Gem Pro 250 vs beam scale?

[mattri]

300 RUM nailed it. I held off on buying an electronic scale for years because I didn't trust their reliability over a mechanical beam scale.

The 250 arrived the other day, set up and calibration was a snap, loaded a few rounds and checked each one as many ways as I could think of- zero variation.

Can't wait to put some rounds over the chrony.

 

[jlow]

Nope. Every electronic scale requires calibration from time to time. I always use my empty powder tray as a check weight in between every charge weighed and the GP250 almost never drifts on me. And if it does drift, which sometimes happens if it has just been turned on and it hasn't warmed up yet, but still very rarely, it's only off by 2/100th of 1 grain. Just hit TARE at zero weight and mine never drifts again so long as I leave it turned on. I usually never shut mine off anyhow so drifting is never an issue.

And if you ever do have issues with it, just remember that it has a LIFETIME WARRANTY so you can rest assured that your investment is safe

The 250 is very steady but do yourself a favor and buy yourself a 50 gram calibration weight, that way you can do both the linear and single point calibration as suggested by the manufacturer. I can do both in about 30 seconds so there is no reason not to do it.

 

[savageshooter86]

would this suffice?
http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/50-gram-calibration-weight.html

 

[jlow]

That would work just fine. You don't need a super accurate one. I brought mine from a local Graingers for less than $10 a few years ago. It just gives the balance two points (20 g and 50 g) so that it can get a linear reference.

 

[243Mendoza]

I don't trust electronic scales. And if I could find a trustworthy one at a reasonable price I would not use it since I now use the Targetmaster auto trickler together with a RCBS 505 scale. It gets the job done quickly. The 505 may not give you a thousandth of a grain accuracy of the old lab scale but it's good enough.

 

[BigDMT]

Nope. Every electronic scale requires calibration from time to time. I always use my empty powder tray as a check weight in between every charge weighed and the GP250 almost never drifts on me. And if it does drift, which sometimes happens if it has just been turned on and it hasn't warmed up yet, but still very rarely, it's only off by 2/100th of 1 grain. Just hit TARE at zero weight and mine never drifts again so long as I leave it turned on. I usually never shut mine off anyhow so drifting is never an issue.

And if you ever do have issues with it, just remember that it has a LIFETIME WARRANTY so you can rest assured that your investment is safe

The 250 is very steady but do yourself a favor and buy yourself a 50 gram calibration weight, that way you can do both the linear and single point calibration as suggested by the manufacturer. I can do both in about 30 seconds so there is no reason not to do it.

I have a 20g and a 30g that I got with my RCBS Rangemaster, plus the weight that comes with the Gem Pro. So I have all the weights I need to do the calibrations. Thanks though, good suggestion for those who may not have the proper weights.

 

[jlow]

BigDMT – glad to be of help, but I think the balance comes with a 20 gram weight but you might still need to buy the 50 gram. The reason is if you want to do the linear calibration, the balance expects you to have both and unfortunately you cannot substitute the 30 for the 50.

 

[BigDMT]

I don't trust electronic scales. And if I could find a trustworthy one at a reasonable price I would not use it since I now use the Targetmaster auto trickler together with a RCBS 505 scale. It gets the job done quickly. The 505 may not give you a thousandth of a grain accuracy of the old lab scale but it's good enough.

I suggested a beam scale backup earlier in this topic.

That's exactly why I just recently picked up a Scott Parker tuned RCBS 10-10. It's purpose is to back up my GemPro 250 and RCBS Rangemaster digital scales.

Same reason I have a RCBS mechanical measuring caliper to back up my digital measuring calipers.

But mechanical items need backup too. So I have 3 case trimmers (wilson, forster, rcbs) - 3 reloading presses (forster co-ax, rcbs RC, Lee Turret) - 2 concentricity gauges (redding, rcbs) - 2 hand primers (rcbs, lee), and every die set has backup parts like de-priming pins, expander balls, etc...

Always nice to have backup for anything

 

[BigDMT]

BigDMT – glad to be of help, but I think the balance comes with a 20 gram weight but you might still need to buy the 50 gram. The reason is if you want to do the linear calibration, the balance expects you to have both and unfortunately you cannot substitute the 30 for the 50.

You just ADD the 30g to the 20g

 

[jlow]

I don't trust electronic scales. And if I could find a trustworthy one at a reasonable price I would not use it since I now use the Targetmaster auto trickler together with a RCBS 505 scale. It gets the job done quickly. The 505 may not give you a thousandth of a grain accuracy of the old lab scale but it's good enough.

This unfortunately reminds me of a conversation with my thesis adviser in the 1970s when I was telling him how I had programmed a HP-41CV calculator to do our cancer cell calculations. He looked at me obviously dismayed and said “I don’t trust those electronic calculators!” BTW, I do know my multiplication tables so that unfortunately dates me a bit too…LOL!

 

[jlow]

BigDMT – glad to be of help, but I think the balance comes with a 20 gram weight but you might still need to buy the 50 gram. The reason is if you want to do the linear calibration, the balance expects you to have both and unfortunately you cannot substitute the 30 for the 50.

You just ADD the 30g to the 20g

You can theoratically do this but at least as a purist, I would recommend getting the 50. The rationale is you will be getting twice the potential errors using two weight. Just the Type A lab scientist talking here. ;D

 

[BigDMT]

BigDMT – glad to be of help, but I think the balance comes with a 20 gram weight but you might still need to buy the 50 gram. The reason is if you want to do the linear calibration, the balance expects you to have both and unfortunately you cannot substitute the 30 for the 50.

You just ADD the 30g to the 20g

You can theoratically do this but at least as a purist, I would recommend getting the 50. The rationale is you will be getting twice the potential errors using two weight. Just the Type A lab scientist talking here. ;D

As long as it reads the same weight every time, it's fine by me because it's what I go by for speed and pressures when reloading. For example, if I get the speed and accuracy I am looking for in a load with a powder charge weight of 53.20 grains of "X" powder, as long as the scale stays consistent with that weight measurement, I will always have the accuracy and speed I want.

So whether or not that charge TRULY weighs 53.26 grains or 53.14 grains , etc., As long as the scale calibrates the same and consistently reads that same amount of powder at 53.20 gr, I am a happy camper.

Of course you don't want a scale so far off that it could put you in danger when testing max loads, but minor discrepancies are fine if they are consistent.

So far, I consistently get a reading of 308.64gr with the 20g weight when checking readings after calibration, can't remember the 50g reading in grains... But that 20g reading is absolutely perfect!

If you convert 20 grams to grains, it comes out at exactly 308.647167058 grains. So when the Gem Pro 250 rounds to the nearest 2/100th of 1 grain, that's EXTREMELY ACCURATE. Especially considering the rounding factor of the nearest 2/100th of a grain is only determined by LESS THAN 3/1000th of a grain! Pretty nice for a scale costing around $150.

And all of that means my weights are PERFECT too

 

[savageshooter86]

Question...does this scale need to plugged into an outlet by itself or can it be used in same outlet my tumbler is?

Well actually my tumbler and lamp is plugged into a surge protector which is plugged into the outlet.

 

[BigDMT]

Question...does this scale need to plugged into an outlet by itself or can it be used in same outlet my tumbler is?

Well actually my tumbler and lamp is plugged into a surge protector which is plugged into the outlet.

Mine is plugged into a power strip and has no issues. Air flow in the space is what I would be worried most about. If you take a deep breath in the direction of the GemPro 250 from 3 ft away, it will go crazy as it reads the air pressure. Pretty sensitive

 

[Nomad47]

Hmmmm, then it may go crazy in my motorhome.

For several months now, I've been thinking about buying one and this thread has convinced me. So I'm planning on buying one right after we make our next move (so UPS doesn't lose it) which happens in 10 days. Since the motorhome sits on jacks when parked, it isn't as solid as a concrete floor. I do my powder dispensing at the kitchen table and have been using a DPS III. It goes crazy if the wife shifts positions on the couch. I may have to restrict my loading to calm days and chase the wife out of the MH for an hour or so.

 

[savageshooter86]

I am really trying to convince myself to get this unit

 

[BigDMT]

I am really trying to convince myself to get this unit

If you don't already have a digital scale and are wanting a digital, it's the best value out there. The RCBS 750 rangemaster will run about $120 nowadays, the GemPro250 is around $160. For $40 more, the GP250 is more than twice the scale of the RCBS.

I've had my GemPro250 turned on for over 2 months now and haven't touched it since the last time I reloaded rounds this fall for hunting season around the end of October. It's just been sitting in my reloading room turned on for the last 2 months with the dust cover on. Left it turned on since I planned on doing my varmint reloading sometime this winter when I find the time with work and the holidays. I Just went down there today to grab some items I sold on this site and happened to look at my scale. After all this time, it still hasn't drifted one bit from zero. Scale still reads "0.00" Pretty Awesome 8)

That's one good example of the quality of the GP250 scale.

If I had left my RCBS on for that long it would probably drifted enough to read over 400 grains by now!

 

[savageshooter86]

well my RCBS 505 is just not reliable in my opinion. It has been acting funny and Scott Parker informed me there is not much he can do with this particular balance beam scale to get it to be reliable/read more accurately.

So thinking about selling it and getting the GP 250

 

[BigDMT]

well my RCBS 505 is just not reliable in my opinion. It has been acting funny and Scott Parker informed me there is not much he can do with this particular balance beam scale to get it to be reliable/read more accurately.

So thinking about selling it and getting the GP 250

That would be a pretty major upgrade in quality IMO. You won't be disappointed.

 

[savageshooter86]

I have watched videos and read posts and just seems too good to be true. But I am always up for a steal of a deal and this scale seems to fit that bill.

Has anyone personally(besides the main article about it) compared it to a more precise scale?

Also I have read 2 different ways to use the scale: leave it on 24/7 and the other turn it on for a couple hrs prior to needing it to warm up. Any thoughts on this?