Bench Report – RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Combo.

Earlier I posted a thread announcing that I had purchased an RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 Combo Powder Scale/Dispenser from Midway. I bought it on 3/18/09 and it arrived today 3/20/09 – pretty fast.

Several asked for a report after I had used it. Well, today I used it to load 150 reloads for my AR - .223. This thing is really neat. The instructions were not difficult to follow, but then again, I already own an RCBS RangeMaster 750. Both scales basically work the same way.

After the initial calibration, all you have to do is punch in the amount of powder you want it to dispense and then push a button Labeled “Disp” and away it goes – an irritating beep/buzzer sounds when the load is stable. I had it pour 24.2gr of W748 into the pan and then I took the pan and poured it in the case. I also had it pour 20.0 H4198 and, again, it performed flawlessly.

If you want to turn the annoying beep off, then press and hold the "Zero" button, until it shows "Beep Of". To turn it back on, just do it again.

Initially, it runs pretty fast, but as it approaches the desired charge it slows down and, in the end, actually trickles the rest of the powder into the pan.

On the last page of the instructions, a section heading, “Auto”, caught my attention. This thing will operate automatically. All you do is press down the “Enter” button until “AUTO” appears on the screen. Then, you enter the charge (24.2 for W748, 20.0 for H4198) and hit “Disp”, just like regular. But here’s the auto part – when you set the empty pan back on the scale, it dispenses the next charge automatically – you don’t have to do anything. In fact, I was seating the bullet in the case I just filled while it was refilling the pan.

To change it out of AUTO, back into MANUAL mode, just press enter again.

I filled 50 cases with W748, a ball powder, and the 1500 did the job w/o problem. Then I filled 100 cases with H4198, a stick powder, (50 had magnum small rifle primers and 50 had standard small rifle primers - something I’m doing for another experiment I’m working on).

In summary, I’m glad I got it. I can already see the benefit – especially since I mailed all by LnL shell plates back the Hornady today to get them retrofitted for the EZeject kit (29.99) I bought.

I used my single stage to load the 150 223 reloads and I can tell you – I sure do miss my progressive LnL press.

Hack

Good report Hack. It is a nice piece of equipment to have on the bench.

Btfft !
thanks for the excelent report !
I have had mine for about 2 or 3 years, and i did'nt know about the auto feature.
Not sure if I will use it, but I allways seat abullet while charging the next load.
The only problem I find with the machine, is when you are trying to use the last of a can of powder.
I prety much just use the scale and a spoon at that point.
...tj3006

Thanks Thomas, you made it worth my while.

Hack

And you can reprogram it to throw faster charges. Just don't go too far with it, then you get a lot of over throws. This speeds up my loading a ton!

http://www.sahuntingrifle.co.z...=view&catid=8&id=336