What scale do you use?
- Thread starter odoylerules
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jimbires
Well-Known Member
you will be well pleased with the scale . mines a few years old , and never a hiccup with it . Cambridge environmental in Canada was the place to buy them .
https://cambridgeenviro.com/products/balances-scales-fx-120i
odoylerules
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- Dec 6, 2016
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jimbires
Well-Known Member
Interesting watch
I have been using a Chargemaster, checked with balance beam scale every 50 charges or so. Used with a straw, it throws to .1gr with maybe one or two .1-.2gr overthrows per 100 charges. I correct these manually for with a small spatula. My Chargemaster is +15 years old and works quite well. Balance beam checks indicate that I'm generally within .05gr of the Chargemaster reading.. For my hunting/competition requirements to 1200 yards I find this level of precision quite satisfactory for sub .5MOA accuracy. For just about all my precision rifles, my loads run 4-6FPS per .1 grains charge weight, and a .5-1gr accuracy node. My ES standard is <12FPS for 10 shots. In reality, several other factors can easily negate going to finer levels of weighing precision.
johnnyk
Well-Known Member
Scale technician by trade. Does it matter? I don't know. Given all the "uncertainties" in weighing masses, there's a lot of variables that can work against you each and every time you pull that trigger. Things like the electronics in the scale (were they Chinese made or American? / and who has the best?), the tolerances of the weights that were used to calibrate the scale (did you use Class 1 or Class F? / were they certified by a state entity?), external factors (were you in a controlled temperature environment or were you in your shed with high temps/humidity?). All of these contribute to what we call "uncertainties" in weighing.
Did the bullets all weigh the same? Did the cases have the same internal capacity. Were the primers the same lot? What kind of scales does the manufacturer's of the bullets, the primers and powder use? Are they calibrated daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually? Did the technician give a crap that day? Was he sufficiently trained? There are a lot of unknowns before we ever put the cartridge together.
Then we take them to a different environment (outside) and plug them into a rifle that was probably made or assembled by a person you don't know (mass production) or to the most you are semi-familiar with (your gunsmith) and only because you send him/her large quantities or your hard earned money.
And then we pull the trigger.......and hope (more likely assume) we hit the target. In a 1000yd laboratory this would be a cinch, kinda', but now we're dealing with temperature, relative humidity, the WIND (speed, direction, consistency) the spin drift of the bullet and the Coriolis effect (are you shooting in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere? are you shooting toward the East or West? North or South? do you know? do you care?) Does your ballistic app take all this into consideration?
Should we have to worry about all this? I don't think so. As humans and a society, we usually choose and pick what matters to us most. We do it with the Bible, our partners, our children and our jobs or businesses and hobbies.
Now that the somewhat pessimistic ranting is out of the way (which I'm not) I will say I weigh each of my charges on a RCBS Charge Master at .2gn less than my desired target weight. Then I moved it over to my other scale, a Mettler Toldeo AB104-S and use the Omega powder trickler to finish it off. This unit reads out to .002 (thousandths) of a grain and my tolerance for most of my loads is +/- .004gn. This set up gives me confidence in my loads and that they are the best that I can assemble each time, but I shoot mostly factory rifles for long range targets and hunting. The one exception is a Kirby Allen built .270 Allen Magnum, which has a voracious appetite for slow burning ball powder. So far I have only used US869, which I don't think is temperature insensitive but it shoots absolutely great past 1000yds, regardless of all that we have to put up with!
Did the bullets all weigh the same? Did the cases have the same internal capacity. Were the primers the same lot? What kind of scales does the manufacturer's of the bullets, the primers and powder use? Are they calibrated daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually? Did the technician give a crap that day? Was he sufficiently trained? There are a lot of unknowns before we ever put the cartridge together.
Then we take them to a different environment (outside) and plug them into a rifle that was probably made or assembled by a person you don't know (mass production) or to the most you are semi-familiar with (your gunsmith) and only because you send him/her large quantities or your hard earned money.
And then we pull the trigger.......and hope (more likely assume) we hit the target. In a 1000yd laboratory this would be a cinch, kinda', but now we're dealing with temperature, relative humidity, the WIND (speed, direction, consistency) the spin drift of the bullet and the Coriolis effect (are you shooting in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere? are you shooting toward the East or West? North or South? do you know? do you care?) Does your ballistic app take all this into consideration?
Should we have to worry about all this? I don't think so. As humans and a society, we usually choose and pick what matters to us most. We do it with the Bible, our partners, our children and our jobs or businesses and hobbies.
Now that the somewhat pessimistic ranting is out of the way (which I'm not) I will say I weigh each of my charges on a RCBS Charge Master at .2gn less than my desired target weight. Then I moved it over to my other scale, a Mettler Toldeo AB104-S and use the Omega powder trickler to finish it off. This unit reads out to .002 (thousandths) of a grain and my tolerance for most of my loads is +/- .004gn. This set up gives me confidence in my loads and that they are the best that I can assemble each time, but I shoot mostly factory rifles for long range targets and hunting. The one exception is a Kirby Allen built .270 Allen Magnum, which has a voracious appetite for slow burning ball powder. So far I have only used US869, which I don't think is temperature insensitive but it shoots absolutely great past 1000yds, regardless of all that we have to put up with!
Attachments
A&D FX120i with dandy trickler and throw initial charge with lee scoop kit. With all the brass prep I do coupled with this scale and using high end scope/rifle combos if I get a flyer ITS ALL ME! Can't blame the bullet or rifle anymore lol!
I use an RCBS Chargemaster Lite and use either a GemPro 250 or RCBS Rangemaster 2000 to spot-check throws and for weighing bullets and cases. I still like using an older 5-0-5 or now, my new RCBS M1000 for trickling. The M1000 replaced an older 10-10 (by RCBS customer service) that would no longer hold zero for more than 4 or 5 throws. By the way, the M1000 is a really nice scale even though it is not USA made.
corsair4360
Well-Known Member
I use a RCBS Chargemaster, on a isolated circuit, with a electrical ballast on the low voltage wire leading to the scale, and a reduced diameter spout on the discharge chute. Works great, very consistent. I do leave it on all the time.
Buckskinner
Well-Known Member
Charge Master with beam to confirm. One out of 20 may need a trickle or a pull.
DartonJager
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- Joined
- Apr 1, 2016
- Messages
- 976
PACT auto trickle within 1.5-2 grains then trickle last few grains into my RCBS 1010 beam scale.
