Topgun: "You just made my point when you stated that you had Lab scales (many thousands of dollars) for your primary standard! That sort of equates to what boomtube and I are referring to "
Exactly so.
Gary, you present an eloquent defense of digitals. You mention digitals where you work that can detect floor viberations from a distance and then talk about Pact powder scales as if even they are capabile of such sensitivity. You may not mean to connect the dots that way -and I hope you know better - but that's the image you will leave if it's not corrected. I will; guys, that's like apples vs. chicken fingers, meaning there ain't NO reloading scale going to have anything like that kind of sensitivity!
* never said a Pact was the best scale out there, but I did point out the dollar and cents value ($248 verses $350). Now I'll be first to tell you that I've used a small percentage of the digital scales out there right now, but will also tell you that I just never had a problem that mounted to much of anything with any of them. But also never really had a problem with the beam scales I've used. They all worked well.
You mention the daily care and calibration checks for the accuracy/sensitivity your digitals require at your work without mentioning that no reloader has the tools to make checks tighter than .1 gr and no way to correct any real error or scale failure if it occurs; that matters. Yes, labs and some repair shops do have highly sensitive digital scales, so do drug stores and meat markets, etc, but they all have routine checks by well trained certification technicians with some costly test instruments to maintain them. And so do the ones you use at work but you fail to mention that and that's really not honest with our readers! I know about those checks require because I once did it. But I no longer have access to the calibration/repair tools so I don't use digitals and I don'recommend the finicky things to any reloader. Reloading digitals are indeed quirky; they suffer from hysterisis, are sensitive to ambient temperature and line power, they are not as long lasting and are in no way better for reloading than a beam powder scale.
* I'm just kinda locked into the quality check mode. Been that way for a long long time. I even go so far as to cull powder charges I throw with the Harrell for a check (usually every fifth charge). I've also kinda got a system that I set up my equipment (I also did the samething with beam scales if it matters much). Guess that's just me, but it also works well for me.
Fact is, even the best digital scales simply don't bring anything specific (but trouble) to the loading bench; not speed, not accuracy, not ease of use, not reliability. My Ohaus/Lyman M5 beam scale's test weight reads exactly the same today as it did in '65 and I have no doubt it will last that much longer without fail. My scale is not unique among beam scales but NOTHING electronic lasts that long and everyone knows it!
*I wrote a post awhile about checking the calibration weights supplied with scales. I checked them on more than one scale, and the results were not great.
Now, digital powder dumpsters are a whole different thing from simple scales. I'm practiced with my old manual powder measure, a very good powder trickler and my beam scales, I can easily match the speed of my friend who has an RCBS system but I KNOW exactly what my powder charges are. My young friend just knows what his digital readout says and that digital readout only needs to be off ONCE. That sudden change can happen and that's why I was well paid and had good job security for a long time! I do have a digital I use to weight cases and bullets but not powder, no one's going to be hurt if a bullet or case is different from what I thought but ... powder? Naw, I insist on knowing what my charges are, all the time, every time.
* I pretty much wrote in the past that I have no serious preference in the digital measurers. I know what ones I didn't prefer (not just my own opinion as well), and also have said what I liked. The Pact and the RCBS units worked for me, and the other didn't.
So, IMHO, the value of a digital dumpster depends entirely on the user; if he has a well arranged work flow path and good technique the manual worker will be as fast and accurate as an automated digital system at its best. If the user is slow, if his tools are poorly place or if he's inattentive to details he will likely be better served with something other than the old tools. ??
