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| one of us |
The guy who runs www.realguns.com posted an article saying his experience with the electronic scales hasn't been great. He found them slower than a mechanical scale, and unable to read better than .1 grain. I only use mechanical, so what you from me have is second hand info. | |||
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| <swifter> |
I use both, a Dillon electronic, and an old Pacific balance beam. For $150, go with a GOOD balance beam. I'm on my third Dillon, they keep replacing the damned things when I bust 'em out of frustration... ------------------ | ||
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| <Abe Normal> |
My two cents worth; I too have tried using the electronics (Pact, Dillon and RCBS) and have to agree a good balance beam is the way to go. Unless your loading somewhere that may have a breeze that would affect a beam type scale. It was my observation that the $100 to $150 spent on the electronic scales did not yield a better than + or - .1 grain accuracy. Where as, it seems to me to be a easy matter to hold charge weights to + or - .05 grain, even with a rather budget price beam scale. Were I buying a new scale I'd look closely at the RCBS 10-10. ------------------ If everyone tought like me, I'd be a damn fool to think any differently! | ||
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| one of us |
I do not like balance beam scales. Since I use thrown charges, I use my PACT electronic scale to set my powder measure. | |||
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| <irgnz> |
I use a Lee Balance beam. It's the same size as the Lyman but only goes up to 100 grains. It makes loading to .05 of a grain easy for those real finerky loaders. Problem is I can't check projectile or case weights with this one. ------------------ | ||
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| one of us |
For speed, the electronic scales are best for weighing powder, bullets and brass. Just make sure that you double check the accuracy every so often with a check weight. You have to remember that a digital scale can be affected by your breathing or by a draft in the room. Being picky, I use both, an RCBS 10-10 and an RCBS digital scale. I also use either a Lyman autoflow or Redding BR-30, depending on powder and meter these charges short. Then, while on the scale, top off with a powder trickler. I also compare every 3rd charge between both scales because the RCBS unit gets flakey every now and then. Anyone tried the Lyman electronic unit? | |||
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| <PowderBurns> |
I just bought an RCBS digital. Seems adequate for weighing brass and bullets. Even weighing loads it will be just fine. But I have a 5-0-2 RCBS beam scale. This is super accurate if you can read the witness marks. (Takes some alignment of eye to mark and good eyes.) Any scale should be fine if you take care of it. Keep it clean. I store mine in the packing box and only set it up when in use. A pain in the butt, but it pays in the long-run. If you have a decent environment (NOT like the rear of a garage/shop) you can cover the scale with something like a shoe box. That will keep the dust off. They're delicate, precision instruments. They need to be treated that way. Unless you're shooting very hot powder in small pistol loads -- for bench rest accuracy -- 0.01 gr. is adequate increment for most powder measure. I think variations in bullet weight and brass weight are more significant than variations in powder weight. ------------------ http://www.hotboards.com/plus/plus.mirage?who=powderburns | ||
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| <Lou> |
Wild Bill, I bought a Dillon electronic scale and love it. I looked at RCBS and others and they did not look as well made to me. I have used it a lot (mostly pistol charges) and it is right on the money. I wish I bought it sooner. It really speeds up setting up the powder measure. Everything I've read about reloading says that 0.1g accuracy is fine for reloading, and I have found this to be the case for me. To each his own, but personally, I love my Dillon scale! Of course I kept my RCBS balance beam, just to check against the electronic scale from time to time. | ||
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| <Budweiser> |
Wild Bill I use a balance beam one from Lyman.It is very consistant with the loads. To me if I were loading lots of ammo. I would go with the electronic scale, but I only load for hunting. This is probably the only reason for me not having one. Straight Shooting | ||
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| <Herb D> |
Just like its owner, my Dillon gets flakey once in a while also. It is usually accurate to 0.1gr, sometimes 0.2gr and on occasion 0.3gr. Thus I often double weigh pistol charges of Bullseye to be certain. On large rifle charges I don't think .01 or even .02 makes all that much difference for hunting loads. What I find the most frustrating is what I call the "sticking point" of the scale. By this I mean the number of granules it takes to "go to the next reading". This occurs when using a trickler to bring the charge to full weight. It will often take different amounts of powder to change the reading. Once the scale has reached the desired reading it will be off when I re-weigh. This variation causes me to double or triple weigh some charges. All considered, it is great for non critical measurement. | ||
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| <PowderBurns> |
quote: Hold on . . . That's ONE TENTH grain and NOT "0.01 gr" increment. Late at night. Too many decimal points floating in my head. ------------------ http://www.hotboards.com/plus/plus.mirage?who=powderburns | ||
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| <Herb D> |
We knew that!  | ||
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| <JoeM> |
Hello I use the Hornady balance beam scale. Do not like the electronic scales, my buddy had one and every time the semi's rolled by, the scale would go nutty. On the balance beam scales, when not in use, do not store the beam on the bearing surface, take it off and set it aside. Good advice from the Hornady manual. ------------------ | ||
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| <mark s> |
I have found the Lee Balance Beam scale to provide accurate loads. Yes, it's true it's good for 100 grains, but I don't mind since I reload .243 and .270 Winchester only (I'm not a magnum fan and never will be one). One feature I like is if it falls off the bench and breaks you instantly know it needs to be replaced. The body will not bend, it's either ok or it breaks. Hope this helps. Happy hunting!! | ||
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