Nice post! So what brand and size was the problem scale?
I picked up one of those little franklin pocket scales, thought I'd sort bullets.
I liked it enough I quit using the beam. The beam was only 1/10gr, same as the pocket scale. And they both measured the same.
Yeah, I replaced the battery once a year, it times out and shuts off if I don't keep up with it. Definitely handy and consistent for a cheap little bugger. I think the key here is repeatablility.