Reloading Scales

[kellyz]

Which reloading scale is the most accurate? What is the accuracy? +/- 0.1 gr? What is necessary for 1000 - 1200 yards? Thanks!

 

[g0rd0]

RCBS, Lyman, Redding and Lee all have very accurate scales. I have an old Lyman 500 grn a Lee 100 grn and a knock off 7000 grn digital all 3 show the same results using jewlers weights.
A beam scale is my best choice, if you choose to go digital the scale and the room should be between 65 to 85 deg F.
But, to answer your question my go to scale is the Lee

 

[Rick Richard]

I have a Dillon digital scale which is over 10 years old and is still very accurate. The one thing I just learned is to let it warm up for at least a half hour to minimize drift...it does make a difference.

 

[Bill Johnson]

I have 2 beam scales, an RCBS and a Lyman. Both are accurate to .1gr verified with check weights. Both are 30 years old.

 

[kellyz]

Thanks. I have a Lyman digital scale that reads to the nearest tenth. In a perfect world if I am weighing charges at 80.0 gr, I could still have variation from 79.95 to 80.04 gr since it rounds to the nearest 0.1 gr. Is that significant variation when shooting 1200 yards?

 

[g0rd0]

for long shots like that everything matters. Get yourself another scale and a trickler

 

[ohiohunter]

Thanks. I have a Lyman digital scale that reads to the nearest tenth. In a perfect world if I am weighing charges at 80.0 gr, I could still have variation from 79.95 to 80.04 gr since it rounds to the nearest 0.1 gr. Is that significant variation when shooting 1200 yards?

Depending on the powder you should be fine, you still have to consider the accuracy of the scale. I would add a kernel to the 79.95 and see if that narrows your margins.

 

[stevesmith]

Which reloading scale is the most accurate? What is the accuracy? +/- 0.1 gr? What is necessary for 1000 - 1200 yards? Thanks!

i use the lyman pro 1500 digital scale..i work on scales for a profession and have checked this scale every way known to man and it is as good of a scale as can be used for reloading shells.
everybody has there favorite scale to use whether its a beam or digital just find what you feel comfortable using and feel they are reliable enough for you and thats the scale you need.. good luck with your search..
Happy Holidays !!!!!
Happy Shooting !!!!!

 

[joshua99ta]

I've been pondering this for a while. I wanted to go digital and get a electronic thrower and scale. But I just can't make myself do it. I believe after I buy it I'll go back to the ole beam scale b/c I'll be second guessing the accuracy. I know some folks don't but I weigh every charge, especially with long kernel powders.

 

[LoneTraveler]

I am not sure about all the new reloading scales on the market, But most of the reloading scales made over the years no matter the name Lyman, RCBS, somewhere on the box in big or little letters is OHAUS, A long standing scale manufacture. They built a lot of the reloading scales under contract. I prefer balance scales. Many of the new digital scales are to sensitive to heat or cold, I like to see just what a load weighs on balance scales, to zero. I like the RCBS scales with a 1010 Gr. capacity are great for weighing loaded cartridges looking for varibles. Good Luck and Safe Reloading.

 

[stevesmith]

I've been pondering this for a while. I wanted to go digital and get a electronic thrower and scale. But I just can't make myself do it. I believe after I buy it I'll go back to the ole beam scale b/c I'll be second guessing the accuracy. I know some folks don't but I weigh every charge, especially with long kernel powders.

here it is in a nut shell as quick as i can do it..a digitalscale is very very accurate..more accurate than a beam scale..only a digital scale will allow you to see the variance of .1 +/- even at zero the same thing. a beam you dont see that cause its just not fine enough a beam want show a 1/2 of .1 but a digital will blink between .0 and .1 or from .4 to .5 when a beam just stops so therefore the assumption comes the beam scale works better..again folks use beam scales and have for years and will for many more im sure..but by no means be scared of it because if it works right then you have one nice piece of loading equipment that can be counted on for as long as it will come on..
hope it helps some..if i can help any where else i will sure try.lightbulb

 

[bill123]

Try the gempro. .02 gr sensitivity.

 

[ArtsMonkey]

I second on the Gempro 250. I own both a RCBA chargemaster and gempro and by far the gempro is what i use when I'm working on long range charges. If you work up your loads by FPS instead of "group sizes" you will find certain power ranges that doen't vary in FPS in which you can use a less accurate scale and just work on accuracy with OAL changes. that works about 80% of the time when working up loads.

 

[stevesmith]

I second on the Gempro 250. I own both a RCBA chargemaster and gempro and by far the gempro is what i use when I'm working on long range charges. If you work up your loads by FPS instead of "group sizes" you will find certain power ranges that doen't vary in FPS in which you can use a less accurate scale and just work on accuracy with OAL changes. that works about 80% of the time when working up loads.

but if you want a accurate scale to weigh those long shots accurately you need a good digital scale..i just recently purchased the hornady auto charge system.it will automatically discharge exactly the charge you put in it 99% of the time..1 of 100 may shoot over by .1 or under .1 but it gives a alarm that it is not the exact charge you ask for..i checked the scale by nist standards as if it were a retail scale and it is perfect..i work on $1000.00 digital balances that want do no better than this scale and it does it automatically.. i purchsed the lyman and the rcbs all 3 at the same time..and checked them all diligently and the rcbs and the lyman just want work as good as the hornady auto charge..now the scale part of the rcbs and the lyman work as good as they can but mine would over shot 8 out of 10 times on the lyman and 6 of 10 with the rcbs..and the hornady was the least expensive of all..i loaded rounds for 600 yards off of it and shot yesterday.. at 600 yards i had a 10 shot group all within 4in. of point of aim they wee all weighed from this scale and i just couldnt ask for it to do no better.. im a very novice loader and not a intermiddiate shooter just above novice so if i couold do my part better im sure theres more accuracy there all weighed with a hornady auto charge.. i shot just over 100 rounds and every shot i took actually did better than i could have imagined..i have previously only shot to 400 yards this was my first 600 yard shoot..im gonna make the 3 hour travel one way to a 1000 yard range tomorrow with this exact load off of the hornady auto charge and have 100% confidence that i will get exact resuts from it..now remember everything ive said is all IMHO..
and that i am a certified licensed in 7 states scale service technician for 27 years..
so just my 2 cents on the hornady auto charge...