Most accurate powder scale under $200

Well, Ive had a Dillon D Terminator electronic scales for 15 yrs or so. They just quit. Trying to figure what to buy. Dillon?? lots of suggestions here. Need electronic, My eyes arent so good any more, Eye surgery next month, But I dont think I need a $600 scale?? Thinking about it though. Shooting 1000 yds. or so. I also have the old OHAS 5-0-5, 30 yrs old and a Lyman 1200 trickler system. Works fine just not for working up loads. Any experience with the newer Dillons? Leaning that way? Suggestions? Although I think they are $250 or so??
 
david g ranes said:
Loo ok look lol lol lookoooko ok I look ooo look ok ok I'll look I'll
KookoooookoooookkookkooooookkkkokkOoooooooooooooooommomo ok look oookoooko look poop oookmlmmommmoo
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Don't know how this got on her because I didn't write it I was looking at the forum and a friend called so evidently while talking to him I was pushing buttons I'm bad. David
 
Funny story, used balance beam that came with ribs kit 60 years ago worked fine for what doing .Ten years ago go I got interested in bench, longer ranges. Got a charge master, great, hit the number dump charge nd go. Well got lots of variation. Well dummy me slowed down and started paying attention. Lo and behold just wait abit then it will stablixe and give plus or minus grains tweezer and problem solved
 
QuietTexan said:
I was hoping you were ok, and not having a medical event....

Back on track here, I've been using this scale recently as a backup/ check for my pair of Hornady scales. Seems to be functional so far. -DBS46-2 model shows weight in grains, most of this brand do NOT.
ussolid.com

U.S. Solid 200 x 0.001g Analytical Balance, 1 mg Digital Lab Precision Scale

U.S. Solid
ussolid.com ussolid.com
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I have the same family of US Solid scale, in the 300 gram unit.
I used to have a Hornady LnL auto dispenser. It was more consistent than my RCBS (gen 1), but man, the mother was S-L-O-W for anything above 55gr.
Got pizzed enough to do something about it.
I chanced upon two Belding and Mull Powder drops at a favorite gun shop, bought them on the spot. Both needed the drop cylinder. I had some extra powder measures for my muzzle loader, they fit perfectly. Just had to pull off the cone.
I was using a lab spatula for final kernel drop but found it to be too cumbersome, so went out and picked up a RCBS hand trickler at another fav gun shop for $10. Easy Peasy now.

US Solid scale : $140.
Belding & Mull powder drop, $35.
Black Powder drop tube, $15.
RCBS powder trickler, $10.

So, I'm $200 all in, takes me less than 10 seconds to drop a charge (and that's not rushing), no matter the volume, and it's within 0.05gr of target.
Since setting up the above, I've only done one hundred 243 Win cases, and I am *really* liking it.

The current PITA is that it's ergonomics suck. Too much motion because the B&M is mounted to the side of the scale.
I think I have the parts to build an assembly that keep it self contained.

The M5 stays in the drawer. Didn't realize I had sold my 10-10.

Today a friend offered me his spare, BNIB Fx120i. I'd like to set the two up side by side to look at responsiveness and accuracy.
 
P7M13 said:
I have the same family of US Solid scale, in the 300 gram unit.
I used to have a Hornady LnL auto dispenser. It was more consistent than my RCBS (gen 1), but man, the mother was S-L-O-W for anything above 55gr.
Got pizzed enough to do something about it.
I chanced upon two Belding and Mull Powder drops at a favorite gun shop, bought them on the spot. Both needed the drop cylinder. I had some extra powder measures for my muzzle loader, they fit perfectly. Just had to pull off the cone.
I was using a lab spatula for final kernel drop but found it to be too cumbersome, so went out and picked up a RCBS hand trickler at another fav gun shop for $10. Easy Peasy now.

US Solid scale : $140.
Belding & Mull powder drop, $35.
Black Powder drop tube, $15.
RCBS powder trickler, $10.

So, I'm $200 all in, takes me less than 10 seconds to drop a charge (and that's not rushing), no matter the volume, and it's within 0.05gr of target.
Since setting up the above, I've only done one hundred 243 Win cases, and I am *really* liking it.

The current PITA is that it's ergonomics suck. Too much motion because the B&M is mounted to the side of the scale.
I think I have the parts to build an assembly that keep it self contained.

The M5 stays in the drawer. Didn't realize I had sold my 10-10.

Today a friend offered me his spare, BNIB Fx120i. I'd like to set the two up side by side to look at responsiveness and accuracy.
Click to expand...
The belding and mull speed things up considerably I've used one ever since seeing a friend of mine use his which has been quite a few years ago I've bought 3 of them just in case I'd need parts and glad I have them. David
 
Doom2 said:
I'm going to catch a lot of flak over this but here is the truth of the matter.

Most electronic scales under $100 have a display that reads to 0.1 gr, hence the repeatability of the scale and accuracy is limited to only 0.1 grains regardless of the actual accuracy to the scale. The actual accuracy of the scale is not what the reloader typically needs since he uses the scale to develop and load his ammunition.

Repeatability is what is most important. Repeatability is usually affected by physical items such as changes in the leveling of the scale, any mechanical binding in the scale, and by changes in the temperature of the components. Also any potential magnetic or radio frequency emissions in the area of the scale can have an effect on the reading. This is zero drift and must be managed to insure repeatability. External factors should as air currents and variations in floor loading around the bench have to be managed to insure repeatable results but are not part of the scale repeatability itself but are externally induced errors.

So the question becomes how much more accurate will my loads be if I can measure the powder more accurately than 0.1 grain. If a typical powder for 308 Winchester is considered with a 168 gr bullet, the answer in approximately 6 fps of velocity. A repeatable scale with 0.1 gr repeatability and an accuracy of 0.1 gr should result in an extreme spread of 6 fps due to the scale since the charge could be +/- 0.05 gr around the average. if you can obtain 0.05 grain accuracy from a scale then the ES would be reduced to 3 fps.

The reality is that the scale itself, if it is repeatable at 0.1 grains is not significant to the overall quality of the load when other factors such as variations in ballistic coefficient, neck tension, primer variations, etc are considered.

If you want to consider more accuracy and repeatability and place value on it then that is the way to go. But remember that you affect the accuracy simply by touching the pan as skin oils collect on the pan and collect dust. When trying for ultimate accuracy gloves would be worn when handling the pan, the scale must be isolated from wind and vibrations and the setting must be rock solid.

Regardless of what scale is chosen, it is a good idea to test the entire installation by repetitively weighing an object 60 times and determining the average, mean and standard deviation to determine the repeatability of the scale and the installation (setting). Since my reloading is predominately 308, I use a Hornady V-Max bullet weighing 40.1 grans to check my scale for this test and every reloading session.

OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.
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May I borrow your box?
To take this one step further, I got out my ballistic calculator spreadsheet and changed the muzzle velocity by 6fps to see how that changes the time of flight and therefore the point of impact at whatever distance I was shooting. That gave me a pretty good? estimate of how much better groups I'd get by reducing errors in powder weight from .1 grains all the way to zero. My calculator says for a bullet with a G1 BC of .500, a muzzle velocity of 3100fps, an increase of 6fps changes the 1000yd time of flight from 1.383s to 1.380s and that reduces drop at 1000 yds by 1.6". At 500yds, it is .55308s vs .55194s and that wil changes drop by .24". Your mileage may vary.
 
If you have an A&D scale you will see that it is impossible to get perfect charges every time if using extruded powder, because a single powder kernel will weigh .04 to .06 grains. Last night I reloaded for 300 RUM, 28N and .338 Edge. Most often I can get exact powder charges, but not always (eg, 89.8 grains of H1000 goes to 90.2 grains with one more kernel).

In terms of "cheap" electronic scales, I like RCBS best but all of these use inferior technology compared to an A&D. The issue is not that I need to get better than .1 grains, it's that I need speed and I need the scale to be repeatable. With cheaper scales you can sometimes drop 2 or even 3 kernels of powder and not see it respond, but if you remove the pan and replace it, viola - a different weight. When I used an RCBS I used to tap the pan, see if it returned to the same reading, then lift it up, then completely remove it. Anything sort of that I wasn't confident. With an A&D it moves instantly with the drop of a kernel. Its calibration is also much more consistent - cheaper scales drift over time and require constant calibration.

As far as ES goes, there is a lot more to the story than powder charge. My .338 Edge has perhaps the tightest spread but my 28N is not far behind. The RUM I loaded for has the biggest ES, but ironically it is lower since I moved to Win LRP instead of 215s.
 
LRNut said:
If you have an A&D scale you will see that it is impossible to get perfect charges every time if using extruded powder, because a single powder kernel will weigh .04 to .06 grains. Last night I reloaded for 300 RUM, 28N and .338 Edge. Most often I can get exact powder charges, but not always (eg, 89.8 grains of H1000 goes to 90.2 grains with one more kernel).

In terms of "cheap" electronic scales, I like RCBS best but all of these use inferior technology compared to an A&D. The issue is not that I need to get better than .1 grains, it's that I need speed and I need the scale to be repeatable. With cheaper scales you can sometimes drop 2 or even 3 kernels of powder and not see it respond, but if you remove the pan and replace it, viola - a different weight. When I used an RCBS I used to tap the pan, see if it returned to the same reading, then lift it up, then completely remove it. Anything sort of that I wasn't confident. With an A&D it moves instantly with the drop of a kernel. Its calibration is also much more consistent - cheaper scales drift over time and require constant calibration.

As far as ES goes, there is a lot more to the story than powder charge. My .338 Edge has perhaps the tightest spread but my 28N is not far behind. The RUM I loaded for has the biggest ES, but ironically it is lower since I moved to Win LRP instead of 215s.
Click to expand...
Once you go to an instrument like the A&D scale your whole perspective changes. You ask "why did I wait so long to get one of these?"…live and learn or keep spinning your wheels. Just saying.
 

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