OHAUS scales

[LoneTraveler]

OHAUS is a company that has been the major maker of scales for many years. I started reloading in about 1960 with a friends reloading equipment. Had a scale that had the Paddle-Oil pot dampener. When I came back from the Army, in 1966 I bought my first set up of reloading equipment. My Scale a Lyman/OHAUS D-5 had the magnet damper system. I believe OHAUS had the patent on this system. I have about 2011 RCBS 10-10 The box says manufactured by OHAUS. With Magnetic dampener. OHAUS also sold reloading scales under their name. I have tried the electronic scales. Will stay with my OHAUS beam scales.

 

[Mark611]

I have 3 of the older Ohaus scales made in the USA, an RCBS branded 10 10 grain and a Ohaus 10 10 10 gram which works quite well if you have the conversion charts its a no brainer to use for a powder scale, and I have an older Ohaus M5 made for Lyman, the M5 is an excellent scale but it is a little sensitive to air movement, they are all very accurate to less then .10 of a grain, I use these to check my digital scales that are accurate to .200 hundredth's of a grain, if you look on ebay you can run across a good M5 for about the price of a 505 and the M5 is a way nicer powder scale and IMO allot more accurate for a beam scale JMOgun)

 

[cowboy]

Holy cow. I looked it up and you're not kidding. Any advantage in that type of set-up?

I wouldn't say there is any more advantage to that type of scale in the end result but I personally find it more user friendly. I find that in putting powder in the weighing tray and removing it is much easier - there is just more size so clumsy fingers/hands are not as effected. I also own a 5-0-5 and an M5 - don't know why because I never use them - I have a backup for most everything.

I built a stand to set my scale on that keeps the bar at eye level while sitting at my reloading table. Once you get set up it does not take very long to charge 100 brass. I have bought 2 electronic scales in the past but after having to check them every time I wanted to use them against the beam scale I sold them both.

I have the same scale that you showed the picture of other than mine has 3 beams and no dial. I have kept my dust free, wipe it down occasionally with a anti-static tissue, lube the pivot points every couple years and have only found one negative with this larger beam scale. I have to turn off an overhead ceiling fan in my reloading room while weighing in that the beam is so sensitive that it fluctuates or keeps moving with lots of air movement.

 

[Mark611]

their are many different methods of powder weighing and how precise one wants to be with there powder charge? I guess if your hunting or just throwing together range ammo just dumping powder in brass is ok if you trust your equipment? or don't care how precise your loads are? I guess because I want my loads to be as accurate as can be gun)I'm a little more picky on how their all put together so I'll go thru the whole prep work for building match ammo for the type of shooting I do even if I'm putting together a hunting load I still build them like a match round

 

[newmexkid]

So...If you have used an Ohaus in the past(present) and were looking for a "new" one which model would you buy, (now) based on your experience?gun)

 

[varmintH8R]

I wouldn't say there is any more advantage to that type of scale in the end result but I personally find it more user friendly. I find that in putting powder in the weighing tray and removing it is much easier - there is just more size so clumsy fingers/hands are not as effected. I also own a 5-0-5 and an M5 - don't know why because I never use them - I have a backup for most everything.

I built a stand to set my scale on that keeps the bar at eye level while sitting at my reloading table. Once you get set up it does not take very long to charge 100 brass. I have bought 2 electronic scales in the past but after having to check them every time I wanted to use them against the beam scale I sold them both.

I have the same scale that you showed the picture of other than mine has 3 beams and no dial. I have kept my dust free, wipe it down occasionally with a anti-static tissue, lube the pivot points every couple years and have only found one negative with this larger beam scale. I have to turn off an overhead ceiling fan in my reloading room while weighing in that the beam is so sensitive that it fluctuates or keeps moving with lots of air movement.

Thanks for the detailed response - makes perfect sense. My biggest gripe with my 5-0-5 is bending over while I'm trickling it. That said, right now the trade-off for bench space is worth it for me. We'll see how that equation changes as my back gets older and older!

Newmexkid- my experience with the RCBS 5-0-5 has been nothing but positive. It is right on with check weights (I load cartridges from 25gr of powder to 94gr of powder) and easy to set up and use. I don't have first hand comparative experience with the older Ohaus built and branded scales - Based on Cowboy's post it sound like they measure the same just have different convenience features.

Whichever scale you get, I recommend check weights and even a cheap digital to do set-up and in- process checks. No balance is impervious to having something go wrong, and double checking one out of every 10 rounds or so is good peace of mind.

Brandon

 

[Mark611]

I don't know if I'd buy a newer beam type scale today unless it was a Redding! to my understanding allot of the newer scales are not to the standards of the past models, theirs is a guy named Scott Parker who takes the older scales from Ohaus and others and rebuilds and tunes them, if your really interested in a newer scale being made today I'd do some serious research or look Scott up and ask his opinion or another trusted knowledgeable re loader! IMO if you can find an older scale and you can and some are still like new in the box like the Lyman Ohaus M5 or similar design from Ohaus that were made in the USA their pretty good scales IMO, because of the fulcrum point where it balances its very friendly for the use of lighter power charges like for small pistol as well as bigger charges like rifle cases, the one I use and the 1 my brother uses have been very accurate for us an we use them even tho we have digital scales that are accurate as well to 200 hundredth's of a grain JMO

 

[cowboy]

So...If you have used an Ohaus in the past(present) and were looking for a "new" one which model would you buy, (now) based on your experience?gun)

I would get a larger size beam scale that read in grains. I would take the time to contact Old Will Scales or maybe even Ohaus and explain your situation and desires. The ones listed on Old Will's site, the only difference in them that I saw at first glance was total weighing capacity on the Ohaus beam design but they all read in grams.

If I couldn't get a new one weighing in grains I would try to find an older used one from sources like ebay. If that didn't work out I'd look at the 5-0-5 or 10-10 RCBS type scales.

If that didn't work, I would look at getting one that weighed in grams and realize what I would have to do each/every time I used it - but that would be my last choice personally.

With all that said - I shoot with a lot of guys that are very very competent reloaders/shooters that have nothing but the upmost respect for their digital scales performance and reliability.