My new (to me) scale
- Thread starter Jeff423
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Alk8944
US Veteran
No reason that wouldn't work assuming it has enough capacity to weigh bullets. Sure cant beat the price since current Sartorious analytical scales I find on-line show prices from under $3,000 to $8,000+.
I didn't see one just like yours.
I didn't see one just like yours.
OP
Jeff423
US Veteran
Mine probably dates from 2000-2010. I'm sure at it's time it represented a very good analytical balance/scale in an industrial application. I'm also sure it's been supplanted by newer/better all electronic models. There are several of these and similar on ebay for about $250 but they don't seem to sell. I look at this like a Monarch EE tool room lathe that's been replaced by CNC machines.
It seems to work fine and I've tested it with various check weights. However I think it's probably more accurate than my weights. After I wiped off the weighing pan I had to re-zero it due to it now being cleaner. It also has very good damping and comes to zero faster than my RCBS beam balance.
It has a 160 gram - 2,400 grain limit.
It seems to work fine and I've tested it with various check weights. However I think it's probably more accurate than my weights. After I wiped off the weighing pan I had to re-zero it due to it now being cleaner. It also has very good damping and comes to zero faster than my RCBS beam balance.
It has a 160 gram - 2,400 grain limit.
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Alk8944
US Veteran
Jeff423, Quote:"I've tested it with various check weights. However I think it's probably more accurate than my weights. After I wiped off the weighing pan I had to re-zero it due to it now being cleaner. It also has very good damping and comes to zero faster than my RCBS beam balance.
It has a 160 gram - 2,400 grain limit".
I have no doubt it is far more accurate than typical loading scale check weights! With a capacity of over 3 pounds it should be enough for any hand-loading application. I would have been very happy to find such a deal on even an Ohaus analytical balance years ago!
It has a 160 gram - 2,400 grain limit".
I have no doubt it is far more accurate than typical loading scale check weights! With a capacity of over 3 pounds it should be enough for any hand-loading application. I would have been very happy to find such a deal on even an Ohaus analytical balance years ago!
OP
Jeff423
US Veteran
I think you might have been looking at the wrong chart. 160 grams is only 5.6 ounces. 
Or did you mean 3 ounces?
Or did you mean 3 ounces?
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pardon my ignorance, but web search didn't give much info, so how do they work? Mechanical?
OP
Jeff423
US Veteran
It does have a power switch but as far as I can tell it's fully mechanical with just an internal light for the dial. Unless the damping is electrical.
I used a scale just like that in my first real job in the late 70s.
DWalt
Member
When I started reloading many years ago, I rescued a very old 2-pan pharmaceutical balance from the trash can where I worked. As it was pharmaceutical, it was already graduated in grains, it had a precision of 0.1 grain. I used new coins as check weights. Their weights are extremely consistent to within one milligram. I still have that balance but haven't used it for many years. No electricity needed.
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Alk8944
US Veteran
I think you might have been looking at the wrong chart. 160 grams is only 5.6 ounces.
No, my tired brain read 24,000 grains instead of 2,400.
DWalt
Member
The old-style single pan balances were entirely mechanical. They use sort of a camshaft mechanism inside with various counterweights. Back in the 1970s I bought about a half dozen of them for lab use. I didn't really need more precise balances for what I was using them for. As I remember, their precision was 0.01 gram (about 0.15 grains). True lab analytical balances usually have a precision of 0.0001 grams. My vague memory is that they were about $500 each at the time I bought them. Equivalent to maybe 8x-10x that today.
Today, I use an Ohaus model 505 centigram quad-beam balance (505 gram capacity, about a pound) for heavier work, such as weighing bullets and cases. It comes in very handy at times for various uses. It would work for weighing powder, but would be quite slow.
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I remember using a scale in the chem lab that could weigh a partial fingerprint.
LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
About 50 years ago I purchased a used Ohaus 10-10 balance beam scale, excellent condition in the original box with instructions. Paid $20 for it. It still works just fine for all my needs.
I think i bought mine new about 1974 along with a Ohaus Du-O-Measure powder measure. The scale works just as well as when i unboxed it. No batteries, wires, or electronic interference to deal with, just check to make sure it’s level and start loading.
DeplorabusUnum
Member
I'm envious of your find if it truly is mechanical only. My reloading room has nothing but fluorescent lighting and it messes with my electronic scale, which I use only for handgun loading. Constantly having to re-zero the thing.
DWalt
Member
If you look inside the old pre-digital single pan lab balances, the workings are fairly ingenious. It took some clever engineering to develop that design. But they are a little delicate. We used them for chemical analysis, but high precision wasn't required so 0.01 grams sensitivity was good enough. And is actually good enough for any reloading application.
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AJ
US Veteran
I have several scales. Just bought a RCBS Chargemaster from an estate sale purchase a friend made. I also have a Redding Model 1( that belonged to my Father), a RCBS 10-10, a Lyman D7 and a RCBS 304. I use them to check my powder measures. However, I learned to reload with Lee spoons and usually use those for most of my bulk range loading.
Hmmm. Nobody knows how this kind of scale worrks?
AJ
US Veteran
Most folks just follow the directions provided. They do not care how it works, only that it does. Very few are truly mechanically or electronically minded.
