I didn't hear angels sing

[William T. Watts]

I haven’t been too impressed with the RCBS 1500 chargemaster, when dispensing a stick/single base powder I.E. 4350/H4831/7828, there is up to a .4gr overage. I do not like the idea of having to check every single charge with my 5-0-5 scale, I don't believe the chargemaster is going to save me any time. A ball powder may meter better, or a stick powder with smaller granules I.E. 3031 or 4895 may meter with smaller deviations. I’ve loaded several hundred rounds and concluded I do not like the unit, that’s a shame because they don’t give these things away, even receiving a $50 rebate isn’t enough to make up for it's shortcomings. If you’re person that is a bit more particular than most folks this isn't for you!! William

[Brian Pfleuger]

Something is wrong... I've metered all kinds of different powders and never had any trouble with overages. One or two, randomly and rarely but all powders metered very well.

You say that you have to verify the charges... is the Chargemaster not showing the correct weight or is it showing over and you're verifying it?

What you're seeing isn't a "shortcoming", something is wrong.

[William T. Watts]

The chargemaster shows most of the overages, but they aren't always shown correctly, I trust my balance beam scale to be spot on. With that said I use the weights supplied to verify the electronic scale is correct and give it 15 or more minutes for warm up before calibrating. The major problem is the trickling the final few tenths doesn't work well and that's where the problem lies. When it trickles nothing comes out until a wad of powder drops in the pan, in therory it should work, it's better with smaller grain stick powder (3031/4895) with -.1 to +.2gr. I use mostly slower powders that can vary from -.1 to + .4gr. So far I have hand weighed every charge thrown by my chargemaster, best guesstimate is 10-15% are off enough that I hand weigh the charge to get it correct. Yes, I do verify every single charge with my RCBS 5-0-5 scale. Not much help to me!! William

[jaguarxk120]

What are the charge weights you are metering?

[Brian Pfleuger]

Check out the tips and tweaks on this page.

I'd contact RCBS though. "Clumps" are one thing, incorrect reading are another. I have several "check weights" that I verify on the RCBS, including the two that came with it but also cases and bullets that I have verified previously and on other scales. The RCBS has NEVER been wrong on any of those weights.

The straw trick might actually cause more problems than it solves with a large stick powder.

There was a straw in the scale I use but it fell out and I didn't bother replacing it.

I have used the Chargemaster with Trail Boss, W748, 3031, RL17, RL19, Unique, Power Pistol and 800x. All have been basically flawless.

[precision_shooter]

Fairly new to reloading here and all i've metered is AA2460 which is a ball powder. Through 30 charges, the biggest deviation I got was 0.1 grains +/- of where I set it...

I'm not reloading to bench rest comp specs or near max pressures so the 0.1 deviation is perfectly acceptable for me...

Hopefully stick powder won't be too far off that deviation, when I can find some...

[jaguarxk120]

The powders listed 4350, 4831, and 7828 are slow burning powders, usually reserved for larger case's and heavy magnum rounds.

The 4350 is also used in the smaller 243 sized shells. The powder charge variation won't show on the target or much less a game animal.

I have the early RCBS powder dispenser and it is spot on everytime. No charge variations +/-, although with the larger grained powders the weighing cycle may take a few more seconds to complete.

[Wyoredman]

I have noticed my chargemaster does sometimes overcharge by 0.2 grains or so on some loads. It happens mostly when the powder weights approach 0.2 grains from the input load. For example, i input a 25.5 gr load on the key pad, the chargemaster dispenses quickly up to 24.0 grs, then begins to "trickle" to the desired load of 25.5. If, after a "trickle cycle" the scale is reading 25.4 gr, the chargemaster tries trickles a bit more and goes over a bit. Not a big deal if I get 25.6 or 25.7 gr in that load. I usualy don't really care.

Now if I am being a bit more picky, or I am throwing max charges, I will set the dispenser to throw a charge 0.20 gr less, then use the manual trickle button to finish them off. So, if I want to be "dead on" at 25.5 gr, I will set the dispenser to 25.3, and manually "trickle" o.2 grs. to 25.5! Works for me.

BTW, I never use the chargemaster to throw pistol charges, only rifle. It takes too long to dispense pistol charges, and a volumetric thrower is way more efficeint!

[CS86]

It could be similiar to the problems that I have with my scheels scale. It sounds like electronic scales are prone to do it. If you get a change read this. http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=516931

It might be the lower trickle that the electronics can't pick up.

[Brian Pfleuger]

BTW, I never use the chargemaster to throw pistol charges, only rifle. It takes too long to dispense pistol charges, and a volumetric thrower is way more efficeint!

I was surprised to find that the Chargemaster is almost exactly the right speed for me to use along with my Classic turret.

I add the powder charge, replace the pan, go on to the seating step, then crimp, size the next case, seat the primer, raise it into the powder die and the Chargemaster is ready. This is on charges of 8-10gr.

It does add a second or two for me to pick up the pan, dump the powder and put the pan back, which is significant over a couple hundred rounds, but it's fantastic for powders that meter like crap, like 800x.

Someone needs to come up with a gadget that will tip the dispensed charge into the charging funnel and hold it until the case is present. That would rock.

[AllenJ]

I loaded 56 7mm Rem Mag night before last using IMR4831 and my Chargemaster. It threw 5 loads that were .4 grains more than I was looking for. The problem is exactly how William described, while trickling the powder builds up at the end of the tube and then all falls at once. One trick I used that seem to help is when I saw the powder begin to build up, I would tap the tube very gently. On the loads that were over I just put the powder back into it's container and let the Chargemaster weight out a new load. Even with those problems it is still much faster than I ever was with my Uniflow, 5-0-5 scale, and trickle trickle trickle, when dealing with 4350, 4831, and 7828.

[William T. Watts]

I use 48-50 grs of IMR4064 for 30/06 with 150-165gr Nosler SP solid base, 280Rem 54grs of H4831 150gr Nosler SP solid base, 270Win 55grs of H4831 with 150gr Nosler SP. If I use Partitions I use the same charge I use with the solid base bullets. I will eventualy come up with something to off set the over charge problem, it may not make any difference on a target or a game animal but the aggravation is still there. The problem I have a perfectionist gene I have to deal with!! William

[higgite]

If you’re person that is a bit more particular than most folks this isn't for you!! William

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. My Chargemaster drops within +/- 0.1 grain of the target setting every time, usually 0 to +0.1. It sounds like there is something wrong with your setup or machine if it's overshooting that much. Any chance that there is a burr, lip or something other than a smooth end of the dispensing tube?

[Brian Pfleuger]

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree.

Indeed. I use the Chargemaster BECAUSE I'm OCD about the charges, even though I know I don't have to be, not because I'm NOT particular.

Something is amiss with the machine or setup.

[William T. Watts]

The thread cut on the inside the dispensing tube is probably too aggressive, I will come up with a solution to my problem eventually.. William

[Brian Pfleuger]

The McDonalds straw in the tube should completely cover the threads. I would think it wouldn't help as much with large stick powders but maybe it does. I never paid much attention to the problem it was supposed to solve. I heard it helped so it was in there. It fell out and I didn't see any difference so I left it out.

[reynolds357]

William, Many times I have a "glob" of 4350 come out of my old finger turn trickler. I keep a pair of tweezers handy and take out a few pieces.

[Unclenick]

Allen and William,

Any chance you could post photos of this clump build-up? That does not sound normal. It occurs to me to ask if you have leveled the installation? Whether you have or not, you might try intentionally shimming both back and the front with matchbook covers or the like to see if the clumping phenomenon can be abated by that strategy. If that does no good, I'd be tempted to take some fine but stiff wire and coil it to fit inside the tube and tend to drive the powder forward.

[mehavey]

Old (5 years) ChargeMaster...
Old firmware...
No sodastraw...

Result: Rarely an over charge -- and then only 1/10th grain.
Something else is wrong here....

[schmellba99]

I cannot recall ever having a problem with my Chargemaster, even with stick powders like Varget.

It consistently tosses the correct charge for me, even if it is a bit slow. I have never had a clumping problem with powder - sounds like you either have some type of problem with your powder, or there is some static electricity or some type of binding agent that is causing this to happen?

[jaguarxk120]

How well does the chargemaster perform with "ball" powders?

Seems that the problem is with the powders you are using(clumping).

Maybe the addition of a small amount of graphite ti the powder would help the problem.

[Unclenick]

It really shouldn't do it with any powder. That's why I asked for a picture. I'm also wondering if there's a burr on the inside of the end of the tube that needs chamfering. I'm guessing RCBS has seen it before, too, and will know and will fix it.

[William T. Watts]

Sorry I can't post pictures, the chargemaster is on my kitchen table so leveling is not an issue. What I have observed is the powder trail coming out of the mouth of the dispensing tube is wide, inserting a straw in the tube reduces the inside diameter and narrows the powder trail somewhat. I inserted a straw into the dispensing tube that was 4.600" long with the straw protruding from the mouth of tube.450". This eliminates most of the threads inside of the shaft and seems to have virtually eliminated the variance that I was experiencing. The hopper has 4064 that I was dispensing that was spot on with my RCBS scale. I'm going to switch to H4831 and see if this powder dispensing variance has been improved. I use this powder in five or six different rifles so it's a must for this powder to work with the chargemaster. William

[AllenJ]

Unclenick,

Excellent suggestion about checking level, not sure why I did not think of that. I know it was level when I built it......twenty plus years ago! I'm planning on loading again either tonight or tomorrow so I'll get a picture for you.

Last night I was loading 243 Win using Reloader 17. I loaded 30 rounds and only had one charge .3 grains over. I had at least 5 that were .2 grains over but since I was loading mid range practice rounds I did not have a problem using them.

[schmellba99]

How well does the chargemaster perform with "ball" powders?

Like pretty much every other type of powder dispenser, I think it works better with ball/spherical powders than anything else.