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

Have a cheap digital scale and an Ohaus 10-10. The beam scale produces more consistent results and better groups.

Digital frequently loses calibration and never gives the same reading twice.
 
I do not trust digital scales, and would never give up my 50+ year old Redding #1 balance beam scale. It is about the only balance beam scale on the market that allows you to adjust the damping of the beam. It has a paddle in an oil well to provide damping. You can change the viscosity of the oil and/or the oil level to adjust damping to your personal preference.

Redding-Model-1-Scale.jpg


If you are buying new, I would not buy a complex triple beam scale. Those are more for lab use where you are weighing a very wide range of weights. You can use something much simpler like the Redding #2, or Hornady scale that is a single beam with two weight sliders.

My method is to set my powder weight on the scale, load the pan with a Lee Perfect Powder measure, set to be just under, and then trickle the weight up to the scale setting with a Lyman trickler. I would suggest I can get 0.05 grain accuracy, if I have the patience to read to that degree.

The only real way to know if your scale is accurate is to get a set of government weights and measures certified test weights and check it that way. I did that and my 50 year old scale with a slight adjustment passed the test.

Where a digital scale is handy is when you are measuring the weight of something unknown. Say you are weighing bullets or brass cases. It is nice to just plunk them on the scale and get a reading without fiddling with the balance beam weight positions. However if for the more standard use which is weighing powder, you only set the beam weights once and then weigh all your powder. They work fine for that.
 
A good powder thrower and good beam scale is faster and more accurate than basically any electronic scale or powder dispenser.
You set your charge on your Harrels or Redding or whatever thrower to within .3-.5 of a grain. Then put it in the pan and trickle in the rest. A good beam scale will move with each kernel of powder added to the pan. Extremely accurate and repeatable.

I'll take a good beam scale over the most expensive electronic scale any day. They always work, don't need to be warmed up, aren't temperamental, not sensitive to cell phones or fluorescent lights or radios...
 
jethunter said:
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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My guess an fx120i, or to beat that a sartorius. With the fact you can buy an auto trickling set up to plug and play into the FX it doesnt really make sense to drop an extra 700 to buy the sartorius.
 
I grew up using beam scales and saw no reason to jump into digital ones when they came out more & more for reloaders. I'd used a variety of digitals at work, but stuck with an old but good RCBS beam at home. Then when getting married and facing life as a dad, I realised that what I used to call 'free time', wasn't so free anymore. By then I could afford to spend some $ on several items I didn't figure I needed over the years, but by then realised that I could greatly increase my ammo-output for the time spent. One such item was a decent digital scale with dispenser. Not amazing, but accurate enough on a solid bench in a breeze-free area without nearby flourescent lights. I calibrate it pretty regularly, & still verify it against my old RCBS every so often. Depending on the powder some times it will overcharge, but it always lets me know with an audible warning.
 
keegs said:
My guess an fx120i, or to beat that a sartorius. With the fact you can buy an auto trickling set up to plug and play into the FX it doesnt really make sense to drop an extra 700 to buy the sartorius.
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fx120i is about .04 grain accuracy. Which is not bad, but not even close to .01 gr accuracy. Look at spending a grand and up for a reliable high accuracy electronic scale, and I don't think that's what the OP was asking about.
 
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About a year ago I started using a Gempro 250. Ive always used a powder thrower then dump in the pan and trickle up using my old rcbs beam scale and now the Gempro. I find the Gempro faster and more comfortable to use. I leave it on my loading bench all the time with it turned on to avoid any problems. I also check the calibration before each use. The only problems I've had is if the power has gone out and I have had to turn it back on and start over.
 
Ryan.M.Anderson said:
Has anyone rigged one of these up with a powder thrower yet?

Total cost of those (FX 120i and the Auto Tricker) seems to run about $1,000 - not bad considering Chargemasters are going for $400+ these days.
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You see the ubber high tech super expensive space age material Lee yellow plastic scoop? yep, that is all you really need and want.

Here is the quirk of this dispenser... it prefers to have a run up to the target weight. See how it is being used in the video?

I have already tried to get close with scoops and powder measures, slowed things down cause the weight value was too close to the target value for the program to ramp up. 1 gr away from target is ideal... 1/2 if in a hurry.... scoop is plenty good enough.

It is actually slower if you are a tenth or two away from ideal... it might even not start up.

That dispenser pumps out alot of powder at full spin and can ramp down properly to the target weight when it sees the target weight "coming".

I put a partial charge in the pan and back on the scale. By the time I turn, pick up a bullet, seat that bullet in the previously charged case, pick up another case and funnel, the charge is pretty much done or done....

....drop powder into the case, put into press, scoop powder into the pan, back on the scale, turn to pick up a bullet, put bullet into neck and seat, turn to pick up case and funnel, take pan off the scale and pour into case.

Yes, it is faster then the time it took to type/read the description (the time in the video to drop a charge is accurate.... very fast). Yes, it takes a bit of TLC to learn how to set it up properly. Yes, once set up, it just does its thing and really hasn't needed any further adjustments or fixes.

It is also super easy and fast to reset to new desired target weights.... literally, the push of 2 buttons. With load work up, I just set increasing target weights and can do up my loading way faster then before.

My initial reason for buying the dispenser was after loading several hundred match rds and getting sore shoulders from hunching over the scale with trickler... something I put up with for years. Now it just makes all loading faster.

It is alot of money... and I feel, money very well spent... shoulders are also very happy

By the way, I do not offer the scale nor the dispenser... Just a really big fan... and Adam is Cdn and a great guy.

Jerry
 
I use an RCBS chargemaster 1500 digital scale with no issues what so ever. I'm super anal and weigh every charge, and zero it once or twice during a loading session but I've had zero complaints. Just keep it away from drafts and allow it to warm up a while before you start to use it.
 
Rossiter93 said:
I use an RCBS chargemaster 1500 digital scale with no issues what so ever. I'm super anal and weigh every charge, and zero it once or twice during a loading session but I've had zero complaints. Just keep it away from drafts and allow it to warm up a while before you start to use it.
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Most electronic scales drift so what was 45.3 grains of powder when you started often is something different an hour later. Just something to be aware of.
Have you checked what it dispenses on a beam scale, your first load and last load?
Virtually every electronic scale drifts even warming it up for hours.
 
ivo said:
Most electronic scales drift so what was 45.3 grains of powder when you started often is something different an hour later. Just something to be aware of.
Have you checked what it dispenses on a beam scale, your first load and last load?
Virtually every electronic scale drifts even warming it up for hours.
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Why many competition shooters or those who reload alot have gone with the AND Fx-120i. A very stable magnetic restoration milligram scale at a "reasonable" price.

Certainly not cheap but worth the investment.

Be very careful with lower cost force gauge digi scales especially with entry level prices... they can drift and badly. The output on the screen may not be what is in the pan so you can be super careful and have the best of intentions but the mass of powder could very well be changing on you.

As I said at the beginning, a good beam scale beats a bad digi scale any day.

Jerry
 
Beam is ok, but slow as f@#$.

Digitals like the RCBS chargemaster as uber fast. Digitals like the Gempro250 are uber accurate.

I use these two digitals, with a beam as a backup. When the power goes out, what else you gonna do with your time but reload or brass prep. :)
 
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