RCBS MatchMaster

Captain_coues

Very Active Member
Messages
1,447
I recently had my Chargemaster quit on me. I called RCBS and they’re trying to figure out what could be wrong with it. It shows an error code that they’ve never seen. They said they will get back with me this week. I have hundreds of rounds between three cartridges to load up and I just refuse to go back to the lever handle powder measure so I ordered the Frankford Arsenal electronic powder measure last week. Todaÿ I ordered the RCBS®️Matchmaster measure just to have two in case this happens again. It can’t hurt to have more than one. It looks like it will be real precise. Do any of you have the new Matchmaster and can comment on if you notice an improvement over the original chargemaster 1500?
 
Replying because I want to follow this thread. I'm getting into reloading myself and have most of what I need to load, but haven't decided yet on a scale/powder measure. For this year I loaded all of my stuff by measuring powder on a Lyman digital scale (https://www.amazon.com/Lyman-Micro-Touch-Electronic-Scale-7750700/dp/B00AU6CCB4). It was slow, but based on the accuracy I got it was consistent. I've been contemplating getting this; https://www.brownells.com/reloading...cales/fx-120i-precision-scale-prod118565.aspx
 
I finally used it for the first time today. I can’t shoot the loads today because the wind is blowing pretty bad. I think this device will be really good. You can tell from the get go that it’s more accurate than the 1500. It’s a little slower but with it's accuracy within .04 grains, I would expect that.
 
I finally used it for the first time today.
I still use the 1500. Aside from the occasional overcharge, it's been a stout component of my reloading gear. I've done all the programming tweaks and even did the McDonald's straw trick but once in a great while it will still fart out another few grains.

Is the Matchmaster just as configurable as the 1500 via the interface?
 
It is. I haven’t yet hooked it up to my tablet with the app although I will. I watched all the videos I could and read the instructions a few times. So far, with this being the first day, I just quickly loaded up a few hundred rounds of 223 with three different powders in .4 grain increments for two bullet types. I have a few devices that need that I want to interface and I know it will take about a full day for me to get those all figured out and implemented. Some of those devices are a Chronograph, this Matchmaster, the Frankford Arsenal dispenser, and the 1500 when I get it resolved with RCBS.
 
Thank you for that. It sounds promising. The 1500 is performing well for me but if it ever kicks the bucket, it sounds like the Matchmaster will replace it nicely.
 
My March master is about 3-4x faster then my chargemaster was. Takes me about 15 seconds for an 80gr load and my chargemaster took nearly a minute. No issues with accuracy except for a very occasional overcharge due to a blip of powder at the end but my chargemaster did the same. Only draw back is it’s tougher to empty out and clean up.
 
I think it will be faster than the Chargemaster. There are 4 speed settings you can play with. I only set it on the first one to check how accurate the charges were with it being the first day and learning the unit. I only used ball powder so far like TAC, CFE223, and BLC-2 and those were small charges from 25.0 grains to 28.0 grains and it looked like the trickler was working harder than the larger filler tube. I look forward to the extruded powders. For some reason it seems to me it would like those better. It will definitely clean up easier with those. It did over throw a few charges but only maybe 4 out of 300 and when it did, it was alway an overcharge of .02-.04 grains and not .1 like the chargemaster would.
 
I think it will be faster than the Chargemaster. There are 4 speed settings you can play with. I only set it on the first one to check how accurate the charges were with it being the first day and learning the unit. I only used ball powder so far like TAC, CFE223, and BLC-2 and those were small charges from 25.0 grains to 28.0 grains and it looked like the trickler was working harder than the larger filler tube. I look forward to the extruded powders. For some reason it seems to me it would like those better. It will definitely clean up easier with those. It did over throw a few charges but only maybe 4 out of 300 and when it did, it was alway an overcharge of .02-.04 grains and not .1 like the chargemaster would.
Are you still liking your new Matchmaster? I need to pull the trigger on something and keep going back-and-forth on different models.
 
My March master is about 3-4x faster then my chargemaster was. Takes me about 15 seconds for an 80gr load and my chargemaster took nearly a minute. No issues with accuracy except for a very occasional overcharge due to a blip of powder at the end but my chargemaster did the same. Only draw back is it’s tougher to empty out and clean up.
Have you tried inserting a straw into the trickler tube. Seems to help with the fine tuning and preventing the overcharging.
 
I love it. I used it on three big reloading sessions so far. Tomorrow will be another big one and it will be the first one since I loaded the APP on my iPad so we’ll see how that goes. The extruded powder will be the best fit for it. Although I like it, and not disappointed I bought it, I can’t make the claim it’s the best thing out there but it’s definitely better than what I had. I keep thinking a real accurate scale and trickler would be another good setup. With the scale, you could accurately sort brass and bullets along with powder and put a great cartridge together.
 
My loads aren’t like I was wanting them to be on the first K Hornet set of loads. I think I learned what powder and primers to use so I will now play with the seating depth and two types of bullets to see if I can get them into the single digits.

5263A40F-365F-4348-BA7C-601FC1F7BD46.png
 
I love it. I used it on three big reloading sessions so far. Tomorrow will be another big one and it will be the first one since I loaded the APP on my iPad so we’ll see how that goes. The extruded powder will be the best fit for it. Although I like it, and not disappointed I bought it, I can’t make the claim it’s the best thing out there but it’s definitely better than what I had. I keep thinking a real accurate scale and trickler would be another good setup. With the scale, you could accurately sort brass and bullets along with powder and put a great cartridge together.
I'm currently using just a powder trickler and a scale and it's working fine, but slow. I'm considering staying with this method and buying a high-end scale to weigh my charges. The scale I'm looking at is over $1k though!!
 
I'm currently using just a powder trickler and a scale and it's working fine, but slow. I'm considering staying with this method and buying a high-end scale to weigh my charges. The scale I'm looking at is over $1k though!!
total waste of money.......are you sure you plan on weighing "gun" powder??
 
This Matchmaster doesn’t like IMR 7828. I loaded up 100 pcs of 300 WBY and it was constantly overcharging them. It was like it went retarded on me. I had to take a break. Next up is Reloader 22, IMR 4350, and H 4831. It looks like those powders are more consistent in size over the 7828 which seems all over the place.
 
This Matchmaster doesn’t like IMR 7828. I loaded up 100 pcs of 300 WBY and it was constantly overcharging them. It was like it went retarded on me. I had to take a break. Next up is Reloader 22, IMR 4350, and H 4831. It looks like those powders are more consistent in size over the 7828 which seems all over the place.
That’s where the 7828SSC takes over for the trad 7828. My charge master lite had never over thrown a charge until 7828 as well but the short cut grains of 7828ssc it throws much like a ball powder.
 
Looks like Cabela's is out of the Matchmaster so I'm going to get the Chargemaster Supreme instead. It has a "learning" function that is supposedly a feature that maintains 0.1 gr accuracy as you move from one powder to the next. We'll see!!
 
all in stock at midsouth.....

I've got enough Cabela's points to get a free chargemaster or matchmaster. I'll just get the chargemaster supreme so I can be done with Cabela's.
 
I’m not sure it is now. I bought it to get better results when charging powder. It does that, but it does take a little longer and you definitely need to put a value on time to see if it’s really worth it. Extruded powder is a pain. I thought the extruded powder would be better but it’s not. It’s actually worse. One stick of powder weighs .02 grains and when it trickles the last bit, it may dump two or three or more and throw the measurement off and when you’re trying to get it on the gnat’s ass, it can be a bit testing. It’s better than an accuracy to .1 grains, but feels like brain damage. Ball powder is definitely better and doesn’t overcharge as much. I still think these auto chargers are the thing to have. I bought the Frankford Arsenal Intellidropper and will try that out soon. The only thing I think will work with extruded powders is to find a plateau where you won’t notice a big difference in SD or spread when it’s overcharged by .1-.4 grains.
 
I’m not sure it is now. I bought it to get better results when charging powder. It does that, but it does take a little longer and you definitely need to put a value on time to see if it’s really worth it. Extruded powder is a pain. I thought the extruded powder would be better but it’s not. It’s actually worse. One stick of powder weighs .02 grains and when it trickles the last bit, it may dump two or three or more and throw the measurement off and when you’re trying to get it on the gnat’s ass, it can be a bit testing. It’s better than an accuracy to .1 grains, but feels like brain damage. Ball powder is definitely better and doesn’t overcharge as much. I still think these auto chargers are the thing to have. I bought the Frankford Arsenal Intellidropper and will try that out soon. The only thing I think will work with extruded powders is to find a plateau where you won’t notice a big difference in SD or spread when it’s overcharged by .1-.4 grains.
I’ve read a few posts that guys are using an insert or even the rubber grip on a pen to make the opening on the small trickle tube smaller to combat overthrows.
I know on my chargemaster the insert works amazing.
 
I’ve read a few posts that guys are using an insert or even the rubber grip on a pen to make the opening on the small trickle tube smaller to combat overthrows.
I know on my chargemaster the insert works amazing.
What about these?


 
What about these?


Not sure if those fit the matchmaster but those are exactly the style that I was referring to.
 
I'm too cheap to buy a MatchMaster.

My trickler and 1010 scale work great, in conjunction with throwing a slight under-charge with the Lyman powder measure.

After years and years and years, I'm pretty efficient with my time too and don't have to worry about an over-charge.

Zeke
 
I’ve read a few posts that guys are using an insert or even the rubber grip on a pen to make the opening on the small trickle tube smaller to combat overthrows.
I know on my chargemaster the insert works amazing.
I bet it does.....it needs an uphill angle to control the fall offs
 
I bet the bugs will be worked out on these soon. They’ve only been out a few years now and look how fast technology moves. In 10 years, there will be the next best thing that has overcharge protection built in. I think it would be funny if they name the new one MasterCharger.
 
I'm too cheap to buy a MatchMaster.

My trickler and 1010 scale work great, in conjunction with throwing a slight under-charge with the Lyman powder measure.

After years and years and years, I'm pretty efficient with my time too and don't have to worry about an over-charge.

Zeke

That’s all I used for years. Nothing wrong with that at all.

I usually set up two or more scales to constantly check the charges in case one gets bumped or moved and the zero is in jeopardy. I like to buy tools for this hobby too. Some of the scales I have I ended up with from others that got out of reloading and were just given to me. The 1010 scale I have has been in use by our family for lots of years.

FCCE911A-655A-4779-A7FA-9BFD48E0B026.jpeg
 
I'm too cheap to buy a MatchMaster.

My trickler and 1010 scale work great, in conjunction with throwing a slight under-charge with the Lyman powder measure.

After years and years and years, I'm pretty efficient with my time too and don't have to worry about an over-charge.

Zeke
That MatchMaster is dang pricey! I can't afford one either! My discontinued Lyman 1200 powder thrower is acceptable to me.

Just because you're cheap doesn't mean you aren't efficient!
Zeke, show MM your powder stash and we can decide how cheap you really are!!:ROFLMAO:
 
Last edited:

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos
Back
Top Bottom