Electronic Scales

[sturner]

Adam McDonald. Guru behind the whole V3 setup, Shot marker system and a few other brilliant projects in the works. Recently teamed up with "Gavintube" as well. Email him at [email protected] Good dude.

Thanks so much

 

[Arkansasdad]

These electronic scales seem to be a PIA. Have had a couple from differnt manufractures. They do not seem to work well. My beam scales never fail me. Are younguys haveing trouble with them?

Remember that some electronic scales will read incorrectly if used within 3 ft. of an outlet, that is why they come with a 6 ft. cord to use if your not using the battery mode. I've had friends complain that their scales are erratic and they are constantly having to recalibrate then after they move the scale further away from an outlet they have no more trouble.

 

[Knight]

How could a beam scale RCBS or otherwise, give a false reading unless it had been damaged and or not calibrated at the beginning of a session? Can you give more info.

That's a good question and I wish I could answer that but I can't. The 10-10 scale was sent to me brand new because I have had similar problems with the one I returned. It seemed to have a mind of its own. I continued to use it along with my digital one to check on weight and once every 7 to 10 rds I would discover the weight would shift on the beam but not on the digital scale. It was quite frustrating to say the least. Rather them send it back again to RCBS for evaluation and start this annoying process all over again I decided to use my digital from now on. I have been reloading for over 45 years both pistol and rifle from 38 Cal to 375 H&H magnums, so I should know what works and what doesn't. A good electronic scale works for me. Good luck.

 

[sturner]

Anything can fail this is a new one
I would have thrown a knipion fit

 

[Savage 12BVSS]

It seems you have to get into an A&D FX-120i scale to get something repeatable and doesn't drift.

That seems to be the case if you want to be sure with charge weights. I use a cheap electronic on brass, bullets and loaded rounds to weight sort and an ohaus balance for charge weights. Slower but sure powder charge weights.

 

[Knight]

Anything can fail this is a new one
I would have thrown a knipion fit

The picture enclosed describes the results of a scale that doesn't work properly.

 

[Fishdeeper]

The picture enclosed describes the results of a scale that doesn't work properly. View attachment 180188

Bet that one on the left was a bit of a surprise!

 

[dblizzard]

I have used a Redding #1 beam scale for all my LD rifle reloading for the 9 years I have been involved in it, absolutely consistent and accurate to my single check weight. After reading the above posts I plan on buying a check weight set though, to verify accuracy over the full range of weights. I have recently, in the last 6 years increasingly loaded pistol rounds. I purchased a Frankford Arsenal electronic pocket scale to help speed up the powder measuring for pistol cartridges. Worked just barely OK, accurate enough, but constantly needed re-calibrating. Thankfully it died 6 months ago and put me out of my misery! In my search for a better unit as a replacement, I came across a forum thread (rugerforum??) on scales and found a strong recommendation to look at 'Jennings JScale JSVG 20'.
All the specs looked great and then I found and bought a used ebay, unit, for $29. I am in love....fast, accurate, consistent to 100th of a grain. Absolutely worth a look. This scale is sensitive to low batteries, replacice batteries at about 50% solves the issue.

 

[Quarter Round]

I have good luck with both. Always calibrate and cross-reference every 10 charges. I do a visual with a flashlight before moving to the bullet seating process. My forehead is still intact.

 

[alcesgigas]

Adam McDonald's Auto Trickler V3 set up is the way to go. This beauty came after I invested in my manual extreme otherwise I surely would have went the V3 route. The Prometheus is yet another way. I use a magnetic restorative balance cell electronic scale that does grains in thousandths (ten thousandths gram) and a trickler that is either electronic or mechanical, but capable of individual grain deposits. Let's see if I have a photo or two.

 

[jimbires]

Great thread and timely.

I have an RCBS 505 and a charge master. I love the Chargemaster and have had no issues with it. I leave it plugged into a line conditioner and always calibrate before use. I also trickle with an Omega electric trickler.

I'm also very interested in the new RCBS Rangemaster for it's combined speed and accuracy.

I like the A&D FX120i but have a question, can you trickle into it or do you have to remove the pan for every weight check? Some of these models don't allow for trickling.

yes , you can trickle on the FX120 scale without doing anything else . these are really nice scales . if mine quit today , I'd have another on order .

 

[jimbires]

here is a video explaining the difference between a strain gauge scale , and a magnetic force scale . the FX120i is a magnetic force scale .

 

[Mike Matteson]

I tried a couple electronic scales. They didn't get within a couple of tens on the powder charge. Went back to my Lyman 55 powder measure, and my Ohaus powder scale. It take a little time to set up the Lyman 55 to dump the charge, but generally put powder better than the electronic scale does or at lease with the electronic scales I used. I finish Ohaus Dail-O-Matic and trickal in any if needed.
SSS
Mike