Question about powder scales

Never cared. I learned that in the 1/10th and single grain knob on the scale you have to have it in a certain spot too line up the line. I have to have the scale like kiss the top of the line of the tube. I also have to look at it from the same angle.
 
winmag said:
First off I like my model T.
Second I trust it.
But I guess if your lab testing prooves otherwise to you then you have your trusted meathod, & I have mine, although I have no $10,000 scale to check it against, or even a lab or lab coat. I'm not knocking anyone's equipment. I never started down that road. I have asked many trusted shooters & reloaders on this forum about digitals. Many like them, & many you couldn't give one to. I don't belive my bank account would not allow me to play with your caliber of toys, so I got what is generally considered the trusted go to scale for accuracy & affordability.
But hey, that's just me. If 1 1/2 grains with his particular scale doesn't make a guy sceptical, go ahead on er'. I was just concerned for the guys safety.

As far as the flea market goes... Wow man. Who Peed in your cheerios today? That's low.:)
Tricky, your almost as opinionated as I am, haha. So how do I find info on these Ohaus scales? What price range are they in? Ill admit I do like my 505 scale, but having another trustworthy scale around keeps em all honest.
Click to expand...

I used to make balance weights for balancers that balanced gas turbines and later other aps all the time. Their weights were often an odd number, and had very little tolerance to work with. We used Ohaus #304 scales for years (owned by RCBS). They worked very well, but we always had a couple in gauge repair being reworked.. One day we were over there to see what the hold up was on getting a couple of them back to us. That's when we found out they didn't use one, and hadn't for about five or six years. Boss ordered one that afternoon (digital), and we kept it in the office. Kinda got to be a pain going back and forth doing final checks. Then one day I show up with an RCBS digital that was made by PACT to just have a look see to it's accuracey. My boss and several others were shooters and reloaders, and of course there were a lot eyes looking this thing over. It was better (accuracey wise) than anything we needed. But just to be sure we took it over to the gauge repair shop, and had then run it thru the paces. My boss writes an order for a half dozen of them for the guys out on the lathes cutting bob weights. That was around 2003 or 2004. They are still using these units today without a hitch, and the size was much smaller than the big high dollar one he bought. One thing we did do was to make a plexiglass box to keep them in as there were chips a crud flying all over the place. We did have to send each one to gauge inspection to make sure they were good and accurate, and of course they passed their tests.
gary
 
"...my beam scale went to the flea market like they all need to go. "

Amusing. Beams are 'old' and work off gravity so they never change. But you think only "NEW, MODERN, CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY!" electronics are worth using? THAT would be hard to prove! But, ah, the pride of youth who think a better world just came into being because they are here now. Fact is, my Lyman M5 balance beam is as accurate and sensitive today as it was when I took it out of the box in '65 and it's ready to go that much longer; you have ANY electronic device that will match that? Do your wonderful 'lab' digitals stay accurate without constant scheduled attention from highly trained technicians with a box of tools, electronic test instruments and spare parts? And do you equate all digitals, including cheap reloading scales, to be the equal of your very expensive but still flakey/delicate lab digitals? IF NOT, perhaps you could agree there is indeed a place for beam scales on a reloaders bench? :D

I find I can get a steady reading in less than 3 seconds with my scale and it usually takes a digital about 2 seconds to get stable - I just don't think 'saving' that tiny fraction of a second per charge would seriously improve my life! And, since I weigh my serious rifle charges and the digtals rarely - if ever - follow a trickler very well in real time, it would actually cost me time to use one. (But, everyone to his own illusions about electronics is fine with me. :rolleyes: ) Most of those who say 'digitals are faster' have simply never learned to use a beam scale correctly. The old Ohaus lab scales on a post - 302. 304, 305, etc. - were great tools --- in fact they worked exactly as well as the much more compact and less expensive scales we still have and that eventually replaced them!

My Lyman M5 is an Ohaus made version of what is today's RCBS 1010 but I have found that other guy's beam scales work just as well, including my equally old Herter's - and a much newer Lee Safety Scale I don't care for but it works fine. IF I had to buy a new scale tomorrow it would be a Dillon beam or the RCBS 502 or Redding's. But, as a retired precision electronic instrument repair/calibration tech in the space/defense industries, I don't have and won't have any flakey electronic gadget on my bench, certainly not to weight anything but bullets and cases; I KNOW that mixing digital scales and powder could get me hurt! (Jimbores, most of the digitals 'work'... for a little while. Problem is, they tend to fail fast when they go!)
 
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boomtube , I agree . my experience with the digital scales has not been good . I didn't know they failed until , my groups opened , or my chrony showed me . then I had to figure out what was going on . I knew what my scale said , but it lied . so I over looked powder weight for a while . if I have to double check my digital charges , why bother . since I dusted off my old 10-10 scale , I think I'll have a hard time going electronic again . I can be awfully sloppy using a beam scale and hold + or - a tenth . if the charge is off I know right there it's off , and by how much . Jim
 
"We used Ohaus #304 scales for years (owned by RCBS)."

Not quit. RCBS buys fron Ohaus.


"Another one I was looking at was a Dillon scale, anyone with knowledge on this one?"

Yep. Dillon also buys their beam scale from Ohaus, same scale as RCBS' 505 I believe. Lyman used to buy their scales from Ohaus, don't know about today.


"Anyone have experience with Uniqutek or Ohaus or Gempro or Sartorious?"

I can only tell you Ohaus is a LONG time maker of high quality scales for lab work. Their reloading scales are simply their common units that have been calibrated for grains rather than ounces, grams, etc.
 
boomtube said:
"We used Ohaus #304 scales for years (owned by RCBS)."

Not quit. RCBS buys fron Ohaus.


"Another one I was looking at was a Dillon scale, anyone with knowledge on this one?"

Yep. Dillon also buys their beam scale from Ohaus, same scale as RCBS' 505 I believe. Lyman used to buy their scales from Ohaus, don't know about today.


"Anyone have experience with Uniqutek or Ohaus or Gempro or Sartorious?"

I can only tell you Ohaus is a LONG time maker of high quality scales for lab work. Their reloading scales are simply their common units that have been calibrated for grains rather than ounces, grams, etc.
Click to expand...

whoever owns RCBS also own Ohaus. Been that way as long as I can remember.
glt
 
Point Proven, go buy an 899 dollar scale if you want to be lazy and use a digital. But it seems like it will be slower with that dust cover that is on it.
 
It appears to me that the Gempro and the Uniquetek scales look very alike. Does someone know if these are made by the same company? I was reading reviews on midways site on the rcbs 505 and found a lot of bad reviews. Which will deter me from that.
I was however surprised to see 5 stars for every review on the rangemaster 750 (rcbs). I did nit see one bad review.
 
meatyrem said:
It appears to me that the Gempro and the Uniquetek scales look very alike. Does someone know if these are made by the same company? I was reading reviews on midways site on the rcbs 505 and found a lot of bad reviews. Which will deter me from that.
I was however surprised to see 5 stars for every review on the rangemaster 750 (rcbs). I did nit see one bad review.
Click to expand...



don't go 100% on midways reviews . I gave a review on burris signature rings explaining how they are taller than advertised . they just didn't post my review . must not have wanted to tarnish the 5 star rating . Jim
 
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