Better digital scale for reloading pistol

[CarlMc]

So I went ahead and sprung for the previously mentioned digital scale and a set of test weights. Borrowed another set of gram test weights, class F, from work, and sat down with both scales for some head to head competition. Right out of the box both scales met were extremely accurate, with a slight tip towards the American Weigh model. One error down, on to my own personal errors...

Still, I do love having an extra digit. I use lots of digital instruments at work, and have developed a method of confidence in them. An example is a pressure sensor that's accurate to 0.012%. The indicator puts out a proportional analog output voltage that I read with other instruments, which gives me the ability to add more digits. While I can't "claim" the last digit of the sensor's indicator, the rest of the digits on the secondary display give me wonderful visibility of trending, which in some projects is very critical.

 

[deadshot2]

CarlMc-

Sensitivity doesn't always equal accuracy. It sounds like the scale you purchased though has passed the accuracy test. As or having greater resolution (more digits) that may drive you nuts with some powders. If you load any Varget, just for giggles, start weighing it out by individual granules. Note how heavy some granules are. In order to get "dead nuts on" you may need to keep an X-acto knife handy.

I like my loads uniform but certainly am not going to buy a set of tweezers so I can remove one or two granules from a scale pan just to make that last "digit" on a two decimal place readout a zero. The ammo I produce tends to be more accurate than my abilities even using a "single decimal place" scale.

 

[CarlMc]

I'm not interested in the second digit other than to let me know how close to the target weight I am, whether it's wandering, or if I have environmental influences that need to get dealt with. Scales that toggle back and forth between two digits may be rounding up or down on the next five, but you won't know that without that digit. It's really annoying when you have to "claim" that digit.

My interest is strictly practice for ammo, but sometimes things get the better of me and I can't contain myself. This little exercise didn't cost me much, but I got peace of mind, which is far more valuable.

My next step will be to work out a consistant process of cycling the powder so that it works the same way every time for me. I suspect that's going to be harder than it sounds.

 

[deadshot2]

My next step will be to work out a consistant process of cycling the powder so that it works the same way every time for me. I suspect that's going to be harder than it sounds.

Good luck on that project. I gave up on it long ago. Any powder measure/dispenser that relies on volume to measure out a powder load will have variations based one the structure of the powder. Just when you think you have it down something changes. I fought the problem for years, doing all the tricks. For a while I tapped the side of the reservoir before dropping a charge. Then I'd start the tumbler while dispensing powder. Also tried the trick of bumping the handle down against the stop before then raising it (where my measure then dropped the powder) and banging it against the stop. I still had to weigh and use a trickler because the charges weren't uniform enough for my needs (and desiires). I finally said to heck with it and bought an RCBS Chargemaster. Every powder, from "rat dropping" to "sugar" consistency is dispensed accurately with all weights being uniform.

Shooting results are great too.

 

[CarlMc]

Good luck on that project. I gave up on it long ago.

Well, aren't you a bundle of joy!
I really didn't want to hear that!

 

[deadshot2]

Well, aren't you a bundle of joy!
I really didn't want to hear that!

I know. But I can either tell you what you want to hear or I can tell you the truth. My memory is getting too bad to tell anything but the truth

 

[deadshot2]

I know. But I can either tell you what you want to hear or I can tell you the truth. My memory is getting too bad to tell anything but the truth

As a side note, being a bit of an "explorer" I checked out a new idea on an old system. Most of us are familiar with an RCBS Uniflow Powder Measure and a trickler.

RCBS introduced both in a single package. I went looking for a Powder Measure Stand and they were all backordered at my favorite sites so I then looked at this:

Bought one.

There were a lot of unfavorable reviews on it but they all centered around the powder moving so fast down the spout that it splashed out of the powder pan. I solved the issue by cutting off the top of a pop can, washing it carefully to remove the sticky pop residue, and then trimming it so it fit on the scale (a Dillon D-Terminator) and under the spout. The high walls contain the splash and it's being aluminum there are no static issues. Pours just as well into a powder funnel as a regular "powder pan". I can drop a load of Varget (that will vary as much as .2gr on average) just short of my target load, give the trickler handle a twist or two, and my load is exact.

I find this setup great for my "Experimental loads" so I don't have to drain the Chargemaster. Funny thing though, it's almost as fast as the chargemaster, just not automatic so it slows the overall process down.

It's about $60 for the stand and "downspout" with trickler. Supply your own Uniflow.

 

[CarlMc]

I find this setup great for my "Experimental loads" so I don't have to drain the Chargemaster. Funny thing though, it's almost as fast as the chargemaster, just not automatic so it slows the overall process down.

It's about $60 for the stand and "downspout" with trickler. Supply your own Uniflow.

Now that's a great idea! I can whip up something equivalent in a reasonable amount of time.
I suppose I do need to get past my temporary reloading stand first, though, and get set up with my more permanent stand and location.

 

[CarlMc]

I know. But I can either tell you what you want to hear or I can tell you the truth. My memory is getting too bad to tell anything but the truth

I wouldn't have it any other way. The truth is much easier to remember for sure, and if you can't handle it, you have other problems that really need to be addressed first. Besides, I'd rather learn from your mistakes than mine!

 

[JackD]

An interesting and informative thread. My digital was a gift and, using the check weight that came with it, it weighs light ~2 grams. 50 g shows a s 48 g. I think that is right. It's in the shop and I'm in the house, so can't check to see if my memory is correct. In grains it is also light (of course). I set it aside and bought an old balance beam, oil dampened. Slow, but accurate....if my eye is in the right place. The only thing I load for is the .357 mag & .38 spl. and I'm not too fussy about accuracy. No competition shooting. Just fun and maybe some occasional pests. My powder measure is the Lee Auto Disc on my Lee turret loader.....or a set of Lee dippers. Working up loads, I try to be precise, then back off to where a slight variation doesn't matter so much and the Auto Disc has an aperature that works.

 

[CarlMc]

An interesting and informative thread. My digital was a gift and, using the check weight that came with it, it weighs light ~2 grams. 50 g shows a s 48 g. In grains it is also light (of course). I set it aside and bought an old balance beam, oil dampened. Slow, but accurate....if my eye is in the right place.

Have you gone though the cal process? These little ones have an decent process where you enter the cal mode, put on the test weight, and it sets the span by itself, which should put everything right with the world.

 

[JackD]

I've never seen a calibrate setting. Didn't know it had one. I 'll have to look at it again. It's not an expensive unit, to be sure. I believe it was only ~$50. My son bought it and didn't like it, so he bought a better one for himself and gave this one to me.

 

[CarlMc]

If it has a mode button, try holding it down until cal appears in the display.

 

[JackD]

Thanks, Carl. Yes it does have a mode button. I'll give that a try. Maybe I can make use of it yet.

 

[JackD]

Almost perfect. It did have calibrate function and it did calibrate. The weight is marked 50g. and was weighing at 48g. Calibrating, it settled on 50.14g and now the calibration weight weighs in at 50.08g. I then weighed three (separately) 200 gr. FTX bullets and they all came in at 199.8 gr's. I tried calibrate several times and that is the best it can do. It does take a few minutes to warm up the circuitry and after a few minutes of "on" time it is very consistant.

 

[CarlMc]

Two grams is 2.16 grains, which is about your scale's limit anyway. One thing to keep in mind, that providing the scale can zero, you set the span properly (top end) and the scale is linear, your error on the bottom end is significantly smaller (in theory anyway, my experience says the linearity is never perfect.)

 

[JackD]

Thanks again, Carl. I have a little more confidence in it now. I was quite surprised to see three bullets come out exactly the same. I didn't believe they were that close, and expected ~2 gr. variation.

 

[CarlMc]

Two grams is 2.16 grains

Just realized I typo'd there. Can't confirm the conversion at the moment, but I know the math was wrong!

 

[JackD]

Just realized I typo'd there. Can't confirm the conversion at the moment, but I know the math was wrong!

An on-line calc. says 2 g.=30.8646 gr.

But no matter, as long as the grains come out right on my scale.

 

[CarlMc]

Now that I'm not on a mobile, I can correct this properly. My intent was to convert his gram error into grains, and in addition to the typo, converted the wrong number. The original scale error of .14g is 2.16gr (where the typo started at,) and the final error of .08gr is 1.23g. So, according to that conversion, it's all good.

BTW, I have Josh Madison's "convert" program installed on every computer I have control over, and recommend it highly for those who have to do units conversion. It's got just about every unit I use, with the exception of some off the wall scientific units like oersteds and stuff.