Deciding on a scale for precision reloading

Simplesam

Simplesam

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Burks Falls, Ontario
Hey guys,

Im debating on which scale to purchase strictly for reloading match grade ammunition/precision shooting.

I've read good and bad things about the RCBS Chargemaster in terms of being slow and occasionally being inaccurate. Then there is the other side of just getting a good digital scale like a Gem Pro 250 and a trickler. Both these items state accuracy of +/- 0.1 gn. Is this true in real usage?

I am new to reloading, still getting all my gear together. I have tried reading back on scales and accuracy. I will be reloading in a temperature controlled environment (condo) so hopefully that doesnt affect anything. What other options would be available?

Your input is greatly appreciated.

Sam
 
I have both and modded the Chargemaster now it's 99.9 reliable, the Gempro I found to be fussy and use it as a backup along with a RCBS 505 scale.

My Chargemaster can now handle Varget powder much more reliably, I'm happy with it as my daily powder/scale.
 
The variations in case capacity have a bigger effect than a few kernels of powder. Meaning you could have the best scales money can buy and if the boiler room of your cases vary in size all your powder measuring to the gnat's ass goes out the window.

Preparing Cases for Long-Range Accuracy
http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/reloading/complete-precision-case-prep/

I have the RCBS Chargemaster and the scales accuracy are not in question, its getting the feed tube and electronics to stop turning at the correct time and dropping the correct charge. The scales will read the correct weight for what is dropped in the pan, the problem is dumping the pan back in the hopper and starting over. This to me isn't a problem because only some types of powders occasionally do this. I have a single stage 1973 dated Rockchucker press and these glitches give you a chance to come up for air when keeping up with the Chargemaster. You have the McDonald's straw mod as just one fix for this and all this does is eliminate the threads in the feed tube and give a more uniform and even feed into the pan.

Bottom line, a plug in electrical unit like the RCBS Chargemaster will have very accurate scale readings because you have a fixed voltage. Battery powered scales are a pain because battery voltage varies and they have a built in power saver mode that shuts the scales off just when you need them.

At http://www.accurateshooter.com/ On the main page and in the "Reloading Forum (All Calibers)" you will find a ton of info. And this Accurate Shooter info and a sale at a American website sold me on the RCBS Chargemaster and I do not regret my choice.
 
Chargemaster is a good choice. After spending on multiple scales, I wish I'd just sunk the money into the Chargemaster first. Trickling is no faster and an auto dispenser is convenient. The only time I'd choose differently is if I needed accuracy better than 0.1 grains but then you're talking serious electronic scales.
 
Or, just get a decent mechanical scale.
Half the width of the line is more accurate than most digital scales, and half of a tenth of a grain probably isn't going to make much of a difference that you'll ever find on paper.
 
Just fyi the gempro is accurate to 0.02 grains and has a 25 year warranty for guys in Canada, life in the states.

I got the charge master and it works great for what it is. Tweak it and use the straw trick and it will be damn reliable. I get one over throw every fifty cases or so but I've tweaked it to the ragged edge of speed I'd say. I could back out a bit and get 99.5 percent perfect. That said, I'm probably selling mine and going for either three omega trickler or a powder thrower/my old Redding trickler, and a gem pro.... but that's mostly being anal retentive. I'm trying to get my sd down as low as humanly possible. With the rcbs I still trickle by hand, I set it ti throw 0.1 grain low and trickle the last grain by hand. Works reasonably well and I'm confident that the consistency is actually pretty damn good this way, so I'm gonna wait a few more weeks before deciding on selling. If I can not get my sd below about 10 doing this, and decide I need to be able to charge between tenths of a grain, then I'll sell it, but I'd say the precision is better than 0.1 if you trickle up, as it's likely rolling over ti the next tenth at the same weight or so every time, just doesn't have resolution to show it (I'd love to try the gem pro to test that theory out)
 
I had a Gempro. Had to turn off furnace, cell phones and anything electronic within 15 feet of it or it would throw it off. Good scale in the right place. I use the RCBS Chargemaster to dump the powder, and then put it on my A&D 12I from Cambridge Environmental, and then trickle for my F class loads. Very fast and super accurate once you get a system.
 
jfarrell said:
I had a Gempro. Had to turn off furnace, cell phones and anything electronic within 15 feet of it or it would throw it off. Good scale in the right place. I use the RCBS Chargemaster to dump the powder, and then put it on my A&D 12I from Cambridge Environmental, and then trickle for my F class loads. Very fast and super accurate once you get a system.
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I had a Lyman that would do the electrical interferance thing, I tried to mess the Gempro up with house phone, cell phone, flourecent lights, computer, empty and full beer cans (never tried bottles) another electronic scale, beer fridge and non of these things would cause my readings to be off or walk up. 100% repeatable. Now I was able to wreak the first gempro scale by having it on the same bench as was being used to pound wheel bearings out of hubs (forgot it was there), the scale lost it's linear weighing ability, I sent it back to gempro in Vancouver and had a new scale in 6 business days.
 
I have more digital scales than I can recall without going to count at this point, as I've experimented with all kind of makes and models.

IMO, the Chargemaster is great. It certainly delivers on the +/- .1 gr accuracy claim. Note that this means, in theory, it can throw .1 gr high or .1 gr low. But I always check against a forest-restoration analytic scale and 8/10 it's within .05 gr of what I tell it to throw. Performance of the Chargemaster can be greatly improved by twiddling some internal settings (bigedp51 linked to the article) and by using the straw trick. It works better with some powders than with others, but it generally works well with everything.

I've also noticed that the Chargemaster seems to work better with a slightly heavier pan. I actually glued two together. You'll also get best results if you zero the scale with the pan on the platen every once in a while, and then always put the pan on the platen in the same orientation as how it was when you zeroed it.

I also have a GemPro 250. It's a bit finicky, but it's accurate. The main problem with it is that it's not optimized for trickling. When you put a tiny amount of powder into it, the scale may see the tiny weight increase as drift and may actually adjust internal metrics to compensate for it (incorrectly) and this can cause it to drift over time. You need to trickle a little bit and then remove the pan and replace it in order to get best results. You'll also want to calibrate it a few times during an extended loading session.

For me, the 'best' scale is a force-restoration scale. They are expensive but are insanely fast and accurate. The technology they use (magnetic force restoration vs. a strain gauge in cheaper scales) is less prone to drift and much more accurate, so you can actually trickle powder literally by the kernel and watch the weight creep up to your target. I spent about $500 on one and it was worth every penny. I throw a charge on the Chargemaster and then trickle on the AND Force Restoration scale and it's accurate to within .02 gr. A kernel or IMR 3031 weighs about that much-- I'm currently using a lot of 8208 XBR and a kernel of that looks to be just shy of .02 gr. So if you're feeling anal you can get powder weight accuracy down to an absurd level.

You can get one of those scale from Cambridge Environmental here.
 
Silvertip13 said:
Now I was able to wreak the first gempro scale by having it on the same bench as was being used to pound wheel bearings out of hubs (forgot it was there), the scale lost it's linear weighing ability, I sent it back to gempro in Vancouver and had a new scale in 6 business days.
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This is something I don't think many people know about. I don't think you should store any digital scale on the same bench where your press is, particularly if you have to put a lot of elbow grease into resizing large cases, or if you have a fairly light weight bench or table. My reloading station is actually separated into two small tables with a small gap between then to make sure that any heavy work i do on the one table (bulk decapping, resizing, bullet pulling on the press, primer pocket swaging, priming with a bench-mounted APS tool) doesn't disturb the sensitive electronics on the other table.
 
9x19p said:
Gempro user
Never a problem
Measures each kernel
*Never turn it off

My scale has been on for over a year now.
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I don't have the option of leaving the scale on, the reloading room is also the garage/stock building /wood working/barbie doll house assembly line/meat cooler/ butcher shop/beer can empting room, so now the scale gets put away in a safe place. It only takes 5minutes to warmup once turned on.It will read accuratly right away but drift a little between charges, after 5 minutes it is happy. The auto dempening that HeavyTread is talking about is not a problem when trickling as long as you know about it. I don't have a chargemaster yet, but i can see it would be handy for reloading cartridge that don't require accuracy beyond0.1+/-.
 
I have an A&D 120fx and it is worth every penny. I went the Gempro route first and had the one crap out after a month. The scale was replaced on warranty but the second one did the same. In both cases they would constantly drift. After calibrating I could watch the display continually creep with nothing on it. I was sure to keep other electrical stuff away but it didn't matter. Others seem to do well with them but I wish I had never wasted my money
 
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