Digital powder scales.

[littlebass]

I used a beam scale for several years exclusively. About a year and a half ago I bought and began using the Hornady LnL Digital Bench Scale. Worked great up until about a month ago and it started drifting by several tenths while in use. Stopped using it for a while and did some research. Found where several guys mentioned they leave theirs plugged in all the time. I tried this and have been using it again without any more drifting problems. It came with check weights which I use to calibrate it before every use and I also check it against my beam scale every once in a while. I believe the Hornady scale I have is around $95 at Cabelas.

 

[michaelnel]

I have a GemPro 250, extremely accurate, high resolution (to 0.02 grains) and reasonably priced. I bought it from these guys:

My Weigh GemPro 250

 

[Jim Kuykendall]

I use the GemPro as well. They all drift from time to time. If it lasts 5-6 years consider yourself lucky. I tried Pact several times, but every time I called for repairs, the guys answering the phone were dumbstruck after I said hello. I complained to Midway and they snubbed me and my online comments. Deal direct with the scale companies, spend more than $100. and re-zero frequently.

 

[chief38]

Nah, I have stuck with my RCBS 1010 scale for 30 + years now. Still works perfectly fine, simple and accurate. I never saw the need to "upgrade" as a digital won't do anything better or faster and because I tend to not like new things (quality always goes down).

If I were to start out reloading today I might STILL go for the standard scale over a digital, but I would look into them a little more than I have before making that decision.

Regards,
Chief38

 

[SMSgt]

I use an RCBS 505 beam scale. It takes about a second or two to settle down. How long is too long--really. And I've never had to let it warm up to be accurate nor has the battery ever failed--gravity always works. If it does, reloading will not be a concern.

 

[mule69]

I have a RCBS 505 scale that I have compared to several digital scales and it is right on. Since I am 70 I have plenty of time to watch the beam go up and down.

 

[Nemo288]

Just got the GemPro 250 and am impressed with it.
It is way more stable than the 2 different Lymans I have used over the years.

---
Nemo

 

[thatroolz]

If you are going to reload a lot. Go ahead and make the jump do digital. It was surprising to me how sensitive they are. I have the RCBS 750 and it has been so worth the purchase. It has a very nice calibration feature and comes with calibration weights.

 

[TucsonMTB]

I like them and have two. One is about 10 times more sensitive than the other in that it displays 100ths of a grain rather than 10ths. Admittedly, I only load 30-06 for my Garand but they are very convenient.

I usually weight each charge in the sensitive one, put an empty cartridge on the less sensitive one, hit the "tare" button to zero with the case, and pour in the powder. It's fun to see them both agree and gives me a sense of confidence that things are going well.

Of course, the proof of the pudding is at the range where the finished ammo is PDA (Pretty Durn Accurate), when I do my part.

Watching my old scale settle for each round never hit my "like" button.

My wife tells me I am a little bit impatient by nature . . .

 

[Harrison]

I have had three of them. One died. Neither of the other two were consistently accurate. I have florescent ceiling lights in my loading room, they affect the scales and their accuracy. Slight changes in temperature affected the accuracy, like AC coming on in summer and heat in winter. Digitals are faster than balance beam, but in my experience not near as consistent. If I was interested in weighing bullets, I would use the digitals. For weighing critical powder charges, I trust my 40 year old Ohaus 1010 scale.

 

[Collo Rosso]

I bought a MTM digital for something like $24 from Midway to get started. Seemed to work just fine setting my powder measure. Not long after that in one of my Armslist deals I picked up a NIB Lyman/Ohaus M5 beam scale. That cheap MTM digital is spot on with the M5. When it starts to drift change the AA battery and it's good to go. I do think having a decent beam scale as a back up and a set of check weights is a good idea though.

 

[Berserker]

I have read that you need to be careful with flourescent lights putting noise on the circuit. Speer says keep them 3' away. But I think it would be more a matter of what else is powered off the circuit breaker.

 

[fredj338]

I completely disagree.

In addition to the 50 gram check weight (which is useless by the way as 50 grams = 771.62 grains and that's waa-aay off the degree of accuracy we need) I have a complete set of Ohaus weights scaled down from 50 grams to 5 milligrams and 5 grains to .5 grain. I have had these weights checked on some of the most accurate lab scales available in a commercial scientific laboratory.

Oh, they're from Dillon.

You are right, the 50gram weight is NOT for checking the scale but for zeroing. Check weights are the only way to know what the scale is doing. Weighing a bullet, really, most will vary 1-2/10gr, even the match bullets. Yuo guys loading on the cheap dig scales, check them for zero often with a check weight, they really are krap for reloading.

 

[TucsonMTB]

You are right, the 50gram weight is NOT for checking the scale but for zeroing.

I'm not sure if you have read the instructions, but both of my cheap, battery operated scales came with a single weight to calibrate the scale. It may read zero when you finish the calibration process, but more is happening than simply zeroing. The range of the circuit and strain gauge sensors that make up the device is set during calibration. That is why the supplied calibration weight is usually equal to the maximum weight the scale will handle. I would be leery of using an electronic scale that did not come with a calibration weight, but even most of the cheap ones do.

Check weights are the only way to know what the scale is doing. Weighing a bullet, really, most will vary 1-2/10gr, even the match bullets. Yuo guys loading on the cheap dig scales, check them for zero often with a check weight, they really are krap for reloading.

It is pretty easy to create your own check weights from a new coin. A dime is 35.0 grains. A nickel is 77.2 grains. A quarter weighs 87.5 grains. I have mine marked with a Sharpie and reuse the same set of coins each time.

I believe those values are also the published weights for these US coins. Whatever the case, my cheapo scales read them consistently from session to session, unless it is time to change the batteries.

What's not to love?

 

[Twoboxer]

This thread is a hoot lol. So here's my opinions to hoot at

- "Beam scales are only used by old farts who haven't come into the digital age. Labs converted to digital years ago."

First off, every one of us who has (used) both beam and digital must have *wanted* digital to work for them, or they would not have purchased one. But the actual in-use experience was unsatisfactory.

One reason labs converted to digital was it minimized operator error. But in any case, labs sure as heck spend more than $30 on them lol - besides paying periodic recalibration costs. To equate these classes of scales to scales <$150 is like saying one can do laser surgery with a laser pointer.

- "Make your own check weights out of (new) coins - a dime is 35.0gr."

Curious, I weighed some quarters, dimes, and pennies I have on a GemPro 250.

Five dimes weighed in at 34.95, 34.70, 35.80, 35.10, 34.70. (Quarters and pennies were worse.) Admittedly, these weren't new (eg, a 1974 penny weighs ~10gr more than it's modern counterparts.). But to believe the government holds tolerances better than a bullet manufacturer is, IMO, questionable

Having said that, IMO it is *very* useful to have an object of stable and known weight that is close to the range you will actually use the scale to weigh.

So if you happen to have that mythical dime that weighs 35.0gr (or any weight actually), keep it clean and handy. If it weighs the same today as it did yesterday, it's a good addition to the calibration procedure using only 20/50/70 gram weights.

- "Digital scale calibrations at 20/50/70 grams are sufficient to prove calibration at (eg) 25gr."

This presumes the response of the load cell is perfectly linear across it's entire range, and/or the scale was calibrated at birth for the individual idiosyncracies of that load cell, and/or the load cell has retained it's characteristics over time.

Sure.

And if you do detect an error at 25.0gr, what do you do about it? With a digital scale you cannot adjust the scale for that error.

- "Is any of this important?"

For most of us, probably not. Repeatability is likely more important than absolute accuracy to +/-0.1gr. But consider that every time you press "tare" or whatever button tells the scale "this is now zero".

The frequent non-repeatability and/or fluttering of our most-purchased digital scales is probably what drove many of us back to beam scales - whether beams are more repeatable or not lol.

 

[chaparrito]

Lee balance, an Ohus lab scale and a cheapie digital. I change the batteries in the digital frequently and zero it out several times during each session and have found that it is faster and very accurate. No drift. It's a Frankford Arsenal or something. I have checked and rechecked it against the other scales and all's good.

 

[thatroolz]

I have a RCBS 505 scale that I have compared to several digital scales and it is right on. Since I am 70 I have plenty of time to watch the beam go up and down.

I still have the RCBS beam scale too. And when I got the digital, I thought to myself... "Self! What took so long to make the jump! So much faster!!! It makes it so simple you will check your pours more often, therefore being more accurate. That is, if you are not already checking each pour individually. I do that with my match rifle loads, but not much more often than every 15 to 20 or so with the range stuff.

 

[KnightTime]

I have both a Lyman beam scale and a digital Frankford Arsenal scale. Even though age is starting to make me more resistant to change, my impatience is becoming even more pronounced!

Both of my scales are very accurate for my purposes and are easily accurate to 0.1 grain (does anyone really require hundredths of a grain accuracy? Maybe some people do?

Since the digital scale is IMHO faster, it's what I use 95% of the time. I place a case on the scale, turn it on, and 3 seconds later the scale is zeroed. I drop the powder in the same exact case, place it on scale and I know the weight in 1 second. The batteries in my scale never seem to die as it turns itself off after a couple of minutes of rest. The Frankford Arsenal DS-750 can be had on sale for about about $30 including shipping. It's nice to have both available but I'm have to lean toward the digital scale being my favorite ... just a personal preference.

Occasionally I'll relive my high school and college chemistry classes and use the balance beam while doing my best Walter White impression ... my wife thinks I'm a little off sometimes. She's probably right.

 

[Berserker]

I have Lyman $60 digital, and it is pretty good. I also have RCBS 505. The digital is nice for getting close when setting up you pourer.

Also for hunting rounds, just to make sure there the charge close, and something funny didn't happen.