RCBS Chargemaster Lite..I am impressed!

[Targa]

Finally got to use this powder dispenser that my wife got me for Christmas and just have to say it is outstanding. I loaded a hundred rounds of .44mag with Universal and .454Casull with H110, I had two drops that showed 1/10 of grain over on another scale with Universal and the H110 was spot on every time.
If there is a negative about it I would say that if your a high volume reloader, probably not the way to go but then again you are most likely on a progressive press with an automatic drop.
Just a bit of FYI if anyone is one the fence about getting one of these.

 

[HDMontana]

I also got one of the chargemaster lites a couple of days ago. Just for a short initial test, I let it warm up. I also let my frankford arsenal platinum series scale warm up. I poured in some hogdon hybrid 100V powder since it is what I use for .270 loads. I put in a random weight of 44.5. Dropped 12 loads and each was right on with the frankford scale. So far I like the consistency. When I have more time, I will test it against my rcbs beam scale. I was really just checking that the scale functions worked properly. I also like that this one dropped quickly to within a couple of grains and then trickled the last couple. Was faster with this powder than others I had seen on videos.

 

[ms6852]

Depending on the type of powder you use those charge masters do a great job.

 

[mrawesome22-250]

I love mine for extruded rifle powders. H110 and Universal flow so well through a powder measure that it is much, much faster using the measure.

 

[Whiterook808]

I've had mine for a couple of years and it has been great! I recommend it. It does need to warm up for 15 - 20 minutes before use. The only thing is that it can be slow with larger charges.

 

[Targa]

My Lee Auto Drum measured both H110 and Universal well but the H110 leaked with every pull of the arm. I initially just wanted the RCBS for the H110 but it worked so well and I got in such a rhythm with it I doubt that the Auto Drum will see any use. I am not a high volume loader, I load for .357, 44, 454 Casull and .450 Bushmaster.

 

[Laphroaig]

I got mine a couple of months ago, and am generally pleased. It replaced a Lyman Gen 1 that frustrated me almost every time I used it.

The Rcbs is very accurate but a little slow. I can put up with that since I generally use it for lower volume stuff.

I've thrown about 50 rounds so far, and 49 have been spot on. The one which was 0.1 over, a bunch of kernals dropped at once at the end. With the Lyman, probably 50% were 0.1,or more over.

Have I heard correctly that it is possible to reprogram the unit to speed it up some? I probably wouldn't do it but am curious.

 

[HDMontana]

From what I understand, the full size chargemaster can reprogrammed but I have not read about anyone being able to do it on the lite version.

 

[ParallelCode]

I have one as well and I'm very pleased with it.

 

[frankmako]

they work very well. turn it on and let it warm up before you use it. i like to give my about 30 minutes.

 

[Skgreen]

IIRC, the directions on the little white sticker on the front of the unit (the one I removed first thing) said something to the effect of Start it up, Let it do it's countdown, Place (1) of the 50 gr weights on it and ~let it warm up~. I've had the best luck doing just that.

First, I have never owned another Dispenser. YMMV.
Second, If mine died, I'd certainly consider buying another one. (I like it so much that I almost bought a 2nd one this last Black Friday to have a spare,,,, (Because like anything else, they only croak when you REALLY need one!)

Use mine w Rifle loads. Large and medium extruded powders are a breeze.

I have a FA 'Platinum Series' scale as well. My experience with it (at least while hand trickling) is that it often likes to jump 2 tenths at a time. I assume this may be in part to no adjustable leveling 'feet', but, my table has been leveled.

I have also trickled onto the 'Lite' scale. It's less prone to jumping 2 tenths. Noticeably less. (YMMV)

Only real caveat that I've encountered is it takes for-ever to dispense (1) small Pistol charge of large flake powder. (Clays in 45ACP, for instance)

Would I recommend to a Friend?
Sure would!

 

[WelshShooter]

How do you guys use ball powders with your electronic dispensers? I've previously used Lyman Gen 6 and now using the RCBS CM Lite and in my experience I find that ball powders like H110 and Ramshot Tac just leak all over the place. I only used extruded powders in the CM Lite and keep the ball & flake powders for my Uniflow powder measure.

 

[Whiterook808]

I don't seem to have that problem with mine, so I can't say. I just loaded a batch of 30 Carbine with H110, so I do use it with that same powder.

 

[mrawesome22-250]

Ran lots of H110 through my CM Lite. Never had any leaks. Sounds like a defective unit.

 

[Targa]

Mine hasn't leaked any H110....where is yours leaking from?

 

[Blue68f100]

TAC seams to fly every where, it's so fine. I put clean sheets of paper on the sides of the unit to catch all the specs that bounce out or goes air born. Don't have near as much problem with the H110/W296. With my CM 1500 and can slow it down so it does not do it, but prefer the speed.

 

[Waterboy3313]

I just recently bought a Hornady LNL auto charge. It's been great so far. Right before Christmas I saw the RCBS version on sale at the local gun store for $100. I'm not brand bashing but for $100 I wish I would have bought it before buying the Hornady.

 

[Targa]

Wow $100?!?!. I thought mine was a good deal at $200.

 

[Whiterook808]

$100? New? Wow.

 

[Waterboy3313]

I paid $210 for the Hornady. The money was well spent. When I saw the RCBS for a $100 I kicked myself. Like I said no complaints and it's been great but I can't compare it to anything else. Oh well that's the way she goes.

 

[BullRunBear]

I've never used a charger like this, normally using scoops and trickle onto a beam scale. The Chargemaster Lite looks intriguing and gets decent reviews.

Question: I use a lot of Unique, Red Dot, Bullseye, and 2400 powders for rifle and handgun. Does anyone have any experience with these powders and the Chargemaster Lite? How did it do?

Jeff

 

[Waterboy3313]

I've only used the Hornady version with titegroup. I have probably used it to load 300 rounds of various pistol rounds. One day it it gave me 3 over charges and the rest of the time it's never had issue. A guy I work with has the RCBS charge master and he he really likes it. Not sure what powders he is using though.

 

[Targa]

Should work well. I don’t use the powders you listed but I have used it for Universal (flake powder) and H110 (fine ball powder) both metered great.

 

[Laphroaig]

Question: I use a lot of Unique, Red Dot, Bullseye, and 2400 powders for rifle and handgun. Does anyone have any experience with these powders and the Chargemaster Lite? How did it do?

Jeff

I loaded up 60 9mm for load testing with bullseye. Yes, it threw accurate charges. The problem was that it is super slow. The way that mine works is that it cruises along at a good rate until it gets within about 2 grains of the desired charge. Then it goes into glacier mode and takes forever to drop the final 2 grains. For a pistol load between 4 and 5 grains it's just too slow IMO for any serious work.

Once I see if my test loads are good I'll switch over to the Dillon.

 

[WelshShooter]

Ran lots of H110 through my CM Lite. Never had any leaks. Sounds like a defective unit.

Mine hasn't leaked any H110....where is yours leaking from?

Maybe leaking wasn't the right word to describe the problem, so allow me to rephrase the issue. When throwing a charge the powder bounces around in the pan a lot and spills over the unit and bench, making it a PITA to clean up. After I've finished using it and I open the chute on the side to remove the powder, it gets in the small gaps of the rotating wheel which is used to open the chute, where some of it has remained to this day. The powder was also getting trapped in the small white seals surrounding the trickler. Since this is a sealed unit (unlike the Lyman Gen 6) I'm hesitant on using ball powders incase some of the powder somehow makes it's way into the mechanism with no way to remove it.

I don't think I have a defective unit because this is similar to my experience with the Lyman Gen 6 I had. Naturally, I just assumed ball powders weren't suitable for these devices.

For me, ultimately it doesn't really matter if I can't use ball powders as I have a Uniflow powder measure which throws ball powder charges conistintly, and quicker than the Chargemaster. I only really bought the chargemaster for consistent throwing of extruded powders as these can sometimes bind in the Uniflow powder measure.