Gem Pro or something else?

[Blaster01]

So I have heard good and bad things about the gem pro scales. First off, if anyone has one they wouldn't mind letting go, let me know haha, second, if you don't like your gempro, what are other comparable or better options for a precision scale under 300 bucks? What are you guys using? Right now I just have the chargemaster light but I'm afraid it's throwing some off charges here and there.

 

[SEGARE]

Smart Weigh from Amazon.

 

[338 dude]

The Lyman Accu touch 2000 when you go to the range it runs on battery power

at home you have your AC adapter it comes with a powder trickle and check weights and it all stores inside the scale Also the trickler can be set up on the right or left side

 

[DJ Fergus]

So I have heard good and bad things about the gem pro scales. First off, if anyone has one they wouldn't mind letting go, let me know haha, second, if you don't like your gempro, what are other comparable or better options for a precision scale under 300 bucks? What are you guys using? Right now I just have the chargemaster light but I'm afraid it's throwing some off charges here and there.

I had a gempro 250. I used it for a long while and during the 4 years or so I had one, I had to send it back twice. It would be fine for a while and start drifting, getting worse & worse over time until it was not usable. Each time they returned a new one to me with out any drama. When I got the brand new one back the second time, I sold it to a non reloader. I use a regular sized chargemaster while checking charges with a cheap waoaw scale from amazon : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06W5VXN53/?tag=lrhmag19-20

The waoaw scale may not have the fine resouluton of measurement that you want but I would look for something different than a gempro if I were going to spend $300

 

[Blaster01]

I found a deal on my weigh scale that fit the bill. After a lot of research and some phone calls lol thanks for all the info though guys! The amount of knowledge and low response time on virtually any question on this site always amazes me. You guys are awesome!

 

[archangel485]

Glad you found something, what did you get? If it doesn't work out you might try looking for a used ohaus analytical balance. I went through the whole gempro thing, when it drifts several hundredths on every charge the 0.01 resolution doesn't mean much. I ended up buying a precision balance from like the 80s, ohaus gt210 but other models work too. Ohaus has been around a long time and you can find high end balances from labs who are retiring them for under 300.

 

[Blaster01]

Glad you found something, what did you get? If it doesn't work out you might try looking for a used ohaus analytical balance. I went through the whole gempro thing, when it drifts several hundredths on every charge the 0.01 resolution doesn't mean much. I ended up buying a precision balance from like the 80s, ohaus gt210 but other models work too. Ohaus has been around a long time and you can find high end balances from labs who are retiring them for under 300.

I got the my weigh i401. Looks pretty decent!

 

[lancetkenyon]

I have had two GemPro250.
Neither one lasted a year before starting to drift, and way off. Even after recalibration several times, without drifting, my last one was still 11.1gr off. Just a waste of space on my bench now.

 

[Patriot007]

Ok, Here I go. LOL... 6 years ago, I and my Father in law each bought a Gem Pro 250 We were the lucky ones because both of ours are still preforming great. Mine has not giving me any problems, no drift or floating. Also in 6 years, I have never turned it off, It's been off for a day and a half when the hurricane came through 2 years ago. Pa turns his off every day and once in a blue moon his will drift. There's no evidence leaving it on or turning it off has any variance in its performance. Just the nature of the beast. Over the last year or so I have been worried about what we were going todo If the gem pro quit working When you get that kind of performance out of a $160.00 scale what do you do when it quits working. Well, A charge master or anything in that line of scales is only accurate out to a 1000yds. There just to much Variances in the charges in them units out past 1000yds. I'm not saying it can't be done with a charge master. I'm saying,,, spend that $300.00 or $400.00 wiser. If you are in the market for a new scale, I say save your money and buy an
A&D FX120i scale. For $425.00, Data weighing Systems (DWS) has a scale for you. That is the next step up from the Gem Pro 250. If you had a good one that worked. I'm poor and I don't like to waste my money on tools that just leave me hanging when I need them to preform on a precision level. So I research and research and save my pennies and one day I get what I really want. Friday I was really blessed when FedUp arrived, a day late also on the delivery, But it has been a month and a half wait, so what did one more day make, right. I would like to give a shout out to Todd Efster over on Elfster's Rifles and Reloading YouTube channel, and Justin an LLyand over at Data Weighing Systems for making this all possible. Thanks guys, with out you, this would not of been possible. It was a great buying Esperance.
With out making yawl wait any longer, here is my next step up from the Gem Pro 250. It Is A Sartorius Entris II BCE223i-01, with the V3 Auto Throw and Trickler.. Yes I am feeling very BLESSED. The info I got on these scales show they have only been on the market for 3 or so months, "Don't quote me on that." As I said I just got this Friday, so I was scrambling to load some cases and the only cases that I had prepped that wasn't already loaded were from a project from January 2020 "6.5CM" comparing Lapua and Hornady Cases and some 223 cases that I prepped in July 2017. I'm a firm believer that if you prep the brass,,, load it with in a day or two of prepping it. "Just my OCD at play."
I was lucky enough to get to shoot those loads today. I was surprised by the numbers being as tight as they were, being that the brass was prepped so long ago. I will upload my Target with my chrono numbers,,, Don't laugh at the groups. The top 2 targets is the lapua cases and RL26. The bottom Left was a Latter Test with Hornady brass and Reloader 26. The bottom right is IMR 4208 XBR with Lake City brass in my AR15.
Also the top 2 targets were weighed with the Gem Pro 250 and the bottom 2 were weighed with the Sartorius BCE223i with the V3 Auto drop and Trickler. Although the cases were not my 1st choice to use for a serious load development shoot, and the groups suck " more likely my fault than the cases". I'm still impressed with the numbers on the paper.. Tomorrow I will Prep new brass and do it again and see if the groups tighten up. So my 2 Cents say this. If you need a good reloading scale that will preform on a precision level. Buy the A&D FX120i, it can't be beat in that price range and a charge master or any scale in that price range can't touch its performance.

 

[Wide Glide]

Buy a new gem Pro with the warranty and if anything goes wrong exchange it also buy a good set of calibration weights. I throw charges with my chargemaster then dumped that into the pan on the gem Pro and trickle if needed before each loading session I use the RCBS calibration weights and whatever combination I need to get me near the grain weight that I am expecting to be loading to see that both scales are consistent and close. I've been doing it like this for quite a few years and wouldn't have it any other way unless I suddenly got rich and could afford that other scale that everyone recommends for 700 bucks. I think it is a fx120 or something like that