What scale do you use?

[alberta tactical rifle]

Sartorius Acculab VIC 123.

I agree, they don't come any better.
If precision is the plan THAT is the scale to use.
The auto dispensing scales regardless of brand are crap in my opinion, and yes I have owned both of the major brands.

 

[OEM]

I use an old RCBS 510 that I picked up for $40 on the EE. Works like a charm, and really love that thumbwheel method of finetuning the scale. Its probably overkill for me as it measure way into the 500 gr range and I don't weigh anything that heavy, but I believe you can't beat the simplicity and sheer reliability of a good balance beam scale.

 

[zimbu]

I wanted to pick up either the rcbs or lyman auto charge, but i heard the lyman is a piece of ####, so im worried about dropping $ 400 dollars and getting shafted even though if it worked it would be SOOOOOOOOOO nice. any comments on the rcbs auto charge, pros cons. i know blacksmithden recommends it, i hope they are all that good, anyone with bad experiences.

i like to hear the bad experiences because for some reason i get stuck with the rotten apples

OK, so I did an experiment on an RCBS Chargemaster 1500 and got some test data for you. A buddy picked one up and I have it sitting here BNIB until he gets back from vacation.

Set it up on a nice flat surface.
Turned it on and let it warm up for 10min while I read the manual.
Did the calibration procedure.
Threw in some Varget and punched in a typical .223 load of 24.5gr.
Whiz, whirr, trickle, trickle.
It beeps when it's happy and I transfer the charge to my $15 ebay scale that is accurate to .02gr. I do this for 20 charges and here are the results:

24.58
24.48
24.48
24.40
24.40
24.36
24.40
24.40
24.46
24.44
24.54
24.40
24.48
24.50
24.56
24.62
24.44
24.46
24.36
24.34

I had been told that these automatic dispensers are nowhere near accurate enough for precision reloading, but I honestly didn't think it would be quite this bad.

In this case the RCBS machine cranked out a spread of .28gr and an average charge weight of 24.44.

A tenth of a grain means the difference between a 1/4 MOA load and a 3/4 MOA load in my .223.

If you are loading plinking ammo and your load is nowhere near max pressure, then great. This thing will spit out charges as fast as you can seat bullets, and do it every bit as accurately as a $30 Lee powder thow.

 

[warrenb]

i've gone through two of these jennings scales. in my experience, you would be better off purchasing one of the cheap chinese ones off of ebay and checking it with cal weights. the jenning also has a warranty which they don't honor and neither will the online retailer. if you really must have the jennings mack 20, purchase it from old will knot scales out of the usa, as they will allow you to return, but the shipping is steep.

This is very good info for anyone who is thinking of getting on the Jennings band wagon.

Buy in haste and repent at leasure.

 

[warrenb]

I am wondering why anyone starting out reloading, would pay more for a scale, than all the rest of their reloading equipment combined?
I think I know the answer to my question.
The new generation of reloaders has read so many theories, most of which can not be proven, about reloading that their heads must be swimming.
They have been led to believe that to load accurate ammunition, extremely precise weighing of powder is neccessary.
I am going to quote here, "90% of this is bunk."
I quoted Warren Page, arguably the most experienced shooter and experimenter the world has ever known. He won the annual US National Match bench rest shooting trophy nine times.
He states in his book, The Accurate Rifle, that world class bench rest shooters used a scale (beam) to set their powder measures, then loaded their benchrest ammunition directly from the powder measure.
Precisionshooter, you know my theory. Get shooting.
So, get an ordinary beam scale and get going.

H, some of us who start reloading are also trying to improve our shooting and understanding of what makes a rifle shoot well. So yes we are doing everything to the best of our ability, knowledge and experience so that we can gain the knowledge of what actually works. And if that makes us all anal retentive, well that is what I thought reloading was about. Might as well put the time in.

EDIT: I'm not disagreeing with you btw, just trying to put a perspective on the reasons.

 

[Seagull]

I transfer the charge to my $15 ebay scale that is accurate to .02gr. I do this for 20 charges and here are the results:
<snip>
In this case the RCBS machine cranked out a spread of .28gr and an average charge weight of 24.44.

A tenth of a grain means the difference between a 1/4 MOA load and a 3/4 MOA load in my .223.

Seriously??? How do you know the ebay scale is correct? Every cheap scale I have tried doesn't repeat the same measurement twice for the same object.
I do ageee with a couple tenths not being acceptable.

 

[zimbu]

Seriously??? How do you know the ebay scale is correct? Every cheap scale I have tried doesn't repeat the same measurement twice for the same object.
I do ageee with a couple tenths not being acceptable.

Yup. Seriously. This scale will weigh the same object as many times in a row as you like and give the exact same reading. Very rarely will it vary by .02gr on the same object. It's almost unbelievable. Do the calibration with the included 10gram check weight, and it reads my 200gr check weight at "200.00gr" and the 250 at "249.98."

I know what you're saying though. I bought a $50 Frankford Arsenal electronic scale for sorting bullets, and it's so inconsistent it's basically useless.

Until recently I've been using an RCBS 502 beam scale and if I'm careful I can get within .06gr (3 kernels of Varget).
Then I found this cheepo Chinese scale on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/LCD-Digital-Poc...9997?pt=AU_Kitchen_Scales&hash=item2c57c3c9cd and decided to see if it really was as accurate as advertised.

It consistently measures to .02gr, less than 1 kernel of Varget. The tray isn't big enough for much more than .223 loads, but that's all I use it for.

The 80gr Amax I've loaded with this $15 scale shot very nicely at 1000yds from my T3 Varmint.

Some other cheep ebay scales: http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=20g+.001+scale+&_trksid=p5197.c0.m627

 

[precisionshooter]

ZIMBU, thank you very much for that info, Thats the type of data i would like to see for different scales, Maybe a sticky of different scales being warmed up the same amount of time under the same conditions.Then run the same tests, or post a criteria and guys with different scales can post there results following those criterias. just a thought anyone agree, or am i all alone on this one.

 

[22to45]

I mostly use a scale to calibrate my powder measure, and check the odd charge to be sure it is still set, I have a RCBS 5-0-5 and a plastic Lee, either are good enough for me. The lee is only good to about 100 grains, which is lots for powder, but not enough if you find a bag of bullets that you have forgotten the weight of, or you want to weigh some brass. I am not a precision shooter, but I know there are many other things besides exact powder charge that go into accuracy, and if I were going to get into it, I would have lots of things before I had a better scale. The truth is that with rifles being individuals, if your load on your scale shoots good for you, who cares if it is actually a grain out. I have an 80 gr bullet that I save to check the Lee with, and a 200 that I check the RCBS with. I zero them twice, being sure that they zero with nothing in the pan, and that they are still accurate with the bullet in them. As long as I use the same bullet my system is good enough for me. As far as I know there is not a lot of reason to be concerned about less than a half a grain, which is the range of error on a RCBS powder measure loading in the range of 60 grains of powder. I doubt that it has ever blown up a rifle, or caused a signifigant miss. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[notsorichguy]

I reloaded for over 20y with an ohaus scale I bought used.

When I moved houses back in 07 my old trusty scale didn't fare very well in the move.

I replaced it with a RCBS 5-0-5, which is basically the same scale I had before.

I then went to a J-mack 20. IMHO so precise its scary....... But it takes so frickken long to weigh charges, the thing is so sensitive.....

I then found a RCBS Chargemaster for under $250 US (Natchez supply). With our strong dollar it was under $300 to my door (shipping and duty in).

I checked it with the J-mack and it is more than accurate enough for hunting loads.

It really makes it easy. I set the weight and when it beeps I pour the powder and seat a bullet and then it beeps again........

I still have all 4 scales, but I mostly use the 1500. I never turn it off it just stays on the bench powered up. When I use it I check calibration and then load some bullets!

Cheers!

 

[aridan]

I started with a Hornady electronic scale that I got from Grafs for $60. The stated accuracy is +/-0.2gr. I would see a +/-0.1gr change in my results, loading Titegroup and N320 in a Hornady powder measure.

Being paranoid, I then ordered a $21 scale from dealextreme - that one has a 0.01gr display. I was pleasantly surprised by how repeatable the results were. If there was ever a bit of a drift when weighing the same weight repeatedly, it was always reflected by both scales. Which means that those cheap strain gauges inside those cheap scales react to a bunch of factors. Here's a couple of checkpoints I try to follow:

1. Warm up for 2min or more.
2. Close all doors and windows. I also put a (sort of) steel shroud around the back and the sides of the scale, to minimize both the air draft and electromagnetic interference. The shroud is just a cover from a dead PC power supply, it has 3 sides, so only the front of the scale is exposed.
3. Put your cell phone away. Remove your electronic watch.
4. Calibrate the scale every time before using it.