Digital Scales

Hi

I went through the whole "lab scale" thing about a year ago. To get anything that is fully documented as being better than a normal reloading scale, you spend > $500. The ones I looked at ran up to $800 in a hurry. Its tough to justify that kind of money on a scale.

Bob
 
Used it for years

I have a PACT BBK that I have used for years. [BBK stands for balance beam killer] They brought it out to compete with balance beam scales.
I stacked my BBK against my pal's balance beam one day at his house. My BBK was more accurate. His balance beam was one to two tens out. Not under of course, but over.
Seems his reloads have always been a little hot.
Electronic is the way to go.
 
Hi

One very real question becomes - how good is good enough?

If you look at the reviews of commercial ammo, they don't seem to get very concerned about 0.1 grain repeatability on 40 grain charges. That's not to say they are right, only that they often spread things out by half a grain more.

You can get into major debates about charge volume versus charge weight. Many people will tell you that volume rather than weight should be the deciding factor.

All that said, a 0.1 grain scale probably is "good enough".

My suggestion would be to get a good, but not a great scale. Spend the money you save on a good chronograph. $300 invested in a digital scale plus a chrono will give you better loads than $300 invested just in a scale.

Bob
 
What about those scales on ebay that read to 0.1 grain, like most regular beam scales, and they are mostly 5-10$. Too good to be true?

0.01 grain for a little more (20-ish $)

No idea what brand it is though...
 
Furync said:
What about those scales on ebay that read to 0.1 grain, like most regular beam scales, and they are mostly 5-10$. Too good to be true?

0.01 grain for a little more (20-ish $)

No idea what brand it is though...
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Hi

You see a lot of people getting grams and grains confused. That's *very* true on places like eBay. They also get accuracy / repeatability / resolution all mixed up.

A scale that is *accurate* to 0.01 grains is likely to cost you over $500, even used. It's also going to take some care to use. It does not take much of a draft at all to give a false reading.

Bob
 
i've been using a digiital scale I bought off ebay for like 20-30 bucks. measures grains, cts, grams. its been accurate. comes with tares.
 
pa guns said:
Hi

There are a lot of jewelry scales out there that will get you to 0.1 grams without to much cost involved.

Bob
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See below.
SandRoad said:
0.1 grain = 0.0065 grams
0.2 grain = 0.013 grams

So if you want to read a scale to a true 0.1 grains, you will need a scale that measures to 0.001 grams.

If around 0.2 grains is OK for your purposes, then a scale measuring to 0.01 grams is OK. And yes, the Acculab scales are pretty good. (just not the ECON series)
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I myself was eyeballing this one:
h ttp://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00004VBSR003
Not sure what the quality is for the price, but...
 
ontgunner said:
I myself was eyeballing this one:
h ttp://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00004VBSR003
Not sure what the quality is for the price, but...
Click to expand...

Hi

Looking at it, that looks a lot more like a .1 gram scale than a .1 grain scale. If they mention anything about it's accuracy I sure missed it. The price and size is about right for the current crop of .1 gram units.

I'm not sure what a 2 grain reading is going to get you for reloading purposes.

Early on the digitalis had a number of problems. They were not very good at holding zero or full scale calibration. They also seemed to drift as the power source went up and down. The modern RCBS's and PACT's seem to have eliminated those problems. My guess is that if somebody "hot rods" a .1 gram scale to give it another digit, you are right back to all of those problems.

Bob
 
Max Owner said:
One suggestion made to me by a fellow member here was that the scales that don't come with a powder feeder are tough to make work with a feeder, after.

Which means adding a step. Feed into a cup or like such. Then pour onto scale. Then dump into shell.
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Typically you would throw a rough charge (smaller than the intended target weight) with a powder thrower or whatever and then use a trickler to bring it up to your final weight on the scale.

The chargemaster is the only auto-feeder I think?
 
joe-nwt said:
....

The chargemaster is the only auto-feeder I think?
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Hi

There are several other "magic feeders" out there. Some work like the Charge Master and just trickle on until they get there. Others (for more money) automatically dump a normal powder measure and then top it off with a trickle.

Bob
 
pa guns said:
Hi

There are several other "magic feeders" out there. Some work like the Charge Master and just trickle on until they get there. Others (for more money) automatically dump a normal powder measure and then top it off with a trickle.

Bob
Click to expand...

Got any brand names a fellow might Google?:)
 
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