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So hard to find reliable electronic scales.

E

Elitespotter

Private
Minuteman
Feb 26, 2013
2
0
No matter what scales (electronic here folks) I look at there always seems to be a lot of people saying (amongst all the glowing reviews) that the scale is crap. Wont hold its zero, stopped working after a few months, even the replacement one broke etc. And Im not talking about el cheapo walmart scales here either. So can someone help me out. Im new to all this so please bare with me.

Im on a budget of probably $250. Im not looking for scales from NASA or something. You know Im not looking for crazy mad precision (I wont say no either). I just want a set of scales that work. And that everybody can agree work. In other words a set of scales that are almost absolutely guaranteed to work when I get them, and still be working in 4 or 5 years time (probably load 400 rounds a year).
 
It's still hard to beat a RCBS 10-10 scale. Yes, there's going to be those who say it's made in Mexico, big fucking deal, if it was that bad RCBS wouldn't sell it.
A chargemaster for under 300.00 from Natchez will work also, just buy check weights.

Anything under the sun can be ctriticized, but is it really that bad?
 
gempro250-closed.jpg


GemPro 250?

My Weigh GemPro 250

Chris
 
I just don't get the whole issue with people having problems with electronic scales.... my rcbs chargemaster kicks ass.
 
milo 2.0 said:
It's still hard to beat a RCBS 10-10 scale. Yes, there's going to be those who say it's made in Mexico, big fucking deal, if it was that bad RCBS wouldn't sell it.
A chargemaster for under 300.00 from Natchez will work also, just buy check weights.

Anything under the sun can be ctriticized, but is it really that bad?
Click to expand...

Wow that RCBS 10-10 is quite the scale alright. I never even heard of it before but reading the reviews Im starting to second guess about going digital. If I could get a digital scales with those kinda reviews Id be sold.

I have a lyman pro 500 at the minute. From the week I got it I was having problems and then last week the pivot in the middle of the beam fell out. I swore my next scale would be a quality digital one.
 
Beam scales are best for durability and accuracy for the price, I have been using the same one for 30-years
 
So, I don't own anything in electronic scales more than the $20 Frankford Arsenal scale or my bathroom scale, I do fancy the high end stuff. I use an RCBS 502 balance scale mostly.

I am sure there are many scientists or lab techs on this forum that actually have need for and use the lab quality stuff, but I'm guessing the vast majority are not. And since most are not, I bet a lot of decent scales probably get abused or are not well enough understood and get a bad review. This is just my theory.

But here are some fun ones to consider!

Sartorius Microbalance ME5 Balance - Precision Weighing Balances

That one, at 1 microgram (as in 0.000001 grams = 1 x 10^-6 grams) or 0.000015 grains (15 x 10^-6 grains) , is more than even the most zealous reloader could ever utilize!

A grain of sand is around 350ng or 0.35 micrograms or 5-6 x 10^-6 grains.

Supposedly a single kernel of varget is about 0.02 grains according to these guys (weight of one kernal of powder).

Supposedly a fingerprint weighs 50 micrograms, or 0.00077 grains


So more realistically, this one Acculab VIC-123 milligram digital scale Balance - Precision Weighing Balances or this one Sartorius AY-123 milligram digital scale Balance - Precision Weighing Balances should do well enough. For the $200-$300 price range. 0.001g or 0.015 grains is more than good enough for a reloader. Even at this level of accuracy, fingerprints, floor vibrations, and air movement would alter the data a little.

Some reloaders I hear use this, Sartorius GD503 Class II Balance Balance - Precision Weighing Balances
which is $1,400 and 0.0001g or 0.0015 grains accurate (or 2 fingerprints worth!) That is a little bit much I think.

At this level of measurement, it would be important not to loose sight of the fact that measuring mass, does not necessarily equivocate to identical measurements of chemical potential energy. As in, who is to say 40.000 grains of varget from the top of the bottle has the same exact joules of energy of 40.000 grains of varget from the bottom of the bottle? I can't even guess as to how close they are, I wouldn't know if they are 97% identical or 99.9% identical, but I'd venture to say they are not 100%.

I think I've gone beyond splitting hairs here!
 
I have the Hornady powder dispenser/scale combo, it sucks. I use it to get close then go to my Redding Balance scale for accuracy. I have tried everything to make this POS work. It is always over or under, never right on. I would never buy one again.
 
I've got the old style Dillon D-Terminator I bought in 1998, and it's been perfect. I don't know about the new version. I start each and every charging session with a check weight to insure I'm spot on.
 
"I just want a set of scales that work. And that everybody can agree work."

It's a scale, not a set, but good luck with finding what you hope for. Everybody understandably loves their digital ... until it takes a dump. A few lucky folk get one that lasts several years before crashing. Some people win a huge lottery too but that's not the norm.

My old Lyman/Ohaus beam is still as sensitive and accurate as it was in '65 and it's ready to go that much longer; that's NOT unusual, it's quite common with beam scales. But that's not what you're asking, is it??

Milo, anyone thinking RCBS doesn't market as much poorly designed junk as any other maker hasn't been keeping up, they've had quite a few market flops over the years.
 
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I have a RCBS Chargemaster from Natchez ($289....btw spend the extra $11 on anything RCBS and get 100 free bullets) and an RCBS 10-10 and they're both as accurate as the other. Just like milo 2.0 mentioned who gives a shit if its assembled in Mexico. Mine says assembled in China but it was manufactured in New Jersey. The tolerances are spot on. If you really want to go the extra mile for accuracy buy a scale from Scott Parker. He sells the Ohaus 5-0-5 that he tunes himself to be able to detect a grain +/- and they're $175.

People tend to only post negative shit on websites and never seem to find the time to give positive reviews so don't worry too much about everything.
 
That's good to hear a out the RCBS unit. I'm currently using the old school scale that came with my Rockchucker setup and am looking at moving to a digital powder dispenser.
 
I use the hornady pocket scale that's like 40$ and it works great! No problems at all and it comes with the calibration weight.
 
Fuzzball said:
Milo, anyone thinking RCBS doesn't market as much poorly designed junk as any other maker hasn't been keeping up, they've had quite a few market flops over the years.
Click to expand...

Fuzz,
I guess I have to agree with you on that, and it's not like I'm sponsered by them or anything. It's just the Mexican made scales are getting bashed hard, I've yet to see honest proof they suck that bad. I mean fuck, even Mexican's are still buying them to at least weigh drugs.
 
jcwallace84 said:
So more realistically, this one Acculab VIC-123 milligram digital scale Balance - Precision Weighing Balances or this one Sartorius AY-123 milligram digital scale Balance - Precision Weighing Balances should do well enough. For the $200-$300 price range. 0.001g or 0.015 grains is more than good enough for a reloader. Even at this level of accuracy, fingerprints, floor vibrations, and air movement would alter the data a little.
Click to expand...

Both of these scales are discontinued. I have a Denver Instruments scale, which is what both of these were originally. It's annoying that it's constantly drifting. I have an RCBS Chargemaster and I haven't had to rezero it since I bought it.
 
I've had an RCBS 505 for about 16 years, a PACT scale/dispenser I bought in 2005 and started using in 2009 or so, and a Gem Pro I bought a couple of months ago. The 505 has always worked well; the PACT scale has always been within .1 grain of the 505 when dispensing a load and comparing it on the 505. After getting a set of check weights I'll say they weigh the same. I haven't used the Gempro other than to check weigh a handful of my last batch. I know a few shooters who use a Gempro for all their long range loads (F Class).
 
I've been using the older version of the Dillon D Terminator electronic scale for many years and it has worked very well. No reason to change to something else. I do have a RCBS 5-10 beam scale to occasionally check. The Dillon scale is within .01 of the beam scale. Along with the 700 grain check weight that came with the scale, I have a .35 cal. 250 grain Barnes bullet that weighs exactly 250 grains. I keep it next to the digital scale and often re-check. The Dillon digital scale has been very reliable.

It makes fast work out of weighing cases and bullets along with powder charges.
 
Having owned a couple good-quality electronic scales, I went back to my RCBS 10-10. But I use a Harrell's powder measure and throw all my charges once I get it dialed-in.
 
I've been liking my GemPro 250 as well. The only thing I notice is that it is a little slow on registering that last 1-2 kernels, which means I sometime trickle over. It is such a small mass (~0.02gr for Varget), that I think its kind of at the bleeding edge for the scale to pick up when trickling.
My little trick is to just trickle where I need to be, then remove the pan and replace...letting the scale make an entire measurement. This seems to catch (and show) any errors either caused by me or the scale resolution. Seems to work pretty well.
 
Diver160651 said:
Most Digital scales can weigh accurately, but do to most internal software to keep them stable and less subject to "drift" trickling can be misleading. Something like a powder drop, shell casing or bullet isn't effected the same way as a slow, slow grain by grain tickle.

Some $1,400+ scales actually use a different type of internal that is less subject to that anomaly.


Jt

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...

I have both 503 and have a weight check set. My new Chargemaster has never drifted more than a tenth of a grain...The older ones were not this good.
I did not really like my Drever/Acculab 123.
 
+1 for Denver instrument. But they are a little hefty in price
 
Joe Kidd said:
I've got the old style Dillon D-Terminator I bought in 1998, and it's been perfect. I don't know about the new version. I start each and every charging session with a check weight to insure I'm spot on.
Click to expand...

new version is garbage!!
 
I have nothing but good to say about my GemPro. I've been using it for more than 2 years, great product.
 
Iamironman said:
This is the one that I have, and it's constantly drifting. I'll weight maybe 10 charges, then it will be off by .4-.8 so I'll rezero it.
Click to expand...

I bought a couple of line noise filters from Radio Shack and use Static-Guard to minimize drift. I recommend anyone using an electronic digital scale consider these (and other) safeguards against drift. Recommended reading:
10 Commandments for Electronic Scales within AccurateShooter.com

Line Noise Filter for Reloading Scales within AccurateShooter.com
 
I thought that was the case with mine, so I bought a line filter, and it didn't help. My RCBS chargemaster is plugrd in to the dame line, and I don't have a problem with that.
 
In the last week I bought a new Lyman Accutouch 2000, got it setup and calibrated, let it "warm up" for 30 minutes. It seemed to hold zero but would constantly climb up 3/10ths of a gr. every so often(2 or 3 weighs out of 10). I used ferrite snaps on the line I stalled properly (wrapped/coiled) but no luck. Took it back got a rcbs Rangemaster and 50 rounds so far it's been great although needs zeroed every 10 rounds or so. Is within a 1/10th every time so far! Registers Trickled pow very quickly. I'm very happy.
 
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My RCBS Chargemaster has been a kick-ass unit for more than 5 years now. I put it in some new codes I got on the Hide and it is now not only accurate but fast and accurate as well. For the average reloader this is the Holy Grail of scale/dispensers and is right up there with my Redding T-7 press and Giraud Trimmer in most valued components.

I hardly ever have to recalibrate and when I do it synchs right up and nails all check weights. Always within +/- 0.1 grain. Also, I have no problems with fluorescent light fixtures.

Complaints about this scale have largely been from people who use ultra-accurate scientific scales at work, or malcontents who want to complain about any miniscule flaw.
 
GemPro 250, If you have good zero instructions and a good level place you'll not have any problems with it. Been loading with it for a bit over two years now. No hiccups.
 
Tell me if I'm crazy but this is how I do it on a $20 Frankford Arsenal:

Turn scale on. Place empty pan on top, verify weight is 119.5gn (it's always 119.5gn, I can calibrate if it's not). Zero. Pour charge into pan, place on scale, get reading, trickle up to charge. Remove pan. If scale goes to -119.5gn I pour the charge in the casing. If it has drifted I dump the powder in a second pan, re-zero with the original, and put the powder back. Sometimes it's where it's supposed to be, sometimes 0.1gn high or low, which I then fix. I always verify that when removing the pan the scale goes to -119.5gn before I pour the powder into the casing. I have a balance beam scale (RCBS) but it just seems archaic to me and I don't trust it more than this silly little dance I do with my cheap electronic.
 
I bought the Lyman 1200 automatic. It is fairly consistent, but gets + or - .3 grain or so. That means that my loads could vary by as much as .6 grains. I estimate that over 90% of the loads are + or - .1 of a grain, but the .6 grain potential means that ai still use my old RCBS balance beam for precision loads. If the variance was NEVER more than .1 grain, I would live with that for all but my most demanding needs.
 
Milo: "Fuzz, I guess I have to agree with you on that, and it's not like I'm sponsered by them or anything. It's just the Mexican made scales are getting bashed hard, I've yet to see honest proof they suck that bad."

I really wonder about that too. But it seems few reloaders understand that their favorite reloading tool maker doesn't actually build scales in house (no more that they do their own foundry castings for iron presses), they buy them properly painted and labled, from scale makers. Ohaus has long been the largest maker; they've sold various models of reloading scales to end sellers for decades. Lyman, RCBS and Dillion for sure.



Obviously, everyone loves their electric scale that hasn't crappped out .... yet.
 
The words "reliable" and "electronic scale" really do not belong in the same sentence. Until you get into the very pricey ($1,000+) lab grade scales. Even then they need to be checked often.

OFG
 
I was in the OP's shoes just weeks prior. I believe the best bet is to go with a beam scale. I recently purchased a RCBS 10-10 and I love it. I will also testify that most scales used for scientific purposes are of the beam sort because it allows for the user to "guess" an extra digit, whereas the digital provides an inconstestable reading.

I was heavily considering an electronic scale for the sake of speed. The Scheels and RCBS are the only two that I would consider after researching the offerings from RCBS, Hornady, and Lyman. Everywhere I looked I could not find a review for the Scheels scale, but its lifetime warranty and $250 price make it more appealing than the RCBS.

Beam scales are fantastic in their simplicity and are more reliable. Additionally, my 10-10 will still be funtional during the zombie apocalypse.
 
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GemPro 250. Very accurate, just zero every time you use it. Comes with 20g weight. I would venture to believe anyone that gave it less than 5 stars just expects it to be spot on down to .05gr by turning it on. It takes seconds to verify/calibrate. I weigh the first 5-10 on rcbs 10-10 or dillon to double check. Only way to weight sort brass/bullets. You won't be disappointed
 
Chargemaster is $289.00 at Natchez currently and you can get free Speer bullets or a $50.00 rebate if you buy a total of $300.00 of RCBS stuff.
 
Diver160651 said:
The check weight is not going to show the issue I was talking about. It will confirm accuracy of a change that the computer sees as a NEW weight from the load cell.

if you have a gd-503 and loadmaster try this:

1. Use a fine grain light powder like win 231
2. Drop powder 45ish gains of powder on the scale, let it settle as you confirm your powder drop.
3. With out removing slowly drop single grains do this (steadily for a few) onto you loaded powder pan

Watch your display - (you should be doing the test on a solid bench in a still environment).. The GD-503 should register the changes immediately, the chargemaster (scale) may not, mine will not.
Click to expand...

Yes, I know what you are suggesting here and you are correct with fine grained powder...Too a point.
You can do the same thing with the Acculab/Derever 123.
With fine grained/ball powder I use a powder thrower...and wouldn't you when you get superb accuracy in a rapid fashion?

Check weights do not have this issue as you are adding a large weight at one time..or at least you should be. For instance if you are testing 45 grains you would add the 5 grains then add the 40 grain weight. I assure you the CM will read right on (assuming good environmental).

With stick powder the Chargemaster works very well...To the point it is fully capable of heavy rifle FClass accuracy...How much more do we need?
 
sch2046 said:
I have the Hornady powder dispenser/scale combo, it sucks. I use it to get close then go to my Redding Balance scale for accuracy. I have tried everything to make this POS work. It is always over or under, never right on. I would never buy one again.
Click to expand...

Get on YouTube and check out the straw trick. I have a hornady auto charge with straw trick and it rarely goes over, usually dead on.
 
milo 2.0 said:
It's still hard to beat a RCBS 10-10 scale. Yes, there's going to be those who say it's made in Mexico, big fucking deal, if it was that bad RCBS wouldn't sell it.
A chargemaster for under 300.00 from Natchez will work also, just buy check weights.

Anything under the sun can be ctriticized, but is it really that bad?
Click to expand...

My 10-10 is MADE IN USA

Smoothe sum-bitch.
 
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