Is there an electronic powder scale that is not crap?

Fox

Fox

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I am curious, trying to figure out if there is an electronic powder scale that is not garbage.

I have some pistol loads that are 1.7-1.8gr and using the beam scale is annoying as heck. On top of that the load is too light to be reliable in a powder drop type situation.

Anyone find an electronic powder scale that is not garbage?
 
I use a small Hornady one that was something like $30(probably$130 now) and it seems to hold perfectly. I'm not sure what the model number is though.
 
Gem-pro scales from myweigh seemed to work well when I used them at work way back when and had a decent warranty. They were bot cheap but also not grossly expensive either.
 
This is as good as it get. Accuracy .001
A&D FX-120i -
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Fox said:
I am curious, trying to figure out if there is an electronic powder scale that is not garbage.

I have some pistol loads that are 1.7-1.8gr and using the beam scale is annoying as heck. On top of that the load is too light to be reliable in a powder drop type situation.

Anyone find an electronic powder scale that is not garbage?
Click to expand...

Brifit off Amazon, cheap and accurate.
 
All electronic scales will drift. Best if you find one that uses 120VAC. Plug it in an hour or two before use. All electronic scales will drift to some extent.

Also avoid use under fluorescent lighting, avoid drafts, avoid sudden temp changes, etc

zero often
 
I use a little Lyman digital. Works okay. I always do the simple calibrate procedure before starting.
 
yomomma said:
All electronic scales will drift. Best if you find one that uses 120VAC. Plug it in an hour or two before use. All electronic scales will drift to some extent.

Also avoid use under fluorescent lighting, avoid drafts, avoid sudden temp changes, etc

zero often
Click to expand...

This is what I was wondering, like if my wife has her phone in our kids room above my reloading area, will that screw things up?

I have an LED light above my bench, might that screw things up?

the RCBS beam scale for hundreds of light loads like this is messing with my eyes though, ha ha.
 
Fox said:
This is what I was wondering, like if my wife has her phone in our kids room above my reloading area, will that screw things up?

I have an LED light above my bench, might that screw things up?

the RCBS beam scale for hundreds of light loads like this is messing with my eyes though, ha ha.
Click to expand...

Phone and LED light should not matter
 
A big thing is how precise/consistent you want your loads. If you're just making up plinking loads then a cheap digital will be close enough (assuming you calibrate and re-check it occasionally). The big thing I've found with cheap scales is they drift, often quite quickly, so you'll want to keep your check weight handy.
 
Fox said:
I am curious, trying to figure out if there is an electronic powder scale that is not garbage.

I have some pistol loads that are 1.7-1.8gr and using the beam scale is annoying as heck. On top of that the load is too light to be reliable in a powder drop type situation.

Anyone find an electronic powder scale that is not garbage?
Click to expand...

Lee powder dispenser... check every 10th load. Pistol powders flow well through powder measures and you can get very tight tolerances.

I wouldn't weigh each charge.... but YMMV

Jerry
 
Fox said:
I am curious, trying to figure out if there is an electronic powder scale that is not garbage.

I have some pistol loads that are 1.7-1.8gr and using the beam scale is annoying as heck. On top of that the load is too light to be reliable in a powder drop type situation.

Anyone find an electronic powder scale that is not garbage?
Click to expand...

I don't know what type of press you are using but I load anywhere from 1.3 gr to 1.9 gr on my Dillon SDB with an Arredondo powder drop slide. Once set it doesn't move.
I check every 20 loads or so on an Ohaus 505 beam scale.
 
I have used a Dillon D-terminator for over 20 years
Still works like a champ
Gets calibrated against the scale at work in the Chem lab good to 0.01 grains (IIRC)
 
Mystic Precision said:
Lee powder dispenser... check every 10th load. Pistol powders flow well through powder measures and you can get very tight tolerances.

I wouldn't weigh each charge.... but YMMV

Jerry
Click to expand...

I was trying to get down to 1.9gr before on my powder dispenser and that was an issue, for larger weights it seems to be fine.
 
HammerliSP20 said:
I don't know what type of press you are using but I load anywhere from 1.3 gr to 1.9 gr on my Dillon SDB with an Arredondo powder drop slide. Once set it doesn't move.
I check every 20 loads or so on an Ohaus 505 beam scale.
Click to expand...

A single stage, not shooting competition but rather getting ammo built so that when I want to go to the range I have ammo readily available to go.
 
thump_rrr said:
That is 0.001 grams
0.02 grains
There are much better scales out there.
There are scales that can weigh 0.001 grains but are a lot more expensive than the FX-120i

I own an FX-120i along with an AutoTrickler V4.
It is more than adequate for the task at hand.
Click to expand...

The question is do you need more than .02 grains ? I shoot benchrest and was shooting in the high .1 and .2 with a RCBS Chargemaster.

Same with the V4. As a precision freak, I like the confidence the .02 -V4 give me, but no, it did not show on the target. It just removed one more variable toward my quest for the smallest group and score loads I shoot.

More short range and long range records are won with a culver - click powder measures, they know the number of clics for their load, but they do not weight their charge or know how many grains of powder is in their load, and this at the National US and European Championship level.

The reality is that nobody see the difference with load made on a .10 digital and a scale going below .10.
 
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