Digital Scales

[Buckeye_68]

What do you recommend for a decent digital scale to use with a Harrell powder measure? And where is a good place to buy from .

 

[R.Morehouse]

The one offered by Creedmoor Sports has been reviewed very well. I am thinking of picking up one of those for the same reason you are......They are out of stock right now......

Regards
Rick

 

[6BRA]

 

[Rocketvapor]

Most scales will exhibit a Cosine error when NOT level.
A full scale calibration might be needed to correct for this error.

 

[ronemus]

The Creedmoor scale is fairly expensive, but is still a strain-gauge scale with all the attendant woes (drifting zero, frequent recalibration, delicate). For about 20% more coin you can get an A&D FX-120i which is far superior largely due to the use of magnetic force restoration technology - the same as is used in laboratory-grade balances.

 

[Rocketvapor]

The electronics (source and measurement) of most GOOD balances whether Strain Gauge or Mag Force have similar specifications from a vendor like A&D. The accuracy is using "RATIO" of the measurement to a stable internal voltage referrence.
The load cell in an A%D strain gauge scale is "somewhat" temperature compensated. Pretty good in Span (Full Scale), but NEEDS some type of temperature compensation at zero. Either good temperature control, or use the Autozero function.
I turn mine off.
Other than the case and shield strength the Force Restoration scale (improved over the past several years) has a somewhat delicate centering mechanism. Both employ an overtravel stop, but what happens if dropped?

The best a milligram scale (like the FX-120i) will EVER be is about a kernel of Varget.
That's more than good enough.
Note that the specs (for most good scales) give the S.D. of repeatability in +/- # of digits.
Look it up for the scale you own.

 

[Rsadams]

Problem is most scales under $200 are about equal.... The big question is your equipment and shooting ability good enough that the addition of 1 kernel of powder plus or minus going to really make a difference....

 

[Andy Work]

The Creedmoor scale is fairly expensive, but is still a strain-gauge scale with all the attendant woes (drifting zero, frequent recalibration, delicate). For about 20% more coin you can get an A&D FX-120i which is far superior largely due to the use of magnetic force restoration technology - the same as is used in laboratory-grade balances.

That caused me to not trust them, I've gone back to my 10-10.

 

[Rsadams]

That caused me to not trust them, I've gone back to my 10-10.

I thought I would share this with you... I also have a 10/10 and use it occasionally but the speed of digital is what I need mainly because I'm just checking weights occasionally on a Dillon or MEC progressive presses...
With the digital scale I have ( rcbs , Dillon and a cheap portable ) I have found that leaving them on constantly unless I am just not going to be loading for a long while or bad weather helps a lot.... Also wiping them down with a dryer sheet to remove static electricity which seems to be the cause of most crazy readings and drift helps a lot... I use a 9mm .223 10mm and 12ga cases with dead primers installed backwards if possible for dropping powder and checking charges....

With the 12ga I have discovered static electricity because when you have 1500 once fired hulls in a plastic tote they will get static electricity horrible.... When you transfer a few of those hulls onto the scale the static electricity transfers to the scale and the results cause it to do crazy things.... Now when I pull out some for loading I take the time to wipe the hulls with a dryer sheet and it helps a lot... I understand your probably not loading a bunch of plastic hulls but doing something like wearing tennis shoes will cause static to jump from you to your scale... A line conditioner or even a good battery backup helps also and will protect your investment the best it can... If you get bored try wiping your scale down with a dryer sheet etc and giving it another try you might get the results you're looking for.... Hope this helps out...

 

[ronemus]

The biggest advantage of going digital is that it can be coupled with a powder dispenser - the next charge is being thrown while I'm seating the bullet on the previous one. The combination of the FX-120i with the AutoThrow/AutoTrickler V3 consistently gives me charges accurate to +/- one kernel of powder; I'm not convinced that there's any advantage to better that.

 

[TheCZKid]

Scales Plus Acquires Assets of Old Will Knott Scales | Scales Plus

Allendale, MI, 10-10-2024 - Scales Plus acquires assets of Old Will Knott Scales as Old Will Knott Scales shutters operations. Read the news.

www.oldwillknottscales.com

I own this one, and really like it. I throw to .1 grain below with my Chargemaster and then trickle up with the Dandy Trickler. YMMV

 

[Rocketvapor]

Several scales can "READ" to 1 milligram.
If you expect all readings to be accurate and repeatable to a milligram you are delusional.

 

[rlporter507]

this is the scale i use, fx 120i

Reloading Scales

A&D FX-120i Reloading Scale + AutoTrickler for Long Range Rifle Reloading. Spend less time on your reloading bench, and more time at the range

ceproducts.shop

I dump with a redding br3 with a competition scale, then trickle up a few kernel's with this

Products | Dandy Products, LLC

it added about 5 minutes to my process for a box of 50.

 

[Cloudrepair]

this is the scale i use, fx 120i

Reloading Scales

A&D FX-120i Reloading Scale + AutoTrickler for Long Range Rifle Reloading. Spend less time on your reloading bench, and more time at the range

ceproducts.shop

I dump with a redding br3 with a competition scale, then trickle up a few kernel's with this

Products | Dandy Products, LLC

it added about 5 minutes to my process for a box of 50.

I would like to have trust in my scale and hope for .02 grain accuracy and I have a scale that might do that. But what can you trust without experience using them regularly and getting a feal for the way they work in a real world environment. Like my interapid and mitutoyo indicators and my mitutoyo mics as I have learned to trust as a machinist.
I don't think I'm delusional to hope for .02 accuracy. even with the

 

[Lefty2506]

In the late 90's I bought a Dillon digital scale. (I can't remember the model number). It finally and unexpectedly died on me a couple of years ago. I ended up buying a cheap ($20) digital scale from Amazon primarily because I could it in 2 days. It closely resembles one of Hornady's digital scales. My original plan was to use it while I looked for a replacement for the Dillon. However, I've found that it's accurate to within 0.02gr, and it settles WAY faster than any other digital reloading scale that I've used. If I remember correctly, its a 50 gram model. I ended up ordering another 100 gram scale to see if it behaved the same, but I found that it's not as repeatable. It has roughly twice the variation which made since given that is has twice the range. My only complaints about it is that if I'm trying to power it with a USB power supply, it experiences more noise. It's extremely repeatable when using AA batteries, but if you leave them in when not in use, it will drain them while it sits on the shelf. I ruined the fist pair of AA batteries because of that and ended up having to clean a fair amount of corrosion off of the battery contacts as a result. I've been running it on the same pair of batteries now for a few years with no additional issues.

As a side note, one thing I got in the habit of doing many years ago was to weigh my powder tray(s) immediately after calibrating the scale, and then writing that value on the tray with a Sharpie. After that, the tray becomes my instantaneous check after every charge to know whether my scale has potentially drifted or not. When I take the tray off, the display should read the negative value of the tray's weight. I've found that I very rarely need to re-calibrate. Most of the time I just need to tare the scale to reset the zero point. I did this with my Dillon too.

 

[Bugs]

Several scales can "READ" to 1 milligram.
If you expect all readings to be accurate and repeatable to a milligram you are delusional.

Readability and linearity are two distinctly different things.

 

[Rocketvapor]

Linearity probably ain't gonna be a problem weighing power charges with a 100 gram scale.
You are NEAR a calibration point- ZERO.

One advantage of a 0.02 Grain resolution scale over one with higher resolution is you don't get in between readings when sorting primers into 0.02 grain bins.
You know, like getting a 3.645, 3.650, or 3.655 right between 3.64 and 3.66.

 

[Doom]

I don't think I'm delusional to hope for .02 accuracy.

Just a note. All scales are subject to drift. You will not see it if less than the scale resolution. On an Fx-120 that could be 0.019 gr.(0.02 gr resolution). Also scale drift is a zero/tare error. It is not a calibration error.

Absolute accuracy is immaterial if only one scale is being used. What matters is the repeatability and resolution of the scale. We do not have to consider the linearity. The repeatability of the Fx120i is 0.001 gram (standard deviation). In normal terms that is 0.002 grams( 2SD) for 95%. The combined resolution 0.002x15.432 +0.02 or 0.05 grains.

 

[Cloudrepair]

Just a note. All scales are subject to drift. You will not see it if less than the scale resolution. On an Fx-120 that could be 0.019 gr.(0.02 gr resolution). Also scale drift is a zero/tare error. It is not a calibration error.

Absolute accuracy is immaterial if only one scale is being used. What matters is the repeatability and resolution of the scale. We do not have to consider the linearity. The repeatability of the Fx120i is 0.001 gram (standard deviation). In normal terms that is 0.002 grams( 2SD) for 95%. The combined resolution 0.002x15.432 +0.02 or 0.05 grains.

Cool I have been trying to get myself to buy the fx300i and even at that good price right now I'm still having trouble justifying it I have something I think I can do .02 accuracy but am having trouble trusting it just yet.
With the fx300i ican add the auto throw and trickle later.

 

[One Eye Pete]

Harrells powder measure, drop into glass cup put on FX120i scale trickle up with V3 electronics coupled to Ingenuity trickler. Fast and accurate!!!!!