Best digital scale on a budget

[stilly]

I see that the frankford goes to +/-1 grain. But only weights upto 750 grains.
Where the Hornady wieghs upto 1500 grains. But goes to +/-2gr.

What is the min amount of grain weight you would want your scale to weigh if loading 9mm and 45acp?

Also is +/-2 terrible? Idk just wondering I don't think I plan on loading near any max loads?

Please keep in mind that I am a noob.

HOWEVER, since I just made a tacticool powder baffle for my Lee powder measure I am moving up in the noobie world...

How precise do you want it to be?

With my RCBS 505 beam scale and prolly most of those beam scales, they seem to be accurate to about .01 grains It would be nice to have a scale that measured even smaller but why? It all depends on how anal you are about being correct. This is reloading and as I have come to find out there is a lot of slop even when people say there aint.

I just finished making 20 more 44 mag loads for tonight to scare the **** outta people at the indoor range-err I mean to test for accuracy. I know the velocity is close to the 1250-1350 range so I wanna see how accurate they are now. I have 15 of AA#7 and 15 of H110 ready to go to the range on the next sunny day and get chronied.

Yeah it took me about a minute to make each one but I weighed it all out on my beam scale. BTW, does anyone even check their beamscale? I tested my SR650 digital scale to it and I had to get three readings because for whatever reason the first two were off right after I tared it out. I got 24.6gr of H110 and then I got 22.8gr then finally I got a 23.3gr load which was what my beam scale told me at first. But now that I think of it I have never checked my 505. I should go do that now though... Think about this, Let's supose your scale is just a complete piece of crap that gives you random readings sometimes and it tels you that you are off by a few tenths of a grain. That could make you over compensate and put in too much powder and go OVER max or it could make you take out powder and give yourself a very weak load. Worse case scenario with too little powder you can what? Squib and if you do not check maybe blow up your gun and maim or kill yourself? Too much powder and you can what? Blow up your gun and maim or kill yourself? Yes that is extreme but it is not unheard of. That guy that wrote or edited the Book of Lee said in there that he once pulled the trigger of a gun when he knew it was overcharged and it shot his car or something because of how he pulled the trigger to test it out. I do not know where this is going so I will stop with the story.

BTW, I want my loads to be within 10 fps of each other. If I can get that or close to that with these loads then I will be very happy. Having a beam scale to check your powder charge can help you to be more consistent also. I find now that I threw three charges in a row that were within .02gr of my target load and I did it with my new tacticool powder baffle.

But of course I am not normal. I am just exploring and seeing how precise I can get the velocities on these things.

OKAY, all tangents aside, to answer your question from a tacticool newbie point of view, The average person might want to be within .1grains. If you want to be better than average and you should be if you are a noobie, then you should try to be within .05grains for your first few loads.

But then again, I am a noob and maybe a more experienced person should answer this question.

[Cowboy T]

A good beam scale is indispensible. It never runs low on battery juice, the design's been around forever and is pretty much perfected, and as an added bonus, since they're mass-based instead of weight-based (physics majors will know the difference), they'll even work correctly on the Moon or Mars! :-)

Unless you go high-dollar, the electronic digital scales drift once the batteries start getting even a little low. Those batteries get expensive after a while, and many of them aren't truly "off" when you turn them off. That means even "off", they drain the batteries.

For measuring powder, the Lee Safety Scale is just fine. Were I to buy a scale nowadays with what I know now (I also cast bullets, thus the need for > 100 grain max measurement), I'd get either the RCBS 502 or the Dillon Eliminator. Both are Ohaus-manufactured units and of high quality for a reasonable price.

[bumpo628]

A Dillon for $70:

I like this one a lot.
I used to have a Lee safety scale and the Dillon is way better.

[G60]

The Dillon is a great scale, and is the same as the RCBS 505, which usually sells for about $20 more. Both made by ohaus, the RCBS just has a different base and grain/oz conversion table.

[biogenic]

Maybe this is not in your budget range but I got an I201 scale in addition to my Pacific beam scale. Best 94.00 Ive spent after trying out the $30.00 range electronic scales...

http://balance.balances.com/scales/1

[roc_my_tims]

i guess if i'm going to get into this hobby i have to bite the bullet, it just sucks that needed scales are anothe $100 almost. I think i will start with the lee for $20 the get one of the others when more $ is avalible.

Cowboy: what about the digital scales that use a ac power cord, would you have to worry about them drifting then? but all those are $60+ minimum.

i'm sorry for all the quetions I think i'm just tired of spending $ and haven't even started to get close to making 1 bullet yet. i'm mentally drained from shopping trying to do it right the first time, and haven't even got into what i need to make the loads ( bullets, primers, powders ) sorry for that rant also.

[XDRoX]

I've read awful things about just about every digital scale under $100. So when I needed one I just bit the bullet and bought the Dillon. Which now I consider a bargain.

What are you loading on and how will you be dispensing powder? Assuming you'll be using some type of powder dispenser and not individually weighing each throw by hand, a beam scale is really all you'll need. You only use the scale to set the dispenser in the beginning and then you're done.

Here's a picture of the Dillon scale on my bench. When I first got it I checked it against my beam scale for like the first 10 times I used it. It was always dead on. It takes batteries or an AC plug. I normally use the plug. I've never experienced drift with it. If it does start to drift Dillon will replace it for half the price.

But remember, I basically use it for about 30 seconds before I reload. All my powder measures have been set for years. I don't change them. I change the tool head, throw some powder and weigh it. It always weighs exact and then I load a few hundred rounds.

[stilly]

i guess if i'm going to get into this hobby i have to bite the bullet, it just sucks that needed scales are anothe $100 almost. I think i will start with the lee for $20 the get one of the others when more $ is avalible.

Cowboy: what about the digital scales that use a ac power cord, would you have to worry about them drifting then? but all those are $60+ minimum.

i'm sorry for all the quetions I think i'm just tired of spending $ and haven't even started to get close to making 1 bullet yet. i'm mentally drained from shopping trying to do it right the first time, and haven't even got into what i need to make the loads ( bullets, primers, powders ) sorry for that rant also.

LoL...

You should see all the questions that I ask...

Think of it as playing "Three Flags Up"... :\

You will be thankful that you got your beam scale. Try to see it as a tool that makes you a better reloader because at any time it will tell you if you are being safe with the amount of powder. Just don't go putting in the bullet farther then the minimum and you should be good.

[roc_my_tims]

Xdrox
Ill be getting the lee turret press with the lee pro powder drop. I'm only loading 2 calibers so I plan to do the same thing u did. Use 1 powder drop per caliber so I don't have to adjust them either.

So ok I'm mentally cool again $20 lee bam scale now. Save $100 or more. digital scale later

[FX-05 Xiuhcoatl]

you get what you pay for, don't buy cheap, if I had to buy a D-scale it will be http://www.midwayusa.com/product/340...c-powder-scale or http://www.midwayusa.com/product/814...acity-110-volt

[XDRoX]

Xdrox
Ill be getting the lee turret press with the lee pro powder drop. I'm only loading 2 calibers so I plan to do the same thing u did. Use 1 powder drop per caliber so I don't have to adjust them either.

So ok I'm mentally cool again $20 lee bam scale now. Save $100 or more. digital scale later

I have a Lee Classic Turret as well. Nice press. Their powder measures work great. Very fast to change over. Just lift off the turret and change. That Lee scale will work. I may make some videos of the turret in action this weekend if I can find the time.

[john16443]

Xdrox
Ill be getting the lee turret press with the lee pro powder drop. I'm only loading 2 calibers so I plan to do the same thing u did. Use 1 powder drop per caliber so I don't have to adjust them either.

So ok I'm mentally cool again $20 lee bam scale now. Save $100 or more. digital scale later

Here's a little trick I did on my Lee scale to make life easier and ensure I was within +/- 0.1 grain without guesswork since they don't have an indicator.

First make sure the thing is properly zero'd and properly centered on the balance point & swings freely. Next set it to 4.0 grains. Trickle ANY powder into the pan until you reach exactly the 4.0 grain point, the scale should now read level. Remove the pan from the scale but do not remove any powder from the pan.

Now carefully reset the scale to 4.1 grains. Reinstall the pan with the 4 grains of powder and slowly add more powder until it again balances at 4.1 grains. Use a marker and make a mark on the indicator above the "zero" line. This has now become your + 0.1 grain mark.

Repeat this by setting the scale to 3.9 grains to make another mark below the zero line. Now you've determined the +/- 0.1 grain boundary on that scale. Once you use it a little, you'll get a feel for where it will settle out when you add the powder, and things will go better. With the Lee Pro, you'll find that it will throw pretty consistent charges.

Another thing to watch for is to make sure the balance arm is centered between the magnets on the indicating (left) end. It needs to swing freely up and down for proper operation.

[stilly]

If your powder pro does not throw consistantly then you should have a look at how to make a tacticool powder baffle for it...

Oh what a coincidence, I just posted that...

[roc_my_tims]

Fx-05
That hornady for $87 doesn't look bad for down the line