I've got an older Dillon
D_Terminator that I like pretty well. It doesn't look like the new ones and uses a 9V battery instead of the 4AA's as a matter of fact, so I'm not sure how good my opinion is worth on this one. That being said, the check weight on mine is usually pretty close, but I do recalibrate it from time to time. I've heard of people getting really nice scales for cheap from a college or larger high school when they upgrade. I sure remember some nice ones at Millsaps in the Chemistry lab. Something tells me they don't get rid of those real often though.
I will admit that I used to double check the charge on every couple hundred rounds or so when loading on my Dillons (550 and Super 1050), but I will also admit that I do it much less now. I always chronograph when big match time rolls around, and its never been a problem. Once set, they tend to stay that way, so it is nothing for me to load several thousand rounds between checking a throw.
Actually, I don't check just one. Consider trying this out if you haven't yet. Don't weigh one charge, weigh 5 or, even better, 10 together. Why? Better accuracy. For example, say you want to throw 5.2 grains. If you weighed five charges one at a time, you may get 5.1, 5.2, 5.2, 5.1, 5.2. Is that good enough? It may be; it may not. If you want them to all read 5.2 on the nose, you may be at the bench for a while. For example, if you increase the charge, you may start getting some individual 5.3's.
Now if you weigh all five together, you may get say, 25.7 grains for 5 throws (or say 51.4 for 10). Divide those by the number of throws, and your average throw is 5.14. Increase the charge by in a very small increment and do it again. Let's say 5 more now come back at 26.1 (or 10 at 52.2). Well, you are now throwing an average of 5.22 grains. Sure, if you don't change a thing, you may see a tenth or so variance one way or another, but look at the math, realistically the variance will be between approximately 5.18-5.24 grains, at the most.
I've used this technique and really like it. Generally, the more throws you make, the more accurate you are for a given scale's accuracy. 5 works ok but I really like 10 because of the better accuracy and the math is so simple as you are just moving the decimal place.
Probably not the most eloquent explanation/thread hijack, but I hope that made some sense. Anyone else do this?
