Need some advice on picking a scale.

[ar10ar15man]

if you actually read what i said, i have a lite that i use to feed my a&d.
how do you fill your a&d ??
i have wind shields but the location of my bench and the ac duct says i get changes from the breeze. i just wait till it cycles back off not a big deal.
i bought the lite specifically to test and see if it would work to fill the fx120i.it is much better than a harrels powder thrower.
plenty good enough for long range non competition shooters.

I've had the lite. I sold the chargemaster lite, chargemaster, and gempro when I upgraded to the A&D. It's funny because I run my a/c while using mine. It has wind shields for a reason. Also if you could work on your grammar a little, it would help a lot of people understand what you are trying to say other than " get the lite".

Thanks

 

[ar10ar15man]

sorry but GOOD electronics ARE better than reloading beam scales.
the lite has been tested and is better than a beam, even it it is marketed at the same tolerance of plus or minus .1

My opinion the only thing you really gain by going electric is speed, but, speed means time. It takes time to get accurate matching loads with a beam or other non electric scale.

So the question for you to answer is... how much is your time worth?

 

[misterc01]

Beam scale first. IMHO you ALWAYS want a good beam scale to verify your powder loads, and spot check with it as you reload. EVERY serious shooter I know, including a couple of Nationally ranked long range shooters, do the same. I got a Lee Safety scale for less than $30 It works fine, but I wanted a bit more accuracy, so I moved up and have an RCBS 5-10 and 5-0-5, which are basically Ohaus scales, and Ohaus is a premier manufacturer of precision lab scales. eBay if you want to save $. all the way.

 

[Jack R Tishue Jr]

If you already have the Lee scale, use it for a while. Nothing wrong with it. and you can load quickly with a beam scale. I use one to load and use the Lee Dippers, to drop the load in the scale, then using the dipper, dribble some to bring it up. The dippers will usually be within a grain if right one use. I USED to use a powder measure, but setting it up took so long 1/2 the time, I could load a box of ammo or two, meanwhile. Don't get an electronic. As others have noticed they are flaky. any sort of air movement throws them off. I loaded a box of ammo one day using one, then before putting the bullets in, dumped the loads into the beam scale and checked them. NONE were on. I can throw powder charges using a beam scale at a rate of about 1 a minute. And the beam scales so accurate use for BR loads. I may not know a lot though, only been reloading since 1959.

 

[yoteslayer]

I would go with the range master and look on eBay for a good used balance beam there are plenty of them on there you would still be in your budget maybe look for check weights to you might be able to get it all under budget

 

[LittleMike]

There are other scales they sell, most cheaper or more expensive than these but some like the Hornady digital scale had horrible reviews and decided to leave them off my list. Any of these scales worth buying and if they are what would serve me best? All thoughts and opinions welcomed. Thank you.

If your only loading 30 to 50 rounds in a session, then...

1. Absolutely purchase a quality set of calibration weights.
2. Buy any *** digital scale, ALL of them will drift +-0.3 grains over a period of 10 minutes and require recalibration, unless your Okay with errors in your weights.
3. Purchase a good beam balance,

Now,

• Insure your reloading table is level, not exposed to any drafts and do not put a heat source of 'bright' lights near your beam balance.
• Learn & get familiar with your beam balance setting it up. calibrating it with no weight & your desired charge weight(s).
• Use the sexy digital *** to get you into the ball park, use the balance beam scale to insure precision and check your calibration frequently during your reloading session.

I use a Dillion digital & RCBS beam and yes the Dillion drifts it's a more expensive digital ***,and needs to be reset every 5 or six charges, else I just ignore it and watch which way it's drifting from it's original zero. My calibration weights and worth every penny & my life, I would not weigh / hand load charges without them.

 

[Knightvision]

The RCBS beam scale, or other beam type, is the only way to go "my opinion of course" along with a good powder trickle and you will have a great start. I have several digital scales and I do not use them to measure powder. They are not that accurate, to what I need, I can't trust them and constantly verifying with my beam, might as well just use the beam and be done with it, digital are fine for bullet weight and case weight sorting. My .02$, Good luck.

 

[Chase723]

I got my last Chargemaster 1500 for $180. Bass pro and cabelas both had them on sale and there was a rebate. It comes up every now and then.

 

[Knightvision]

It will drift when their is dirty electricity or winds.

You can get a little reactor clamp thing to clean the electricity up going to the scale and it works flawless then. I don't remember the exact name for them.

A filter/isolation xfmr?

 

[Tony Formicola]

I'm piecing together a reloading kit and I have everything I need except a scale. I don't participate in competitions of any sorts anymore and mainly shoot for hunting or leisure but the gun club I joined does do a summer league at 300 yards I might participate in this summer. I'm planning to purchase my scale from Cabela's as I have a $100 gift card that's been laying around for a year and they are only a 50 minute drive from me. I'd like to keep my cost at or around $100 so that gives me up to $200 for a scale. I've narrowed it down to:

• Frankford Arsenal Intelli-Dropper ($200)
• Frankford Arsenal Platinum Series scale ($95)
• RCBS M500 beam scale ($100)
• RCBS Rangemaster 2000 ($140)
• Lyman Accu-Touch 2000 ($125)

There are other scales they sell, most cheaper or more expensive than these but some like the Hornady digital scale had horrible reviews and decided to leave them off my list. Any of these scales worth buying and if they are what would serve me best? All thoughts and opinions welcomed. Thank you.

My Technique is to use a volumetric powder measure to throw a charge about .1 grain below my target and then trickle up on a digital scale. I use a Redding 3BR powder measure and a less expensive RCBS Chargmaster 750 digital scale to accomplish this. With a good set-up and a bit of practice it doesn't take long at all to weight out 50-100 rounds.

 

[Chase723]

Beam scales are affected by the viewing angle of your eye to where you're reading it. If your not looking at it from the exact same angle every time then you're going to get a false reading. Also, they are relatively slow. Some people have all the time in the world to reload. I don't.

For what it's worth I used to use both a Chargemaster and a beam scale to verify. I found that to be a huge waste of time and just bought another Chargemaster once the opportunity came up. Way better now...might buy a 3rd.

 

[TYoung]

I use the Lyman DPS digital to dispense a charge then weigh it on a Gemtec pro digital to fine tune it and lastly put it on an rcbs 505 mechanical. The reason I use all 3 to check the charge is I've found that the Lyman is not consistent all the time, I'd say it's a 50% accurate scale usually throughing +/- .3 grains. I've been very pleased with the Gemtec, it will calculate to .01 gr instead of .1 gr. Hope this helps with your decision.

I recommend the Gemtec pro 250, I think you could find them for $100-$150

 

[John Klingenberg]

I've used an RCBS 502 for nearly 30 years. It's always been spot on. Ebay usually has a few. A balance beam scale is hard to beat by any manufacturer. No maintenance and any quirks can be fixed easily, just make sure you have a accurate set of check weights.

 

[TYoung]

I use the Lyman DPS digital to dispense a charge then weigh it on a Gemtec pro digital to fine tune it and lastly put it on an rcbs 505 mechanical. The reason I use all 3 to check the charge is I've found that the Lyman is not consistent all the time, I'd say it's a 50% accurate scale usually throughing +/- .3 grains. I've been very pleased with the Gemtec, it will calculate to .01 gr instead of .1 gr. Hope this helps with your decision.

I recommend the Gemtec pro 250, I think you could find them for $100-$150

My bad, Gempro not Gemtec.
GEMPRO 250