Accuracy is one thing but repeatability is important. I dont really care if the scale is off a tenth if it is consistent. The strain digitals I've tried drift a lot and over charge( the automatic ones) my old balance beam is about a tenth off from my check weight. I could tweak it but it is always the same. As long as their are no drafts in the room it's solid.
Beam Scales
- Thread starter Boe
- Start date
Help Support Long Range Hunting Forum
Again, I'm not a fan of Scott's customer service, but I think he's a knowledgeable as anyone when it comes to the cheap(er) beam scales. Read this for this thoughts on the 10-10
Very informative!
nksmfamjp
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2004
- Messages
- 3,200
That is a shame. I wonder why some scales like my TRX-925 or the fx120's don't seem to have those issues as much. I can tell you that the TRX-925 programmng is light years ahead of the others I have used. Strain gage scales drift…it is a fact of life. Good ones seem to have programming that can understand when weight is not being added or removed and block out drift.
I'm sure RCBS check weights are well under the 0.1gr tolerance, but considering truly top scales are now measuring accurately +/-0.01gr, are they that good? Look at this and price your weights accordingly!
Accurate weights are $7 - $15 ea…..not sure you need more than 3…maybe 200 mg, 2g, 10g….I would get F1 tolerance class.
Amazon product ASIN B0B2PNMVGP
Amazon product ASIN B091GHYH4D
Amazon product ASIN B091GJSYXF
Good information.I have used my fingers in the past.The set came with tweezers but they got lost over the years.I have lost several weights too.
Thanks SEGARE.
Those 2 weights are all a scale would ever need nksmfamjp.The ballest was my problem and a ground not hooked up.I fixed that and wired it for LED and problems gone.
My Pact is an older unit as well.
For our last years anniversary (49 years) the wife got me a RCBS Chargemaster Lite but it's too much trouble to set up for just a few reloads so I use the Pact and 10-10.This years anniversary will be 50 years and am thinking about a good gift for me.The wife wants a trip and already booked it.Been thinking about my 50 year anniversary gift.
I will add that my check weight set is from the 1970's so an upgrade is coming.
Thanks SEGARE.
Those 2 weights are all a scale would ever need nksmfamjp.The ballest was my problem and a ground not hooked up.I fixed that and wired it for LED and problems gone.
My Pact is an older unit as well.
For our last years anniversary (49 years) the wife got me a RCBS Chargemaster Lite but it's too much trouble to set up for just a few reloads so I use the Pact and 10-10.This years anniversary will be 50 years and am thinking about a good gift for me.The wife wants a trip and already booked it.Been thinking about my 50 year anniversary gift.
I will add that my check weight set is from the 1970's so an upgrade is coming.
Last edited:
QuietTexan
Well-Known Member
Another way to look at this is: can you shoot the difference between tools going as fast as the fastest tool lets you? IMO it's not hard to shoot the difference in +/-0.1gn of powder (especially in small cases), but how long it takes to get a charge weight that close matters a lot to some people.
There's not necessarily any more precision in the expensive tools, but there is a lot more speed in them. A Lee Auto Drum might be as fast as a V4, but if it's dropping +/- .2gn at that speed and the V4 is hitting +/- 0.05gn then the V4 is the better tool in terms of precision and accuracy at speed.
Supporting high volume shooting requires speed in the loading processes - it lets you spend more time shooting. Erik Cortina uses Mark 7 auto-drive progressive presses for brass prep - if someone here did that some people would cry worrying about concentricity and dwell time and rotating the cases 90* and blah blah blah but for him the cases come out good enough they're ready to load - he gets more out of shooting more than making sure each single case is a work of pure perfect art. Accept 95% and shoot instead of spending 2-5x more time chasing 100%. The 5% given up is also where it matters least to him - he's a smart guy and has built his processes so that they're robust and isolate variances where they hurt him the least.
The Prometheus drops to the kernel about as fast and anyone can run a seating die. Autotrickler can hit 0.05gn in 15 seconds without being touched. Sure I could go back to Lee scoops and a Dandy trickler and get each charge to the same point as my V4 drops, but it would take several times longer and involve me interacting with the process and not doing something else while the machine is working.
I'm willing to pay to save time loading time because in my case the time saved doesn't increase how much I shoot, it lets me load more in a narrower window after family goes to bed so I'm not giving up family time for my own selfish reasons.
I'm not a "high" volume shooter and consider reloading another hobby. I have check weights that I bought off e bay. I just retired from a large chemical plant with a modern lab, after I got the weights one of my buddies that worked in the lab verified their weight on one of their scales, all of the weights down to 1 gram were dead on. Some of the milligram weights were off a little. I made a laminated list of the weights and noted the correct weights for those that were off, it stays in the container with the weights. I always use tweezers to handle the weights as the oils on your fingers can contaminate them.
