Beam scale recommendations?

[jaymoore]

I've got an old Herter's oil damped scale with no graduations, an RCBS or three, a couple of Lymans (the all plastic one is the worst scale I own!), and two Pacific/Hornady scales, one of which has been in use since new about 1981, the other is NIB as backup. Maybe some more. Plus some digital units. Only the Pacific scale and a friend's Ohaus ever get serious use. That abused old Pacific damps the best, but is still sensitive enough to easily know on which side of a tenth grain a charge is leaning. The Ohaus is about as good, but I find the five grain divisions annoying.

The digital scales have been mostly put aside except for sorting cast bullets.

The back-up scale in the box (a circa 1982 007 press kit that I got recently to replace the old O-7 press which is very tired!):

 

[chief38]

My RCBS 1010 (made by Ohaus) has been giving me accurate trouble free readings for 30 years. If taken care of the 1010 model will last forever. NEVER leave in the set-up position when not in use!

 

[RIDE-RED 350r]

Seeing as how the older Pacific/Hornady scales have been mentioned, I was wondering about those. Good to know they are along the lines I am looking for....

Thank you all so much for the advice.

 

[Peak53]

My RCBS 1010 (made by Ohaus) has been giving me accurate trouble free readings for 30 years. If taken care of the 1010 model will last forever. NEVER leave in the set-up position when not in use!

Chief38
Why not leave the 1010 in the set-up position? I haven't experienced any issues, so why the warning? Just curious. Thanks.

 

[nicky4968]

Setting up the Lee is an adventure (as most Lee equipment is) but once you have it set it's fine (as most Lee equipment is). You are limited to 110 grains, of course, but I mostly load .38 Specials, 7 Mauser, .30-30, and the old Krag so I don't need more than that.
Hornady marks its 165 grain .30 with an extra cannelure to differentiate it from the 180. Everything else is obvious.

 

[lebomm]

Peak53;
If you leave your 1010 in set up position, the dust cover won't fit over the assembled beam. A coating of dust will, believe it or not, affect accuracy and the seating of the knife edges.

Larry

 

[arjay]

I found that a corrugated box that held 400 rounds of win 223s makes a nice (free!) dust cover.

 

[chief38]

Chief38
Why not leave the 1010 in the set-up position? I haven't experienced any issues, so why the warning? Just curious. Thanks.

The pivot point will wear & loose it's SHARP pivot and repeatability & accuracy will be lost. I have seen it happen a few times to friends scales. I NEVER leave mine set up unless just going up for dinner and then returning. It was not designed for that as per Ohaus.

 

[SMSgt]

My RCBS 505 has worked fine since 1979--and it never needs warming up or new batteries.

 

[snowman]

I have a Redding Mod. 2 which I've used for 10 years or so; seems to work quite well. I treat it with kid gloves, washing my hands before setting it up and taking it down, packing it in the original box after each use, and so on -to avoid getting dust and other foreign material on it, and to avoid damage to the delicate parts.

Best wishes in your search,
Andy

 

[dswancutt]

Seeing as how the older Pacific/Hornady scales have been mentioned, I was wondering about those. Good to know they are along the lines I am looking for....

Thank you all so much for the advice.

Bought mine new in the 90's and it is still going strong. I have never had any problems with mine.

 

[Hillbilly77]

But what get's me about the little digital we have is that you can zero it, then weigh a charge or 2, then when the scale is empty it will read +or- .2-.5gr. Particularly annoying, unsettling, and frustrating when I have to hand weigh and trickle up each charge like I do with my rifle loads. Mainly because I like IMR4350 and it doesn't meter for beans from the measure... I usually only load 20 or so at a time.. but I have had to dump out 10 or 12 charged shells after seeing that my scale drifted again and after recalibrating found my charges off by .5gr. (if i can count on it being correct after calibrating to begin with!) I just need consistency..even if it may be slightly off from 100% accurate to .1 gr. I always work up carefully.....

Dumb question here.....

Did you try a fresh battery?
As you know, I have the same scale as you. Mine started giving me fits like that and a fresh battery cured it.

In the meantime you're welcome to borrow my Ohaus if you want.
When you fall out of bed, shoot me a text and let me know.

 

[gwpercle]

How about a vintage Redding #1?

It's OK but the #1 is not magnetically dampened. You put oil in a little reservoir. The oil thing is a mess.
Three years ago my #1 "disappeared", purchased in 1968, replaced it with a RCBS 5-0-5, magnetically dampened....Lord I wish I had replaced it years ago...so much better.
So get any magnetic dampened scale, RCBS, Pacific , Hornady, Lee , Lyman, Ohaus ...any of them will do as long as they don't use oil dampened beam. The Redding #2 is magnetic and a good one.
I got mine off Ebay for half cost of new, keep an eye out and you will find a good one...just avoid the really old ones.
Gary

 

[joeintexas]

Another vote for the RCBS 505. I use the Hornady Auto dispense because it's a lot faster than the beam, but I still use the 505 every few rounds just to check the Auto dispense accuracy. Good luck with whatever you decide on.

 

[RIDE-RED 350r]

Dumb question here.....

Did you try a fresh battery?
As you know, I have the same scale as you. Mine started giving me fits like that and a fresh battery cured it.

In the meantime you're welcome to borrow my Ohaus if you want.
When you fall out of bed, shoot me a text and let me know.

Yes, we tried new batteries.

Text inbound....

 

[Hillbilly77]

Yes, we tried new batteries.

I wonder if your fluorescent lighting is messing it up?
The destruction manual specifically says to keep it away from fluorescent lights.
Food for thought.

 

[Boogsawaste]

I have an old lyman d5 that works fine for me. It's missing the tab that goes over the pointer tip so it'll pop out every so often and get stuck. Hmm, maybe it is time to look for another...

 

[gwpercle]

Even if you one day hit pay dirt and buy a nice expensive digital, keep the beam scale around as a back up.
Need batteries, It's late at night , cold and raining outside, do you realy want to drive to the store ..No.... Just break out the beam and continue loading.
My trunk has a spare tire, consider the outdated beam scale a spare.

That warning about fluorescent lights, seems like all the lights are fluorescent. Those screw in bulbs marked CFL are not incandescent...Compact Fluorescent Light !

Gary

 

[RIDE-RED 350r]

Maybe my line of thinking is wrong, but I certainly don't consider a beam scale as outdated. I can certainly see the benefit of the higher dollar digital scales. But I use a single stage press, so I don't mind the little extra time.

Besides, being that currently I only have to hand weigh each charge with my rifle rounds, I am more concerned with consistency than speed. The powders I use for my handguns meters nicely out of my measure. Dial in the throw and start charging, checking the weights about every 20-25 charges and finding it to be close to spot on every time.

I used to think Unique metered like garbage....till I found IMR4350! LOL! Makes a person appreciate powders like AA#9, H110, and the like... Like sand through and hourglass....

 

[Twoboxer]

. . . Besides, being that currently I only have to hand weigh each charge with my rifle rounds, I am more concerned with consistency than speed. The powders I use for my handguns meters nicely out of my measure. Dial in the throw and start charging, checking the weights about every 20-25 charges and finding it to be close to spot on every time.

I used to think Unique metered like garbage....till I found IMR4350! LOL! Makes a person appreciate powders like AA#9, H110, and the like... Like sand through and hourglass....

Yup lol. 4350 was surely made for a beam scale lol. That powder and even shorter sticks like 4064, N140, etc are sweet but . . . use a powder measure or dispenser, throw low, and trickle or tweezer up to target