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Lyman M5 & Ohaus 10-10 thoughts

jimreed1948 said:
What scale should I be looking at today since the Lyman M5 is no longer in production?
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I would be looking for an old M5 in tidy condition or an old Redding No 2. Nothing offered new in the last 10 years will be better and many of the new scales leave a lot to be desired.

Also worth considering would be an old RCBS 502, the old RCBS 10/10 or 5-10's although good scales can develop a bit of slop in the barrel poise if well used.
 
Anyone know how the Dillon Eliminator scale by Ohaus compares with the M-5 or some of the scales the others mentioned?
 
jimreed1948 said:
Anyone know how the Dillon Eliminator scale by Ohaus compares with the M-5 or some of the scales the others mentioned?
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Unfortunately not in the same league. The Dillon Eliminator is just about the same as the RCBS 505. The beams are interchangeable and it has the identical knife edge/floating agate beam set-up, however, all of the half dozen or so Eliminators that I have come across have been made in Mexico with vary "variable" quality.

The other factor is, as a 3 poise scale it has an additional variable that can introduce errors. The M5, although a simple two poise scale, comes from the "golden age" of scales, from a time before before accountants started deciding how they should be made.
 
M5, rcbs 10-10, Redding #2 all seem to produce accurate measurements. At the moment I'm using a Redding #2. Simple and can well measure to 1/10th grain with easy. Results; 6.5 CM out to 600, 800 and 1000 - all moa results with reloads.
 
sparker said:
I use a Redding. I use a Redding as I don't really care about linearity. All I use it for is weighing powder charges in the range of 26 grains to 47 grains. The linearity of the Redding in that range is good enough. However, most Reddings start to read heavy after 150 grains and are typically reading high by .1% for every 100 grains beyond.

M5s are in my opinion the best scales all things considered. They consistently tune up to have the best linearity. They consistently tune to single kernel sensitivity. They repeat. D5s use the same beam and bearings as do the red Ohaus 505s.

10-10s often have issues. The "micrometer poise" feature on 10-10s is a gimmick. The threads are subject to backlash. The v-notches are often too large to be a good fit for the set washer on the rear of the main poise. That said, when they are right, they can be among the fastest scales to load with.

RCBS when they were still in Oroville CA made a scale very similar to the Redding. I recently tuned and calibrated one of these and shipped
it to a customer. I would have dearly loved to have kept that scale. It was as sensitive as my Redding but dampened out almost instantly. I will keep the next one that shares those same properties.

Scott Parker
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For decades I have used the M5 for benchrest with a wide range of rifle and pistol calibres. Including individual SF Bullseye 45acp charges. Gives the same results weighing 10 charges at 38gr or individual 3.8gr.

I use the included check weight, and the RCBS very light checks. It's always right on.

Rem
 
i used the Pacific / Hornady "M" scale for years. I've had a couple of others over the years but preferred the "M" scale. A Lyman D7 as well as an RCBS 505. I believe I even had one of the Ohaus/RCBs scales that started this thread but never used it.

But for some reason I decided to upgrade and bought the Dillon and sold the "M" scales. The Dillon is too lightly made and junk imo. It is made by Ohaus. None of the scales on the current market impressed me so I went on eBay and found a NIB "M" scale as well as Like new one.

The Hornady "M" scale is nice and heavy and doesn't slide around, it is plenty accurate for my kind of shooting, and is probably more consistent than the powder measures.

The Redding scale looks like a decent product.
 
kenhwind said:
i used the Pacific / Hornady "M" scale for years. I've had a couple of others over the years but preferred the "M" scale. A Lyman D7 as well as an RCBS 505. I believe I even had one of the Ohaus/RCBs scales that started this thread but never used it.

But for some reason I decided to upgrade and bought the Dillon and sold the "M" scales. The Dillon is too lightly made and junk imo. It is made by Ohaus. None of the scales on the current market impressed me so I went on eBay and found a NIB "M" scale as well as Like new one.

The Hornady "M" scale is nice and heavy and doesn't slide around, it is plenty accurate for my kind of shooting, and is probably more consistent than the powder measures.

The Redding scale looks like a decent product.
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I have a Pacific/Hornady M scale that my father bought I believe in the 60's. It was well taken care of, and after he passed, I used it for many years until I found it had a poise positional problem. I found it by accident, and researched it. It can't be fixed or adjusted. I packed it away with a note.

Now that I know what to look for, I wouldn't use one of them until all of the possible poise positions are checked. That takes a lot of time.

I have an Ohaus 10-0-5 and 5-0-5 that I really like and don't have any problems.

Jim

IMG_0211.JPGIMG_0214.JPG
 
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I have read about the M-5's and after this thread was brought back up I looked at Fleabay last night and found a Lyman in new condition for $ 108.00 . And grabbed it . Using the zoom on all pictures I could not find one scratch on it . Suprised someone had it on the Buy Now" for $ 108.00 . All others in ok shape were hitting close to $ 200.00
This is the one I bought .
www.ebay.com

Lyman Ohaus Reloading Scale M-5 | eBay

Lyman Reloading Scale. high quality scale made in the USA. clean and well cared for. The pictures are the primary descriptor. Working together, I hope to make this a no hassle, FUN buying experience that you will want to repeat in the future.
www.ebay.com
 
AzMandella said:
I have read about the M-5's and after this thread was brought back up I looked at Fleabay last night and found a Lyman in new condition for $ 108.00 . And grabbed it . Using the zoom on all pictures I could not find one scratch on it . Suprised someone had it on the Buy Now" for $ 108.00 . All others in ok shape were hitting close to $ 200.00
This is the one I bought .
www.ebay.com

Lyman Ohaus Reloading Scale M-5 | eBay

Lyman Reloading Scale. high quality scale made in the USA. clean and well cared for. The pictures are the primary descriptor. Working together, I hope to make this a no hassle, FUN buying experience that you will want to repeat in the future.
www.ebay.com
Click to expand...
Looks to me as if you have a bargain there - I have seen several M5's of that age/colour where the body paint flakes off badly, not that it would effect performance. The auxiliary weight looks like it's taken a knock. The centre of the pan looks more worn than I would have though judging by the very little evidence of wear on the beam notches. (Might not be original) Get a set of basic grain checkweights for peace of mind and pass it on to your grandson when you've done with it.
 
I just sold one of my tuned beam scales to a member, I wanted to ensure he was 100% satisfied so on arrival the gentleman compared the scales resolution to a very expensive electric scale then reporting back that the little D-5 was excellent.
 
K9TXS said:
What scale should I be looking at today since the Lyman M5 is no longer in production?
Click to expand...

You can find M5 on ebay and garage sales etc. There is no other choice IMO. I have found 5 in the last 5-6 years and 3 were brand new old. I tuned them all for some folks and used one for a while. There are half a dozen or so things that need to be done to tune them. However thanks to modern electronics I have found a quality portable gem scale to be faster, less breeze sensitive and much easier to setup. I have a 15yr old japanese Tanita diamond scale that is spot on and weighs to the kernel of h4350. They now cost $200 and so does a tuned M5. One kernel wont make any diff in your groups.
 
Made by Ohaus, Lyman and RCBS both. I have an RCBS 5-10, Ohaus "505", and Ohaus 10-10. Scales checked last week using check weights, the 5-10 and 10-10 were spot on the "505" was not.

I also tested each for deflection per kernel of IMR4198, the 5-10 and 10-10 both showed deflection with 2 kernels the 505 did not. Two is plenty good for me as I don't need to the kernel accuracy.

Set up the 5-10 for loading this morning, set the poise to 15.4gr then placed a 1gram (15.432gr) check weight in the pan and was a literal hair's width over dead even.

Real shame the "505" doesn't weigh well because it is in mint condition.
 
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PhilC said:
Made by Ohaus, Lyman and RCBS both. I have an RCBS 5-10, Ohaus "505", and Ohaus 10-10. Scales checked last week using check weights, the 5-10 and 10-10 were spot on the "505" was not.

I also tested each for deflection per kernel of IMR4198, the 5-10 and 10-10 both showed deflection with 2 kernels the 505 did not. Two is plenty good for me as I don't need to the kernel accuracy.

Set up the 5-10 for loading this morning, set the poise to 16.4gr then placed a 1gram (16.432gr) check weight in the pan and was a literal hair's width over dead even.

Real shame the "505" doesn't weigh well because it is in mint condition.
Click to expand...
OOOOHHH! 1 gram is 15.432gn, it pays to double check..
 

On Beam Scales Part Three: care and feeding.

A customer of mine who will remain in anonymity, sent me his scale that I had worked on some years back. He complained that it wasn’t reading consistently. I talked with him for a bit over the phone to diagnose and troubleshoot. He ended up sending me the scale to look at. See the pic below...
forum.accurateshooter.com
 
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