electronice scales for reloading

[Hunter66654]

I would like to buy a reliable electronic scale for reloading. So far the ones I have looked at seem to have issues with drift or other problems. Your advice and experiences would be appreciated.

 

[Barrelnut]

Cost varies greatly. If budget minded, and want a very popular one that gets good reviews from a good percentage of hand-loaders, get a Gempro 250. It weights to .02 Gr. It is very repeatable, if you just take the time to learn it's nuances. And that's probably the same with any of them no matter how much you spend.

 

[LeddSlinger]

RCBS Chargemaster

 

[excaliber]

Gempro 250 is what I use. It's fast, repeatable and super accurate. It's been more accurate than any scale I've seen so far. .02 g is plenty accurate enough for me. What's not to like?

Cost varys greatly. If budget minded, and want a very popular one that gets good reviews from a good percentage of hand-loaders, get a Gempro 250. It weights to .02 Gr. It is very repeatable, if you just take the time to learn it nuances. And that's probably the same with any of them no matter how much you spend.

 

[7mmpredator]

A&D FX120i hands down. You could spend more money but you don't need to. With the Auto Trickler and Auto Throw it is game over.

 

[jaeger19]

X2 on the rcbs chargemaster. Love mine

 

[dfanonymous]

Cost varies greatly. If budget minded, and want a very popular one that gets good reviews from a good percentage of hand-loaders, get a Gempro 250. It weights to .02 Gr. It is very repeatable, if you just take the time to learn it's nuances. And that's probably the same with any of them no matter how much you spend.

whats the nuances are to be expected? Been looking at getting one myself.

 

[jimbires]

another vote for the A&D FX120i . these scales just work . there is no jacking around with them to weigh powder as you trickle up to your desired weight .

 

[Kmccord]

Whichever you get, I have one of the original RCBS charge master made back in 2000, I would suggest you have a good balance beam scale to verify your charges ever so often. I have found mine to drift a grain at times..

 

[BountyHunter]

A&D FX120i hands down. You could spend more money but you don't need to. With the Auto Trickler and Auto Throw it is game over.

Absolutely best and fastest setup. Buy two metal pans and file the heaviest to weigh exactly the same as the lighter one. This allows one pan to be trickling while pouring other into the cases.

The autotrickler makes it super fast and smooth. Adam at auto trickier now has a powder measure set up that is even faster.

 

[robsev]

I have an RCBS that I've had for about 10 years. When we moved I set it up and it absolutely would not zero. I sent it to a place in Texas to get fixed. They sent it back to me and it did the same thing. I called them and they asked me if I have any microwave towers close by. I happen to have one about a quarter mile away. They told me good luck - it won't work as long as I live this close to a tower.

 

[B23]

I'm curious, how many of you with electronic scales leave them turned on all the time?

I have two, a RCBS Chargemaster and the older version Dillon D-Terminator, I never shut either one of them off. Whenever I have, it seems like they both take awhile before they get warmed up and settle down. Curious if many others leave their E scales turned on all the time or do you turn them off when not in use.

FWIW, both of mine are over ten years old and I, often, check them to my Redding 505 beam scale.

 

[Okanogan]

I have the GEMPro 250, RCBS Charge Master and the A&D FX120i with the auto trickler. If you have the coin, I would suggest the cry once and buy once approach and go with the A&D as it works great and is what I use almost exclusively now for my precision reloading. If you are on a tight budget and willing to put in more time to try and get really tight charge weight tolerances, the GEMPro 250 should do well enough. It takes longer to settle on a reading but it gives me the same readings as the A&D when I cross checked the two. The company making the GEMPro has good customer support and replaced mine for $25 when I thought it had started to drift (which it may not have been doing after all.)

My Charge Master tended to give me -0.1 to +0.2gr accuracy even after tuning per internet programming wisdom. It works better for me than throwing charges with stick powders but it does not have the tighter tolerance of the other two. While there is nothing wrong with the Charge Master, mine is now relegated to the closet.

For A&D and Gempro and likely all the other scales capable of measuring to 0.02 gr, small things like air currents and even shifting your weight around on the floor/ reloading bench can cause some fluctuation in readings so you'll need to be observant and undergo a simple learning curve.

 

[Barrelnut]

whats the nuances are to be expected? Been looking at getting one myself.

1) It needs to be level
2) Scale works faster in warmer temps. Above 65 degrees seems fine.
3) Let it stabilize to the room temp for about an hour before using it.
4) I power mine up about 15~30 minutes before using it.
5) The scale will read 1 or 2 kernels of most powders. On mine, 2 kernels of H4350 are .05 gr.
6) I like to throw a load about .2 Gr. short with a Hornady Auto Charge or Chargemaster. Dump that into a pan already on the Gempro and then trickle it up to the final charge while it sits on the Gempro.
7) When trickling, it can take the Gempro about 5 seconds to register those last 2 kernels. But that is not really an issue, cause I know 2 kernels are about .05 Gr. So you can pretty much just count the kernels that you trickle in an hit it perfect almost every time.
8) If I throw a couple kernels over, I remove the pan from the Gempro and remove the extra kernels with tweezers or a small powder spoon. I don't scope powder in the pan while on the Gempro. It is very sensitive.