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Posted: 1/16/2012 12:31:44 PM EDT
So I've been looking for a scale, digital or balance beam, lately. Of all the recent reviews they're all crap! I know that some of them have to be good. I mean, I've been looking at red, green and orange and all the reviews are great from in the past but everything lately has been 1 star. I wanted a digi scale to speed up the process of loading single stage but my faith in the systems is starting to wane.  So, anyway, anyone got a good recommendation for a scale. Digital or balance type or both? |
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PACT does
http://www.pact.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=126 good stuff |
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I use an old Redding oil buffered scale that I bought for $20, I chose this over newer scales due to its heavy cast body and lack of flimsy plastic that seems to be everyone's choice in making scales anymore. Aside from having to keep the oil topped up, it works perfectly and is dead accurate (tested using brass 5gr, 10gr and 50gr weights).
I tried a digital scale from Cabela's a few years ago, but within a week it wouldn't hold zero even with its own calibration weights. The cost and annoyance with trying to send stuff back and forth for "warranty" put me off on digital scales, and I've stuck with the Redding ever since. I would also recommend one of the old RCBS scales that also use a cast body and metal balance arm (but that use magnetic buffering), which is what my father owns and I grew up learning to use (also superbly reliable). |
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What's your budget? I've used a RCBS 10-10 for 30+ years, had no complaints. It's the best beam scale commonly available, but at $135 or so, a bit pricey. I love the vernier style poise. Very easy to use. If your budget won't reach the 10-10, really any of the RCBS, Hornady, Dillon, Lyman, etc. beam scales are fine. Just make sure it has magnetic dampening, as this speeds up weighing. As far as Lee goes, I hear good and bad about them, but have no experience with Lee scales. If you want a digital scale, don't cut corners. Prettty much all of the under-$75 scales are just battery powered paper weights. They drift, and never weigh the same twice. Useless. Don't waste your money on a cheap digital scale. Top of the line would be an analytic (milligram) scale like the Veritas S123 ($280). I don't have a descent one, so I won't recommend one. |
| I wonder if you aren't seeing the effects of a bunch of new reloaders getting into the game and not knowing how to use the equipment? Many scales are quite sensitive and can be prone to error with simple things such as static electricity, the draft coming from your air vents, or simply from lack of warming them up if they are digital. |
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I just ordered a RCBS RangeMaster 750 today. I will let you know how it works in a couple of weeks.
I have been using a Lee safety scale that was donated to me by one of our reloading forum members. I have no major complaints with the LEE. It seems very accurate. |
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http://us.ohaus.com/us/en/home/products/product-families/NVT-US.aspx
You might call Ohaus to find out which models display weight in grains. I passed on an Ohaus Dial-o-Grain a few years back; thought it was priced too high. They are great scales, although large. |
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if I can offload my adams arms piston kit my budget is about 250. That's why I was looking at the dispenser/scale combos. Thanks all for the recommendations though. I'll look into them. http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=6625&dir= |
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if I can offload my adams arms piston kit my budget is about 250. That's why I was looking at the dispenser/scale combos. Thanks all for the recommendations though. I'll look into them. I really liked the PACT. For some reason, I went with the Hornady instead. Even though I got a screaming deal for it, I regret not buying the PACT. I think if you order direct it will take a few weeks, but they are worth the wait. |
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Beam scales that dampen don't slow down the single stage press process much, if any.
I'm kinda new to this sport, and I thought a digital would be the best way to go. Mainly, because I didn't want to wait for a beam to swing back and forth. What I didn't know was that these beam scales take about 3 seconds to settle down at their weight- so, no time lost. Before I knew how a beam scale worked, I started with a hornady digital scale, and once I found out it wouldn't reproduce the same weight- I went to a beam (5-0-5). Now I'm very confident of the charge weights. (I calibrate it with scale weights prior to each session). I'm not bashing digital scales, but I did not have luck with a budget digital scale- I'm sure the higher end ones are just fine. |
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Quoted:
So I've been looking for a scale, digital or balance beam, lately. Of all the recent reviews they're all crap! I know that some of them have to be good. I mean, I've been looking at red, green and orange and all the reviews are great from in the past but everything lately has been 1 star. I wanted a digi scale to speed up the process of loading single stage but my faith in the systems is starting to wane.
So, anyway, anyone got a good recommendation for a scale. Digital or balance type or both? Maybe we should take a step back and ask a question here. What uncertainty would you want to achieve with your scale? Don't let all the digital decimal points fool you, most scales can't deliver what the display shows, and that is okay for about 99% of the applications. Many scales you have heard about on this site have been checked in terms of real metrology science and the characteristics of at least a small sample have been published. NIST is the organization with the task of organizing the science and metrology of scales and weights. I won't bore you with a PhD thesis on how to measure the performance of a scale, but, if you tell us what level of performance you wanted to achieve there is a possibility it has been written up. Lets put a perspective on things, scale performance costs money. If you want an uncertainty of less than 0.05 grains, be prepared for the price tag. Don't be discouraged, even the F-class shooters don't get that picky and their 1000 yard groups trump scale arguments. You probably don't need to see below 0.1 grains, but maybe you should speak for yourself. |
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I use the rcbs rangemaster 750. I like it. I let it warm up for bout 10 to 15 min then I calibrate. So far I haven't noticed any drift. I also have a lee scale. Im a fan of lee products but I feel they missed the mark on that product. I can't even get it to zero. So its just sitting in its box under the bench. Maybe someone knows a trick to getting it to work.
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Is that what you use? |
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Yes. But, for the budget conscience I would second the recommendation for the PACT and Dillion digital. |
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Yes. But, for the budget conscience I would second the recommendation for the PACT and Dillion digital. Im budget conscience for sure  I ordered the RCBS RangeMaster 750 yesterday
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Yes. But, for the budget conscience I would second the recommendation for the PACT and Dillion digital. Im budget conscience for sure I ordered the RCBS RangeMaster 750 yesterday
That scale is made by PACT FYI |
I've gone back to a balance beam. My PACT BBK was too sensitive to various phenomenon, and would bounce all over. There's a reason the Ohaus scales that we use at work have enclosed pans. 
My old Lyman balance beam settles down quickly, and gives a good read. I measure 2-3 charges, then just throw the rest volumetrically. After starting reloading with Lee dippers in the 80s, this is still quick to me. |
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I have used a LEE for 25+ years! I watched it weigh a lady bug once too!! I keep it set at 0 when not in use and one day a lady bug walked across the beam into the weigh tray and it weighed just under .5 grain.
I also have an old Herter beam scale and they weigh everything the same. The only down fall on the LEE is it only goes to 100 where the Herter goes to 300. I like to be able to check bullet weight sometimes. |
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Quoted: I use the Dillon "eliminator" balance beam scale. It has worked well so far. I would recommend it to anyone that was looking at one. I have a modified Dillon balance beam scale that's more accurate than I ever thought a scale could be... Using CAD software, experimentation, and some very light modifications, it can measure out to +/- 0.02 Grain accuracy. Hand trickling precision powder charges has become more of an obsession for me lately, and the shot groupings have impressed me. |
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Well, I had the chance to get a RCBS 10-10 on E-bay for 50 bucks but the bidding went above what I wanted to spend on vintage equipment, the history of, I'm not privy to. Anyway, I picked up a new/old 5-0-5 on fun broker for 40 bucks shipped to my door. I'm sure that will suffice for the time being. |
| I have a RCBS digital scale, as well as the analog scale that comes in the rockchuker kit. I like both of them. I check about every 10th throw on the analog, and measure each throw on the digital. This tax return will go towards getting the chargemaster dispenser to lower my cycle time on loading powder. I liked the fact that I could start with a digital, and eventually upgrade it with the dispenser. |
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Quoted:
Well, I had the chance to get a RCBS 10-10 on E-bay for 50 bucks but the bidding went above what I wanted to spend on vintage equipment, the history of, I'm not privy to. Anyway, I picked up a new/old 5-0-5 on fun broker for 40 bucks shipped to my door. I'm sure that will suffice for the time being. Put it on a level surface, and I think it will serve you well. |
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Quoted: Quoted: I use the Dillon "eliminator" balance beam scale. It has worked well so far. I would recommend it to anyone that was looking at one. I have a modified Dillon balance beam scale that's more accurate than I ever thought a scale could be... Using CAD software, experimentation, and some very light modifications, it can measure out to +/- 0.02 Grain accuracy. Hand trickling precision powder charges has become more of an obsession for me lately, and the shot groupings have impressed me. how did you modify your Dillon balance beam scale? |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I use the Dillon "eliminator" balance beam scale. It has worked well so far. I would recommend it to anyone that was looking at one. I have a modified Dillon balance beam scale that's more accurate than I ever thought a scale could be... Using CAD software, experimentation, and some very light modifications, it can measure out to +/- 0.02 Grain accuracy. Hand trickling precision powder charges has become more of an obsession for me lately, and the shot groupings have impressed me. how did you modify your Dillon balance beam scale? Extended the 'point/arrow' end with a lightweight polymer filament/needle about 1.25 inches longer. Softened the swing-arm buffering so it doesn't 'clank' whenever removing the powder dish to pour powder into the cartridge case. Decreases wear on the scale. Creating a more stabilized & adjustable level base/stand. Then experimenting with powder charges & weights, and taking precise measurements of how much the swing-arm / needle moved for several dozen powder charges... Quadruple checked its 'zero' and used the measurements to draw up a precise new 'gauge' in AutoCAD. Printed out the new precise measurement gauge, and stuck it to the scale. I now have an ultra-fine needle pointing at a VERY precise series of scale lines. I don't have it pictured, but I have lines marking out: +0.20 - - - - +0.10 - - - - =0.00 - - - - -0.10 - - - - -0.20 - - That way I can usually tell when I'm within about 0.24 grains of my target weight, and can very carefully hand-trickle more and more - usually adding 1 or 2 prills/pellets of elongated powder (usually Varget or IMR4895) until it gets to the 0.00 mark. I also hooked up a web-cam that I clamp to the powder scale stand - so I don't have to lean down and squint to see the scale markings... My loading bench has a computer on it, and I have the powder scale stand on a completely different shelf unit for extra stability. The monitor then shows the powder level full-screen size right on my workbench. Makes hand-trickling easy and notably more precise. Due to the limited movement of the swing arm on my scale in the downward direction, powder charges don't 'register' until they're within about negative 0.22 grains. The upward swing can show when I'm as much as 0.20 grains over my target weight. I can't afford a $900 Sartorius GD503 scale with precision out to 0.005 Grains, so I modified the best balance beam scale I could find in an affordable package. It gets me to approximately 0.02 grain accuracy though. It's somewhat similar to what this guy did... http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2011/05/forum-member-rigs-video-display-for-balance-beam-scale/  Except, rather than using a hand-sketched line, my scale lines were drawn in AutoCAD based upon careful measurement and hours & hours of trial & error & checking zero. Then simply printed and glued onto the scale. Also, my plastic needle extension is a tad bit longer than the guy in the video which gives it a little more sensitivity. Also, the Dillon balance beam scales have a much longer beam length than the RCBS scale in the video and are notably more sensitive as a result. The filament I used for the needle extension is extremely thin - almost hair thin. And you can barely even see the intermediate 'tick' marks on the printed backing, but you CAN see the scale move every time you drop one little granule on the scale... The guy in the video did some extensive dampening on his scale though... Mine sways up & down a very little tiny bit when adding more powder. When loading for 223, I can just use a volume-metric powder measure (Lyman) to throw H335 charges for bulk plinking ammo, and I use the RCBS Charge-master for 308 plinking / training rounds... I use the hand-trickler and modified dillon for precision 308 handloads (precision loading for me is more like an OCD than anything). The results are pretty sweet though I must admit it does take me about 4 hours to trickle 50rds worth of powder charges and precisely seat the bullets. I won't even mention how much obscene time is spent on brass preparation. 
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