Best lab scale

[jlorenzo]

Looking to throw with a powder thrower and trickle up manually with a Frankford arsenal trickler on a nice lab scale. Looking to keep it under 400$ and don't need the most accurate scale on the planet. A cheaper version of the fx120 is what I'm looking for. Any recommendations?

 

[R.Morehouse]

Creedmoor Sports TRX-925 Precision Reloading Scale

This is a quality scale. I use it as you intend to and have had no issues.

Regards
Rick

 

[Fuj]

I don't know if they are still around but For the last eight years, I've been
using A pair of Peregrein scales They have a smaller footprint and real easy
to trickle to. .02 grain resolution. less money then Creedmoor Sports. I run
them thru a clean power supply, And swapped out all florescent lighting to
LED.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

https://ceproducts.shop/products/fx-120i-reloading-scale-122g-x-0-001g
IMO it would be very foolish not to go ahead and buy this scale while it’s on sale.

 

[wkdickinson]

https://ceproducts.shop/products/fx-120i-reloading-scale-122g-x-0-001g
IMO it would be very foolish not to go ahead and buy this scale while it’s on sale.

It also allows you to upgrade to an Autotrickler when you get tired of throwing and trickling manually.

 

[SeabeeKen]

I have this one and it works very well. I dont have an auto trickler.

Veritas S203 Precision Balance - Hogentogler.com

Hogentogler introduces our new line of full featured, high quality precision balances. The S series features the full functionality of standard precision balances in a smaller, more convenient housing. These balances are designed in Western Europe and combine unparalleled quality of materials...

www.hogentogler.com

 

[brokeasajoke]

https://ceproducts.shop/products/fx-120i-reloading-scale-122g-x-0-001g
IMO it would be very foolish not to go ahead and buy this scale while it’s on sale.

This. That's $5 cheaper than I paid for mine like forever ago.

 

[Krogen]

I have a Creedmoor TRX-925. It's a decent scale, but has two foibles that became increasingly irritating with use. It is slowwwww.... and it drifts. The usual reasons given for drift are lack of warm-up, room temperature instability, room air currents, line voltage instability or conducted/radiated EMI. I have addressed all of them and it still drifts.

I used it much the same as the OP. Throw a bulk charge with a powder measure into the scale pan and trickle up to weight with a Dandy Trickler. My process bypasses placement of an empty pan on the scale so it doesn't have the opportunity to re-zero. That's where drift becomes irritating. Even if I do let it auto-zero with an empty pan, once I trickle up and charge a case I'll find it has drifted when I put the empty pan back on the scale. On top of this, the slow response when trickling is maddening.

The scale appears to be accurate. Creedmoor ships three cal weights that are correct for the scale's specified accuracy (10x better than the scale). The scale doesn't need re-calibration all the time. It's span is correct; the zero is what drifts.

Fast forward: I bought an AutoTrickler with an FX-120i scale. I am delighted with it. The scale itself it what the Creedmoor always wanted to be. It's fast and has no drift to speak of. Resolution is 0.02 gr while the Creedmoor is 0.01 gr. Not a big issue for me. The environment is the same as the drifty Creedmoor has been used in.

Just my 20 m$, but if you're considering the Creedmoor I'd spend the extra for an FX-120i.

 

[RegionRat]

Just another vote for the FX120i

Skip a few Starbuck's and you are there....

 

[Belly Benchrester]

FX120i is the gold standard for scales in F class

 

[LCazador]

Whatever electronic scale you buy put it on clean power source or you'll have drifting and slow performance. I recommend a Tripp Surge protector with a Tripp line conditioner. More money to invest but you'll be happy in the long run.

 

[charlie b]

I don't know if they are still around but For the last eight years, I've been
using A pair of Peregrein scales They have a smaller footprint and real easy
to trickle to. .02 grain resolution. less money then Creedmoor Sports. I run
them thru a clean power supply, And swapped out all florescent lighting to
LED.

All the links I had show them as out of stock. I wonder if they stopped making them.

FYI, there are other chinese brands on Amazon with the same specified accuracy of 0.02gn (.001gm). Not sure how good they are but I am tempted to try one. Several also have the USB serial output but don't know if it is the same output format as the Fx120i.

 

[sgav8r]

I’ll chime in here and strongly suggest just getting an FX-120i (or variant). If the amazing current sale price of $490 (CE products) is too much for you, then simply keep an eye on eBay auctions. The FX-120i, FX-300i and FX-200i balances come available quite often, and at really affordable prices (mostly from closed down cannabis stores). If you find one that’s model number ends in the letter “N” (120iN, 300iN etc) it’s just the NTEP “legal for trade” version of the same scale, and it can quite easily be unlocked and programmed exactly like a standard FX-120i.

I’ll warn you about “lesser” scales such as the Creedmoor TRX-925. I had one for a while and it is a nice little scale. But I very quickly “outgrew” that scale. I love that it comes with excellent calibration weights, and it has a resolution of .01gn (FX-120i is down to .02gn). However, the Creedmoor has extremely slow response time, and it drifts. It’s utilizing standard strain gauge technology, just like what’s in your Frankford Arsenal intellidropper’s scale. The FXi scales are magnetic force restoration, analytical lab balances. HUGE difference in technology and performance.

Trickling powder onto an FXi scale vs the Creedmoor is night and day different, and well worth the extra few bucks. Plus with the FXi scale you’re ready to roll whenever you decide to go with an AutoTrickler, SuperTrickler, IP System, or whichever powder dispensing system you settle on. Given that literally ALL extruded powders have individual kernels that weight at least .02gn, the FX series of scales gives you “to the kernel” accuracy. There is a reason everyone has essentially that same scale. It’s become THE goto reloading scale. Buy once, cry once.

 

[quest450]

FX 120i All day every day and 2x on Sunday

 

[ronemus]

The FX-120i is the bottom end of what could be considered a "lab" scale. Anything less expensive is a strain gage scale and has the same problems of drift (zero & calibration). The FX-120i uses magnetic force restoration technology and is nearly immune to drift. The price difference vs. the TRX-925 is trivial in light of the performance difference. I have a strain gage balance that I keep as a backup to bridge the gap until my FX-120i can be repaired/replaced; I'd never consider using one full time again.

 

[BuffaloBill]

Yes, buy that FX-120i. Fantastic price & capability.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Yes, buy that FX-120i. Fantastic price & capability.

I believe we can sale things here, 17 in stock when this thread started and sold out now.

 

[RabbitSlayer]

I have a Creedmoor TRX-925. It's a decent scale, but has two foibles that became increasingly irritating with use. It is slowwwww.... and it drifts. The usual reasons given for drift are lack of warm-up, room temperature instability, room air currents, line voltage instability or conducted/radiated EMI. I have addressed all of them and it still drifts.

I used it much the same as the OP. Throw a bulk charge with a powder measure into the scale pan and trickle up to weight with a Dandy Trickler. My process bypasses placement of an empty pan on the scale so it doesn't have the opportunity to re-zero. That's where drift becomes irritating. Even if I do let it auto-zero with an empty pan, once I trickle up and charge a case I'll find it has drifted when I put the empty pan back on the scale. On top of this, the slow response when trickling is maddening.

The scale appears to be accurate. Creedmoor ships three cal weights that are correct for the scale's specified accuracy (10x better than the scale). The scale doesn't need re-calibration all the time. It's span is correct; the zero is what drifts.

Fast forward: I bought an AutoTrickler with an FX-120i scale. I am delighted with it. The scale itself it what the Creedmoor always wanted to be. It's fast and has no drift to speak of. Resolution is 0.02 gr while the Creedmoor is 0.01 gr. Not a big issue for me. The environment is the same as the drifty Creedmoor has been used in.

Just my 20 m$, but if you're considering the Creedmoor I'd spend the extra for an FX-120i.

I have the exact same trouble with the creedmoor and the drifting zero. I believe it is actually the software compensating for what it thinks is like an air current so that the weight stays stable. I found that trickling quickly not 1 kernal at a time seems to help. If you trickle super slow it will do it every time.

The charge is wrong too. If you lift the pan and see the zero has moved more than about .02, if you rezero and weigh that charge again it will be over. It was driving me crazy last night. Some days are worse than others.

With that in mind I would get the fx120i.

I only got it to try to improve 17 hornet. It makes a small difference in 223 size cases. It makes only a couple fps difference in a creedmoor or saum case.

 

[ChrisNZ]

I believe we can sale things here, 17 in stock when this thread started and sold out now.

The site currently says "99 in stock"
Who knows if that is correct

 

[sgav8r]

I have the exact same trouble with the creedmoor and the drifting zero. I believe it is actually the software compensating for what it thinks is like an air current so that the weight stays stable. I found that trickling quickly not 1 kernal at a time seems to help. If you trickle super slow it will do it every time.

The charge is wrong too. If you lift the pan and see the zero has moved more than about .02, if you rezero and weigh that charge again it will be over. It was driving me crazy last night. Some days are worse than others.

With that in mind I would get the fx120i.

I only got it to try to improve 17 hornet. It makes a small difference in 223 size cases. It makes only a couple fps difference in a creedmoor or saum case.

Yes, common issue, and I believe it’s a combination of both things you mentioned. Scale drift, and a software based “stability” zero-hold of some sort. I suspect the purpose of the latter is to cleverly conceal the (rather substantial) scale drift.

It’s super easy to detect if you know and remember the (tare) weight of whatever powder cup/pan you use. I used to get so frustrated because I’d dispense on my Hornady ACP, up to about a tenth under my target weight, and then I’d throw that charge on the Creedmoor, where I’d trickle up to the target weight. This proved troublesome because I could sit and watch the tare weight fluctuate all over the place (up a few hundredths, down one or two, and back and forth). I’d say there was about a good .07gn “swing” either direction over the course of a measurement. Totally unreliable. It got the point where I would have to re-zero the scale before and every (and sometimes during) every single powder charge.

It would have been faster and more accurate to go back to trickling on a manual balance scale. In fact that’s what I WAS doing before the Creedmoor, and I actually saw my SD’s creep up into the double digits when I was trickling on the Creedmoor scale. The lowest SD’s I’ve ever had (low single digit consistently) have been since I began using the SuperTrickler and V4 AutoTrickler. Which lo and behold both rely upon the accuracy ans repeatability of the A&D FXi series of scales.