I did a little research and it seems like a good option, but I guess I’m looking for new/current thoughts. I currently use the Lee powder dippers for all my rifle loading and while accurate it’s slooow. I do use my 550 for 223/556 though but more inclined to use/measure every load for my bolt guns. I came across an email with the RCBS Chargemaster on sale with free shipping and I’m considering it. Worth the $$$? Here is some old info and most peeps point to pluses with it. Just trying to justify the $$$, Thanks. 
https://www.m4carbine.net/google.php?cx=010536845846440650985%3Aridd3_u3s3i&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=are+rcbs+chargemasters+worth+the+time+%26+money&sa.x=0&sa.y=0&siteurl=www.m4carbine.net%2Fforumdisplay.php%3F72-Reloading-amp-Ammunition&ref=www.m4carbine.net%2F&ss=18701j10509105j46
It is what I have used for years and works well for me if you make the modifications that are easily found and made to the unit.
Very fast and repeatable throws for me with no modifications, though I hear mods needed are simple. Definitely worth the money, imo.
Thanks, guys for the input. I have heard about the mods and will address them as time goes on !
None of the mods are needed. It works just fine the way it comes. Mine hardly ever over charges. Maybe once every 200 rounds. And when it does it, it is always a ball powder and the first cycle.
Only thing I wish mine had was the auto dispense. It is one of the first units they offered.
Mark rocks “the green machine” and has for years. Before that he hand measured each 308 load with scales. Major improvement on speed with good accuracy.
PB
Phew,I was hoping & waiting for you PB or markm to chime in, and good thing I just put my order in @ Midsouth! It was $349.99 with Free Shipping but then there is always tax,$377ish total. It’s weird cuz you can find it for less but the item # is different on many of them! I “think” I got the top dog,LOL This is the RCBS # 98943 | Item # 044-98943 I’ll keep you guys posted on when it arrives & I get it set up, pretty excited now! I just loaded 200 30/06 for my 1903A4 this weekend & yea it took a while, LOL Thanks, guys!
I once had Hornady Auto Charge and then I switched to the Chargemaster. I eventually migrated back to my Lee Perfect Powder measure set to throw just short paired with a trickler. Much faster for my needs.
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Cool, good luck and yes keep us posted.
PB
The MacDonald’s straw helped me out. With the chargemaster, it depends on the powder. You get into that IMR long cut stuff and it’ll over throw some charges. Mine gets moody. Some days I’m ready to drop kick the mother fukker out the front door.
But overall, it’s worth every penny. Pappabear got us that bad ass A & D scale kit from AREA411 or whatever. It’s way more precise than the Chargemaster, but it’s less user friendly than the chargemaster. I sweat bullets everytime I use it because it cost a small fortune. Both systems are in regular rotation.
I did some of the firmware tunes as well as the straw method. Its been a while, but it speeds up the initial drop speed and tunes when it slows down. Improved the speed dramatically and not at the cost of over throwing. I too get some over throws on occasion with long stick powders, but very infrequently. As you state, sometimes its great and others its every 5 throws. I attribute it to humidity more than temprament. Although, it could be VOODOO at work here as well.
Guys have pressured me to do this to our machine, but I just haven’t got around to trying it.
It will save you some time and it is pretty easy as I recall.
The guy in this video is more aggressive than the settings I use.
It’s basically 3 settings.
Setting 1:
Factory - 15.68
Mine - 9.00
Setting 2:
Factory - 3.42
Mine - 2.00
Setting 3:
Factory - 1.08
Mine - .60
If you don’t like it you can always go back to factory settings, but I guarantee you won’t go back.
[video=youtube_share;VuGfuCR9RJo]https://youtu.be/VuGfuCR9RJo[/video]
Ah, good to know markm. I figured there are always issues that pop up with everything & the Chargemaster will be no exception. I’ll roll with it learn its shortcomings and see how it all turns out, in the big picture I’m sure I will be happy with it. I just know using the Lee dipper’s suck, they work. You can get accurate throws, but good lord, takes a month of Sundays for real volume, LOL Oh yea I know there are some real scales out there but yea, as you stated big $$$ I watch gavintoobe. He is constantly testing all kinds of goodies from the top stuff down to everyday inexpensive stuff that works, pretty much anything dealing with reloading, precision rifle shooting, etc, he is a pretty cool dude with a great channel. He did a review on some killer scales quite a while ago but I will go look them up and see what they are again.
I ended up selling an AR upper and turned that $$$ right into the Chargemaster & actually plan on selling a few more goodies that I just don’t use much anymore. I have my favorites that will never go but have a few items that could generate some decent $$$$. The Chargemaster is just a start, LOL I need a quality spotting scope next !! Thanks again the the info.
The trick with the chargemaster is to sync up some other tasks you can be doing while running charges. Granted, the unit is way faster than other methods of getting charges. But you still end up standing there waiting between charges. I’ll debur case mouths or hand prime between charges.
You can always reprogram your chargemaster to what you need.
I finally got a Chargemaster “Lite” a couple months ago, and I haven’t had time to do anything but make sure it turns on (and isn’t DOA).
Does the reprogramming apply to the “Lite” model, too?
The straw definitely helps, I also did some speed mods but it’s been so long I can’t remember what I did. For precision loads I set up a powder measure to throw a light charge dump it on the Chargemaster to bring up to weight, speeds things up quite a bit.
I have toyed with it a little but just haven’t had any real time to totally dive in. My work schedule is funky and I have a fair amount of rifle ammo made up already anyways & I’m not really in need. I should get to it sooner but the Winter months will bring out the best of it I’m sure. I’ll keep up on the upgrade vids and get it sorted out for sure. Thanks again guys for the info.
For what it’s worth, if you run ball powder in the Chargemaster, it’s almost perfect. It’s the nature of extruded powder that makes it fuss… Especially long cut stuff like 4064.