Scale won't read low enough

chevtrucker

chevtrucker

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So I've got a MTM caseguard DS-750 (yeah I know its a cheap scale). I loaded up some 9mm yesterday with 4 gn of titegroup, all was good. I didn't change my powder measure and I went to load some tonight and it reads at least a half grain out. But when I drop 10 charges into my pan it reads a perfect 40 gn. I tried calibrating it and checking it against a beam scale, and its good after the calibration for 1 or 2 weighs then it reads under again. Up till this point the scale has been great. Any ideas, maybe battery related I don't have any on hand but ill probably try that tomorrow. I tried moving it away from my lights which are florescent and my lamps but I just can't get it to stay consistent.
Thanks for any advice regarding my scale!
 
chevtrucker said:
So I've got a MTM caseguard DS-750 (yeah I know its a cheap scale). I loaded up some 9mm yesterday with 4 gn of titegroup, all was good. I didn't change my powder measure and I went to load some tonight and it reads at least a half grain out. But when I drop 10 charges into my pan it reads a perfect 40 gn. I tried calibrating it and checking it against a beam scale, and its good after the calibration for 1 or 2 weighs then it reads under again. Up till this point the scale has been great. Any ideas, maybe battery related I don't have any on hand but ill probably try that tomorrow. I tried moving it away from my lights which are florescent and my lamps but I just can't get it to stay consistent.
Thanks for any advice regarding my scale!
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You glossed over the question of 'why do I need to measure a single charge?' In pistol reloading there is no reason to weigh a single charge. Do as you did, weigh 5 to 10 to obtain an average throw charge, and proceed with reloading.
 
adamg said:
You glossed over the question of 'why do I need to measure a single charge?' In pistol reloading there is no reason to weigh a single charge. Do as you did, weigh 5 to 10 to obtain an average throw charge, and proceed with reloading.
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I weigh every charge I did check my powder measure by weighing 10 and it was throwing right where it should be
 
Two separate issues, I think.

The one is that your scale is giving odd readings. Personally, I don't really trust electronic ones, but that's a personal choice. Try changing the battery and see what happens.

As to weighing every charge, that too is a personal call. I tend to go with a powder thrower for pistols, stopping to weigh every so often to ensure it hasn't for some weird reason shifted.
 
cdn1canhunt said:
Do yourself a favour and trash the digital scale go buy a good balance beam style. Digital scales suffer to many issues to be good for reloading IMO.
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Disagree - as long as you have a good set of check weights to validate the calibration once in a while, there is no reason why a good digital scale can't be used for reloading. Balance beam scales are much more prone to user error.
 
canucklehead said:
Disagree - as long as you have a good set of check weights to validate the calibration once in a while, there is no reason why a good digital scale can't be used for reloading. Balance beam scales are much more prone to user error.
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Yes. A GOOD digital is fine. A crappy one is not though.

OP, unless you are after long range accuracy I wouldn't worry about weighing every charge. Get your powder measure set and check every 10th or so charge on the beam scale to make sure it keeps throwing the right amount.
 
canucklehead said:
Disagree - as long as you have a good set of check weights to validate the calibration once in a while, there is no reason why a good digital scale can't be used for reloading. Balance beam scales are much more prone to user error.
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And digital scales are more prone to outside influences which can affect accuracy.
 
Is everyone in this thread 100 years old? ;)

To each his own - personally I find balance beam scales to be a pain in the arse. I have a Dillon electronic scale that works perfectly... I'll stick with that. :) Yes, you shouldn't use under fluorescent lights, around stuff that throws EM radiation - but for my uses it's perfect.
 
canucklehead said:
Disagree - as long as you have a good set of check weights to validate the calibration once in a while, there is no reason why a good digital scale can't be used for reloading. Balance beam scales are much more prone to user error.
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Here's one: nearly all digital scales read to 0.1gr. So on a single charge you are weighing, for instance, 2.8gr ± 0.1gr, which is an error range of 7%. Whereas if you throw 10 times onto the scale you now have an error range of 0.7%, and therefore you have a much better measurement of what your powder throw is set to. To my mind, that 7% error range is too much measurement error to use as the basis for my powder measure setting.

Another reason is that these scales have a range of something like 0-300gr, so by trying to measure 2.8gr you are operating very low in the scale's range, which again is bad practice for accuracy.
 
today a lot of people can't be without their cel phones/cordless while they load .Some electronic scales get affected with them beside /near the scale
 
If you're reloading pistol rounds, no need to weight. As some people say here, throw 10 loads, make sure it weights 10 times the weight you want, then reload a bunch of ammos. Do the 10 throw/weight again after 100 rounds, and if it's still good, keep reloading and check every 500 rounds or so.

I can't believe someone would weight every load on a beam scale for 9mm rounds. Does anyone with a progressive press weight all their loads? I hope not, that would be a waste of a progressive.
 
I don't actively weigh every charge but I use a powder die so when I run up the brass I already have my charge ready in my pan which just happens to sit on my scale call it peace of mind
 
canucklehead said:
Is everyone in this thread 100 years old? ;)

To each his own - personally I find balance beam scales to be a pain in the arse. I have a Dillon electronic scale that works perfectly... I'll stick with that. :) Yes, you shouldn't use under fluorescent lights, around stuff that throws EM radiation - but for my uses it's perfect.
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And your Dillon scale probably cost you 3 or 4 times what the Ops scale cost. Beam scales are tedious for sure, but you can get a good beam scale for like $30. Can't get a decent digital for twice that.
 
Suther said:
And your Dillon scale probably cost you 3 or 4 times what the Ops scale cost. Beam scales are tedious for sure, but you can get a good beam scale for like $30. Can't get a decent digital for twice that.
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The cheap ES are actually a lot better than what people give them credit for if you know how to use them.
 
VinnyQC said:
The cheap ES are actually a lot better than what people give them credit for if you know how to use them.
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If you know how to use them? Its a scale. You turn it on, make sure its calibrated, then weigh stuff. If you know of a way to avoid a cheap digital from wandering, I'd like to hear it... Because with mine, if you put the check weight on, then take it off, put it back on, take it off... Usually with in 3 or 4 measurements it has wandered.
 
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