Probably been beat to death but is a triple beam or digital scale better?

R

Roddy

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I am pretty new to reloading. I use an RCBS triple beam (5-5-5 I think) and am curious if digital scales are better or worse.

I know digital scales have to be calibrated. My triple beam I check every few months and it has never neared adjustment.

A digital would be faster I am sure. I after I throw a charge and put it on the scale I wait for the pan to stop swinging (or only swing a quarter inch. I find that makes no difference.) Then I can start trickling. I trickle every charge if it needs it. I don't know if everybody does this.

A digital can be used with an electronic powder dispenser, is easier to read, and easier to adjust.

What does everyone think? Are triple beams on their way out? Do they still offer some advantages? I am going for precision over speed.
 
I use a digital and have never had any issue. They can be finicky sometimes and pricey for a good one though, but mine agrees with the test weight and I check it regularly. They can be sensitive to temp, vibration and warm up time so not quite as simple as a beam.
 
I think for precision an electronic is superior, for the money. I am sure that someone must builds a beam scale capable of 1/100 grain but I suspect it will be considerably more expensive than a digital that is capable of weighing to the 1/100 grain.
Beams are not susceptible to as many environmental factors, but as long as the operator knows of them excellent results with minimal frustration can be attained.

Electronic scales are sensitive enough to be influenced by drafts, so location away from ducts is important. Fluorescent lights, cell phones and many electronic devices will also influence how well an electronic scale operates. Trying to reload in a thunder/lightning storm is wasting your time with an electronic scale, you will be continually having to re-zero the scale.

All this little things can be frustrating but I am willing to deal with it for the precision and the fact that I can see the 1" display far easier than trying to align the little lines on a beam scale. YMMV
 
What's wrong with both? you can get a lee for dirt cheap, or step up to a rcbs 505 or lyman. I have a 505, as well as a hornady 1500 electronic scale. Just calibrate the electronic scale, verify on the beam scale with the weight your looking to throw. When your happy that they are in sync use the electronic its much easier to watch your weight slowly increase instead of over shooting in a beam because you twisted the trickle to fast. Just my 1/2 cent
 
alberta tactical rifle said:
I think for precision an electronic is superior, for the money. I am sure that someone must builds a beam scale capable of 1/100 grain but I suspect it will be considerably more expensive than a digital that is capable of weighing to the 1/100 grain.
Beams are not susceptible to as many environmental factors, but as long as the operator knows of them excellent results with minimal frustration can be attained.

Electronic scales are sensitive enough to be influenced by drafts, so location away from ducts is important. Fluorescent lights, cell phones and many electronic devices will also influence how well an electronic scale operates. Trying to reload in a thunder/lightning storm is wasting your time with an electronic scale, you will be continually having to re-zero the scale.

All this little things can be frustrating but I am willing to deal with it for the precision and the fact that I can see the 1" display far easier than trying to align the little lines on a beam scale. YMMV
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That's interesting.

The electronic reloading scales I've looked at have advertised accuracy at +/- 0.1 grain, which is 1/10 grain. Which electronic scale or scale/dispenser combo are you using that has .01 grain accuracy? And what powder can you measure to 1/100 grain? Very small flakes, indeed. :)

Having two decimal places on the monitor doesn't mean your scale is accurate to two decimal places.
 
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What's a good digital scale? How much do you have to spend to get triple beam or better accuracy? Sorry I know very little about them.
 
A properly setup quality beam scale will beat a crappy digi scale any day.

Spend the money and get a good quality digi scale, and you will never ever want to use a manual scale again.

If you take cost out of the equation, digi wins by a country mile.

Be on a budget, and a basic balance beam is better.

So... as always, it depends.

Forget about most auto dispensers as their scales are all over the map for function. Just because the output says the number you want, doesn't mean that is what is in the pan.

AND Fx120i with an auto trickler is so nice to use it brings a tear to your eye.... and a 4 digit hole in your pocket... money very very very well spent.

Jerry
 
Mystic Precision said:
.. Just because the output says the number you want, doesn't mean that is what is in the pan...
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This is truth. You can put a 17 decimal place digital readout on a $15 bathroom scale and it won't make it any more accurate.

Electronic scales are wonderful, but I'll always have a beam scale too. If I HAD to choose between them, I guess I'd go with the beam simply because it's nice to not need batteries, or stop loading when the furnace is running, or when there might be an electrical storm in the area.
 
jethunter said:
This is truth. You can put a 17 decimal place digital readout on a $15 bathroom scale and it won't make it any more accurate.

Electronic scales are wonderful, but I'll always have a beam scale too. If I HAD to choose between them, I guess I'd go with the beam simply because it's nice to not need batteries, or stop loading when the furnace is running, or when there might be an electrical storm in the area.
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I have both however I have more faith in gravity than I have in electrons.
 
Beam scale all day long
You can set a beam scale to 53.9 grs. dribble powder until the beam hits the mark just set and forget
Digital scale 20 mins to warm up, calibrate, dribble powder the reading goes up slower than you can dribble than OOP's too much dump and start over and don't forget to check it make sure the scale goes back to zero between each load
 
bat119 said:
Beam scale all day long
You can set a beam scale to 53.9 grs. dribble powder until the beam hits the mark just set and forget
Digital scale 20 mins to warm up, calibrate, dribble powder the reading goes up slower than you can dribble than OOP's too much dump and start over and don't forget to check it make sure the scale goes back to zero between each load
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1st mistake is turning off the electronic scale. Leaving it on all the time solves a ton of grief.
 
Atrs what scale are you using? I have a hornady dispenser and a 505 I prefer the beam and find it just as fast or faster, SD is about the same in 338.
 
Cummins said:
Atrs what scale are you using? I have a hornady dispenser and a 505 I prefer the beam and find it just as fast or faster, SD is about the same in 338.
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I have several. The Gempro 250 I like the best for all round use and they are still available and quite affordable. The Acculab VIC 123 is my all time favorite but twice the price and they do not have a long life, and sadly are now discontinued, fortunately I have a couple still. The Lyman Autoscale is 1st rate junk in my opinion.
 
I have both, and find the balance beam scale to be faster to set up and use for small batches. I rarely use the electronic scale anymore.
 
That is pretty much the feeling until you get into the better far more expensive digi scales. I can offer all the digi scales offered by reloading companies but don't recommend them.

But if you make the investment, you will see how good weighing charges can get.

Jerry
 
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