Scales

Denka

Denka

CGN Regular
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Hi all, would like to get feedback on scales
Which ones are more preferable electronic or non electronic ones? and which models are being used to make such judgement
 
There will be no clear answer to this..... Everyone does something different. It depends what you are trying to do- reload normal semi-auto rifles, handguns or precision rifles.

I'm maybe slightly more paranoid than some, but I have an rcbs beam scale, a hornady electronic scale and a cheapo set of check weights. I trust the beam scale but it is slow. The electronic scale is faster and I use it the most. IMHO a good beam scale for precision reloading is the starting point OR a very expensive electronic unit like a gempro and check weights.
 
I loaded with a beam scale for years and besides being slow they have other drawbacks, such as dust and powder flakes in the pivot points which throw the accuracy out the window. I now use 2 RCBS Chargemaster electronic and haven't looked back. These are easily checked and calibrated........I use 4 different bullets which I found to be of exact nominal weight, 50 gns, 90 grns, 165 grns and 250 grns...........I check regularly and the scales don't vary 1/10th of a grain, and it takes about 10 seconds to do when I start loading. I highly recommend these electronic RCBS scales, downside is the cost of course..........
Most people don't know or don't bother to clean the pivot points on beam scales and this is critical to the accuracy. They must always be kept covered as well.........no dust what so ever or there goes your accuracy, they are actually quite a finicky precision piece of equipment that have stringent needs to maintain their accuracy..........I love my Chargemasters...........
 
I bought a cheap $30 digital scale and it can be as much as half a grain off depending on if I let it warm up and even if I put my cell phone down beside it.
I have a Lyman Gen 6 electric dispenser and love it. I would have gone with the RCBS Chargemaster like c-fbmi said but at the time, the RCBS pricing at LeBarons had just been adjusted for the falling Canadian dollar but the Lyman hadn't. Thus the Lyman was about $150 less and had good reviews so I went for it. It's also a lot smaller and I have limited desk space (apartment) so that was nice as well.

When I used to use a balance beam scale (a Lee safety powder scale; accurate but very twitchy/finicky) I had a super soft goat-hair brush I kept near by to dust it off before checking it each time I used it. It was slow and tedious but I could consistently keep to 0.1gr or less tolerances. If you go balance beam, I recommend an RCBS 5-0-5 or similar, and just keep a soft cloth cover on it when not in use (like a piece of an old t-shirt).
 
c-fbmi said:
I loaded with a beam scale for years and besides being slow they have other drawbacks, such as dust and powder flakes in the pivot points which throw the accuracy out the window. I now use 2 RCBS Chargemaster electronic and haven't looked back. These are easily checked and calibrated........I use 4 different bullets which I found to be of exact nominal weight, 50 gns, 90 grns, 165 grns and 250 grns...........I check regularly and the scales don't vary 1/10th of a grain, and it takes about 10 seconds to do when I start loading. I highly recommend these electronic RCBS scales, downside is the cost of course..........
Most people don't know or don't bother to clean the pivot points on beam scales and this is critical to the accuracy. They must always be kept covered as well.........no dust what so ever or there goes your accuracy, they are actually quite a finicky precision piece of equipment that have stringent needs to maintain their accuracy..........I love my Chargemasters...........
Click to expand...

I use my Chargemaster for everything and a Beam as a back up ..works for me
 
cool info guys. What about just checking powder amount, like for me I do not need that scale will load for each round
 
guys provided several electronic ones like RCBS Chargemaster, which do from checking out, actually seems like do more just weight, but actually automatically measure exact grain amount per each load. For myself if I am going to use Dillon press, I just want check if powder measure that comes with press provided desired grans amount
 
Denka said:
guys provided several electronic ones like RCBS Chargemaster, which do from checking out, actually seems like do more just weight, but actually automatically measure exact grain amount per each load. For myself if I am going to use Dillon press, I just want check if powder measure that comes with press provided desired grans amount
Click to expand...

the RCBS Chargemaster can be had without the powder dispenser.
there's also it's little brother the RCBS Rangemaster
 
I use BOTH - a beam balance( the proper name ) that I got years ago( a bonanza- which predates pacific - which is now hornady) for thrpwing powder and a cheap digital I got off e-bay for 30 bucks for checking- perhaps just as important is a set of check weights - needing to check every load is a fruitless task- if you're cutting the powder charge that close to the line, you better back off as there are variances as much as one grain in case weights, bullet weights,and primers- between manufacturers there can be as much as 10 grains or more- ie Winchester being the lightest and federal being the heaviest with the other 2 somewhere in between
 
Regardless of which type of scale you choose, the investment in an inexpensive check weight set is priceless. Rather than zero the scale with no weight on the pan, you can zero it for the powder charge you are loading, usually within .2 grs. If at some point during the loading process the scale is bumped, its a simple matter to verify the zero, and continue on.
 
I used an Ohaus for many years then got a RCBS Chargemaster, won't be getting rid of the beam scale as it is better when doing test loads. The chargemaster is on par with the beam scale for accuracy. I had another brand of digital scale but it didn't work well for powder, sold it to a local for weighting grain samples.
 
trouble with ohaus is that they use or used to use a pot metal beam, and if it ever fell off your table( which can happen btw) the way it falls , it breaks the beam at the tip where the counterweight is- don't laugh it happened to me- and this is one thing krazy glue DOESN'T FIX- it seems solid, but it breaks at the exact same spot-this was on a 505- there's another scale out there that's just a re-branded 505- I avoid either like the plague
 
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