so if you where going to load match grade ammo, what kind of scale would use. keep in mind im on a budget of about 300.... accurateshooter.com has a review on a gempro that some BR guys use . but I need to speed up my loading , I don't have a lot of time these days.
- Thread starter savagehunter44
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I have a gem pro 250 that I used to use. It was quite accurate and easy to use. It responds quickly while trickling and is overall a great scale. That being said, I got sick of trickling powder charges in a hurry and switched to a Hornady Lock-N-Load, which I am very pleased with. If you don't mind trickling the gempro 250 is a solid buy, I'd still be using it if I wasn't so lazy.
I like the Gem Pro 250. It's not fast, but I get very consistent loads. I think the rule of thumb is, Pick two: Good, Cheap, Fast.
I use the 250..works great...I load 1 @ a time anyway..weighs individual kernals of varget...
Hey thanks that looks really neat I'm going to investigate it for my new reloading bench project.... I suppose then you are satisfied with the system?
Chris
Gempro 250 is great for weighing bullets and cases as someone mentioned above, but too slow for me with powder. It's probably great for the BR guys, but for my purposes, the RCBS Chargemaster 1500 combo unit works great and is what I would go with if I was outfitting again. There's a couple of mods to speed things up and improve consistency you can find with a quick search. I've compared weights between the 2 units for verification purposes and they both delivered near identical measures.
+1 on gem pro....
I bought a gempro 250. It's approx 5x more sensitive than a chargemaster combo.
For 150$ its cheap insurance weighed against all the money spent for other equipment and competition fees.
It was recommended to me by another local shooter who does very well consistently.
For 150$ its cheap insurance weighed against all the money spent for other equipment and competition fees.
It was recommended to me by another local shooter who does very well consistently.
hay diver , what kinda scale set up is that you have ? never seem that be4, how does it work....looks pretty fast
and what kinda work does this scott parker guy do?
Diver, thank you for the pics and the info...i trust you know much more about weigh scales than i will ever know....but:
My experience over many days of load testing, my "tuned" balance gives me worse ES & SD and groups than my gempro, which stinks because the balance with omega autotrickler is much faster.
My experience over many days of load testing, my "tuned" balance gives me worse ES & SD and groups than my gempro, which stinks because the balance with omega autotrickler is much faster.
Youve got a bad one. The first one I got would do the same thing. Sent the it back and got another and after a couple days it'll drift a grain either way.
More zeroes mean more resolution, though only if the scales consistent.
Your right. 1/10 or two of a grain doesnt make a crap closer in. But I only load 1 round for my comp guns.
I don't have a short range and long range load. There's no time for that.
This game is all about consistency and you can't tell me that having a more exact powder charge won't make things more
Consistent.
Whether or not you can shoot the difference is irrelevant.
More zeroes mean more resolution, though only if the scales consistent.
Your right. 1/10 or two of a grain doesnt make a crap closer in. But I only load 1 round for my comp guns.
I don't have a short range and long range load. There's no time for that.
This game is all about consistency and you can't tell me that having a more exact powder charge won't make things more
Consistent.
Whether or not you can shoot the difference is irrelevant.
I've been comparing data with my magnetospeed which i trust is not affected by the elements as much as a typical chrony. Not to mention when a round goes low or high in a 300yd group and the chrono says 2780 or 2840 versus typical 2810fps, i tend to believe the correlation.
Apples to apples, my gempro varies less than my "amazing" tuned balance. Fwiw this has been verified at 960 & 1075 yds
Apples to apples, my gempro varies less than my "amazing" tuned balance. Fwiw this has been verified at 960 & 1075 yds
POI moves up but groups at 300 don't seemed affected as long as the chrono doesn't shift.
I usually weigh on balance then check on gempro, marking rounds as they disagree although recent tests have been solely weighed on gempro.
I usually weigh on balance then check on gempro, marking rounds as they disagree although recent tests have been solely weighed on gempro.
I love this conversation. It comes up often and the results are always the same.
I have 4 digital scales/balances: a SmartReloader cheapo, a Chargemaster, a GemPro 250, and a A&D 120fxi. All of them drift. All of them. I know this because I have spent countless hours in front of all of them.
The SmartReloader is good some of the time, but can have wild swings and I view it as dangerous for working around max loads.
The Chargemaster is fine for most people. You don't "need" any more accuracy than it provides. I would bet that very few mechanical reloading scales would do better than in in the consistency department. However, it will not stay within 0.3gr no matter what the display says. It will float to its load and float to zero and will not tell you that it is doing it.
The GemPro is the next step up in accuracy. It will stay within 0.15gr most of the time. Depending on the weather, it can do quite a bit better than that. A tenth will be virtually unrecognizable at distance compared to the environment, so I view this scale as the most scale anybody "needs". It can be slow to work with as you really need to wait for it to settle and it may disregard single kernals of powder that it is programmed to think is just noise. It will vary and drift. If you are using on, you need to check it often. I recommend this scale often and I always recommend getting a certified mass to go along with it. It costs $50 and it allows you to quickly check the balance. I check every 15 loads or so.
The next step up is the A&D. Same resolution as the Gempro, but much more stability and the ability to change the settings to "tune" the balance to your loading system. I run mine with as fast a refresh rate as it will run with a minimal return to zero. Basically I can move it with a breath from across the room, but it will find and sit at zero. I still check it often, but it rarely moves. It will sit for weeks and not move off of zero and the check weights will hit the right numbers every time. I view this scale as +/- .03 gr.
A mechanical scale can probably be as accurate as the higher end electrics, but it will never be as fast unless it is specialty built. I always recommend the Gempro when someone asks me what they should get because it is BY FAR the most bang for the buck in terms of speed and accuracy.
I have 4 digital scales/balances: a SmartReloader cheapo, a Chargemaster, a GemPro 250, and a A&D 120fxi. All of them drift. All of them. I know this because I have spent countless hours in front of all of them.
The SmartReloader is good some of the time, but can have wild swings and I view it as dangerous for working around max loads.
The Chargemaster is fine for most people. You don't "need" any more accuracy than it provides. I would bet that very few mechanical reloading scales would do better than in in the consistency department. However, it will not stay within 0.3gr no matter what the display says. It will float to its load and float to zero and will not tell you that it is doing it.
The GemPro is the next step up in accuracy. It will stay within 0.15gr most of the time. Depending on the weather, it can do quite a bit better than that. A tenth will be virtually unrecognizable at distance compared to the environment, so I view this scale as the most scale anybody "needs". It can be slow to work with as you really need to wait for it to settle and it may disregard single kernals of powder that it is programmed to think is just noise. It will vary and drift. If you are using on, you need to check it often. I recommend this scale often and I always recommend getting a certified mass to go along with it. It costs $50 and it allows you to quickly check the balance. I check every 15 loads or so.
The next step up is the A&D. Same resolution as the Gempro, but much more stability and the ability to change the settings to "tune" the balance to your loading system. I run mine with as fast a refresh rate as it will run with a minimal return to zero. Basically I can move it with a breath from across the room, but it will find and sit at zero. I still check it often, but it rarely moves. It will sit for weeks and not move off of zero and the check weights will hit the right numbers every time. I view this scale as +/- .03 gr.
A mechanical scale can probably be as accurate as the higher end electrics, but it will never be as fast unless it is specialty built. I always recommend the Gempro when someone asks me what they should get because it is BY FAR the most bang for the buck in terms of speed and accuracy.
well I was tolt by some BR shoters that thay go for case fill vol than worrying about .2 of a grain . most say thay are going with or almost compressed loads . and that with high case fill vol you or thegun wont know .2 of a grain.... any comments
Buy a Prometheus accurate to one hundredth of a grain load a rd every 10 seconds!
People around here don't like when we Gen 2 users posts stuff about a truely superior mouse trap, they can comprehend that a 3k scope is better in everyway than a Walmart Tasco, but try to make them understand that a hand made balance beam with a electronic trickling system is a better scale than any of the consumer grade electronic scale is fruitless.
Where does the RCBS 505 scale fit into this mess? I'm a new reloader and it came with my kit along with the uniflow powder measure. I've looked in the for sale sections and it looks like I could get close to $150 for the scale and powder measure since they're unused, which would get me half way to a Chargemaster 1500. Would my basic RCBS Uniflow powder measure and 505 beam scale be more consistent if I don't mind taking the time to get every measure dead nuts on the beam scale?
I'm willing to spend the time if it's more precise, just don't wanna spend the time if the CM1500 is actually more precise since my RCBS 505 isn't a "tuned" beam scale.
I'm willing to spend the time if it's more precise, just don't wanna spend the time if the CM1500 is actually more precise since my RCBS 505 isn't a "tuned" beam scale.
