Scale - Beam or digital?

[killshot44]

Digital. RCBS RangeMaster 750 (.10 Grain) and a Redding trickler and I'm hummin'.

[ireload]

I have a beam scale. I use to have the digital also. That only lasted a year. I got rid of my digital. There were several things that affected it's accuracy. I would like to get the RCBS 10-10 scale when funds are available but for now my RCBS 505 does fine.

I use to have the Dillon Eliminator which is also a good beam scale. Cannot go wrong the either RCBS or Dillon.

Call me ol' fashion but I like the idea of dependability of the beam scale.

[CSACANNONEER]

I've gone through a bunch of balances in the last ten years. I keep going back to my Dillion beam and my Denver Instrument's electronic balance. If you want the best electronic scale, get a DI. If you want a great electronic powder dispensing system, look at the RCBS. But, in any event, always have a beam scale as a back up. Oh yea, you should also use a UPS with an electronic balance.

[gau17]

Digital Scales are great like everyone here mentioned, but there are environmental factors that can throw the accuracy off like static charge, surge in the power lines, or working working near florescent lights. I can always rely on my balance beam for accuracy. It is nice to have both, but if had limited funds I would definitely go with the balance beam first.

I have the RCBS charge master which throws pretty consistent, but don't trust it 100%. I always throw my powder a little low and use the 10-10 with a trickler to get me to my final weight.

[at_liberty]

Oh yea, you should also use a UPS with an electronic balance.

or batteries.

[Ahhnother8]

Looking at the Acculab. But I'm hearing there are all kinds of things that can influence a digital- temp, light, wind etc.,

Yeah, so the accuracy may go from 1/50 grain to 1/25 grain. In truth, the only thing I see affecting accuracy is me moving around. Just don't move as the scale settles, and all is good. They do come with a glass windscreen which surrounds the pan. The Denver and Acculab are accurate to one kernel of Varget. That is, one kernel of Varget = 1/50 grain. Most other scales might be accurate to 1/10 grain. And sorting brass and bullets by weight is extremely fast.

[Hoop]

I have the RCBS charge master which throws pretty consistent, but don't trust it 100%. I always throw my powder a little low and use the 10-10 with a trickler to get me to my final weight.

So you run it through the electronic chargemaster and then trickle up on a beam scale? Seems kind of redundant to me. If they are all within a couple tenths with a slower burning powder I wouldn't worry about it.

[gau17]

So you run it through the electronic chargemaster and then trickle up on a beam scale? Seems kind of redundant to me. If they are all within a couple tenths with a slower burning powder I wouldn't worry about it.

Once in awhile my Chargemaster can be off 1-4 kernels of Varget even with the straw trick (from SnipersHide). That might not matter but when I'm making my match rounds I like to be anal. With the beam I eliminate that factor. Just my process.

[C.G.]

I've gone through a bunch of balances in the last ten years. I keep going back to my Dillion beam and my Denver Instrument's electronic balance. If you want the best electronic scale, get a DI. If you want a great electronic powder dispensing system, look at the RCBS. But, in any event, always have a beam scale as a back up. Oh yea, you should also use a UPS with an electronic balance.

What he said. I use a Chargemaster but have have a RCBS beam scale as a back up.

[C.G.]

Once in awhile my Chargemaster can be off 1-4 kernels of Varget even with the straw trick (from SnipersHide). That might not matter but when I'm making my match rounds I like to be anal. With the beam I eliminate that factor. Just my process.

If that happens (and it does not happen often) I just dump it back in and throw another charge; it does not take that long and the next throw is usually dead on.

[xrMike]

Once in awhile my Chargemaster can be off 1-4 kernels of Varget even with the straw trick (from SnipersHide). That might not matter but when I'm making my match rounds I like to be anal. With the beam I eliminate that factor. Just my process.

Question for ya, as I use TAC, a ball powder, so I don't understand what you said really...

What do you mean, "off by 1-4 kernels"?

What are you doing to come to the conclusion that it's off, or different? Are you counting kernels or something like that (between throws)?

[CSACANNONEER]

or batteries.

Very true. I used to use an expired 9V battery from my company helicopter's ELT with my old Lyman 1500. But, the balance died. I think the battery still has a few years of life left in the battery though.

[gau17]

xrMike - Varget is cylindrical in shape. It dies not meter as well as ball powders. Sometime I find myself having to trickle a few grains (kernels) of Varget to get it balanced. Like someone else also pointed out very rarely but it still happens. That's why I dispense with the chargemaster and trickle the last few grains on the balance scale. Three grains of Varget will make the white lines not level on my scale. Will I see the difference on paper/chrono? Probably not. But why make match rounds if you're not keeping things consistent?

[thefitter]

Thanks for the info guys. The hard part about this is that I have absolutely no experience with this and I'm trying to make perfect decisions on equipment that I will be happy with and not have to replace next year. Yeah I know... good luck!

To be honest I've really been trying not to get into hand loading at all. I don't have enough time to shoot as it is. I thought I was doing OK. I had tried a half dozen different factory loads and it seemed that my bolt liked FGMM 175 the best. Big surprise I know. And I was happy with it's performance and planning on just working on my technique, which needs a lot of work anyway. Then I was given 5 rounds by a fellow shooter 2 weekends ago. He stated that they were his FGMM 175 copies. Sierra bullets in Lapua brass, I can't remember what powder. Well I tried them and DAMN! My group was not even a group it was one frickin hole!! F**K!! So am I going to be happy shooting factory FGMM know knowing what I really could do if I could just learn to hand load myself? No, it will eat at my soul and drive me crazy.

As far as refining my criteria at this time volume is not really an issue but convenience and my lack of patience is. I only shoot about 100 rounds a weekend at this time. So that is what I would need to load in a week. And I'm still wet behind the ears as far as skills. I would like to learn long range tacticl just for fun not business. So that's what I would be loading for in the future.

The Charge Master combo theory looks nice but I have seen a few bad reviews at Midway. Fortunately RCBS seems to have excellent customer service. So do I go that route and get a beam or digital to double check? Not sure. I don't really want 2-3 scales just to verify accuracy. Beam seems pretty straight forward but I could see myself getting impatient and wondering about digital. Then possibly buying one later anyway. Rather make that decision now.

I have found what looks to be an excellent digital, the iBalance 401. It reads in grains (0.05gn) has a wind screen, rechargeable batteries and AC adapter. Also believe it or not it's US made and has a 30 year warranty. Not a typo 30 year warranty!

I'm wondering if a Harrell powder measure and this scale might be a good place to start. This set up would be about $200 more than a Charge Master Combo.

From my reading it seems the real anal guys (me) throw low and then trickle up. Which I imagine slows things down.

Again thanks for all the advice.

[CSACANNONEER]

Seriously, get a Dillon beam scale first. Then, it really depends on what type of reloading you are planning to do and what type of equipment you are going to use. If you are going to set a powder measure and then load 1000s of rounds with it, a beam scale is perfect. Of course, you will check your powder measure occassionally but, that won't take much time.

If you are going to weigh every charge, the RCBS chargemaster combo is awesome. I've checked a couple of them against DIs and they are consistant to .1 gr. and tend to hold thier zero pretty well. But, if you plan on using an electronic ballance, you really need to learn a bit about them first.

They tend to change zero as they heat up. So, it's best to leave them on or let them warm up for 30 minutes or more before using them

Do not use any other electronics within 15 feet. Even a cel phone can throw off their readings.

Use a battey or a UPS to keep the current as even as possible.

NEVER store them with ANYTHING on them. This will ruin a scale quickly. Yes, I speak from experience. It was not a cheap lesson.

Keep you balance level and in the same spot all the time if you want it to be consistant with what you measured during your last session.