Weighing Bullets, the best scale

[DennisH]

What's the best scale to use for weighing bullets?

Thanks, Dennis

PS: The one I bought from Cabela's does not seem to be consistent!

 

[Preacher]

Just buy the best one you can afford..
I personally like to weight mine on a GD-503 'O)

 

[DennisH]

Preacher, I did check out the GD-503. Nice scale.

I guess I should have put a budget price on the scale. I was hoping to find one for a few hundred maybe. The one I bought from Cabela's varies from day to day, only by a tenth or so, but I would like a precise one.

I am wanting to weight brass, bullets, and confirm powder throws.

Thanks for your help,

Dennis

 

[BaconFat]

Before you give up on your current scale, give these ideas a try.

1. Turn on the scale and leave it on for a few days, unless it has an auto-off feature or is battery operated.

2. If you have any florescent lights within your work area, you need to turn them off. Florescent light give off electrical noise that can cause problems with your scale.

3. Buy a ferrite choke and place it on the power cord close to the scale. Ferrite chokes remove electrical noise picked up by the electrical cord.

4. Calibrate your scale, if it has the capability to be calibrated.

 

[savageshooter86]

I just recently got a Gem Pro 250 and so far it works great. Pretty repeatable

 

[Clod-NC]

Hi Dennis,hi all

+1 on Savageshooter's advice about the Gempro,it can do what you need and request pretty solidly and constantly;Baconfat's advice is top noch too;so if you ever get one you can also think of placing it on it's rubber dampener(the one in the package)after you've placed said dampener on a properly sized piece of heavy tile or surfaced stone...Hope it helps.
Claude

 

[savageshooter86]

I put mine on a mouse pad and used the chokes on the cord. Just another tip to help out

 

[DennisH]

2. If you have any florescent lights within your work area, you need to turn them off. Florescent light give off electrical noise that can cause problems with your scale.

Could be a problem!

 

[1066]

I'm a great believer in beam scales for powder weighing, however I do use an Ohaus digital scale for weighing bullets and cases.

 

[tenring]

I luse a cheap Hornady G350 (no longer made) digital scale for everything. I occasionally check it with the supplied weights, and also compare to my old Redding beam scale. It is right on. For bullets, there is a hole in the plastic cover large enuf to just sit the bullet on the pan. Makes checking bullet weight fast. But I seldom waste time weighing Berger or custom bullets.

 

[DennisH]

I had three scales today when weighing bullets.

All three were on the money.

But if I check them tomorrow, I may get a different reading, but their consistent readings. Just trying to figure it out.

I don't know if temp or whatever makes a difference, but if one weighs 107.1 today, it should weigh the same tomorrow. That's not the case, but again all scales are consistent.

So I sorted them and started loading based on today's readings!

 

[Steve Blair]

For bullets, there is a hole in the plastic cover large enuf to just sit the bullet on the pan. Makes checking bullet weight fast. But I seldom waste time weighing Berger or custom bullets.

[br]
The scale I use for bullet weighing also has a hole that makes it fast and convenient. I cannot speak to custom bullets but Berger occasionally loads a short or long core. Bullets look fine outside but have seen a couple up to 1.5 grains light. Also check them for "nose folds." These will look like a wavy fissure on one side of the nose. It looks like the jacket developed a fold as they were pointing instead of forming uniformly. I set those aside for foulers or case forming. Again, not many, but you don't want to shoot them when it matters.

 

[DennisH]

Steve,

I found as much as .8 grains difference when weight my 107 smk's. 107.1 & 107.2 were the most consistent weights.

 

[Steve Blair]

Dennis, [br]
I don't mind a little variance around the mean, as long as they don't vary too much. It's the outliers that I'm looking to cull. Bergers typically have ~.6 grain range and I'm Ok with that. I just don't want to shoot a bullet that is significantly lighter or heavier than the others. Thankfully, good bullets like Sierra or Berger are pretty consistent and the outlier incidence is low.

 

[bozo699]

Dennis,
We need to know what kind of new scale you are having trouble with.
Wayne.

 

[Leaddog]

For reloading I use the Gd-503, but for sorting bullets, I use a Dillon Terminator. It's 10 years old and is perfect for the job.

 

[Bob L.]

Dennis,

We talked about bullet weighing on Sat. at PA. I went home and weghed about 300 107 gr. SMKs afterward and found I had about a 0.07 gr. extreme spread with the vast majority within .05 gr of 107. I had a few more heavy ones than light ones but none over 107.1 or under 106.9.

I used to use an Acculab VIC-123, but finally got fed up with it's drifting. I bought a Sartorius GD503 and have never looked back. It is expensive, but has made my reloading easier, faster, and, I believe, more consistent. You won't be sorry if you take the plunge.

Bob

 

[DennisH]

I use the DS-750 MTM - MTM Mini Digital Reloading Scale

Still looking for a reasonable priced scale to weigh brass and bullets.

Dennis

 

[M-61]

I use an Ohaus 304 (RCBS). Bought it new decades ago. Never fails to be quite accurate. Biggest deal is keeping dust off it. I mounted it on a shelf that is eye level so parallax is not an issue.

 

[bozo699]

I use an Ohaus 304 (RCBS). Bought it new decades ago. Never fails to be quite accurate. Biggest deal is keeping dust off it. I mounted it on a shelf that is eye level so parallax is not an issue.

I have this same scale and love it, but for weighing brass and bullets I like a fast and accurate digital scale, I have a rcbs that has always been good enough for at least brass and I still use it for that, I use the vic123 for bullets but before I got it I used the rcbs and I think it did okay, not good enough for 1K br powder charges but good enough for what your looking for, the vic123 is good enough for it all, next year I will have a gd 503 and be done with it.
Wayne.