Suggestions for new powder scale.

[knight0334]

My scale that I've been using since I was 13 or 14yo, a RCBS 505, took a nasty fall a couple weekends ago while moving things around for some remodeling. ..isn't in very good shape now.

....so, I'm looking for possibly a digital unit, AC powered(phucking hate battery powered things). I'm open to any manufacturer, but it must have a 1000gr or higher capacity(I weight match some big 720+ gr slugs for my 45-120).

I'm open to an auto feeder type unit too. After hand feeding and weighing countless rounds one at a time for the last 24 years I'd like to have something to get me damn close to my desired weight.

I'd like to stay way under $300, and really prefer under $200 if I can.


Suggestions?

[max384]

I can't give you a suggestion for a new scale... but I can give you a suggestion for a scale to stay away from. I have the lyman 1000xp scale. It has a 1000 gr capacity and can be had for under $100. I am probably going to replace it with the RCBS chargemaster 1500. The zero on my lyman wanders. I zero it with every use and still if I let it sit for more than a minute, it will start to drift from zero. It also sometimes is very sluggish to record any weight added. I will add a little powder and it won't go up, so I'll add a little more, and then it will shoot up. It is on par with every other lyman product I have: JUNK (except their reloading manual, which is exceptionally good). Stay away from lyman products IMO.

[Jim1911]

I don't have a 505 but that is a pretty good scale. I started with a cheap electronic scale. I have since trashed it and bought a beam scale. I have only had to zero it once instead of twice during every reloading session. I have never had to take it apart to get the little granules out from under the plate. I have never had to remove the batteries to get it to reset itself. If you want to go cheap, stick with a beam scale.

If I could afford it, I would go with the RCBS chargemaster. From what I have read, there are advantages to all three of the popular combination dispenser/scale but the RCBS one seems to be the favorite among people who buy them. According to the "independent" reviews I have read, the RCBS one is their favorite also.

[knight0334]

The RCBS Chargemaster does look like the best unit in quality and function.

My poor 505's beam is bent and the body is cracked, ...so off to the big shooting range in the sky for it.

[hornady]

I read a lot of reviews before , I bought the RCBS 1500. I have had it for a little over a year. Great scale. Mid-south shooter has it for $170.35.

[Xringshooter]

I can't give you a suggestion for a new scale... but I can give you a suggestion for a scale to stay away from. I have the lyman 1000xp scale. It has a 1000 gr capacity and can be had for under $100. I am probably going to replace it with the RCBS chargemaster 1500. The zero on my lyman wanders. I zero it with every use and still if I let it sit for more than a minute, it will start to drift from zero. It also sometimes is very sluggish to record any weight added. I will add a little powder and it won't go up, so I'll add a little more, and then it will shoot up. It is on par with every other lyman product I have: JUNK (except their reloading manual, which is exceptionally good). Stay away from lyman products IMO.

Max, it sounds like the load cell in your scale is not responding correctly. If you write to Lyman they should be able to give you some insight. I have many Lyman products (some upwards of 25 years old) and have had no problems with them at all. I have the Lyman DPS 1200 II system and love it, have not had a lick of trouble with it for 4 years now.

That said, I also have a lot of RCBS (and Hornady) equipment and wouldn't hesitate to buy from them either. The RCBS 1500 is a good scale from what I have read and heard from people that own them.

[ungawa]

I don't have a 505 but that is a pretty good scale. I started with a cheap electronic scale. I have since trashed it and bought a beam scale.

I don't know if reloaders call them "scales," but that is actually a balance. Balances measure mass, scales measure weight. And use some arbitrary, average gravity value to estimate mass. Plus calibration to a known mass, of course.

[Jim1911]

......... scales measure weight............

"smokeless powder requires precise measuring of the charge by weight"

[max384]

I don't know if reloaders call them "scales," but that is actually a balance. Balances measure mass, scales measure weight. And use some arbitrary, average gravity value to estimate mass. Plus calibration to a known mass, of course.

Yeah, technically true... but this is only important to a physicist really. To a reloader who plans on doing all of his reloading on Earth where the gravity is always 9.8 m/s2, it doesn't matter... as long as that scale or balance will measure in units of grains.

[ungawa]

"smokeless powder requires precise measuring of the charge by weight"

That would be incorrect, and I don't care who said it. The weight of your charge has (almost) no effect on the work it produces, the mass does. Just like the percent oxygen in the air you breath has (almost) no relevance to whether you live or die, the concentration does. You can thrive on 10% oxygen under pressure or perish on 20.9% oxygen at altitude. But "weight" is such a common term in the US that it's normally not an issue and very widely used. So, in the generic vernacular, I am indeed splitting hairs a bit

Yeah, technically true... but this is only important to a physicist really.

It matters to Engineers.

To a reloader who plans on doing all of his reloading on Earth where the gravity is always 9.8 m/s2, it doesn't matter... as long as that scale or balance will measure in units of grains.

Gravity on earth varies by geographic position, topographic elevation, and also time. But I doubt it interferes with the types of measurements being discussed. Much.

I really only brought it up as trivia since scales and balances do different things.