Game changer! Funally got me a…

[Wambli Ska]

RCBS Chargemaster. Damned things are either out if stock or full retail which I refuse to pay. This morning wife says get it for Vakentines Day as a gift from her and in a whim I check the local BPS and they FINALLY shiw it in stock and on SALE! Thats a sign from God, soooooo….

IMG_2862.jpeg (2.82 MiB) Viewed 2224 times

I took her out to dinner to her favorite Italian joint as a thank you and then we picked it uo. Cant wait to get home to read the manual and tomorrow we go into production

[sakodude]

One of the best reloading tools I've ever owned. I suspect you will love it.

[Wambli Ska]

One of the best reloading tools I've ever owned. I suspect you will love it.

I have a feeling I will

Actually I think a few folks here do too

[Zee]

I do enjoy mine.

[Wambli Ska]

I do enjoy mine.

You were one of the key enablers when I first asked

[Bigslug]

Now for the bad news: you need two of them - one charging while you load up the last charge from the other one.

[bullsi1911]

One of the best reloading tools I've ever owned. I suspect you will love it.

Same.let a robot do that part

[CPJ 2.0]

Now for the bad news: you need two of them - one charging while you load up the last charge from the other one.

Easy fix:
Use a powder dropper and get the same .1 grain precision with 20 times the speed.

The Hornady (full disclosure: I despise it) rounds down (I watch it) and I believe up also when it gets close and takes too long. Pretty sure the green brand does too.

The only time I see value in one (any brand) is if you decide one day you want to try x grains of powder, you can enter the number and go. But, meh.


I also know I’m solidly in the minority.


I can do it faster and better. So, the robot isn’t needed.

If I want the best loads I can make, I dump the bulk of the charge and trickle the last tiny bit with a vibratory trickler. I should really make a post about that one day. Neat thing I built. (Stole the idea and copied)

[mitdr774]

I occasionally use one for the bulk of the charge I'm going for. Then I use a trickle and scale with better precision. Something in my basement (possibly the lights) messes with the Hornady and RCBS auto scales I have. I would end up with a spread of about 1gr in actual charge weights. If you find that the scale has a wandering zero, check the lights you are using. Florescent ballasts and to an extent LED drivers can cause nearby electronics to behave oddly.

[CPJ 2.0]

I occasionally use one for the bulk of the charge I'm going for. Then I use a trickle and scale with better precision. Something in my basement (possibly the lights) messes with the Hornady and RCBS auto scales I have. I would end up with a spread of about 1gr in actual charge weights. If you find that the scale has a wandering zero, check the lights you are using. Florescent ballasts and to an extent LED drivers can cause nearby electronics to behave oddly.

Ditto to that. Mine would wig out when I had the fluorescent light above my bench on.

[mitdr774]

It is a fairly common issue with electronics. The radio in my basement will only pick up 3 FM stations if the lights are off. If I turn on the light above my bench it will only pick up one station. It's not my type of music, but it's background noise. The LED light by the scales does mess with the Hornady and RCBS enough for me to not trust them for precision, but it doesn't mess with my TRX-925 scale.

[sakodude]

I don't generally use mine with Handgun rounds unless I'm just doing a few for test purposes. My vintage Herters powder drop is amazingly consistent with pistol powders but does not play well with the extruded rifle powders I tend to use. The ChargeMaster does not seem to care which type of powder I use and when checked with a beam scale, it is accurate and consistent. I have an LED light over the bench and have not noticed it creating any sort of disturbance but was not aware of the possibility ether.

[Wambli Ska]

Speed is immaterial since this is for load development and I have a ton of that to do with various cartridges over the next few months. It’ll give me the consistency I need fast enough and keep track of my loads and other info in a digital format so I dont have to keep looking for my notes and scribbles.

Once I settle on my “recipes” and go into speed mode I have the right equipment to use for that.

[GrapeApe]

It also has an "AUTO MODE" where it'll start dispensing as soon as it settles after you replace the pan. I use that when I'm looking for speed, because it's about through dispensing the next charge by the time I seat the bullet and put the round into the ammo box

[Wambli Ska]

It also has an "AUTO MODE" where it'll start dispensing as soon as it settles after you replace the pan. I use that when I'm looking for speed, because it's about through dispensing the next charge by the time I seat the bullet and put the round into the ammo box

That’s good to know. Really busy today so I have not set it up yet. Managed to download the app and it’s waiting for me to “calibrate” the unit. Maybe later tonight

[Wambli Ska]

Now for the bad news: you need two of them - one charging while you load up the last charge from the other one.

Nope. Tried the suggested Auto mode today and it throws a load by the time I’m ready for the next case. 38 grain loads were easy and fast, and I made 10 test rounds in just a few minutes. There is no way I can individually load that quickly with a trickler. And the app saved my load info

[Jay]

The Link is a lot faster than the old Chargemaster. I have both sitting on my bench right now. My old Chargemaster and my buddy’s Link. It’s nice having both. But I could run with the Link, no problem. It’s been spot on pretty quick.

I have a Redding 3BR manual thrower. Very accurate and fast. For simplicity, the Chargemaster works. Even if it’s slow. The Link is faster than the old Chargemaster and within a 10th. Screw trickling..

[Wambli Ska]

Yeah I was a little surprised after what I read here. When the first charge came out I was impressed with the speed and in Auto mode I’d have to try hard to outrun it with a single stage press.

[Justsomedude]

I have 3 presses. A Dillon 550 (I think), RCBS and a Lee Challenger. Don't use any of them.

[Wambli Ska]

I have 3 presses. A Dillon 550 (I think), RCBS and a Lee Challenger. Don't use any of them.

I had TONS of reloading equipment and components years ago, but during one of my moves decided that I didn’t really want to do it anymore so I gifted it all to an older gentleman good friend who really enjoyed reloading and shooting but was handicapped by his fixed income. His smile as he loaded the bed of his old pick-up truck was worth every penny I put into that stuff.

Then a few years back necessity sent me back into it because I really love shooting stuff that is currently “unobtanium” like my 45-60 who no one makes ammo for.

[Bigslug]

Yeah I was a little surprised after what I read here. When the first charge came out I was impressed with the speed and in Auto mode I’d have to try hard to outrun it with a single stage press.

They've gotten faster over time. Also better at not dropping slightly too much powder resulting in a need to trickle out or re-do. I've lost track of the details of how we came to be running on two of them - probably a warranty replacement in there somewhere - but the more recent one is quicker. It's not so quick that it's ready by the time I've got it's last bullet seated, so when it's time to produce in quantity, having two running probably saves something like 10-15 seconds per round. Due to the quirks of the process, there's sometimes a little waiting for one or the other to settle and issue its "I'm done!" beep, but I can usually just grab the next pan as soon as the last bullet is seated.

They are SUPER nice for ladder workups. Load the one round, mark the charge weight on the brass with a Sharpie, and key in the next charge up, and boogie. Big fan of that.

[Jayhawker]

Damned handy tool

[Wambli Ska]

Yeah I was a little surprised after what I read here. When the first charge came out I was impressed with the speed and in Auto mode I’d have to try hard to outrun it with a single stage press.

They've gotten faster over time. Also better at not dropping slightly too much powder resulting in a need to trickle out or re-do. I've lost track of the details of how we came to be running on two of them - probably a warranty replacement in there somewhere - but the more recent one is quicker. It's not so quick that it's ready by the time I've got it's last bullet seated, so when it's time to produce in quantity, having two running probably saves something like 10-15 seconds per round. Due to the quirks of the process, there's sometimes a little waiting for one or the other to settle and issue its "I'm done!" beep, but I can usually just grab the next pan as soon as the last bullet is seated.

They are SUPER nice for ladder workups. Load the one round, mark the charge weight on the brass with a Sharpie, and key in the next charge up, and boogie. Big fan of that.

Just curious, which model(s) are you running? This a brand new Link so I’m curious if there is a difference because I’m not really seeing much time used in the “settle” stage. I also double checked just every one of the first 5 charges done on “Auto” on another RCBS electronic digital scale I own and a small digital Lyman both of whom were calibrated the same time as the ChargeMaster. They all went 38gr exactly

[Jay]

I can only speak of three.

I have an older Chargemaster. Works just fine. It’s just a little slow. And with longer grain powders, now and then the powder will bunch up at the end of the drop tube, so the last trickle to finish off the charge will drop too much and overcharge. It’s not very frequent, so I put up with it. Just dump the charge back in the hopper and tell it to try again.

The Link of my buddy’s I’ve been using has yet to do that. It’s been spot on, every charge. And WAY faster. I don’t like the touch screen.

The same buddy who bought the Link I’m using originally bought the Hornady dispenser. Complete piece of garbage. Loud, overcharges way too often, a dog fart across the room will make it malfunction… JUNK!

Once my buddy pries his Link from my hands and runs away, I think I might have to order one to supplement my older model..

[Wambli Ska]

I can only speak of three.

I have an older Chargemaster. Works just fine. It’s just a little slow. And with longer grain powders, now and then the powder will bunch up at the end of the drop tube, so the last trickle to finish off the charge will drop too much and overcharge. It’s not very frequent, so I put up with it. Just dump the charge back in the hopper and tell it to try again.

The Link of my buddy’s I’ve been using has yet to do that. It’s been spot on, every charge. And WAY faster. I don’t like the touch screen.

The same buddy who bought the Link I’m using originally bought the Hornady dispenser. Complete piece of garbage. Loud, overcharges way too often, a dog fart across the room will make it malfunction… JUNK!

Once my buddy pries his Link from my hands and runs away, I think I might have to order one to supplement my older model..

Ok, first
That is one honest report

Got very close to ordering the Hornady or the Midway one (Frankfort Arsenal?) because I could not find the Link either in stock or at less than full retail. Damn wife and BPS came through at exactly the right moment