Powderin' the brass - what method - How fast and what sort of SD's are you getting - any chargemaster users?

[z7.jled]

I just spent 1.5hrs powdering up and loading 100rds of 308 win. I use varget and a hornady powder thrower

I drop a charge of about 43.5g and trickle up to 44.0g on a redding beam scale. most drops are under with very few being around .3g over. I trickle a few in or scoop a few out, and have some tweezers for fine tuning. my scale is .1g accurate but I can see the impact of 2 kernals of varget, so I try to get each charge "perfect" my SD's are under 10fps using winchester brass that is annealed each firing with a blowtorch and powerdrill.

now to my question: reloading/handloading for PRS type shooting, how do you charge your cases? how fast?

I WANT a a&d 120i with an auto trickler, but thats out of the budget

Anyone using a chargemaster 1500? how fast and how are your SD's/ES?


I saw a video posted where a guy uses a gempro 250, a playing card a tweezers get it just right, I might try that but I don't want to buy twice (if I upgrade to an a&d or chargemaster)
I want to reduce the time I spend loading but don't want to sacrifice consistency and HATE fighting equipment which is why I have a beam scale

 

[canezach]

I, and many others on here, loaded with a Chargemaster for years before buying the Fx120i and auto-trickler. My SD/ES numbers were pretty good, like 10 or lower SD and 20 or lower ES. Better components and reloading practices helped those numbers more than the upgrade to the FX120i. I made some incredibly accurate ammo using the Chargemaster and would have no issues going back to one if my FX120i went down.

The biggest difference between the FX and Chargemaster for me was the speed at which the charges are thrown and the accuracy/reliability of each charge. If I adjusted the speed in the Chargemaster to throw faster, I'd inevitably end up with overthrows, even with the reducing insert (the reducing insert is available in the PX and I'd say it's really worth the $10 or $15 he charges), which led to more time as I was digging out kernels of powder to get to my desired charge weight. If I adjusted the speed down to avoid the overthrows, I was increasing the time it took to throw a charge and I'd still end up with the occasional overthrow. The FX120i still has the occasional over or underthrow, but we're now talking 0.02 grains, not a full tenth like I was seeing with the Chargemaster, and adjusting the trickle rates is as easy as tapping the slider on the back of the scale.

 

[Cnewhouse48]

I load on a chargemaster my last batch of 308 using imr4064 I was seeing 5-10sd and es of 12-15

 

[Jimgal62]

Set the charge master to underthrow, then use an auto tricker to get within 0.2 grains.

 

[Jimgal62]

I use the dandy auto trickler with my sartorial scale.

 

[Sixfivesavage]

loaded on a Dillon 650 using two different chargemasters to throw the charges. The only mod to either of them is the typical bushing and speed settings. This is a 130 Berger hybrid from a 22" PVA tube in around 20° f temps with H4350.

 

[Milo 2.5]

I just spent 1.5hrs powdering up and loading 100rds of 308 win. I use varget and a hornady powder thrower

I drop a charge of about 43.5g and trickle up to 44.0g on a redding beam scale. most drops are under with very few being around .3g over. I trickle a few in or scoop a few out, and have some tweezers for fine tuning. my scale is .1g accurate but I can see the impact of 2 kernals of varget, so I try to get each charge "perfect" my SD's are under 10fps using winchester brass that is annealed each firing with a blowtorch and powerdrill.

now to my question: reloading/handloading for PRS type shooting, how do you charge your cases? how fast?

I WANT a a&d 120i with an auto trickler, but thats out of the budget

Anyone using a chargemaster 1500? how fast and how are your SD's/ES?


I saw a video posted where a guy uses a gempro 250, a playing card a tweezers get it just right, I might try that but I don't want to buy twice (if I upgrade to an a&d or chargemaster)
I want to reduce the time I spend loading but don't want to sacrifice consistency and HATE fighting equipment which is why I have a beam scale

Sounds like you have things under control with your system, you never did mention the accuracy of the rifle, are you happy?
ES and SD numbers are more of a doing your homework or groundwork as compared to the outright powder charge.

Most of us upgrade equipment to ease the workload involved, seems like you are at that point too. If the auto throw system is not in your budget, a Chargemaster will suit you fine, there are many tricks to make it right. I bought one of the first auto trickler systems, and ran a solid 6 hrs of tests with my 3 CM's using the lab grade scale, results were surprising. 85% of all charges were spot on, overthrows are easy to remedy, pull kernels, so it was the underthrows from the CM's that were suspect, never hear about these because they are really unknown. I sold the AT system, it was a giant PIA to feed, but they have came a long way since day one. Today, with 2 CM's, my numbers are as good as the majority of AT users.
There are manipulations to the CM speeds that really help, but those can be powder specific, if you set it for H4350, it may not be optimum for really large kernel powder, your decision if you want to reprogram for different powders.
I personally think you'd love a CM once you got used to it. And your statement about fighting equipment, sticking a spoon, or even a tweezer into the pan of a beam scale w/o removing ii first does a lot of damage or premature wear to those types of scales.

 

[CaptNemo]

Chargemaster Lite is what you seek. Around $200 street price on sale. Unless you’re a competitive Benchrest or F-Class shooter, chasing a SD under 10 FPS won’t show up on a target inside of 1k yards

 

[z7.jled]

I load on a chargemaster my last batch of 308 using imr4064 I was seeing 5-10sd and es of 12-15

How long did it take and how many rounds? I want to reduce time without sacrificing quality

 

[Precision Underground]

Chargemaster with a beam to confirm every few rounds of I suspect it’s acting up. If you have a good load .05 gr difference ain’t making a difference at all. I’m sorry but toiling over hundreths of a charge is a big waste of time IMO. My sd is 7-9 with the Creedmoor. Haven’t gotten the 300 Norma down that low but I don’t believe that has anything to do with the charge.

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

I have not found a powder measure that drop charges consistent enough for me. I'm a pain in the ass and admit I have not tested every single option out there. I load all my ammunition with a trickle charger and weigh each and every load on a .1 gr. digital scale. I charge each case by hand one at a time. I load on a single stage press.

It is slow. The results are worth it. Then again, I don't compete nor need to load a couple hundred rounds in a short amount of time so I can be a finicky, anal retentive, pain in the ass. I shoot precision rifle and load precision ammo one round at a time.

Others probaly have great luck with other, faster options.

VooDoo

 

[Cnewhouse48]

How long did it take and how many rounds? I want to reduce time without sacrificing quality

I can usually knock out 50 rounds in 20-30 minutes taking my time.

 

[Rust]

I've run a Chargemaster 1500 for years now. I do a few things to help it out: called the factory tech for instructions and actually slowed it down; warn it up for half an hour or so to better stabilize the electronics; have it plugged into a quality surge suppressor/power conditioner; always close the cover when throwing a charge.

The Chargemaster is located on one bench, my press located on another bench , the two located a few inches apart so while throwing a charge I'm seating a bullet without having to worry about messing the charge being thrown up. Things move along nicely.

I keep the old Ohaus around as a reference. Used to do the trickle and tweezer bit. Screw that. Still get single digit ES/SD numbers without the time consuming drudgery.

 

[palmettoman]

Chargemaster Lite is doing well for me.

 

[Darkside-Six]

I’m still loading on a chargemaster. I have 2 actually so that helps. There’s some good YouTube videos out there about throw speed that I followed. I have found the rihg amounysbof speed to stay consistent with not too many over throws. I can usually load 100 onside of an hour at least. Possibly 45 minutes but I don’t ever keep track of exact time.

My SD’s are under 5 so no complaints there.