapua with 40.6 grains of H4350. Over that 100 rounds I only had 1 over charge and it was only .1 grains. I think part of using any tool is knowing when to use it and when to use something else and I don't think the charge master is suited for 3.0 grains of pistol powder. There are much easier and faster ways of doing that.

Typically I would agree with you about using this for light pistol loads, but this was a review and as part of that review I wanted to illustrate how it performed with a wide variety of charge weights and powder types to gauge the performance and accuracy over a larger spectrum.

I'm sure with enough experimenting one could come up with program settings that would provide 95%+ accuracy with most any given powder/charge weight, which is precisely why I included the last paragraph in my summary. You own example in how you use yours with your 6.4x47 Lapua illustrates this perfectly. But as I noted, I don't think it's the ideal solution for those who want to use it for a variety of different cartridges with a variety of different powders as they would most likely need to reprogram it each time to work best with that powder/charge weight combination. In such cases, based on my own experience, a standard volumetric measure and powder trickler is a faster and more accurate option. The only real benefit here, as pointed out by Handloader, is that with the electronic unit there's no set-up time to get a specific charge weight - unless of course you factor in the time to reprogam the unit as needed to work accurately with that particular charge weight/powder combo.

I plan on keeping the ChargeMaster Combo for the time being and will continue to play with it trying to get more consistent accuracy from it, but I can't deny that using it has really slowed down my reloading process which is the exact opposite of what I bought it for.

[Robinhood]

using it has really slowed down my reloading process which is the exact opposite of what I bought it for

Profound.

[doctnj]

Is the over charge weight reflected on the charge master scale or are you re weighing it on another scale?

[Handloader]

What charge weight and what powder are you using? surely it is not over charging by 1-1.5 grains is it? Before I made any changes to the program I would occasionally get a .1-.3 grain overage but never 1.0 unless I was bumping the table the scales sits on or something.

Same here, but it takes just as long to shake out one grain with a dipper as it does to shake out 0.2 grains. BUT, it takes allot longer to pick out 0.2 grains!I use lots of different powders (TAC, H4198, H1000, TightGroup, RL22, Retumbo, H4127, LilGun, etc.). I reload allot of subsonic stuff, and really small differences in weight can make a round go sonic.

Like the OP said, using a powered powder drop has slowed down my reloading time.

[Robinhood]

It shows on the scale if you wait for it to clear. If you modify the speeds of the drop tube it usually only happens on the first charge and at other times it has to do with the size of the kernel of powder. There are some tricks to eliminate it. I will say it will drop most of the charges very close with small kernel powder. If you are loading for match, every now and then you see enough of a variation that requires double checking everything on a Parker calibrated beam scale or a precision lab scale.

[J.Baker]

Is the over charge weight reflected on the charge master scale or are you re weighing it on another scale?

Over charges show in the charge master scale, and were verified on beam scale. Most ranged in the 0.1 to 0.4 grain range, but I did have a couple as high as 0.8 grain.

[LongRange]

i bought a charge master about a year ago and after 2 weeks of playing with it i returned it without ever firing a round loaded with it...and yes i tried every trick there is and like MrFurious about 50% of the charges were over and id say 50% were .3g or more.
i use a scott parker beam a LPPM and trickle but i want my charge weight as exact as i can get it.

[doctnj]

Ok, so now I have loaded around 300 rounds with this machine. I did the straw trick and it helped. I went from 60 % error rate to 10 % or a bit higher. I have not re programmed the speed yet. I did however find it necessary to glue my mc d's straw in the spout because after a while it kept coming out. a drop of super glue on the outside of the straw and that is no longer a problem. I was having a problem with static cling but LR gave me solid advice about rubbing it down with a dryer sheet. It is kind of slow but I make good use of that time by seating the bullet in the case I just put powder in, check the OAL, put it in its box and the next charge is waiting right about then to be picked up. Im waiting arrival for some different powder to load some 300 h&h mags. This batch Ill have it re programmed. So far over all, I think it was a good purchase.

[EFBell]

I have had none of these issues with mine. But I only load 22-250 and larger rifle loads with it. I do get that occasional .1 over charge and just dump it back in. I never did a real "evaluation" of the frequency but I'll guess it's one in 15 or so. and that is with IMR stick powders more so than ball powders or small grain powders. I do not store anything in the memory and punch in the charge I want when I want it. takes no time at all really. I run 3 or 4 charges and dump them back in the hopper and go from there. I love mine and wouldn't even think of going back to beam and trickle.

[dpollard]

I recently bought the Chargemater combo. My experience reflects this review. For what it costs I expect better performance. Wish I had saved my money. Rcbs is shipping out my 3rd unit this week as the first two were defective, that is all fine and well while my 1 year warranty lasts!

[folmonty]

Had one for about 3 years but only use it when loading .223. I like doing lots of chronograph test loads and use it for that but only as a scale function. In my opinion it's overkill for loading pistol but works fine to check throws from my old Dillon RL450. Not had too much trouble using Accurate 2015, or H335. The scale is very sensitive to air flow in the room. Even cracking a window slightly can cause uniformity issues. Changing powder can be a little time consuming but getting better at it. Not a routine thing generally. Definitely an expensive scale but pays off doing rifle cartridges. Just added .308 to my mix so it should be beneficial there as well.

[J.Baker]

As I stated above, I never had any real intention of using it for loading pistol ammo. However, as I stated in the review (and the whole point of a review) is to test it over a wide range of uses (i.e. charge weights) with different types of powders. That includes light pistol loads, heavy rifle loads, and everything in between.

That said, it's accuracy is still ho-hum even when running rifle loads. Most recently I loaded up 20 rounds of .375 Winchester with a 37.8 grain charge of Reloader-7. It took 34 cycles to get 20 that were on the mark. That's roughly a 40% accuracy rate which is piss-poor in my opinion. That's with the straw trick and reprogramming so it switches from low speed to trickle when it's at 2.0 grains below target weight.

[Teancum1]

I've been using a Chargemaster I inherited from a friend about a year ago. Using H4198, I have loaded 500 rounds with perhaps 2 cases overweight by 0.1 gr on an 18.2 gr throw. I've loaded over 800 rounds using Silhouette at 6.0 and 6.2 gr and possibly 1 in 100 will be over by 0.1 gr. It has worked fine with IMR 4250 throwing 30 - 56 gr charges as well. I've used it on a variety of loads and powders and found it to be amazingly accurate with rifle and pistol, flake, spherical and cylindrical powders. Maybe I just got lucky.