Anyone have a recommendation for a scale to measure hundreths? not wanting to brake the bank but something decent.
looking into a scale for .00 grains.
- Thread starter Doug30racer
- Start date
7stubby
Some days it doesn't pay to even get out of bed.
+1 million!
I just got a fx 120 for $460 shipped with the exchange rate. Great scale
http://cambridgeenviro.com/searchResults.php?userQuery=FX-120i
http://cambridgeenviro.com/searchResults.php?userQuery=FX-120i
billlarson
"Hold Into The Wind"
Just curious, but what purpose does sensitivity to one-hundredth of a grain serve; outside of a Physics Laboratory?
You boys using a microtome to slice partial particles of flake, ball, or extruded?
Since powder particles are not particularly uniform to Nth degree what is the point? Perhaps if they were, you could load by X number of powder particles so they would correspond to an exact weight???
Got all your variables under such degree of control that now you are dealing only with the charge weight?
Have to say, I am doubtful.
$460 for a powder scale? It's a free country, but wouldn't a check-weight set have brought you the same accuracy? Pretty damn rare that any mechanical device can hold precision over a wide range of measurement parameters. If it were otherwise, you'd see singular full-range micrometers rather than sets varying by the inch. Can't be done, not mechanically.
No matter how much you paid for your scale, the only means to calibrate it and assure precision is with Check Weights. Unless you calibrate your scale exactly to the weight you wish to measure, using Check Weights, there is no assurance that your settings at that weight are correct.
Figure you can trust your device? Unless you prove your expectations, they are only hopes.
If discharging magnum or heavy loads, you may be endangering self and others around you...
You boys using a microtome to slice partial particles of flake, ball, or extruded?
Since powder particles are not particularly uniform to Nth degree what is the point? Perhaps if they were, you could load by X number of powder particles so they would correspond to an exact weight???
Got all your variables under such degree of control that now you are dealing only with the charge weight?
Have to say, I am doubtful.
$460 for a powder scale? It's a free country, but wouldn't a check-weight set have brought you the same accuracy? Pretty damn rare that any mechanical device can hold precision over a wide range of measurement parameters. If it were otherwise, you'd see singular full-range micrometers rather than sets varying by the inch. Can't be done, not mechanically.
No matter how much you paid for your scale, the only means to calibrate it and assure precision is with Check Weights. Unless you calibrate your scale exactly to the weight you wish to measure, using Check Weights, there is no assurance that your settings at that weight are correct.
Figure you can trust your device? Unless you prove your expectations, they are only hopes.
If discharging magnum or heavy loads, you may be endangering self and others around you...
Jay Christopherson
Not An Admin
No, but charge weight is by far the easiest to control, so it's usually the first variable addressed.
Isn't that basically what a chronograph is doing for you? Validating your expectations? I expect my device to output 52.7 grains of "X" powder. The single digit e.s./s.d. is a pretty good indication that I can trust my device. If it was widely variable, it would show up pretty quick.
jghoghunter
Gold $$ Contributor
I guess your entitled to your opinion. Since I got mine my es has gone down, groups have gotten slightly smaller. But the biggest bonus is that it is 10x faster than a beam scale. I load 80 rnds for a varmint silhouette match and it has cut 20 min. of my reloading time. Mine also is able to be calibrated in two weight zones and the lower one works out just great. My set of check weights if bought new would cost over $500 and they were checked just before I got them.
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The idea isn't to *validate* (eg) 52.7gr of X powder. The goal is to put that much in, nothing more or less, every time
The Canadian place is http://cambridgeenviro.com/productD...andD-5-Year-Warranty-Top-Loading-Balance-5491
$610 Canadian.
The Canadian place is http://cambridgeenviro.com/productD...andD-5-Year-Warranty-Top-Loading-Balance-5491
$610 Canadian.
+1, where I picked one up about a month ago. .02 grain accuracy for consistent weighing. My young helpers use it to trickle the same weights, it reacts quickly and the readings are steady. It saves time when you don't have to wonder if a scale is still fluctuating or not. It is a big upgrade from a gempro and half the cost of a sartorius. Can you get more exacting, sure, but this is as accurate as I want.
Why would you "need" a $500 set of check weights? The best ones are around $50, RCBS deluxe... I am sure there are others. Ohaus likely has a great many options in their sciences division, but these would need conversion to measure grains.
To what degree is a .005gr sensitivity especially valuable? How many flakes of bullseye or granules of 748 per .005 of a grain? I would guess there is NO powder whose granule weighs that small. Doesn't .005 of a grain equal 1/200 of a grain?
Not like you're trying to measure to .00, or .005 sensitivity, is it? You're trying to get your exact load which typically measures to the tenth of a grain.
To what degree is a .005gr sensitivity especially valuable? How many flakes of bullseye or granules of 748 per .005 of a grain? I would guess there is NO powder whose granule weighs that small. Doesn't .005 of a grain equal 1/200 of a grain?
Not like you're trying to measure to .00, or .005 sensitivity, is it? You're trying to get your exact load which typically measures to the tenth of a grain.
Quoting Twoboxer: "The idea isn't to *validate* (eg) 52.7gr of X powder. The goal is to put that much in, nothing more or less, every time"..
Kind of sounds like any other handload powdercharge effort. 52.7 is pretty easy to measure, as is any weight to a tenth of a grain. Pretty easy to take a 50gr disc, and a .5 and .2 stick weight, and set your scale to zero with them.
Figure your electronic scale can't ever be off? Lots of variables including electric current at your outlet; not always the most stable or clean. Unless you use check weights you can't Know. Faith is what you are dealing with, not Knowledge. Most of shooting is a matter of Faith for competitors. They can't afford any doubts to deliver their best performance. Still doesn't mean they Know the variables that deliver their results, just that they believe in their processes.
Kind of sounds like any other handload powdercharge effort. 52.7 is pretty easy to measure, as is any weight to a tenth of a grain. Pretty easy to take a 50gr disc, and a .5 and .2 stick weight, and set your scale to zero with them.
Figure your electronic scale can't ever be off? Lots of variables including electric current at your outlet; not always the most stable or clean. Unless you use check weights you can't Know. Faith is what you are dealing with, not Knowledge. Most of shooting is a matter of Faith for competitors. They can't afford any doubts to deliver their best performance. Still doesn't mean they Know the variables that deliver their results, just that they believe in their processes.
jghoghunter
Gold $$ Contributor
There doesn't seem to be any reason to keep posting on this because your mind is made up that none of us need or should want a better scale than a rcbs 505 beam scale. I didn't say I "need" a $500 set of check weights I said I "have" a $500 set of check weights. If you think that rcbs deluxe are the best for $50 so be it. Lots of people are able to convert grams to grains. It is pretty simple.
You've convinced yourself, so you should stick with what currently pleases you.
memilanuk
Gold $$ Contributor
I seriously doubt anyone using a scale like this specifically for Bullseye (a pistol powder) or W748 (a ball powder used a lot in bulk/short-range plinking varmint ammo). These are used primarily with extruded powders used at longer distances. Varget, as mentioned, is very common for some cartridges.
If your scale measures to +/- 0.1 gn, can you really, *really* trust that what displays is actually 52.7 gn, and not 52.8 or 52.6? What exactly does that '+/-0.1 gn' mean? +/- 0.1gn 100% of the time, for each and every charge ever put across it? Not likely. 95%? Probably. 90%? Maybe.
What the finer resolution 'buys' for you is additional assurance that what you are trying to get is actually what you're getting. If you measure with a scale capable of +/- 0.01 or 0.02 gn, then when you are trying to really zero in on a charge weight increment of 0.1gn, you *know* 52.7 is 52.7 +/- 0.02, which in no way overlaps with 52.8 +/- 0.02. Whether that is something that matters to a person, or whether they have the other equipment to really take advantage of it is a separate matter.
Mine (Sartorius GD-503) will indicate to three decimal places (0.005), but is rated as +/- 0.01... The extra digit kind of serves as an indicator that its a little heavy or light, but isn't actually something you'd quote.
Well, i didnt think I would be a mad scientist trying to end the world because i wanted to weight things a little better. I understand the ever mechanical devise at this precision will vary a bit from unit to unit. But when it is the only calibrated unit that i will be using, it will be the same each time for me. Which is what matters to me.
Thanks for the above mentioned unit. i an looking it them and am hoping to add one of them to my collection of gear.
Thanks for the above mentioned unit. i an looking it them and am hoping to add one of them to my collection of gear.
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