RCBS Chargemaster: Experiments with time per throw

[Former11B]

I've been reading things around the net since I've had my Chargemaster for 5+ years about how to speed it up and make it more accurate with extruded powders like Varget and Reloder15. The two main "fixes" I've seen deal with the straw upgrade and reprogramming the fast, medium, and trickle spin times.

I first took measurements as-is, calibrated the scale like normal. I used Reloder 15 and threw three charges and timed the duration of the throw for both my .308 load (43.6gr) and my .223 load (23.6gr) and calculated the average throw time. I stopped the timer as soon as it gave me the count number so I could be as consistent as humanly possible.


Factory settings, no straw
43.6gr
Average of three throws: 26.01 seconds

23.6gr
Average of three throws: 23.56 seconds

I've never really had a problem with over throws, maybe over by .1gr once every 10-15 throws but I wanted to test it. I cut about two inches off a McDonalds straw which fit very snugly in the tube, but cut jagged "teeth" around the throwing end. This made the granules drop through the nooks and worked well, but was VERY slow.




Factory settings WITH straw Mod:
43.6gr
Average of three throws: 62.15 seconds (+36.14s)

23.6gr
Average of three throws: 37.51 seconds (+13.95s)

VERY accurate, because it was going so slow it couldn't possibly screw up. I won't use this by itself; needs timing adjustments badly.



To adjust the factory settings of the motor speed intervals, which goes off the amount of grains it is currently away from the entered amount, you can watch a YouTube video or call RCBS; one YouTube video said RCBS customer service walked him through it. To access the menu, press MEM and ENTER simultaneously. Factory settings are: 1. 15.68 2. 3.42 3. 1.08. And again, that's how many grains away from the entered charge the computer will "shift gears" at. After the first three entries are adjusted, hit enter about twenty more times to cycle to the end. Adjusting these other things may mess up your Chargemaster. At the end, it will restart itself like during turn on

The first adjustment I tried was a No-Go without the straw mod because it threw the powder so fast, it was overcharged before the computer recognized the weight to downshift or stop. My settings were 1. 9 2. 1.5 3. .5

With the straw, it worked great:


Modified setting 1, WITH straw
43.6gr
Average of three throws: 14.27 seconds

23.6gr
Average of three throws: 14.04 seconds


I tried one other modified program to get it to work if no straw was desired. Settings were: 1. 10 2. 2 3. .5


Modified Setting 2, NO straw:
43.6gr
Average of three throws: 14.78 seconds

23.6gr
Average of three throws: 12.31 seconds


Modified Setting 2, WITH straw:
43.6gr
Average of three throws: 28.11 seconds

23.6gr
Average of three throws: 25.12 seconds


I hope this information is helpful to anyone who might like tinkering around and who might want to save some (cumulative) time at the bench!