RCBS Matchmaster Funnel Kit: Accurate Reloading

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Imagine a powder funnel that shunted propellant into the case in fractions of a second­—no bridging, no granules sticking to the sidewalls, no tiresome tap-tap-tapping the funnel to get the powder to finally shake down through the funnel and into the case.

It’s not a pipe dream. A while back, an enterprising young RCBS engineering intern named Marshall Clow dreamed the same dream and set out to create a product. The very successful result is the Matchmaster funnel kit ($100).

Some of the technology is proprietary, so I can only provide a glimpse into how and why it works. But the fact is it does indeed work. Like magic.

The funnel is made of 6061-T6 aluminum, which is inherently anti-static. Static is a significant portion of the reason powder sticks in funnels, and this is particularly the case with flake and ball powders, which have a lot of surface and little weight.

Static Neutralizing

Marshall told me static isn’t the only culprit that causes powder granules to cling to the inner sidewalls of funnels. Fingerprints are problematic too. RCBS settled on a special anodizing that shrugs off the effect of fingerprint oil and more or less eliminated granules hanging in the funnel.

For shooters loading long-grain stick-type propellants, bridging is a far more common annoyance than static. Bridging occurs when those long grains of powder clump together and form a structure across the mouth of the funnel that causes the charge to hang up. Typically, several taps to the side of the funnel are necessary to dislodge the bridge.

The patented geometry of the inside of the RCBS funnel aligns the long grains so they flow into and fall through the tubular bottlenecked portion of the funnel end first, effectively preventing them from bridging.

The use of caliber-specific threaded adapters seems to be part of the secret sauce. The kit comes with six different adapters that serve the vast majority of cartridges: .22, 6mm, 6.5mm, 7mm, .308 and .338. And yes, you can use the closest fit for calibers that aren’t included. For instance, I charged a bunch of .25 Creedmoor cases using the 6.5mm adapter, and it worked perfectly.

Adapters

Individual adapters may be purchased for $19 apiece in .17, .20, .277, .375, .416 and .50 calibers. However, adapters for some of the big-bore cartridges I’m so fond of loading, such as .35 Whelen and .45-70 Gov’t, are not yet offered.

The funnel itself is a relatively heavy affair when compared to plastic funnels. Add the weight of an aluminum adapter, and you’ve got a fairly robust bit of kit perching atop your cartridge case during use.

I learned quickly that a properly fitting loading block is important; it needs to hold the cartridge cases upright and straight when you set the funnel in place. If the holes in the loading block are oversize—for example if loading .30-06 cases in a magnum block—they can teeter and tip. This doesn’t prevent the funnel from functioning; it just makes it harder to pour the charge in without spilling.

Threads between the funnel and adapter are coarse, so you can spin one adapter out and another into place in short order. Plus, there’s a band of knurled texturing around each adapter and at the bottom end of the funnel, providing plenty of gripping surface for changing adapters.

Research and Development

Before testing the Matchmaster, I watched an RCBS video where design engineers compared pour rates with a whole series of different competing funnels, both plastic and aluminum, using a broad selection of different gunpowders.

The difference between all other funnels and the Matchmaster was startling. It dumped 250 grains of RL-50—a long-grain extruded powder—in just over three seconds. The next fastest competing funnel took more than seven seconds, and most took between 19 and 59 seconds. With practical charge weights of 40 to 70 grains, the powder vanishes through the funnel so fast you wonder if it was even there.

Another RCBS test showed 240 grains of 300-MP powder—a small-granule ball powder known for clinging—through 10 different funnels. Not only was the RCBS Matchmaster funnel the fastest, it was the only one that had zero residual granules clinging to the inner sides of the funnel.

I loaded a batch of .25 Creedmoor cases with Reloder 16 powder, which is a relatively short-grain extruded propellant. It dumped through the Matchmaster funnel so easily I learned to just ignore the funnel after pouring the gunpowder from my charger pan.

Tested

Next, I loaded two batches of .338 Rem. Ultra Mag, which generally requires the large charges that are the most challenging to funnel. I loaded one batch with Retumbo powder and one with Reloder 26, both extruded powders. The Matchmaster funnel sent the massive charges into the cases with a brisk whoosh, with nary a hangup caused by bridging or any other reason.

I found just one characteristic of the Matchmaster funnel that was slightly harder to use than my plastic funnels. If I didn’t pay attention, I’d sometimes spill a few grains when I poured from the charger pan into the funnel.

That’s because the Matchmaster funnel is a bit smaller in diameter up top—presumably to keep weight down—and my lazy habit of just sort of dumping the powder into the top of the funnel sometimes allowed an errant kernel to bounce out. To compensate, I made a point of pouring the powder directly into the funnel, which is probably a good habit to foster anyway.

If there’s one other downside to the Matchmaster funnel, it’s that $100 suggested retail—considerably more than the average plastic funnel. You could buy 16 plastic RCBS funnels for the price of one Matchmaster. That said, in my opinion the Matchmaster funnel kit is worth every cent. It’s one of those small refinements that makes the process of handloading a whole lot more enjoyable.

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