Still on the fence is the Gem pro 250 Good enough.
- Thread starter CZ550
- Start date
What Coverdog said. No problems here either.
love mine.
My Gempro 250 does not respond very well to trickling. Usually I have to lift the pan and set it back down to get the correct reading or wait for a while for it to resettle and then need to recheck that reading. It does give the exact same reading as my constantly drifting, always on, Acculab 123 and the Gempro seems to be just as fast. It is now my go to for weighing cases and bullets. As it is spot on fast for that.
I’ve gone to using the Gempro 250 as a check on my balance beam. I measure and trickle with an Omega on an old fast Hornady Model M balance beam scale, using a magnifying glass to read it, and then weigh that out on the Gempro. If it is off by more than .02g it gets redone or I take a few kernels out with a tweezers. I’d say 1 in 7 loads or so from the balance beam need adjusting. It goes as fast or faster as doing it all on the touchy PITA Acculab.
I’ve gone to using the Gempro 250 as a check on my balance beam. I measure and trickle with an Omega on an old fast Hornady Model M balance beam scale, using a magnifying glass to read it, and then weigh that out on the Gempro. If it is off by more than .02g it gets redone or I take a few kernels out with a tweezers. I’d say 1 in 7 loads or so from the balance beam need adjusting. It goes as fast or faster as doing it all on the touchy PITA Acculab.
Jay Christopherson
Not An Admin
If I had to choose between a GemPro250/borescope and a GD503, I'd get the GemPro and the borescope. The GemPro works just fine and you'll get a ton of use out of the borescope. Like BillSlattery says, the GemPro doesn't respond very quickly to trickling, but you *can* trickle on it- you just need to wait a few seconds in between trickles to let it update or lift the pan and place it back down. Still remains pretty accurate.
Leaddog
F-Class T/R
Having used several digital 'strain gauge' scales, I recently bought a GD503 and never looked back. Drifting and frustrating trickling is now a thing of the past.
The 250 is a good scale for what it is and will satisfy most reloaders, however if you are a competition shooter at 600+ yards, the 503 is hard to beat.
If the boroscope purchase is the deciding budgetary factor, then by all means go for it and the 250. If you are comparing apples to apples in scales and want the best, get the 503 now and save up for that boroscope later.
The 250 is a good scale for what it is and will satisfy most reloaders, however if you are a competition shooter at 600+ yards, the 503 is hard to beat.
If the boroscope purchase is the deciding budgetary factor, then by all means go for it and the 250. If you are comparing apples to apples in scales and want the best, get the 503 now and save up for that boroscope later.
No problems with my Gempro... I shoot 1k and I've noticed tighter groups due to that scales accuracy... you won't regret it.
I searched for a GemPro 250 but had a lot of trouble finding anyone who had one available. If you have better luck, please let me know!
BillSlattery said:
Instead of lifting the pan, just touch the load plate with your finger or spoon or what ever your loading the pan with to get it to reweigh. As you know most load cell balances have an amount of drift tolerance, touching the weigh plate negates the drift tolerance and causes it to reweigh.
Ive been using this method for years and can weigh up 50 308 case of 46 grains in well under an hour.
While slightly off topic, would like to mention I gave up on AC powered scales. Tried an Aculab once and it drove me nuts with its quirks. Sent it back when factory customer rep told me it was not designed with a reloader's need for continuous case to case powder weighing.
Have been using Tanita model 1210 for 6 years with NO issues. It runs on 4 AAA alkalines for a whole year of heavy use, so is not subject to spikes and dips in house AC current if you do not use the adaptor. Needs no warm up and is ready to go when the ON button is pushed. Never drifts. Registers changes in weights in about 2 seconds and was designed to make and record continuous measurements. Mine discriminates to 1/20th grain, which is the weight of one kernel of RL-25 and H4831sc. AND, at 6"x4"x1" it fits into my jacket pocket for use at the range for working up loads.
Current price is now about $210.
See it at: http://www.miniscale.us/shop/item/123-productId.184549550_123-catId.176160816_123-xsltparam-page.specifications.html
Frank B.
Have been using Tanita model 1210 for 6 years with NO issues. It runs on 4 AAA alkalines for a whole year of heavy use, so is not subject to spikes and dips in house AC current if you do not use the adaptor. Needs no warm up and is ready to go when the ON button is pushed. Never drifts. Registers changes in weights in about 2 seconds and was designed to make and record continuous measurements. Mine discriminates to 1/20th grain, which is the weight of one kernel of RL-25 and H4831sc. AND, at 6"x4"x1" it fits into my jacket pocket for use at the range for working up loads.
Current price is now about $210.
See it at: http://www.miniscale.us/shop/item/123-productId.184549550_123-catId.176160816_123-xsltparam-page.specifications.html
Frank B.
Shynloco
You can lead a horse to water, but ........
CZ550,
I'd like to play devil's advocate for a second. And I'm not here to bad mouth any of the Gem Pro Products or anyone else scales. They are great scales. But unlike some folks, I'm retired and don't have that BIG WALLET and endless cash flow where I can afford a $900 electronic scale. And yes I've read the countless comment by unhappy reloaders that their scale drift, are inconsistent and the general and usual comments of unhappiness because their scale aren't performing, yada yada yada....you get the message. But I am convinced that alot of the problems people encounter with scales are because they are not set up "properly" and therefore candidates for all sorts of electronic interference for the simple reason, electronic scales are sensitive devices, and some are built stronger to repel that interference. Now I claim NO expertise at all and have only been reloading my own ammo for just over 2 years, but have been shoot weapons of all sorts for over 50 yrs. When I did finally start reloading , I bought 2 RCBS Rangemasters and still use them in my reloading which I do weekly because I usually go to the range that often. But neither drift, nor gives unrealiable and inaccurate readings and all the other foolishness that people complain about. The reason, the scales are on surge protectors, my overhead lights are a minimum of 40" away, there are no cross winds or fans to blow air across the scales (and scales are senstive to air motion and distruption, no tv's, radios or other electronic waves that provide radio wave interference that any scale would "drift" with) plus no sudden temperatures changes such an an air conditioner blowing cold air across my reloading bench.
This ain't rocket science folks plain and simple. And if you like are are happy with your $900 scale, GREAT! Keep doing what you are doing and happy reloading. But since I don't compete (but am an accuracy freak), I'd rather have that nice bore scope CZ mentioned (or even a nice new rifle or start a nifty build) and if need be, buy that GP250 scale for $165 at Midway or wherever. Heck those RCBS Rangemaster (selling for $110 @ Midway) work for me and have for years. But most of all, be happy in what you buy and think about what you do in the way you use what you buy. And I mean NO offense to anyone in what you use or buy. Sometimes it is simply figuring out how to get full use out of what you do use and buy. Happy shootin and reloading to al!
I'd like to play devil's advocate for a second. And I'm not here to bad mouth any of the Gem Pro Products or anyone else scales. They are great scales. But unlike some folks, I'm retired and don't have that BIG WALLET and endless cash flow where I can afford a $900 electronic scale. And yes I've read the countless comment by unhappy reloaders that their scale drift, are inconsistent and the general and usual comments of unhappiness because their scale aren't performing, yada yada yada....you get the message. But I am convinced that alot of the problems people encounter with scales are because they are not set up "properly" and therefore candidates for all sorts of electronic interference for the simple reason, electronic scales are sensitive devices, and some are built stronger to repel that interference. Now I claim NO expertise at all and have only been reloading my own ammo for just over 2 years, but have been shoot weapons of all sorts for over 50 yrs. When I did finally start reloading , I bought 2 RCBS Rangemasters and still use them in my reloading which I do weekly because I usually go to the range that often. But neither drift, nor gives unrealiable and inaccurate readings and all the other foolishness that people complain about. The reason, the scales are on surge protectors, my overhead lights are a minimum of 40" away, there are no cross winds or fans to blow air across the scales (and scales are senstive to air motion and distruption, no tv's, radios or other electronic waves that provide radio wave interference that any scale would "drift" with) plus no sudden temperatures changes such an an air conditioner blowing cold air across my reloading bench.
This ain't rocket science folks plain and simple. And if you like are are happy with your $900 scale, GREAT! Keep doing what you are doing and happy reloading. But since I don't compete (but am an accuracy freak), I'd rather have that nice bore scope CZ mentioned (or even a nice new rifle or start a nifty build) and if need be, buy that GP250 scale for $165 at Midway or wherever. Heck those RCBS Rangemaster (selling for $110 @ Midway) work for me and have for years. But most of all, be happy in what you buy and think about what you do in the way you use what you buy. And I mean NO offense to anyone in what you use or buy. Sometimes it is simply figuring out how to get full use out of what you do use and buy. Happy shootin and reloading to al!
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