A&D EJ123?

[XL105]

I got a fx120i Tuesday and Cambridge sent it quick and packaged nice. It looks to be the one just playing with it in the office, haven’t made it to the reloading room yet. More cash-Rabbit Hole.

That’s out of my price range currently. I have looking here for a used 120 and v3, but it’s just too much today.

I weighed the 5 charges on the SP beam, at 39.40. Put them on the 123, all came in at 39.34. Not sure why all charges came in the same weight after using SP, but won’t when using the 123.
I think I made a mistake in buying the 123 scale. This is disappointing.
Maybe someone can talk me off the edge.

 

[jimmymac]

How do you know the beam scale is correct? If all 5 charges weigh 39.4 on the beam and they all show 39.34 on the electronic scale what makes you think there is a problem? I don’t think either scale is capable of resolving to the 2nd decimal place with any consistency. How is it even possible to get to the 2nd decimal place on a beam scale? You can’t shoot the difference and are making more out of this than need be. If the electronic scale is drifting and it makes you crazy, get rid of it and go back to the beam scale until you can afford a better electronic scale. I have a FX-120. I will never use a beam scale again.

 

[XL105]

How do you know the beam scale is correct? If all 5 charges weigh 39.4 on the beam and they all show 39.34 on the electronic scale what makes you think there is a problem? I don’t think either scale is capable of resolving to the 2nd decimal place with any consistency. How is it even possible to get to the 2nd decimal place on a beam scale? You can’t shoot the difference and are making more out of this than need be. If the electronic scale is drifting and it makes you crazy, get rid of it and go back to the beam scale until you can afford a better electronic scale. I have a FX-120. I will never use a beam scale again.

Scott sends a check weight with his scales. I verify if with that. The check weight is 89.7. It reads 89.72 on the 123. Yet the two scales are different when throwing a charge, and the 123 is rarely consistent, when throwing charges.

 

[JimSC]

I use a rather unorthodox method of weighing charges but it works for me. I throw the initial charge on my old RCBS 750 Chargemaster then verify and adjust on the A&D 120. Straight off the CM most (80%) of the charges are within .02 grains and rarely are any over or under more than .04 grains. Maybe you could work out something similar

Also for a good cheap lightweight scale for verification is the

Amazon.com

I have had one as a backup for years now and for weighing bullets and primers in my office and living room and I swear it is every bit as accurate, repeatable, and drift free as my A&D 120. If my A&D died I would not hesitate to use it as my main scale for matches until I replaced the A&D. It's size is it's only limitation

 

[Longtrain]

I’ve used mine for a few years now and have found it very accurate and repeatable. I did get rid of the fluorescent lights for LED strips, which made a big difference in floating. I found that a good hour warm up seems to minimize that too.
Generally, my pan weights 147.80 grains, taring it out, 0.00 may float to 0.02, usually I wait a few seconds and it will zero out to 0.00 again, then I add a charge to weigh.
I do have check and calibration weights, which helps to keep things in check.

 

[JFrank]

That’s out of my price range currently. I have looking here for a used 120 and v3, but it’s just too much today.

I weighed the 5 charges on the SP beam, at 39.40. Put them on the 123, all came in at 39.34. Not sure why all charges came in the same weight after using SP, but won’t when using the 123.
I think I made a mistake in buying the 123 scale. This is disappointing.
Maybe someone can talk me off the edge.

Loosen the noose!
The only person you have to please is yourself, the beam scale is quite capable of producing single digit ES/SD. I’ve used one to shoot 1000 yard Benchrest for several years. I switched to the E balance to help with neck pain and muscle strain. ( that’s a different subject )

 

[XL105]

I use a rather unorthodox method of weighing charges but it works for me. I throw the initial charge on my old RCBS 750 Chargemaster then verify and adjust on the A&D 120.

I just did something similar, I used the SP scale to get weight, then verified it on the 123. It worked very well. I could see I was of .02 and adjusted it and verified it again on SP.
I did 5 different charge weights this way. I went back and verified it a few of them again on the 123, dead nuts.
Now let’s see how it shoots.

I still need to work on just getting the 123 consistent, not sure why I’m having that issue.

 

[XL105]

producing single digit ES/SD. I’ve used one to shoot 1000 yard

This has been my frustration. I had been getting constant single digits a couple years ago. I stopped shooting those rifles for two years. Got back on the horse, and found I’m having troubles achieving those numbers again. Yes many variables, but I was confident in everything else I was doing, besides annealing, then I bought a bench source.
So all I thought was left was get a lil more precise in powder charges.

 

[JFrank]

I have similar issues, I’m not sure my chronograph is giving me good data, my targets seem more reliable and that’s all the scoring shack looks at.

 

[JimSC]

I have similar issues, I’m not sure my chronograph is giving me good data, my targets seem more reliable and that’s all the scoring shack looks at.

when I found a .223 load that gave me .3 -.5 MOA @ 600 yards but the SD was in the 60's I quit wor5ryingtt about SD. The only time I use a chrono now is to get come up data

 

[XL105]

Heck ya! I am thrilled with the results using this scale.
I figured out a few things to achieve this consistency and it worked.
5 shot groups.
S/D
6.9
2.1
7.1
13.5
7.4

Previous load workup
19.9
16.3
21.2
9.1
25.4
40.3

Aside from me not having my scope tightened down after moving it, it was a great time.
I have never mounted and shot a loose scope, till now. Ugh.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Heck ya! I am thrilled with the results using this scale.
I figured out a few things to achieve this consistency and it worked.
5 shot groups.
S/D
6.9
2.1
7.1
13.5
7.4

Previous load workup
19.9
16.3
21.2
9.1
25.4
40.3

Aside from me not having my scope tightened down after moving it, it was a great time.
I have never mounted and shot a loose scope, till now. Ugh.

Tell us about the things you did in getting the consistency on your scale. It may help some of us out.

 

[XL105]

Tell us about the things you did in getting the consistency on your scale. It may help some of us out.

I calibrated the scale.
Wiped it down with dryer sheet, did this throughout the loading process.
Plugged it in to an outlet with nothing else running off it, not dedicated yet, just made sure nothing else was running.
Turned off dehumidifier in room next to gun room.
What I found with this scale is, it’s really slow to find it’s actual weight. Also, sometimes it will not get back to zero between thrown charge. I would blow on the scale to get it to move and see if it will come back to zero. My tare weight was -102.88, at times it would go to -102.86 and wouldn’t come back to zero. I made sure that it always got back to -102.88 and then zero when tray was set on it. If not I would add or subtract weight to get it to find it.
It also seemed to be key that I verify that weight seen on the 123 to SP scale. Because it is slow and doesn’t always want to find the actual weight quickly, comparing the two scales really helped me dial it in. It was just odd that it would be off more than .02 that often when rechecking thrown charges. You have to really pay attention to the beam scale to get an accurate comparable reading.
Understanding that the scale can be slow is key.
When rechecking thrown charges check the flash hole. It was frustrating to find charges that were off .02. Finally took a flashlight and found a few with a kernel stuck in the flash hole.
I hope I explained it well enough.

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

I would tare your pan and weight a check weight close to your target powder load.
Calibration @ 100 grams doesn't really tell you much about weights near 3 to 5 grams.
While a U.S. Nickle is sort of 5 grams, pick one and don't lose it.
Run a drift check over a reasonable time period (maybe an hour).
THEN, run it like you were charging multiple cases (repeat the nickle measurement over and over).
What you are looking for is the max/min over time. If it continues to climb (or drop) that's bad.
If it drifts up a little then down then up then down, oh well, that's the best you will get.
Try it with auto zero off and again with it on.
See pdf manual.
Do a really good evaluation of your environment.

Do what Rocketvapor sez!