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617 Posts
Scales cost too much. that is all.
$cales $cales
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21,635 Posts
Depends ..... a good set of balance beam scales can be had at a decent price .... take good care of them and they will last a long, long time ...
Digital + Name Brand = $$
Digital + Name Brand = $$
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617 Posts
yeah. ended up picking up a RCBS 5-0-5 beam for $35. not too bad.captain-03 said:
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21,635 Posts
It should serve you well!!
A good powder thrower and powder that meters well in your powder thrower minimizes the need for your scale. When you get your powder metering consistently, you will only weigh every 10th or 50th or whatever round. But, when you do weigh, an accurate scale is important. I bought my RCBS digital for about $100 and do not regret it!
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9,706 Posts
be extremely careful on some of those cheap digital scales.. they are supposed to be accurate to .2 +/- but all the ones i have ever tried were .8+/- That may not sound like a whole lot but if your sweet spot is 5.5gr and the max is 5.8 and you throw a 6.2.... spells kaboom to me. Scales that can acuratly measure into the 1/100ths are BIG BIG $$$$. like JB said, get a good powder that will meter well and you will only need to check every so often. on rifles i check ever 20th and pistol loads usually about every 100th
I have an RCBS balance beam. I think it is a 505, but I couldn't tell you the last time I pulled it out of the cabinet. It only gets the call if the batteries are dead in the digital and I don't have any more in the house, but it is always there if I need it.
Since BigMike got a Dillon Square Deal, he won't need a powder thrower as the press has a pretty good powder measure built in. With it, a scale is really only important for getting the load worked up and then checking it every once and a while. They can be used for weighing bullets and other items though and do come in handy though. I used to double check the charge on every couple hundred rounds or so when loading on my Dillons, but I do it much less now. Before I got the bullet feeder, I had Dillon's powder check die which can detect a thrown charge that is more than half a grain off one way or the other. It wasn't necessary as I never saw anywhere close to that variation. 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 to load several thousand rounds between checking a throw. I do look into every case while loading to visually see powder of approximately the correct volume in the case. This is just to help guard against a malfunction that would lead to something radically incorrect, i.e. little or no powder or something like a double charge.
I typically see variation of about .1 grain with most powders I have used. For example, if I load 10, I may have 6 that weigh 5.1 grains and 4 that weigh 5.2. To get a better idea of the average charge weight, I weigh 10 charges together and divide by 10. So the aforementioned example would be 51.4 grains for an average of 5.14. I can increase it just a tad and take another average and may get something like 8 that weigh 5.2 grains and 2 that weigh 5.1 for an average of 5.18. If I was just weighing one, I wouldn't have even been able to resolve a change due to the limitations in scale accuracy. This change almost always can also be seen at the chronograph.
I mentioned this technique previously in my post here:
http://www.msgunowners.com/reloading-ammunition-f11/anyone-got-a-digital-powder-scale-they-really-like-and-trust-t4257.htm
Since BigMike got a Dillon Square Deal, he won't need a powder thrower as the press has a pretty good powder measure built in. With it, a scale is really only important for getting the load worked up and then checking it every once and a while. They can be used for weighing bullets and other items though and do come in handy though. I used to double check the charge on every couple hundred rounds or so when loading on my Dillons, but I do it much less now. Before I got the bullet feeder, I had Dillon's powder check die which can detect a thrown charge that is more than half a grain off one way or the other. It wasn't necessary as I never saw anywhere close to that variation. 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 to load several thousand rounds between checking a throw. I do look into every case while loading to visually see powder of approximately the correct volume in the case. This is just to help guard against a malfunction that would lead to something radically incorrect, i.e. little or no powder or something like a double charge.
I typically see variation of about .1 grain with most powders I have used. For example, if I load 10, I may have 6 that weigh 5.1 grains and 4 that weigh 5.2. To get a better idea of the average charge weight, I weigh 10 charges together and divide by 10. So the aforementioned example would be 51.4 grains for an average of 5.14. I can increase it just a tad and take another average and may get something like 8 that weigh 5.2 grains and 2 that weigh 5.1 for an average of 5.18. If I was just weighing one, I wouldn't have even been able to resolve a change due to the limitations in scale accuracy. This change almost always can also be seen at the chronograph.
I mentioned this technique previously in my post here:
http://www.msgunowners.com/reloading-ammunition-f11/anyone-got-a-digital-powder-scale-they-really-like-and-trust-t4257.htm
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823 Posts
I started out with Ohaus 10-10 scales many years ago. They were stolen and I got RCBS digital scales.....always either needing repair or the batteries were dead. I got tired of sending them back in so I bought another set of RCBS 10-10 scales (made by Ohaus) and now I can use them even if I don't have batteries or electricity. Extremely accurate. I'll never go back to digital.
I can definitely understand your position after that experience. Mine has been exactly the opposite though, and my electronic scale is pretty old. Maybe that is part of it, as in they don't make things like they used to. LOL.
I literally got mine from the widow of a BPCR shooter through my brother who knew her and her late husband. I thought I paid too much for it at the time, but her husband had just died after all and it did save me a few bucks over a new one. It was well used then, and that has been about 9 years ago. It has probably only had 2 or 3 batteries in it since I have owned it and the display blinks to give you plenty of warning that the battery is dying, but it does take a 9 volt and the new models sold with the same name now take AA's. It has the option of an AC adapter but I have never bought one for it. It's never needed a repair or ever let me down.
I even used it a few weeks ago for the first time outdoors, weighing all of the competitor's (appox. 200) bullets at the chronograph for the 2010 Mississippi Classic. I used a cardboard box with the bottom cut out as a windbreak. It bounced around more than normal before settling down, but with the time pressure to pull bullets, weigh them, and log the info before the squads got there to chronograph, it was still significantly faster than a beam scale. Most won't ever have to do this (I never have before and may never again), but the old digital is now back at home on my bench and appears to be working no worse for wear. Maybe I just got a good one.
I literally got mine from the widow of a BPCR shooter through my brother who knew her and her late husband. I thought I paid too much for it at the time, but her husband had just died after all and it did save me a few bucks over a new one. It was well used then, and that has been about 9 years ago. It has probably only had 2 or 3 batteries in it since I have owned it and the display blinks to give you plenty of warning that the battery is dying, but it does take a 9 volt and the new models sold with the same name now take AA's. It has the option of an AC adapter but I have never bought one for it. It's never needed a repair or ever let me down.
I even used it a few weeks ago for the first time outdoors, weighing all of the competitor's (appox. 200) bullets at the chronograph for the 2010 Mississippi Classic. I used a cardboard box with the bottom cut out as a windbreak. It bounced around more than normal before settling down, but with the time pressure to pull bullets, weigh them, and log the info before the squads got there to chronograph, it was still significantly faster than a beam scale. Most won't ever have to do this (I never have before and may never again), but the old digital is now back at home on my bench and appears to be working no worse for wear. Maybe I just got a good one.
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