Battery powered digital scales

R

Roland Thunder

New member
I have had several digital powder scales. I have always sold them or returned them due to inconsistencies, drifting, etc., and went back to beam scales (RCBS 505). I am thinking about trying it again, only this time I am thinking of getting a cheap, battery powered set. My thinking is that unless I am willing to spend $400+ (which I am not) I may as well get a cheap pair. From what I have read, the one that are $75-$100 are no more accurate than the $25 ones, so why spend the extra money if I'm not willing to get a really good pair.

Any thoughts?
 
You can go with a Lyman 2000

https://www.amazon.com/Lyman-Accu-T...ocphy=9033841&hvtargid=pla-521346524547&psc=1

Nice setup with a built on trickler.

For about $40 more you can get a Powder dispenser, Lyman or Hornady on sale.

My low cost Frankfurt lasted several years, the next one went bad.

The Lyman Gen 6 failed and were replaced under warranty.

Since then it and the Hornady I got latter dispenser have run fine.

No issue with drift off on any of the last 3. The Lyman Gen 6 and the Hornady both check withing 1/10 of each other and often spot on the same.
 
I have battery powdered, I have charger powered and I have two different voltage when it comes to power supplies and then there are those that require the reloader keep them out of the wind. And I have scales that read grams and others that read in grains. And then there is this very disciplined reoader that comes over; he insist we used the 10/10 Ohaus.

F. Guffey
 
I have used the Hornady 1500 scale with a Gem 20 as a backup for checking and verifying the Hornady if I question something about the load....been using this combination for a few years....the Hornady will drift if a fan or air is blowing around, but 3 sides of a small box works to block it.
 
Why suffer from cheap crap made in China. If you don't have the funds right now, start saving some up.

Instant gratification + low budget = bad quality / problems / having to buy the same crap over and over again


https://www.amazon.com/Sartorius-Practum-Analytical-External-Calibration/dp/B00NI4FRUS


Accurate down to 0.001gr, certified, certification included, made in Germany.

While you are at it, the Omega Powder Trickler is a perfect match. I can trickle and measure down to the single kernel.

https://dandyproductsllc.com/products/dandy-2-speed-electric-powder-trickler




DSC00969.jpg
 
The cheap stuff is all that is needed for reloading. Reloading recipes go down to .1 grains. Anything beyond that is unnecessary for the vast majority of reloaders. The only time I've had problems with mine is when the battery gets low and it starts to drift.
 
reddog81 said:
The cheap stuff is all that is needed for reloading. Reloading recipes go down to .1 grains. Anything beyond that is unnecessary for the vast majority of reloaders. The only time I've had problems with mine is when the battery gets low and it starts to drift.
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Even the $300 RCBS Chargemaster is off by up to 0.2gr, all those cheap scales are off by more. And it took me that lab grade balance to find out.

My groups are now much tighter. One variable resulting in inaccuracy less.

But go ahead and buy crap that was made in China, and is based on stolen design elements, all while supporting our largest economic enemy.


Don P said:
I'll keep my Redding Beam and spend the $1,500 on reloading supplies
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Why would that be a A or B decision? How about making a bit more money if that's the issue?


Roland Thunder said:
I have had several digital powder scales. I have always sold them or returned them due to inconsistencies, drifting, etc., and went back to beam scales (RCBS 505). I am thinking about trying it again, only this time I am thinking of getting a cheap, battery powered set. My thinking is that unless I am willing to spend $400+ (which I am not) I may as well get a cheap pair. From what I have read, the one that are $75-$100 are no more accurate than the $25 ones, so why spend the extra money if I'm not willing to get a really good pair.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
So you have always sold those cheap scales or returned them due to inconsistencies and drifting, and now you want to buy an even lower quality product that uses the same technology?

Looks like you are not learning from your mistakes.

If you owned 3 x F-350 trucks in a row and they all had ongoing issues, why would you now buy a F-250 that uses 98% of the same frame / engines / transmission / cab?
 
Meh... all of my reloads are only going to be as consistent as my Hornady powder dispenser. Unless you're going to take the time to measure every single charge on the super expensive scale it's not worth it. I can get under a standard deviation of 10 FPS with my current setup.
 
Smartweigh Gem20 $20 at Amazon , very accurate and very consistent and with a set of Lee dippers and a trickler (I use my fingers) faster than any powder dispenser. I did a full review at Accurate Shooter

Part 1 at http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/cheap-scale-test-part-1-repeatability.3961911/

Part 2 http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/cheap-scale-part-2.3961956/

It's accuracy and precision are well within 2 kernels of Varget and that is much bettter than any RCBS, Redding, Lyman etc that costs 4 or 5 times as much.
 
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The cheap stuff is all that is needed for reloading. Reloading recipes go down to .1 grains. Anything beyond that is unnecessary for the vast majority of reloaders. The only time I've had problems with mine is when the battery gets low and it starts to drift.
Click to expand...

If the reloader was capable of sizing cases to identical dimensions he could start worrying about identical powder weights.

F. Guffey
 
I've always used a pacific powder balance with weights. A year ago I bought a Lyman pocket scale for $24. I make sure it is level, not on my loading bench, and is in the environment (temp garage hot or cold) in which it will be used for at least 3 hrs before use, and checked with my balance weights. I don't dribble, at least not powder on the scale. Haven't had trouble yet.

I only use it to set up and check every 10th powder throw.
 
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I have an old RCBS 1010, a new Redding balance beam and a Hornady cheap electronic. The tenths scale fell off the 1010, Rcbs sent a new one, I stuck it on, bought the electronic in the meanwhile, not trustworthy, it'll change for no apparent reason. Bought check weights to check all 3 cause now I don't trust anything. The electronic is very erratic, the Redding is too light, very easy to bump it. I recalibrated the 1010 and use the check weights to verify. I'd buy a new 1010 if they were still made by Ohaus.
What ever yiou do use the check weights.
 
It's simple. I'm on a fixed income and have no desire to work full time again just to buy some overpriced scale that in the end I'll not be able to feel any difference in my handgun loads. And you have some gonads telling me I should earn more money
 
Don. Take a deep breath. Lot's of people take on part-time additional work if they are saving for a special purchase. I don't read it as a personal dig. But it also misses that not everyone has the same spending priorities, which is what I think you meant originally.

What some are missing regarding the analytical scale is that McCarthy said his groups tightened. It could be his shooting improved because of his greater confidence in the load, or that his load wasn't on a sweet spot to begin with and was more sensitive to small changes than average, but it could also be the more precise weighing. It's worth finding out which it is. The only way I know is for him to load about 30 rounds his old way and 30 the new way and put them in different color boxes and have a friend do the boxing so only the friend knows which box has which set of loads. Put up two targets, fire a few fouling shots and then start going back and forth between the targets, one target always shot with a round from box A and the other always from box B. Cleaning, if done over the course of the shooting, needs to be followed by fouling shots with more spares and only after the same number of rounds are gone from each box. Halfway through the firing, which target is on the left and which is on the right should be swapped to take hold bias out.

This routing ensures both targets are fired under the same conditions with the same changes in light and ambient temperature and each has an equal chance at being good. A sample size of thirty tends to produce a degree of symmetry around the mean of a histogram of the bell curve and eliminates major bias from outliers.

In the past we've had some discussions of volumetric vs. weight dispensing and the fact some shooters with some powders have actually got better results from volumetric dispensing and why that can occur and how change in humidity affects the bulk density of powder and therefore its charge weight and how its packing affects its burn rate. These variables can account for tighter or looser groups, too.
 
I know and regularly shoot with several high master shooters who hold high master shooter classifications.

I know of two who use the $1500 Sartorius scales with autothrows and those things really are amazing to watch work. I also know at least one high master who still uses his 10 year old RCBS Chargemaster. Of the three at least one will shoot a clean target or at least a 199 at any given match. I also know of one shooter that uses the Sartorius auto throw combo who is lucky to break 190 on any given day using his custom built rifle and 5K March scope.

take it for whatever it is worth, but my personal best of 198 was loaded on that $20 Amazon Smartweigh and shot with a Savage home build and $700 dollar scope. I am with Don P, you can't buy wind and mirage reading skills and that's what seperates the high masters from the wannabes
 
Correct. But if all you shoot is 100-yard benhcrest, then the priorities change again. I think there is too much assuming regarding end needs here. Perhaps Roland Thunder can tell us what kind of shooting he is loading for.
 
Well as I said in a earlier post I know at least one high master shooting 800 and 1000 yard F class using a RCBS Chargemaster. His theory is that if a load is developed correctly .1 gn in either direction will not affect the FPS enough to matter in the vertical displacement. I tend to believe him, with my old barrel I had a load that over a .5 range only varied 7 FPS from bottom of the range to the top. I miss that barrel, the new one hates that load

bottom line is you can only buy so much accuracy, the rest you have to earn the hard way
 
There's nothing like watching the little pointer on the beam move as each kernnel is dropped onto the pan, on the electronic scale the numbers change .1 grain at a time.
I use electonic scales to weigh cases and bullets.
I have helped two reloaders this summer who insisted on using electronic scales and had high SD and big groups with expensive rifles. I noticed one doing better and asked him what changes, he said "the scales".
 
I think Houndawg has it most correct.

While not scale related, a guy interviewed something like 12 top grade bench rest shooters.

None of them agreed on all the same things that made a bench rest top grade shooter.

Some thought tight cases were the cats meow , others went with loose.

In the lands, out of the lands. Charge weight vs volume.

After you got done reading it, the take away it was all statistical probability discussion a group of finite elements they agreed on anything.

Don't you think if LaBron James knew why he shot 50 points one night and only 10 the next he would not fine tune that so he always shot 50?

Like why airplanes fly, I have come to the conclus9ion its faith mostly. If everyone on a plane agreed it should not they would crash.
 
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