The loss of a dependable shooting buddy

[goodgrouper]

Well, it finally happened. One of my most faithful shooting companions ultimately bit the dust last week. After riding along with me for about 15,000 miles and being subjected to many long lasting shooting and loading sessions, my RCBS Chargemaster finally decided it had put up with me long enough. She loaded her final 200 rounds one night without a hickup, I shut her off, and in the morning she just wouldn't wake up. No beeps, no green lights, nothing. I guess after 30,000 rounds of precision ammo and countless buttons being pushed, I would have to say she gave pretty dependable service!

So I boxed her up and sent her to RCBS with a nice, complimentary note on Monday. I got a replacement this afternoon (Friday) and it didn't cost me a penny. I was shocked to say the least because I had read in my owners manual that the warranty was only good for 2 years and their website says the warranty is only one year. Well, I've had it for 3 years this month so I was expecting to pay something, but the kind folks at RCBS wouldn't hear of it. I had my new one free of charge in less than a week no questions asked. What a good company. They are wonderful.

So I turned my new one on this afternoon and compared it to UB's Chargemaster that I have been borrowing this week. UB bought his a few months after I let him use mine so the new one and his are a few years apart. On the outside, the newer Chargemaster has a wider readout screen, a bigger diameter drop tube, and an ambidextrous wind gate. The new pan is also a metal pan which I like better than the plastic one that came with my original. I can't tell any difference on the inside but the new one does have two arrows that point to the "zero" marker in the upper left hand corner. I don't remember those arrows on my old one. It does make it easier to see.

So now I'm off to the range to put the new girl through the paces. I hope she works as good as the old one she replaced. I'll update the thread as time goes on......

 

[Coues Sniper]

That's unbelievable service. I had already planned on getting one of those in the next couple weeks, but that just solidified my decision even more. Got to stick with companies that take care of you like that.

 

[Slopeshunter]

Now that's customer service! That's gotta put a smile on your face.

 

[davewilson]

almost sounds like you lost a girlfriend that was around for quite a while. but then you hooked up with her sister who was "even better"

 

[goodgrouper]

almost sounds like you lost a girlfriend that was around for quite a while. but then you hooked up with her sister who was "even better"

Ha! These Chargemasters are FAR more dependable than most girlfriends I've had!!!

 

[goodgrouper]

Well, I have used the new Chargemaster 5 or 6 times now and I even put it head to head against UB's older version in a speed comparison. The results were interesting. The new scale seems to funcion even better than the older ones (at least this particular unit) as it has read the right amount on the check weights every time I've turned it on without having to calibrate it. My old scale always was .3 or .4 grains off before calibration. I would still recommend calibrating any scale before starting to load ammo.

But the drawback of the newer unit is the enlarged drop tube. Because of the larger I.D., it will spit out the powder much faster (especially on a big charge like for Ultra Mags and such) but this actually slows it down a bit when it gets close to the charge and starts trickling. The reason is that the powder is allowed to "pile" up in a taller column and it seems to want to dump just a little more from the top of the pile than what the scale is asking for. This happens with the fatter kernel powders about 1 time in 5. So I asked the scale to throw 96.0 grains, and it sometimes ended up going a bit over at 96.1 or 96.2. But the dispenser gets up to 95 grains about 10 or 15 grains ahead of the older unit when I hit the dispense buttons at the same time so that is good. I must also admit that as some "powder dust" began to accumulate on the tube, the overtrickling seemed to get less pronounced. Perhaps there is still some "new metal metallic static cling" in the tube?

Well, anyway, I am very happy with the new Chargemaster and if the bigger drop tube problem bugs me in the future, I will just have a threaded sleeve made from aluminum and reduce the I.D. a bit and the problem will be solved. But the problem might just correct itself in time anyway.

 

[teddy12b]

I've had a chargemaster combo for years now. If it wasn't for that I probably would have slowly gotten out of reloading. It's a must have for reloading as far as I'm concerned.