Powder scales

[Zymurgist]

Wind currents can mess with your readings. Go to your local Dollar Store and pick up a clear storage tub and place it over your scale while measuring your charges.

 

[338 dude]

I use an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) (expanding on Bill Cauley Jr's comment) which converts your Alternating Current (AC) from the wall to Direct Current (DC) to charge the backup battery, and the DC then proceeds to an inverter circuit that converts the DC back to AC, and out of the UPS to whatever you plug it into it. IF the AC goes out, the battery continues to provide the DC to the inverter so you have AC from the unit. That route also filters and smooths the AC to make it "pure" so there are no little fluctuations in the ac power. It also has a surge suppressor within it to provide that protection. The units usually have two sets of plugs - one for battery backup with the conditioned AC output, and the other for surge suppression. Your critical equipment goes to the battery backup row for maximum protection. Whew! An added benefit is if your unit requires an extended warmup period (mine takes 30 minutes) you don't lose power and have to "start" over if the power goes out. No fans or other varying air currents you can prevent! And don't exhale forcefully in the direction of the pan (don't ask how I know that). Once I have the first charge weighed, I then check it against an ACCURATE beam balance scale - I repeat three times, proceeding when they agree, to load the cases. I double-check the weighs every tenth charge. If they agree, I continue. If they are different, I back up, checking cases until I find where it varied, return incorrectly powder measured to the container, and then recheck the zero on BOTH scales and proceed from there. I also log the charge weigh tin my Reloading Checklist for future reference.
Only sounds time consuming and nit-picky, but it goes quickly and I know my powder in the case is exactly what I intended to load.

Yah what he said!

 

[wv270wsm]

I have a Lyman scale and dispenser also I set mine 1.0 grain light and use a trickier on a different scale every single charge . And zero the trickler scale every 3-4 charges. Yeah it may take an extra little bit but my powder weights are spot on every case. I've checked them multiple times on a beam scale and so far it's the most accurate way I've found. Generally the dispenser scale will throw about a tenth heavy just because it is try to get shut down and an extra grain or so falls out . But trickling up to my desired charge is very consistent.

 

[ramrod79]

They say cry once but I didn't want to cry that hard when I looked at the A&D. I went to a Gem pro 250 seems to be really good. I'm sure one day I'll do the 120 as they look like a really nice scale set up but I'll also have to buy wife diamonds when I do so I have to save for a while.

 

[Lenwood901]

i have charge master lite with the insert has made a big difference turn the ac off and load them up my es has been single digit since

 

[Butte Sink]

Does anyone know of an accurate digital powder scale? I have a Lyman Accutouch 2000 I can't get a consistent reading. I bought the scale about 5 years ago and couldn't get it work right so I put it back in the box and went back to my cheap Frankford pocket scale I should have sent it back but I figured I would mess it hit later. At the time I was shooting service rifle and just never got around to it. Do to three rotator cuff surgery's I can't shoot off hand so I decided to shoot benchrest and f-class so I got the Lyman out to try and get it work properly I have tried everything I would put my powder in 50 rounds at a time then go back and spot check a few. The ones I checked at random came out over by 3-4 tenths so I checked them all got them to where they should be and spot checked again some where still off but not as many after going back and forth a few times I finally had them all the same. So I want to know if anyone knows of a more reliable and accurate scale. I spoke with Lyman they offered to sell me a different one at a discount price they never said how much of a discount. After all the trouble the Accutouch is giving me I don't think I want to get another from them if there's a better one.

As most have said— A&D!! You will not regret

 

[crkckr]

A bit of a basic question but are you calibrating the scale with a check weight every time you turn it on? Any time the scale is turned on, bumped or moved it needs to be recalibrated. I also have weighed my pan and make sure it reads the correct weight when it's placed on the scale, before I zero it. It will also read the same weight (as a minus) when the pan is removed.

Just one more thing to check!
Cheers,
crkckr

 

[Muddyboots]

I have a RCBS Rangemaster E-2000 that I have been using for over 5 years for several thousand rounds without any problems whatsoever. There is no doubt digital scales are different to use and you cannot use same techniques from beam scale to powder scale to get same result. They just operate differently. First lesson I learned is digital scales are not balance beams relative to instant weigh changes so you cannot expect to see the same response BUT you can get fast results if you develop your own methodology to see the trickle powder changes. Some may think tedious but once I started to get accustom to how I was using it, the process became easier and faster.

Calibration was easy and fast for the unit I have and would hold calibration through 50 rounds without any problem at all. I was initially checking every 10 rounds with balance beam and was dead on every single time just to be sure. I also would weigh calibration weights close to the powder weight I was using and they were also dead on every single time. One way to monitor the calibration was to observe the minus tare weight of the pan that shows when you remove the pan. If it returned same minus number, you are essentially still calibrated to the zero of the pan. I never really saw any calibration changes using this scale. Maybe just lucky or the room I load in.

Here's the rub to get accurate final powder weights that I came up with that works for me. Once I trickled in powder to be around couple tenths below the desired weight, I would tilt the pan to allow the scale to cycle back to the minus tare weight of the pan which is instantaneous and return pan to scale. This assures you have the correct final weight on the scale so you can trickle in the remaining tenths for final weight. After each trickle, remove pan as above and return to scale which will immediately record the slightest powder change. If you don't remove scale, it takes forever to see a change and in fact you will likely blow by your final desired weight. Once you get knack for the added slight trickle powder change, the process speeds up immensely. You actually develop a sense for how much you need to add to get to final weight so the time gets shorter each time you use the scale.

Yes they are sensitive to temperature, light (incandescent or fluorescent) and drafts. I am lucky since I have a room in basement that cuts everything off so it isn't bothered by any extraneous interference.

I wanted to really get the most accurate weight possible (remember the scale takes the closes weight to the tenth) and test thru my chronograph. I weighed the charge to 0.1 below the desired weight and used a tweezer to drop one extruded granule at a time into the pan, raising the pan and resetting after each added granule. I could actually see the change from the 0.1 weight below the desired weight change to the weight by one granule added. OK, how many are laughing? I went to range and the results were interesting to say the least. The average velocity was consistent and the ES was generally 10 or less and the SD was 5 or less. This test was done with RL-16 load for .270. Tedious is understatement but is how I weigh loads now with extruded powder. I actually started to laugh at this when I was loading my .243 and it was ball powder. Yep, passed on trying it there.

Best suggestion I can make is to develop a process to weigh on the digital scale that gives you the fastest and most accurate response to powder being added to the pan. I would bet it is far different from how you used your balance beam scale.

 

[Deezel]

I wanted to really get the most accurate weight possible (remember the scale takes the closes weight to the tenth) and test thru my chronograph. I weighed the charge to 0.1 below the desired weight and used a tweezer to drop one extruded granule at a time into the pan, raising the pan and resetting after each added granule. I could actually see the change from the 0.1 weight below the desired weight change to the weight by one granule added. OK, how many are laughing? I went to range and the results were interesting to say the least. The average velocity was consistent and the ES was generally 10 or less and the SD was 5 or less.

This is pretty much how I reload all the time. I want my charges as close to each other as possible. I'm never looking for a faster way to reload, only more accurate. It probably is overkill but I seem to get good results doing it this way.

 

[Gater]

This is pretty much how I reload all the time. I want my charges as close to each other as possible. I'm never looking for a faster way to reload, only more accurate. It probably is overkill but I seem to get good results doing it this my

This is pretty much how I reload all the time. I want my charges as close to each other as possible. I'm never looking for a faster way to reload, only more accurate. It probably is overkill but I seem to get good results doing it this way.

I leave my scale plugged in 24-7 I always calibrate it before I start now I zero it every 5 rounds and calibrate it again after 50 rounds I did this last night and every one of the ones I spot checked where exactly 22.2 of varget now off to the range and chronograph em see how constant they are and accurate with 80.5 Berger .223 I'll let ya know

 

[Naymola]

https://www.scalesgalore.com/produc...MIrfz-pILc5AIVSr7ACh0SHAx2EAYYASABEgJM6PD_BwE
I bought one of these recently. Worth every penny. Something I didn't see mentioned by anyone, is to wipe everything with a anti static dryer sheet.