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Thread: Looking for recommendations on a powder scale

  1. #21
    Member SecondsCount's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mmc45414 View Post
    I was warned about the florescent lights as well, and was told LEDs should be better?

    ...
    I have two fluorescent lights in the room that I use for reloading. They are at least five feet away from the scale and don't seem to be causing any issues.

    With LED's, it would depend on their circuitry, some are PWM and others just use a simple resistor to limit current. As long as they are several feet away, it shouldn't create an issue.
    -Seconds Count. Misses Don't-

  2. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Joshmill View Post
    I would add another vote for the Ohaus balance at that price point. But since you say you plan on getting into precision loading down the road I would recommend the Chargemaster or similar. Buy once, cry once. If you can afford a high end Dillon you can probably scrounge up a couple extra bucks now on a quality scale/dispenser. I couldn't imagine loading without mine. It made reloading fun again.
    Agreed. I would hold off on dropping 3-digit money on an electronic scale now. Not having a balance beam myself, I might be inclined to buy one of those just to have a different capability, but that's it. And to be frank, at a certain point, you just need to quit worrying about drift and interference and every other invisible thing. Later on, I would get the big Chargemaster, which is sort've the last step before you go really crazy and attach a trickler to a lab scale.

    Here's my story, that I think really illustrates what the Chargemaster is like:

    I had a Lee Perfect Powder Measure and base, a hand trickler, and Hornady Drug Dealer Edition mini-scale. Total investment, ~$100, I think. I loaded a spread of 6.5CM charges using best practices, chrono'd them, and got an SD of 9 off the best one. Pretty happy, but hand-trickling 50 charges took an hour by itself and gave me a sore back from hunching over the bench.

    Got an RCBS Chargemaster as a birthday gift, best price on these was ~$300 a few months ago. Repeated the same 50-round test, got an SD of 7 off the previous best-performing charge. Within the margin of error, but the difference is that I was done in 30 mins with minimal effort. Without reprogramming the Chargemaster's trickle rates, I can seat a bullet on one round, and by the time I put that round back in the tray, it's finished weighing out the next charge for me to pour.

    Totally worth the extra $200.

  3. #23
    I have been doing a lotta furlough loading and have been appreciating having both.

    When I am setting the measure I use the digital. Pull the filled case from the 650 and poor it into the pan on the digital. Adjust the measure and then, without dumping out the powder tray, use the Tare feature to bring it to zero and pour the next case full of powder right on top of the previous. Keep repeating this until I am within a tenth or so and then drop a charge into my old reliable RCBS beam scale to see where I stand, and keep tweaking as needed.

    I leave the beam scale set to what I am loading (eliminating any chance of me brain farting on what the digital is supposed to read), and then from time to time check a case load by pulling it from the station, I keep a powder funnel handy by the scale and if it checks out I dump the charge back in the case. I also just got the Dillon powder check probe and like it, from time to time there might be a case that is varied enough that it beeps at me, and that is a good opportunity to make a spot check on the charge weight.

    Lots of options, but right now I like the convenience of a basic digital that I really do not have to trust, backed up by the simplicity of something that primarily relies on gravity. I have had the beam scale since 1973, and bought the simple Frankfort digital, if I was starting from scratch it would be a trickier decision. But I would say if a fella was choosing between an inexpensive digital and an inexpensive beam, I would trust the inexpensive beam.

  4. #24
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    Bumping this thread to see if there are any updated recommendations. I'm looking for a digital scale to check weights as I load for pistol. Precision rifle isn't on the horizon right now. For that use case, it seems to be as simple as, stick with a name brand and expect to spend between $30 and $100, depending what features I want and, in this environment, what's available. Is that about right? Is there any product to steer clear of or anything people think is a really good value right now? Thanks.

  5. #25
    A Lyman Pocket- or Micro-Touch, or a Hornady G3-1500. I think I would be hard-pressed to decide between the two Lymans. The Micro-Touch is almost triple the price of the Pocket-Touch, but being able to plug it in with no auto-shutoff is a very nice feature. Tbh, for just pistol, I would be very happy with either.

  6. #26
    Member SecondsCount's Avatar
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    I have a battery powered Jennings JSR-200 that I have had for about 10 years. It is accurate to .1 grains and I have used for both rifle and pistol loads. I've seen them for as low as $20.

    The cheapie Hornady digital that was given to me is okay but seems a little flaky sometimes.

    A friend has the little Lyman micro touch and I played with it. Seems like a good design and works well.
    -Seconds Count. Misses Don't-

  7. #27
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    Thanks very much.

  8. #28
    Member JHC's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wise_A View Post
    Agreed. I would hold off on dropping 3-digit money on an electronic scale now. Not having a balance beam myself, I might be inclined to buy one of those just to have a different capability, but that's it. And to be frank, at a certain point, you just need to quit worrying about drift and interference and every other invisible thing. Later on, I would get the big Chargemaster, which is sort've the last step before you go really crazy and attach a trickler to a lab scale.

    Here's my story, that I think really illustrates what the Chargemaster is like:

    I had a Lee Perfect Powder Measure and base, a hand trickler, and Hornady Drug Dealer Edition mini-scale. Total investment, ~$100, I think. I loaded a spread of 6.5CM charges using best practices, chrono'd them, and got an SD of 9 off the best one. Pretty happy, but hand-trickling 50 charges took an hour by itself and gave me a sore back from hunching over the bench.

    Got an RCBS Chargemaster as a birthday gift, best price on these was ~$300 a few months ago. Repeated the same 50-round test, got an SD of 7 off the previous best-performing charge. Within the margin of error, but the difference is that I was done in 30 mins with minimal effort. Without reprogramming the Chargemaster's trickle rates, I can seat a bullet on one round, and by the time I put that round back in the tray, it's finished weighing out the next charge for me to pour.

    Totally worth the extra $200.
    Great read. I just went cheap this Summer and got the Lee Perfect Powder Measure. I hate it with the fire of a thousand suns. Not because it isn't accurate. Just a pure PIA. YMMV.
    “Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais

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