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JTReloader

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Hello everyone,
Here's the deal, I'm very particular (OCD) about my charges being as perfect as they can be. Being an a new relapsed I'm always taking caution very seriously and making sure my charges are spot on. Currently I have the basic RCBS balance beam scale and for as much as I use it I'm tempted to purchase an electronic one. Here's my question, there are three marks, the center being the "dead on" mark if you will. What is the variance between the center mark and the top and bottom? I am always leaning over to get a perfect horizontal view, then watch the middle marks to make sure they are lined perfectly and hope that the beams mark lines up with them. Sometimes it's just right above the center mark, or right below. My question is what is the range between the marks and do I really need to be this particular about it? Which leads me to my next question. Being in constantly hunched over to read my scale and taking so much time to do so, would you recommend going with an electronic scale for times where I know I'll be using a scale, A LOT?
 
I have the same problem and same concerns with my rcbs balance beam scale. I think I remeber reading that the difference between the center mark and either the top or bottom mark is very little. I want to say something like 1/10th of a grain but Im just not certain. Hopefully someone else will chime in and let us know.
 
I'm guessing the marks represent .1 grain. You didn't mention which RCBS scale you have, but the marks on my 505 are .1 grain. Raise your scale to (or near) eye level for easy reading. I made a small table 10"x18" that stands about 12"-14" high. This makes reading the scale much easier. I also attached my powder measure to this table so my powder dispensing/weighing is all in one small area (I also set a 20 lb lead ingot on the table when I'm using it to keep any wobbling/moving down to a minimum).
 
I keep my 5-10 RCBS scale off the reloading area so any vibrations from the reloading do not affect the scale setting.
 
Sometimes it's just right above the center mark, or right below. My question is what is the range between the marks and do I really need to be this particular about it? Which leads me to my next question. Being in constantly hunched over to read my scale and taking so much time to do so, would you recommend going with an electronic scale for times where I know I'll be using a scale, A LOT?
Click to expand...
Redding has a scale with the reading at the pointer tip of the beam in +/-.5 grains here's the link,http://www.redding-reloading.com/images/stories/2017Pressinfo/2017_Redding_Catalog.pdf
page 26 is the scale
 
I also was like you and used an RCBS 505 beam scale to weigh every charge to perfection. Talk about a long drawn out process. It became too much and took away from the enjoyment I got out of loading. I ended up getting the RCBS Chargemaster 1500 and haven't looked back. I still use the 505 to verify the chargemaster is throwing correctly - at the beginning and then maybe every 20-30 rounds or so. An electronic powder dispenser was life changing and well worth what they cost!


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I also use my RCBS 505 to double check my electronic scales.

For what it is worth the bench rest crowd uses old school drum style powder measures such as the Harrel for even the extruded powders. Our resident BR shooters at my club insist that .1 grain one way or the other is moot. After reading this article I am not near as OCD about .1 grain differences as I used to be, but am not ready to ditch my RCBS 1500 which can measure powder for my rifles as fast as I can stuff bullets in them. For pistols and spherical powder a 25 dollar Lee drum throw can't be beat

http://www.realguns.com/Commentary/comar63.htm
 
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I use a Gempro 250 and double check every 5th charge with a RCBS 5 10. Works very well and fairly quickly.

+1 for keeping a scale on a separate, level, vibration free surface. Makes a world of difference with my 2 scales.
 
I have an electronic Hornady GS-1500 scale that is accurate to 1/10 or 2/10 of a grain depending on the source. I find it to be more accurate when the batteries are fresher. I will use it to verify my 550b is dropping almost the right amount.

I also have an Ohaus triple beam that is graduated in milligrams that is accurate but I need to do the milligram to grain conversion. I use the Ohaus for working up new loads and rifle loads that I process on the single stage press. I will also verify the GS-1200 with the Ohaus every once in a while.
 
I'm a bench rest shooter 308 cal. Been reloading for 30+ years , I use the RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 measures up to a 10th of a grain, I also use the GemPro 250 measure's up to 100th of a grain, very accurate little scale . I dump the loads from the 1500 into the 250 to get to exact as possible. The 1500 fluctuates the GemPro is right on.
 
Hello everyone,
Here's the deal, I'm very particular (OCD) about my charges being as perfect as they can be. Being an a new relapsed I'm always taking caution very seriously and making sure my charges are spot on. Currently I have the basic RCBS balance beam scale and for as much as I use it I'm tempted to purchase an electronic one. Here's my question, there are three marks, the center being the "dead on" mark if you will. What is the variance between the center mark and the top and bottom? I am always leaning over to get a perfect horizontal view, then watch the middle marks to make sure they are lined perfectly and hope that the beams mark lines up with them. Sometimes it's just right above the center mark, or right below. My question is what is the range between the marks and do I really need to be this particular about it? Which leads me to my next question. Being in constantly hunched over to read my scale and taking so much time to do so, would you recommend going with an electronic scale for times where I know I'll be using a scale, A LOT?
Click to expand...

When using a balance beam scale rather than work at being a contortionist of sorts many a hand loader have just placed a USB Camera on their scale and connect to a cheap tablet when loading. I have seen cameras out there for about $20 which work just fine. Using a search function you may find a few examples in these forums.

As to the beam pointer and the dial plate any graduations should be mentioned in the scales instruction manual. Anyone who is OCD about their charge weights should have a decent quality set of check weights. Try a few and note the deflection. My old Lyman M5 (Made by Ohas) has 0.1 grain graduations for a total of +/- 0.5 grain if I recall correctly. Even if you choose the digital route a good set of check weights is an indispensable tool. Then too, for the not quite OCD types +/- 0.2 grain is just fine. :)

Ron
 
I have the same issue with the height of my scale too. My load bench is the prefect height for everything except viewing the scale straight on. But I fixed the issue by, uuh, -eh-hem- "borrowing" my granddaughter's little chair from her drawing table. Puts my butt about 10" off the ground and my eyes right in alignment with the scale beam. Fortunately, she's fine with her chair out by my load bench :).

JTReloader: My best advice is to get used to trusting your powder drops so you don't have to spend so much time with the scale. I don't really know you have a scale dilemma per se`. I'm a pretty OCD guy myself. But once I get my powder hopper adjustment set, I trust it.
 
I use a RCBS Chargemaster for most of my rifle rounds that I load on my single stage press. Have the GemPro 250 if I need to get super accurate. For volume, I just pull the handle on my Dillon 650 and don't worry about it.
 
I've also got the RCBS mechanical, balance beam scale and I measure my ELD rounds to the very powder grain. I usually dump in 95% of the powder with the Powder Measure and then I finish with the scale and manual trickler. This is meticulous and time consuming, but at least I know that each round is absolutely spot on. Some times I even add and subtract with a pair of tweezers.

I have not moved to digital with dispenser, but am so intrigued because of the time that could be saved.

This is a super, great article comparing a couple of machines.....

http://www.6mmbr.com/powderdispensers01.html

From the article:

What, then, is the net benefit of using the ChargeMaster? Well, you may be surprised--we can basically produce equal-quality ammo in less than half the time. Here's how that works:

100 Rounds Manually Weighed: 51 seconds x 100 = 5100 seconds = 85 minutes

100 Rounds ChargeMaster Weighed: 21 seconds x 100 = 2100 seconds = 35 minutes
.......
 
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I don't bother with the beam at all anymore.

Each time you pull your powder pan off the scale, it tells you what the scale is reading.

You just make sure you weight the pan after a zero and you have a zero check each time you run a powder charge.

Scale do drift, you just zero the pan again, check what it says.

If not spot on, then run the calibration.

2/10 power variation makes no difference to a load, even for a bench rest type.

As the dispensers hold it to the tenth, no need for a finer reading.

Far more variation in other factors.
 
What difference could it make how much difference there is between the middle mark and the top and bottom mark> it make's no difference at all! Someone said they measure to the tenth of a grain, guess what, I have never seem a scale of any kind that wasn't claimed accurate to +/- 1/10 th grain. That includes electronic scales too! Here's an idea for you. Balance the scale empty then set the scale for 1/10 th grain to see where it falls. Want to know where the scale would be if it was one grain low? Same exercise. But it really isn't worth the time to find out. Set the scale to weight out what you want then fill it with enough powder to leave you a bit light and trickle in the rest!
 
+ or - a .1 grain is no big deal for any load, even for benchrest shooters.

For example, my brother is even more OCD than me and we were working on loads for a .300 Win Mag. He was worried that I was throwing powder charges that were 76 grains plus or minus .1 grain. I literally had to break out a calculator, and show him that the light loads were less than 1% off the heavy ones.

Most scales are more than accurate enough for reloaders, as long as they maintain a zero.
 
Spot on!

I think this gets into human psychology.

We hate the uncontrollable. So if we can control something, we control it to the max, even if there is no return.

It makes us feel better as there are all those other pesky variable out there.

Me? These days the biggest one is my finger and the trigger.

When I get on, I can shoot sub 1/2 inch, when I drift off, only sub 3/4.

I have found that after a days shooting I start to get twitchy trying to catch the target spot, my take is its time to break out the 22 and have a time out!
 
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