I am looking for a good digital scale. I've tried Pact and Dillon and did not like either. I'd like better than 0.1 grain accuracy and little or no drift. Is there anything between those and Denver Instruments MXX-123 for $275?

Jeff

I have a RCBS Rangemaster 750. I have been 100% satisfied with it.

Jeff,

I am using Dillon's and have no complaints about it. They are quite capable of 0.1 gr. accuracy if you do your part.

Here are some simple rules to try out. To weigh powder out with precision of 0.1 gr. (or 6 mg) one needs to position balances on a perfectly horisontal, very steady surface. Any bench vibration (like from leaning on the bench while taking measurement) or air circulation (e.g. from a person breathing onto the instrument) will cause visible drift. More expensive instrument won't change these requirements.

Try weighing out same bullet or same brass case several times while following rules above. Chances are you won't run into a problem again. But if you still see a drift - then contact the manufacturer and I bet they would be happy to replace your balances.

Mike

I agree Jeff423, I have had bad experience with the Pact scale. Would not take another if you paid me.
Overly sensitive, lots of trouble calibrating to zero, rarely settles after ten to fifteen minutes of waiting. I don't really trust it any more either. It's really a POS IMO.

Jeff,

You're looking at 5 times the accuracy with the Denver Instruments for only twice the price of a Dillon. My Mettler H80 is 10 times more accurate than the Denver Instrument and I have problems getting a stable enough place for it. They will pick up vibrations and etc. if they have too much sensitivity.

Of course, I wonder why you think there's a need for that much accuracy? .02 gr is almost .001 g (1 milligram) accuracy and would only be applicable if all of your components weigh the same. Production bullets vary several tenths of a grain and brass may vary more than that. So, if you're within .1 gr with your powder, you're doing better than the rest of the components.

Table stability and air movement - truer words about scale accuracy could not be spoken. One place I worked used a scale room (get where this is going). we used tables made from three concrete slabes 4" thick x 36" x 36" sitting on heavy rubber pads. The scales sat in Plaxeglass cabinets - the charge would be metered, placed on the scale, and allowed to sit until the balance beam did not move! Measureing dopant to charge silicon for growing crystals for wafer manufacture, - the base for transister and such.

Sgt Preston here. Basically I love Digital everything, BUT I played the Digital Scale buying & selling game & lost repeatedly. Basically I couldn't find one that read the same reading twice in a row on the same day. I pride myself on being absolutely 100% accurate with my loads 100% of the time. I spent way too may bucks buying Digital Scales that simply didn't preform at the 3-8 grain "pistol" level. I finally sold them all & ended up buying a very high quility, quick settling, balance beam, which had the added feature of having an over/under scale under the pointer. I bought the Hornady Magnetic Reloading Scale Model "M" their part number 050026 for about $45.00 & my problems were over. I also invested in a set of Lyman Check Weights 0-210.5 Grains for about $32.00 (Lyman part number 7752313). I use the check weight "standards to verify my "set up" to spot check the loads during the reloading process. In my experience ,this works perfectly 100% of the time. Sgt Preston USMC LLA.

I might take another look at the beam. I've used one in the past so I know they are accurate. My beam was the only one that was accurate with my check weights. All my digitals weighed the 10 gr. weight at 9.9 or 10.1. I'm also suspicious of digitals that have a 750 gr. calibration weight.
My problem with the beam was that it was much slower even with good damping.
Like Sgt. Preston I'm only weighing pistol loads that are 2.7gr - 5gr. I thought with a better digital I would know that the powder charge was within .1 gr. more rapidly than with a beam.
I was also hoping that a better digital would have a better response, but not be so sensitive that it would require a machine polished granite slab.

Jeff

I have both the old Dillon digital scale and the Midway micro digital scale. I will use them for weighing cases, bullets, round balls, etc. where I can rezero the scale as required when I notice that the digital scale doesn't return to zero when I take the object I am weighing off. However, for setting the powder measure I use an old C-H beam scale which is on a shelf at eye level. This one, like the Redding and Hornady, has a calibrated scale under the pointer. I don't wait for it to come to rest. Just take half of the difference in the swing and add (or subtract) it from the setting on the poise. For instance, if the poise is set at 7.5 grains and the beam is swinging between plus 5 tenths and minus 1 tenth the average is plus 4 tenths. Half of that is plus 2 tenths so the charge is 7.7 grains. This is faster than waiting for the beam to come to rest and avoids any sticky spot near zero if the knife edges or bearing surfaces are worn or dirty. Get a set of check weights and zero out your scale to them before you start weighing.

Welcome cfplinker!

The method you're using is very similar to what we used with the old Chain-o-Matic balances that have been around since the turn of the 20th century.

There's nothing wrong with magnetic dampening, if you take the time to check for repeatability. Just use a pencil, or some such device, and raise the pan to let it resettle. If it returns to the same weight, you're pretty sure the weight was accurately measured.

Another problem with very sensitive scales/balances is extraneous material collecting on the object being weighed. If you aren't using tweezers or cotton gloves to handle the pan and/or material, you're also weighing finger oil and etc.

Dry material is usually weighed directly into the scale pan with a scoop and "trickled" to the desired amount. It's a method similar to this picture.



BTW, this table, which is pretty substantial, is not sufficient for vibration prevention and needs further dampening for the balance to be usable.

Please explain to me why one requires this level of accuracy?

I must be missing something in my reloading. I have a RCBS 1500 that works very well.

I too have a Pact that is a pain. I only use it to verify the settings on my Ohaus balance beam. (So my old eyes don't deceive me.)

I also have a RCBS Charge Master 1500 which is very dependable and I love it for rifle rounds.

Here's my technique to have some assurance of the consistency you're looking for. Simply weigh 10 times the charge on the scale. It will show the variance you're looking for. It's a little time consuming but downright cheap, and accurate as far as producing a consistent load, which is what your really after. Use a high quality beam scale and keep the temperature consistent between weighing.

The RCBS Rangemaster 750 is a great scale and well worth the money.

Aren't we going a bit overboard here for accuracy? This is not rocket surgery guys.

Smitty