What's the best digital scale?

[Otter]

deashot2 - Yes I see more benchrest shooters weighing charges at the range, but only in the last few years. Seems to be a mixed bag though as to who actually wins...the person who weighs or the person who throws. Historically though most of them did not weigh. Certainly the best of them all, Tony Boyer, did not weigh charges at the range, although he might now.

You seemed to have missed my point though. I see shooters worry about all sorts of stuff like what is the best digital scale, when they neglect to pay attention to the wind. Or learn good bench manners. Or they buy a $1800 Nightforce scope and then not know how to adjust the parallax out of it.

If I was to buy one I would get the Chargemaster as well. More than good enough for what we do.

 

[deadshot2]

I ordered the PACT dispenser/scale combo, but they haven't returned any of my emails....hard to call out during my working hrs.

You might definitely want to reconsider the PACT combo. Nothing wrong with the unit but there's something seriously wrong with PACT. It's almost like they have too much business and don't really care about taking care of warranty etc.

I ordered a Chronograph from them a couple years ago and it took well over a month for them to ship it even though it was indicated they had it in stock. Phone calls were answered by one of the most indifferent individuals in Customer Service I've ever dealt with. Not rude or offensive, just an attitude of "Oh well, we'll get to it when we feel like it".

The Chrono quit working about a year later and I sent it in, along with the mandatory check for $14.95 to pay for return shipping. Two months later and another phone call to see where it was before it was returned.

The same Chrono just recently quit working for no apparent reason and back it went. Was received by them (according to UPS tracking) on Feb 3rd. in mid March I callled to see "how much longer" and was told it wasn't logged into their system until two weeks after they received it. When I pointed out that UPS had delivered it much earlier, again the indifferent attitude of "so what?". When asked when I could expect it back the answer was "well, our tech is really swamped, maybe a month or two".

If you do go ahead with your Pact Combo purchase I hope it works great forever. Otherwise prepare yourself for a long delay before you see it again. Oh, by the way, the Better Business Bureau gives Pact, Inc an "F" rating due to their failure to even respond to the complaints received by the BBB.

As for scale accuracy and blowing up a gun, almost all of the usual suspects sold as "Reloading Digital Scales" are well within safe limits for loads within the manufacturer's published data. The worst of them are usually no less accurate than .2 gr with most of the better scales +/- .1 gr.

If all you're doing is 300 yard shooting even the Gempro is a little overkill. You'll see more improvement and consistency with proper case preparation than you'll gain in measuring out your loads to +/- .02 gr of accuracy. Not needed until you start reaching the outer limits of the .308 caliber round.

 

[theflyguy]

Thanks for the input. I too am now considering cancelling my order....don't want the headaches.

I'll pick up another reasonably priced scale to double check my charges.

thanks guys you've been a REAL help.

 

[SinisterSouthpaw]

P7 love the pix


ROFLMAO


PS to clear up a common misconception about benchrest shooters (at least those shooting IBS and NBRSA sanctioned events) and weighing powder two things should be kept in mind:

Most folks who load on the tailgate try to keep amount of luggage to a minimum. In the past, those folks were seen at matches using Culver (and other) type volumetric powder dispensers without any scales in evidence. This does not mean that they never weigh powder charges. Everyone experiments with his measure and whatever powder's latest lot # on hand, using the scale before skipping gaily off to the match. We then have our measures set to whatever we think is going top be the median for the day and adjust the drop as the day warms up or, rarely, cools down. These scales have definite adjustments. You will hear the shooters referring to how many "clicks" they adjusted the scale.

A couple of years ago a digital scale of a brand mentioned on this thread was spotted on Tony Boyer's bench at a sanctioned match---old timers were scandalized--many ran out and bought battery powered digital scales.


Personally, I have no use for chronographs. When I did I used one of Ken Oheler's until a friend shot it and they stopped making them. I have heard that PACT had some problems with theirs. As far as the scales/dispensers--no problem that I know of. I had one experience with PACT CS which was exactly opposite the one mentioned by deadshot -- it was not concerning a chrono.

As mentioned above--the combo units of whatever brand--are probably not necessary or even all that useful to the majority of shooters--maybe just a lot of fun to watch work--we do love our gadgets--just ask Ron Popiel.......Popeil? Pope peel?

You know the guy!

 

[Point Shooter]

Hi Mates ..
Actually i want to know what the best scales are in general. I feel I can never trust my scales. I want some that are always accurate. With my current Digital Scales I take the first reading, then if I move the scales to a different position in the room I get another reading up to 2kg different! It's so annoying. Which one is right???

 

[elsie]

2kg is quite a variation. I've noticed that small variations can be caused by air currents. A light breeze moving across the top of my bench (not enough to even move the powder around), caused my balance scale to change (ground effect lifting the pan) as well as my digital. Digital went the other direction for weight, strangely enough.

Best way to handle any scale is to get a set of check weights appropriate to the general area of weight you are going for. Light weights for small loads; larger weights for bigger ones. Every time you start, or even move the scale, recalibrate to the check weights. I will even run a quick check after about 100 rounds or so, to make sure something hasn't changed. But that's just me being paranoid.

So the actual answer to the question is: neither is right until you calibrate it with a set of check weights.


elsie

 

[CarlMc]

I guess it all depends on what you're loading for (precision .vs plinking) and how much you want to spend. I've read most "digital" reloading scales aren't very accurate compared to a slide weight style. I've been using the scale below to load pistol plinking/target and my IPSC load and it does everything I need it to and is consistent as long as you let it settle.

Amazon.com: American Weigh Scales GEMINI-20 Portable MilliGram Scale, 20 by 0.001 G: Kitchen & Dining

I have this one and I like it a lot, with one small exception. The tray actually recesses below the top surface of the scale, so you have to use their tray, which is difficult to get a good grip on. I got it because it has the second digit and didn't cost an arm and a leg. If you look at the specification of most scales that have a single digit to the right of the decimal point, you'll see an error band of +/-0.2 gr, which for my use of Titegroup, is the difference between not enough and too much powder. I can easily deal with an error of 0.02, since my confidence in the first digit is there, while if it's 0.2, I can't guarantee I'm not working in an unsafe area.

 

[CarlMc]

Hi Mates ..
Actually i want to know what the best scales are in general. I feel I can never trust my scales. I want some that are always accurate. With my current digital scales I take the first reading, then if I move the scales to a different position in the room I get another reading up to 2kg different! It's so annoying. Which one is right???

I used to service industrial scales for a living, so I understand a lot of what's going on here.
Some scales can get powder in the works, which generally causes the scale to read low and/or intermittently correct. When was the last time you made sure you didn't have powder inside the scale?
The surface the scale rests of is a huge part of errors. If you surface vibrates a lot, isn't level, is warped, and so on and so forth, you'll get an error.
Temperature and/ambient environment is another biggie. A number of companies make lab balances, which are essentially a very accurate scale in a thermally managed case, with a set of clear windows surrounding the weighing section. The windows prevent air flow around the measuring tray, while the heaters inside manage a precise internal temperature. You are expected to use this in temperature controlled environments. They also come with level indicators, and it's also wise to use these sitting on a granite or other heavy surface plate, for vibration control. Some extremely high precision ones are calibrated and used in place; they're never transported once set up.
There's also a long warm up period where you can't use them if they've been recently turned on.

Now most of what I said is overkill for what we're trying to do here. I noted these items to illustrate all the things that affect your accuracy.

Use the check weights any time you physically the scale. You want the best available conditions of temperature, wind, stability, etc., described above.

You may also find that you're over thinking things. Being in engineering, I do it all the time, and have to remind myself that just because I HAVE x number of digits of precision that doesn't mean I NEED all those digits.

 

[LukeRex]

All suggestion here are very good and some of you have really mentioned the reasons and benefits of their current Usage. i mostly use RCBS relabeled version of this and still i am quite happy with it.

 

[skyfire1201]

I bought the RCBS chargemaster based on recommendation from a friend with a lot more reloading experience. It's worked like a charm so far. Accurateshooter.com did a comparison study between the RCBS, PACT and Lyman units: Digital Powder Dispensers Part One within AccurateShooter.com.

 

[LukeRex]

What do you think about this <broken link removed> guys??
I think we can use it sometimes.

 

[noylj]

What is the best digital scale? How much you want to spend?
I wold like to get my hands on the Sartorius Cubis Analytical Balance (320 G X 0.1 MG). It weighs in grains also is only $8000. That should guarantee an accurate load.
For a real world scale, I am very happy with my Lyman 1500 and the balance that is part of my ChargeMaster. I have never, in a little over 30years of using a digital, had any of the problems so many complain about and still have and use the Ainsworth I bought around 1975; however, no electronic item can be as "forever" as a beam (if the beam is treated right and kept clean and free of corrosion).
I was just sick of the beam after about one year and leapt at something "better."

 

[jluck]

I have the best.....(IMO, Anyway). Its a AND EK6000i. 1,200 from new, But that ain't why its the best. I dug it out of the garbage, Had a slight crooked scale table but is state certified and accurate.

It was free!!!!!

 

[Andrew25]

Any digital scale that have accuracy and NTEP certified will be enough for any measurement. I am also using a cheap digital scale that i bought from ebay in $50. You must try to find one there because there is variety of scale on Ebay and Amazon.