Information and Education => Reloading and Handloading => Topic started by: Nick Cage on August 26, 2010, 04:25:39 pm
Title: Electric Powder Scale
Post by: Nick Cage on August 26, 2010, 04:25:39 pm
I've been using the standard lee balance beam powder scale since I started reloading.
And honestly the bugger is just driving me nuts and I would like an electronic scale.
I see that from midway they start at about $30 and go up from there, do yall know if the lower cost Hornandy or Frankfurt Arsenal scales are trustworthy and reasonably accurate or should I just accept that nothing but my lee classic press is going to cost me less than $100 and get a more expensive one.
Title: Re: Electric Powder Scale
Post by: xsquidgator on August 26, 2010, 05:05:12 pm
I've been using the standard lee balance beam powder scale since I started reloading.
And honestly the bugger is just driving me nuts and I would like an electronic scale.
I see that from midway they start at about $30 and go up from there, do yall know if the lower cost Hornandy or Frankfurt Arsenal scales are trustworthy and reasonably accurate or should I just accept that nothing but my lee classic press is going to cost me less than $100 and get a more expensive one.
I would NOT recommend the $30 scales. I was where you are, annoyed with the balance beam scale limited to 100 grains, and got the cheapest $35 electronic scale I found (it's the same scale just with a different company name stuck on it). The battery-powered one. This is the one. --> http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=netcon&id=0079813216429a&navCount=2&podId=0079813&parentId=cat20853&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=2UG&rid=2146251080&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233&hasJS=true (http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=netcon&id=0079813216429a&navCount=2&podId=0079813&parentId=cat20853&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=2UG&rid=2146251080&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233&hasJS=true) I do NOT recommend this scale.
For one thing it only reads out in 0.2 grain increments, a fact which isn't obvious from the ad. (The reading will be accurate +/- 0.1 grains, true. Say you're weighing something that weighs 3.5 grains. The scale will read either 3.4 or 3.6 grains, say, and you won't know if the true weight is actually 3.3/3.5 grains or 3.5/3.7 grains respectively. Not the end of the world, but it's annoying and it's also annoying that they didn't just say that in the ad) The scale shuts off after 30 or 60 seconds of non-use, and that's inconvenient. Worst, the thing was so flimsily made that the buttons didn't work quite right. What I mean is that if you pressed the 'zero' button, the bouncing of the button switch alone would make it zero a little off weight, making you try again, and again... After 6 months the scale quit working but at least I got my money back.
Happy ending to the story: I bought an RCBS Rangemaster 750 (here's one at Cabelas but a number of places sell them http://www.cabelas.com/link-12/product/0028425215505a.shtml?cmCat=perf&rid=0987654321&cm_mmc=Performics-_-CSE-_-GoogleBaseUSA-_-0028425215505a&mr:trackingCode=A1C2B7CC-958E-DF11-A0C8-002219318F67&mr:referralID=NA (http://www.cabelas.com/link-12/product/0028425215505a.shtml?cmCat=perf&rid=0987654321&cm_mmc=Performics-_-CSE-_-GoogleBaseUSA-_-0028425215505a&mr:trackingCode=A1C2B7CC-958E-DF11-A0C8-002219318F67&mr:referralID=NA)) from somewhere for $100, and it was the best $100 reloading bucks I spent. The scale works the way it's supposed to, that's it and simple. Fwiw it also reads out in 0.1 grain increments the way you'd expect it to, and it is still accurate +/- 0.1 grains. This particular RCBS scale can use batteries or 110V, and I've found it's really nice to be able to just leave it plugged in and on all the time, and not have to worry about the battery going dead in the middle of a loading session. I'm sure there are other good scales too, but in this case going cheap wasn't a good idea for me.
Title: Re: Electric Powder Scale
Post by: Nick Cage on August 26, 2010, 06:06:54 pm
I was actually really leaning towards this one: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=175512 (http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=175512)
It seems to get good reviews, I'll keep in mind what you said though, I'm just a cheap bastard at heart.
Title: Re: Electric Powder Scale
Post by: xsquidgator on August 26, 2010, 06:52:50 pm
I was actually really leaning towards this one: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=175512 (http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=175512)
It seems to get good reviews, I'll keep in mind what you said though, I'm just a cheap bastard at heart.
It can't hurt to try it. Even with it's problems, that first cheap one I had was still nicer and faster to use than the beam scale. I think I bought that one from Midway and they refunded my $ when it broke. Frankford Arsenal is also a good company in my opinion. I had an FA tumbler that died and they replaced it with the next better model at no charge.
Title: Re: Electric Powder Scale
Post by: Scimitar on October 31, 2010, 03:21:34 pm
Acculab. Period. Of course the scale alone cost almost as much as a RCBS chargemaster. But it will measure Varget to the Kernal.
Title: Re: Electric Powder Scale
Post by: SuperNaut on October 31, 2010, 03:28:15 pm
I have the cheap Hornady and it is a POS. It drifts like a rudderless boat, it goes out of cal if you breathe anywhere near it, it is totally inaccurate (+/- a GRAIN sometimes). I truly hate it.
Title: Re: Electric Powder Scale
Post by: THE NORSEMAN on October 31, 2010, 06:05:29 pm
This would be one of those "Buy once, buy quality" moments. Your guns, your fingers, your eyes, and your sanity deserve it.
Title: Re: Electric Powder Scale
Post by: xsquidgator on October 31, 2010, 07:00:49 pm
This would be one of those "Buy once, buy quality" moments. Your guns, your fingers, your eyes, and your sanity deserve it.
I'm normally a cheap-to-a-fault kind of guy, but I definitely agree here. In my experience and in what I've read, the $100+ scales are much more likely to work the way you think a scale should (i.e. dump whatever in the tray and it tells what you it actually weighs). My reloading stress level went way down when I replaced the "Smart Reloader" (what an oxymoron) with the RCBS scale.