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digital scales...good ones

curt66

Plastic
Joined
Jan 22, 2013
Location
north bay
hey all...have a cabelas xt 1500...not worth the shipping for as much confidence it gives me...am thinking of going triple beam. What is the sure way to accurately measure powder? The xt 1500 is definetely not it.



thanks



curtis
 
You want true, undeniable accuracy, get a chemistry lab grade balance... .001 gr. accuracy/readability. It's what a lots of precision rifle shooters use... it also comes with a price-tag of $1,000-10,000

Maybe a bit more about your budget and accuracy requirements would help us make a better recommendation.
 
I have a Denver Instruments digital lab scale that has been on continually for about 20 years. It’s been a wonderfully accurate and dependable tool. This scale, and many others, will not allow you to trickle in a few grains of propellant at a time, as it messes with the electronic zero maintenance feature. On the extremely rare occasion that I need a single reasonably perfect charge, I use an old Redding beam scale and a magnifying glass in conjunction with an RCBS powder trickler. I have a set of calibrated test weights and both scales have performed flawlessly.
So, what’s wrong with the XT 1500?
Mike
 
hey guys...the XT will wander...I calibrate it as per instructions...put cup onto scale and zero it...remove and pull a charge into the cup...the scale goes to -19.000 (example) i put the cup back on and trickle it to 21 grn...removeit and it goes to -19.001...i put the cup back onto the scale and it reads 20.9...if i keep doing this it keeps creeping about .001 each time both ends creep towards 0...i've levelled it with the bullseye level and it does the same thing every time after calibration...hard to feel confident i'm getting accurate readings...

...as far as what my needs are countryboy19 i'd like at least to get consistency around or under $100...and am thinking of a nice ohaus triple beam or similar type of scale...


thanks for the replies guys...



cp
 
I use an RCBS chargemaster combo and it has always given me good loads. Is it the most accurate as far as variances of 0.001 grs NO but it will do tenths and is very repeatable which is the main thing. Its easy to use there are a lot of tricklers and scale combos out there just depends on which one you like. I like the RCBS just for the simple fact that it is all one unit and slides together. I did have a problem with it a few years ago, sent it back to RCBS and the next week had a brand new one sent back to me. Never had a problem with it since. I have heard very good things about the Hornady lock and load trickler scale combo and its $229 where the RCBS is around $300. I would check over on the 24hourcampfire.com forum and post a WTB add for a used setup could probably pick one up cheap there. Hope this helps
 
I use an AND FX120i(magnetic restoration scale), very happy with it so far and it was a good deal(400 cad), they're more $ in the US for some reason.
 
Hi folks! What are you useing to break individual powder kernals to achieve .001 grain load accuracy? And why? Bench shooters in competition "throw" their charges and are satisfied with tenth of a grain accuracy as more can be gained by doping conditions than splitting a split hair. I have used a chargmaster for years and like it. It is precise enough that temperature variations and air flow in the room affect it. See ya!
 
Hi folks! What are you useing to break individual powder kernals to achieve .001 grain load accuracy? And why? Bench shooters in competition "throw" their charges and are satisfied with tenth of a grain accuracy as more can be gained by doping conditions than splitting a split hair. I have used a chargmaster for years and like it. It is precise enough that temperature variations and air flow in the room affect it. See ya!

I don't think anybody is throwing charges with .001 tolerances on charge weight. But what that does get you in confidence in your measurement. For example, if I'm using a digital scale that has a readability of .05 and accuracy of .1 gr, it's possible for my measurement to be off as much as .15 gr. Especially for loads requiring charges in the area of 5 gr of powder that is a significant error. If I want to throw a charge from 5.0-5.2 gr I cannot do it reliably with such a scale even if I shoot for the middle 5.1 gr. Give me a scale that reads .01 or .001 gr and I can reliably get there. Nobody is cutting grains of powder, what they are doing is trickling in a single grain at a time.

So for exampe a measurement would go something like this. Trickle to 4.98, drop another grain and come up to 5.05. I am now within my desired range, however, 1 more grain should get me closer to the "center" of my range so I drop one more and end up at 5.13 gr.
 
.02grains is generally the weight of a kernel of rifle powder.

for 100-300yard benchrest .1 or even .2gr likely doesn't make much difference, but the further out you get the more that velocity spread shows.
To me it takes care of that variable, but a little change in wind or sun light will easily throw off aim or POI more than .1gr ever will.
 
I have a Denver Instruments digital lab scale that has been on continually for about 20 years. It’s been a wonderfully accurate and dependable tool. This scale, and many others, will not allow you to trickle in a few grains of propellant at a time, as it messes with the electronic zero maintenance feature. On the extremely rare occasion that I need a single reasonably perfect charge, I use an old Redding beam scale and a magnifying glass in conjunction with an RCBS powder trickler. I have a set of calibrated test weights and both scales have performed flawlessly.
So, what’s wrong with the XT 1500? Mike

This would be my advice as well.
Answorth - later became Denver instruments and are on the next level or two above the "poor" (sorry but true) scales offered by the reloader outfits that are built to a price. My Unit is heavy and large. It has been on almost non-stop for the 15 or so years I have had it. Ebay has them used or rebuilt from time to time. Pay once and never look back.
Ebay example # Denver Instrument TL 402 Scale Max 410G | eBay
NOT MY Auction
 
Accuracy is about consistency. Volume consistency is more accurate than weight consistency. Buy yourself a Niel Jones powder measure and never look back. I have fired many many thousands of rounds always seeking the last bit of accuracy and the Jones measure is the key,
Elmo
 
I recently purchased a $12 200gram scale from an ebay vendor. Wanted to measure some components from some commercial pull downs (powder bullet and case) Made in China for sure, but transducer electronics are pretty well developed, and electronics components are commodities.

But I also purchased a set of reference masses for double that. ;-)

As mentioned, 99% of typical scale use is comparative, and the other 1% is just checking ;-)

As it was put on another reloading thread, "I hate paying $50 to $100 for a label".
 
Accuracy is about consistency. Volume consistency is more accurate than weight consistency. Buy yourself a Niel Jones powder measure and never look back. I have fired many many thousands of rounds always seeking the last bit of accuracy and the Jones measure is the key,
Elmo

The volume measure is the trick, but you need the weight to set it and check it. I've never seen reload data expressed in units of "niel Jones volume measure drop" ;-)
 
The volume measure is the trick, but you need the weight to set it and check it. I've never seen reload data expressed in units of "niel Jones volume measure drop" ;-)

Good point. When setting up the powder measure on my 550b I like to average out several loads worth of powder at the same time for more accuracy. My goal will be say 10.00 gr, but the scale only goes to one decimal place. This means I could be loading anywhere from 9.95gr to 10.04 gr. Measuring out multiple charges at a time gives you something like 9.95x5=49.75gr while 10.04x5=52gr.
 
The volume measure is the trick, but you need the weight to set it and check it. I've never seen reload data expressed in units of "niel Jones volume measure drop" ;-)
Of course you haven't. You have to calibrate the measure to the powder. You drop a charge and weigh it then advance the micrometer and weigh the charge. Then you know that one click equals X weight of that powder. Say that you drop a charge of H4895 and it weighs 30 grains. If one click advance gives you 30.1 grains then 9 more clicks will give 31 grains.
Elmo
 








 
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