Digital Reloading Scales DON'T change when you trickle

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garyjackso

New member
WHERE can I get a Digital reloading scale that will CHANGE from the addition of just a few granules of powder? My RCBS Beam Scale will react granule by granule.....but my Cabela's Digital ($75)....just sits there. I have to tap it, then, ZING......the weight changes much too much.

WHO MAKES A DIGITAL SCALE AS SENSITIVE AS A BEAM SCALE??
 
Try removing the pan from the scale BEFORE you trickle.

I do this on my Frankfort Arsenal digital. Trickle a grain or so then put the pan back. Seems to work just fine
 
Trickling a Digital Scale

Thanks for your reply, JRobin.......See now, that is the Time Waster........you are saying: remove, GUESS and Add, reweight, REPEAT. Imagine doing that for 100 rounds of match grade 308. A beam scale REACTS...granule by granule. WHY CAN'T A DIGITAL DO THAT??
 
There's a reason for that.

garyjackso said:
WHERE can I get a Digital reloading scale that will CHANGE from the addition of just a few granules of powder? My RCBS Beam Scale will react granule by granule.....but my Cabela's Digital ($75)....just sits there. I have to tap it, then, ZING......the weight changes much too much.
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Nobody I know of.

The benefit you gain for the loss of the flexibility of the gravity-powered beam scale is that the digital scales re-zero themselves with every read.

So, it should be obvious that continuous reading is not in the cards for most digital scales. They always start from zero (and re-zero the tare, or starting weight).

It is not impossible to build an electronic scale that would continuously re-read the weight in the pan without having to re-zero the tare, but I know of no manufacturer who offers that in a standalone scale.

Having said that, There are scales/dispensers that do exactly that. But I am not sure you can get the scale without the dispenser. Check out the RCBS Chargemaster. The dispenser portion trickles up to the desired charge weight, then stops.

Come to thing of it, the "bring the charge up to desired weight" electronic scale option is such an obvious no-brainer that I have to reconsider my first line. There has GOT to be at least one manufacturer that offers what you are looking for.

Good Luck.

Lost Sheep
 
I have one from Brian Enos, it's actually a jeweler's scale and it "locks up" as well. It reads out to two decimal places so when I get close, I trickle a little, pick up the pan, and rescale. There's a learning curve and yes, it is a pain in the ass but I am at the point where I can questimate the shortfall once it locks up. I never have to re-zero though. Once I dump the charge into the case and put the pan back on the scale, it always goes back to zero. Confirmed charges on a backup digital as well as a beam. Sucker is right on all the time.
I did a bit of research and it seems there is a huge jump from $100 dollar scales to the kind of scale that will read out as you go. They run in the thousands and are lab quality instruments.
If you find one, please let me know. I'm getting used to this scale but it does get old after a while.
 
The gem pro 250 sticks and does not work well for trickling unless you touch the pan after every trickle which is a total pain. Your going to have to spend the big bucks for what your looking for.
 
The gem pro 250 sticks and does not work well for trickling unless you touch the pan after every trickle which is a total pain. Your going to have to spend the big bucks for what your looking for.
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This^^^^

Here's one that you could probably check into.

http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-...-scale-review/
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This is the same scale I have. It will NOT adjust readout kernel by kernel without lifting the pan slightly to rescale. Still though, it's an accurate scale that reads out to 5/100. Once you get within that range, you'll get a feel of how much to trickle to get to the next tenth of a grain. It's faster than a beam which I now use to verify the digital. A set of calibration weights in grains is mandatory.
 
It may just be a function of how rapidly the scale updates.
My PACT will read to tiny changes in dribbled powder, but it doesn't immediately update I need to wait a second for the next read cycle to see any change.
 
Similar to what Wogpotter says, my RCBS Rangemaster 750 will tick up in 0.1 grain increments but also needs a second to update.
 
It may just be a function of how rapidly the scale updates.
My PACT will read to tiny changes in dribbled powder, but it doesn't immediately update I need to wait a second for the next read cycle to see any change.
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Sounds like a good scale. Are you happy with it? I notice the resolution is only a 1/10 gn, the GemPro goes to .05. Maybe someone posted a YT vid before I buy this bad boy.
The GemPro I have will not update small changes (.05gn), even after waiting 15+ seconds. Once "locked", it won't register a change unless it's over .5 gns, and I have to lift the pan and reset. Most times I'm only chasing .05 to .1 gns, by the time it "feels" it, like the OP said, it's way over desired charge.
Looks like I might be spending another $130........cost of fun.
 
I've got a Frankfort Arsenal digi that like most has trouble resolving small additions of powder.
Honestly using my old RCBS 5-0-2 is plenty quick.
All you're looking for is for the needle to hit the -0- line, and so I throw a charge with my LPPM into a medicine cup then dump that in the pan of the beam scale. The trickler is positioned over the pan and one figures out fairly fast how many little twists of the trickler you need based on how low the needle is.
Wouldn't load up plinking rounds for my AR like this, but doing up to a hundred at a time for my bolt guns only takes a bit over an hour. YMMV
 
I think it's a waste of time to get powder charge weight spreads exact.

A 3/10ths grain spread is small enough for 100 to 200 yards, 2/10ths for 200 to 500 yards, and 1/10th grain spread for greater ranges. Any smaller spreads are masked by how one holds the rifle, case neck grip variables, primer variances and that of the powder chemistry variances.

Sierra Bullets meters charges into cases to test their stuff for accuracy. A 3/10ths grain spread is normal and it produces 1/4 MOA accuracy with their best match bullets in their 200 yard test range.
 
I'm very happy with it. It never "locks" but seems to monitor in the background.

My only complaint is the "auto off" which has an annoying habit of sleeping right when I need it. It will keep running as long as its detected a weight change in the last 15 minutes so I just "jiggle the handle" every now & then to keep it awake.

It may seem bad to only go to .1 gr but I've loaded with variations in the SD of 10~12 FPS so I don't fret it.
 
I think it's a waste of time to get powder charge weight spreads exact.

A 3/10ths grain spread is small enough for 100 to 200 yards, 2/10ths for 200 to 500 yards, and 1/10th grain spread for greater ranges. Any smaller spreads are masked by how one holds the rifle, case neck grip variables, primer variances and that of the powder chemistry variances.

Sierra Bullets meters charges into cases to test their stuff for accuracy. A 3/10ths grain spread is normal and it produces 1/4 MOA accuracy with their best match bullets in their 200 yard test range.
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I was wondering about this very thing. I got flamed for asking about a similar thing on another thread. I know my progressive will spread 3/10th's with certain powders, (rarely over my setting, always below). I'm glad I don't have to worry about such a small variance as long as I'm above min, and below max. I guess for workups, it doesn't hurt to get the charge on the nose, but on my progressive, it's almost impossible to get less than a 3/10's variance with some powders.
 
I have a Cabela's. Hate it. I have a Dillon, pretty good with a short delay at times but when dialing in .1 or .2 you can pretty much tell by the drop. My old Dillon from 1990 took a dump, I got a new one at cost. I might have got it for free but I pretty much insisted it worked when I packed it and it had to be me.
 
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