need new scale

[shadrac]

i have a lyman 1200 that ive had for 12 years and it has served me well but is starting to die, so thinking about the chargemaster

 

[michaeljp65]

I just picked up a Hornady Lock-n-Load Auto Charge Powder Dispenser yesterday. I haven't run the powder dispenser yet, but the scale appears to be accurate. I ran the calibration procedure according to the manual using the 10 & 50 gram calibration weights supplied.

Then I weighed two identical weights of a set I have that I calibrated when my job involved - calibration. These had been compared to calibration standards of known mass on an analytical scale accurate to a microgram.

I am satisfied that the scale is accurate to the tenth of a grain. We'll see how consistent the powder dispenser is.

You need to check weights in the weight range you are using. No point using a 10 or 50 gram weight if your loading 25 grains or close to 2 grams.

 

[T-shooter]

Interesting. This is generally within the +/- .1 accuracy limit of the scale. +/- .1 either side. Does it produce low ES/SD results? I have an older Pact scale with the IR powder dispenser. It is also. +/- .1 scale but it is capable of getting me some pretty good results.

In one instance it went 1/10 grain over without sounding the alarm. Wonder how the spread would be running 100 loads? I got this as a gift so have to keep it. It works fine if I use it to premeasure loads 1/10 light and trickle up on the FX scale. By the time I trickle up and put the powder in the case, another is waiting for me. I use a Dandy/Omega trickler.

 

[rockable]

I don' understand the comment that the balance beam is slow. I set up a cheap Lee Perfect Powder Measure to throw about .1 grain light. It does pretty well with the stick powders i use but is not reliable enough to just count on every throw being accurate. I throw the powder into a plastic medicine bottle that has been wiped free of static and dump the powder into the pan. That takes a couple of seconds max.

Next, I have my RCBS trickler set up and I trickle the final load into the pan and dump the powder into the waiting funnel on top of an empty case. It takes 10 seconds, approximately and because the balance beam is so sensitive, my confidence level in the accuracy is much better than with the inexpensive digital scales I've used. I also use one of the little prisms to view the scale with, so I don't have to bend down. This whole setup is sitting on a piece of leftover countertop granite and is dead repeatable.

Now, I get that you can spend 6-900 bucks and have something more automated but for most people, this setup would work well and is darned inexpensive. It also doesn' break down.

 

[Liven The Dream]

I have had many scales ... Even Scott Parker tuned up.

I have Ohaus RCBS 5-10 not Scott's that is very good..I did a little work on it.
I shoot long range so I had to go Electronic . I went thru most of the Combo Units . I went to the Gem Pro 250 this thing worked Wonderful for a time RIP.
I went thru the De-bugging of my loading room , Electric Filters etc. No cell near the Scale .
I call Old Will Knott Scales the Supplier of the Gem Pro 250 after a few replacements that never matched the first one .

I called them asked whats up ,this driving me nuts all I need is a scales to load Ammo. The lady said we have a lot of good luck with our A&D EJ-123 Scale.
I said fine I will return Gem Pro number 4 for one A&D EJ-123 .
I am sill using it with much need warm up and set it for your target weight. Yes one grain of Varget will move it. ( yes had to Buy a good weight to cal.)
You can add inter-face for the Tickler . I did not spend $1000 to $1500 but think my loading is good ? Thinking can get you in Trouble.

Best of Luck
Don

 

[CaptainMal]

I use both a Hornady and Lyman auto chargers. Always set them .3-.4 gr. LESS than the desired charge. Next to that is one of my three Lyman M5 beam scales. Always check and set with a 1 gm (30.86gr.) weight. Over the scale pan sits an old trickle with a long, small diameter straw sticking out of the end.

I am dripping kernels into the M5 pan while an auto charge is dumping. By the time it's dumped I have dropped the charge to the nearest kernel and into a case. Immediately dump from auto charge to scale pan and do it again. No down time and superb accuracy. Also have a tiny electronic scale ( do not remember model) that says it is accurate to the .0001 gr. Do not know for sure but it's just too slow to use for more than a weight check.

I shoot IBS and actually have placed and won. Must be working and all that stuff did not cost me "an arm and a leg". Watch Ebay for M5 scales at decent prices. That's how I ended up with three, although I have had one of them for decades and really did not realize how good they actually are.

The electronic scales are really only good for a rough dump, unless you are happy with that to use in a crude hunting or plinking rifle. My Lyman is the fastest but less accurate than the Hornady, which can be trickled, unlike the Lyman. Still use the Lyman more because if fair flies through the dump with a whole lot less complex options.

 

[Longtrain]

FWIW, way back when electronic scales came out I bought a Lyman, thinking just set it and let it do the work, dump the charge and repeat. In my shop filled with fluorescent bulbs, a wifi router, cell phones, forced heat and air conditioning vents and other gadgets, just made accurate weighing of charges a nightmare. Throwing them on my accurate 1010 scale, weights varied plus or minus a grain or more.

I know that scales have evolved a lot since then, maybe now there are scales that beat the elements, but I'm not spending $500+ for one. So, I still use the Lyman...to dump a close but not over charge, put it on the 1010, a light trickle up and I'm good to go. While doing that I hit the button on the Lyman to start the next charge, pretty quick process IMO.

 

[WEL]

I picked up a hornady on sale and it is just not reliable. I have to slow it waaay down so it wont over charge. Using it basically as powder measure dropping short and trickling on an old ohaus balance. All the digital strain gauges have issues. The chargemaster may be accurate enough depending on what you are shooting. I have used a buddys pact combo and it was fast without over charging. Accuracy was about a 10th.

 

[1066]

A good reliable beam scale is hard to beat - my scales indicate to a single kernel of Varget and I can load weighed charges quicker than a Chargemaster.