RCBS Chargemaster

[JMP]

I have two Chargemasters. One thing about Chargemasters is that they get better with age. They won't perform well until you have run at least 100 lbs of powder through it. My Chargemaster trickler that got warn out fills much more quickly and is always to the 0.1gr even with Varget without using the straw trick. The older one just broke (I haven't tried to fix it yet) and I filled 50 rounds and it was quite a bit slower. If you use large sticks, then the Chargemaster works really well (RL-33, RL-50, Retumbo, N570, H1000, 7828, H4831, etc.) If you use the little sticks like Varget, the tube needs a lot of breaking in before it works well.

[Calif Hunter]

I have used a Chargemaster for many years, mainly for extruded rifle powders. For ball powders, my manual measures throw accurately. I had my original Chargemaster stop working, and I returned it to RCBS, and they sent me a new one. No problem with warranty and no questions were asked. Just "Return it to us and we will repair it or replace it." RCBS customer service is outstanding.

[JMP]

I have used a Chargemaster for many years, mainly for extruded rifle powders. For ball powders, my manual measures throw accurately. I had my original Chargemaster stop working, and I returned it to RCBS, and they sent me a new one. No problem with warranty and no questions were asked. Just "Return it to us and we will repair it or replace it." RCBS customer service is outstanding.

That's a good idea. I have a ton of broken RCBS products. I should round them all up and see if they are good for warranty.

[45R]

They'll take care of them. I had a bad run of broken RCBS parts and customer service did a fantastic job taking care of everything. I don't use their products as much because I have become a fan of the smurf....

[JMP]

Yeah, I just haven't gotten around to returning some stuff. I got a 50 BMG press that snapped right in half on the frame. I sent it back to Midway, and they sent to back saying they "don't repair". I didn't want a repair; I just wanted a press frame.

So, I didn't get around to sending it in, but it wasn't used much...just defective.

[Citadelgrad87]

Fwiw, I've got the Lyman unit, it's about seven year old, it's right as rain.

[45R]

Yeah, I just haven't gotten around to returning some stuff. I got a 50 BMG press that snapped right in half on the frame. I sent it back to Midway, and they sent to back saying they "don't repair". I didn't want a repair; I just wanted a press frame.

So, I didn't get around to sending it in, but it wasn't used much...just defective.

I bought a new "old stock", RCBS Scale from a dealer. It was sitting in the back shelf for years. It had some serious problems with drifting but the warranty tag for repair was suppose to be sent to PACT. PACT use to make their scales and when I called them they wouldn't honor the warranty. Called RCBS back and they sent me a new one after I sent them the old unit. They'll take care of that no problem.

[mikeyr]

how does one know these things are "drifiting" ?

I just got my chargemaster a few weeks ago and at first I checked nearly every charge with my beam scale, after 20-30 checks I went off and reloaded a 100 rounds, checking the charge a few times during that time.

I really just want to set it, check the first 2 or 3 charges and load a few hundred like my LGS told me to do, but drifting worries me. There is no indicator for "hey stupid, I am drifting" on the chargemaster and double checking with the beam every dozen or so charges seems to really be overboard.

[C.G.]

Not trying to derail, but it is pretty relevant as a comparison unit. I had a Hornady auto charge and found it annoyingly inaccurate. About 3/5 would over charge in the stock form with powders like varget and 4064. After a straw mod and leaning it back so the tube angle wasn't so aggressive it got to about 1/5-2/5 over charges. But it was still unacceptable to me. It was slower than throwing and hand trickling.

So I've gone back to throwing and using a gempro250. Only thing that annoys me there is drifting issues.

Not that relevant, as there were a lot of complaints about the Hornady unit a while back, not sure if the issues were ever resolved.

[JMP]

how does one know these things are "drifiting" ?

I just got my chargemaster a few weeks ago and at first I checked nearly every charge with my beam scale, after 20-30 checks I went off and reloaded a 100 rounds, checking the charge a few times during that time.

I really just want to set it, check the first 2 or 3 charges and load a few hundred like my LGS told me to do, but drifting worries me. There is no indicator for "hey stupid, I am drifting" on the chargemaster and double checking with the beam every dozen or so charges seems to really be overboard.

I have found that there is little to no drifting as long as you keep the scale at zero. If you leave the next charge in the try, it may drift a bit. Of course, you should calibrate the machine before each use. The 50g weights will tell you if you are on or off. That's why you need two weights to calibrate since one weight can provide for an incidentally correct reading while two measurements help make sure the curve fits.

There isn't a need to re-measure on a beam scale. Simply test the scale with the 50g weights. The reason to re-measure on a beam scale is for higher precision, which is something you would want to do on every charge to ensure uniformity.

[mikeyr]

That's why you need two weights to calibrate since one weight can provide for an incidentally correct reading while two measurements help make sure the curve fits.

I wondered why 2 weights instead of one 100g weight, this makes sense, Thanks

[joefrank64k]

Yeah, I just haven't gotten around to returning some stuff. I got a 50 BMG press that snapped right in half on the frame. I sent it back to Midway, and they sent to back saying they "don't repair". I didn't want a repair; I just wanted a press frame.

So, I didn't get around to sending it in, but it wasn't used much...just defective.

JMP, send that back. From what I hear, that frame break on the RCBS 50 press is not an uncommon problem. They'll replace it.

When I get to loading the 50 DTCs, I'm getting one if these Corbins: http://www.corbins.com/pr-csp2.htm

Zero chance of that press snapping.

[45R]

FYI, Cabelas has them on sale for 305 shipped. RCBS has the $75 rebate currently. Mine should arrive sometime next week.

[45R]

Mine showed up on Saturday. I was able to load 100 rounds of 308 and 100 rounds of 223. So much faster then throwing the powder, measure and trickle. I threw the first few rounds and confirmed the weight on a trusted scale. Very happy with it! Thanks Calguns for the input!