What's your dream powder scale?

[Mark W]

I have other constraints as well, ( tiny house) I was going to use a trickler with a photo sensor to shut it off at each perfect charge but I just done beating my head against the wall and moved on to an Electric Balance for loading Long range ammunition.

Well you’re using the exact same setup as I am right now with an fx120i and a Dandy trickler.

I tried one of those older Dandy tricklers with photo sensor shut off on my tuned beam scale. I won’t say that it didn’t work, but getting it set up perfect was time consuming. Maybe if I only use one powder I would have stuck with it.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Actually it’s not , but I have other constraints as well, ( tiny house) I was going to use a trickler with a photo sensor to shut it off at each perfect charge but I’m just done beating my head against the wall and moved on to an Electric Balance for loading Long range ammunition.

Jim is the FX120i a big jump up in performance from the electronic scales you had in the past? I was just curious what all I’m missing.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

The Creedmoor trx925 will weigh inside the Fx and is a very good scale but resolves a tick slower and also has a bit of zero drift where the Fx is lightning fast, rock solid even the air conditioning doesn’t bother it near what I’ve heard from other fellas. I still use the Bald Eagle for sorting stuff but it drifts as well.
Jim

That’s great information and I appreciate your insight.

 

[R.Morehouse]

I like beam scales.....With that being said, my dream scale would be a Prometheus. But working with the Parker-tuned Beam scales through the webcam/laptop & 1dram glass vials is working out fine for my low-volume operation.....

Regards
Rick

 

[jimmymac]

I like beam scales.....With that being said, my dream scale would be a Prometheus. But working with the Parker-tuned Beam scales through the webcam/laptop & 1dram glass vials is working out fine for my low-volume operation.....

Regards
Rick

With the amount of shooting I’m doing I don’t have the time these days to use a beam scale. My focus has been on speeding up my processes wherever I can. I have also eliminated a couple steps I thought were critical but have found out otherwise.

Those vials on the other hand are the cats meow Rick!

 

[R.Morehouse]

Like the 20g box idea.......Thanks

 

[Mark W]

Actually it’s not

I don’t think that I was clear. I wasn’t saying that a beam scale and camera was the only way to go for measuring powder. I was trying to say that if using a beam scale, a camera is the only way to go. Of course in a literal sense that’s not true either, but I won’t use a beam scale without a camera again after trying it for the first time.

 

[sparker]

I shoot conventional NRA LR prone. A match is typically 70 rnds including sighters. I typically shoot one match per month with shooting two multi-day matches a year. So, somewhere around 1200 rnds per year. I do this for myself and my son. So, 2K~2.4K rnds per year. I do all of it with a Lee powder thrower, a Dandy trickler and an oil dampened Redding scale that I have worked over. Charges are plus or minus a kernel with the bulk of them spot on.

A regularity sets in as you use the powder thrower. Likewise, you begin to recognize just from the pointer position of the beam, how many kernels are needed to get to the mark. All of this simply leads to faster loading. It just doesn’t take that long.

 

[Bottom Fodder]

I’m retired so have time , Beam scale, powder thrower and hand trickler works for me

 

[sparker]

Your good’ and the camera and laptop are really a great idea, I built a small elevated platform to get mine to viewing height but I still suffer from eye fatigue and muscle strain, that makes for a long day

I use a bench clamping magnifying lens. I put a small piece of blue tape on the lens to coincide with the +.5gr line on the scale body. This eliminates parallax issues.

 

[Straightshooter1]

After using a camera with a beam scale, it’s the only way to fly.

When I used a beam scale, I used a camera also and will never use my beam scale otherwise.

 

[Fclassfool]

The one that's sitting on my bench right now. Fx120i and V4 Autotrickler

 

[ebb]

A chargemaster that weighs to 1/20 of a grain.

 

[Rocketvapor]

Which model Chargemaster do you have?

 

[nksmfamjp]

I have the Hornady powder measure, TRX-925 and Little Dandy trickler. It is a quick and easy setup.

The next step up to me would be an fx-120 with Autotrickler. Its mechanism is a bit more reliably accurate in theory. That said, the trx925 is very accurate, sensitive to a single kernel and has excellent programming to prevent drift. The only thing I have to do is put the empty pan on the scale between charges.

I don’t see any value in having a balance beam scale around. …even the Prometheus. It is good, but still has mechanical balance issues.

There is value in being able to check any scale. That comes from check weights of the right tolerance grade.

 

[sparker]

I’m ver

I have the Hornady powder measure, TRX-925 and Little Dandy trickler. It is a quick and easy setup.

The next step up to me would be an fx-120 with Autotrickler. Its mechanism is a bit more reliably accurate in theory. That said, the trx925 is very accurate, sensitive to a single kernel and has excellent programming to prevent drift. The only thing I have to do is put the empty pan on the scale between charges.

I don’t see any value in having a balance beam scale around. …even the Prometheus. It is good, but still has mechanical balance issues.

There is value in being able to check any scale. That comes from check weights of the right tolerance grade

I’m curious as to the issues you have experienced with mechanical balances.

 

[nksmfamjp]

I’m ver

I’m curious as to the issues you have experienced with mechanical balances.

A couple of things….Mostly just slower and less accurate. Dust in the pivots gives weird readings, even when nearly invisible. They are so light, usually, that touching them moves them causing a zero shift. My old RCBS 5-10 had the roller adjustment making moving it more likely. I had a Hornady that just never gave the right result.

Last and worst are the stories of people buying a new fx120i and using the mechanical balance to check the 10 times more accurate scale! To me, I want to check against a std like a certified check weight, not something proven less accurate like a mechanical balance.

 

[Timon]

I run a FX120i with a V4, it’s about as good a set up as I will ever need, it was my dream for many years. My new dream is a Gen 2 Prometheus, but that’s never happening. It seems there is always something more than what you have, but I love my V4 set up.

 

[varget204]

Got 2 FX120 I Scales

 

[209jones]

The one thing I noticed when checking out elec scales, was it appeared the FX120i was the lowest priced version that was certified for commerce. The Ej54d2 wasn't. How much that really means is probably questionable, but, apparently it meets a standard that has to be used in some commercial apps.
Had a Chargemaster for the last 12 yrs or so, quite happy with it, it works fine. Checking it against the FX120i, the FX tells me if I have a heavy 40.0 or a light one, and the Chargemaster is usually pretty close, a lot closer than a person may have thought most of the time.