BMartens Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 I have an Ohaus beam scale that I bought in 1969 and it is still working fine. Also purchased one of the Frankford electronics from Midway and it lasted about 3 weeks past the warranty period. I also have the same electronic scale that BE sells, also available from Unique Tek, and it has been working very well for at least a year now. IMO you always need more than one scale, especially if one of them uses batteries or plugs in. I'm guessing my old beam scale will last another 40+ years. Excellent point on needing more than one scale. Dillon is repairing my balance scale and I ddon't have a backup. Lots of good feedback on the Unique Tek - might give it a try. It is reasonably priced and has a 20 year warranty, that's why I went with it. Compact, portable and easy to use, cheap and did I mention a 20 year warranty... The electronic scales are much easier and faster in use but, I always back it with the old mechanical scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryaneh Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 I've got this scale (with a 20 year warranty): http://www.saveonscales.com/product_js_xv_series.html On ebay the 200 gram version goes for about $38 shipped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98sr20ve Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 Accidently crushed my Dillon balance scale (dropped a case of bullets on it - balance arm is bent and useless). Guess it's time for a new scale. I've always had pretty good luck with the Dillon scale, but have contemplated going to an electronic scale. I'm pretty sure whatever I get will be a Dillon, but am interested in your opinions on non-Dillon products. Please take a moment to answer the poll question and comment on which type of scale you prefer and why. I will probably order my new scale tomorrow - appreciate your feedback. Call Dillon. Tell them what happened. The beam scale has a lifetime no BS warranty as well. I will be curious what they say/do. Excellent advice - I called Dillon, explained what happened, and asked if I could buy a replacement beam for my scale. Their guy told me "No, we don't sell replacement parts for our scales. But if you send it back to us, we'll repair the scale, recalibrate it, and ship it back to you for free". He then gave me a return authorization number. You just can't ask for better customer service than that - just one more reason why I'm a Dillon customer for life. Awesome. Glad I could help. I figured they would do exactly what they did. Good to hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98sr20ve Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 (edited) I voted Non-Dillon Electric. I would get some check weights from Midway or another source. I just got some. Very nice to have. Your fixing your beam so get a good electric. The dillon fits that bill but so do others for less money. Use the check weights to check it out. Two scales are very frustrating if the don't actually match. They seldom match so thats why I say spend the $30 on the check weights. Edited June 4, 2010 by 98sr20ve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scap99 Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Just got the MidwayUsa sale brochure Franford Aresnal Digital $19.95 it don't get no cheaper. I've used one for about two years it works. When cold below 40 you have to let it warm up. +1 on the Frankford Arsenal when it's on sale at Midway. I got mine last year and pretty much retired my old RCBS balance beam scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98sr20ve Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Just got the MidwayUsa sale brochure Franford Aresnal Digital $19.95 it don't get no cheaper. I've used one for about two years it works. When cold below 40 you have to let it warm up. +1 on the Frankford Arsenal when it's on sale at Midway. I got mine last year and pretty much retired my old RCBS balance beam scale. Mine is a POS. If you weight the same things 10 times it won't show the same weight even 50% of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Best alround scale available is the Dillon Electronic. Mine are about 12years old. Best micro electric scale is a tie between the Hornady and the MTM. Balance beam scales will never run flat (unless as stated they are placed under a fast moving case of bullets). I have used over the years RCBS 10-10. A set of Triple Beam Chemist Scales. Ohaus (RCBS branded) 5-10 scales and Dillon Std balance beam, in fact I think all of those were made by Ohaus. All never let me down. Just too slow. I have an extensive collection of old reloading equipment andthe only thing that stays accurate is the sclaes. Lyman, Hornady and Redding all malke good balance beam scales. I work in a gun shop and the ones we get back or see problems with are as follows. Frankford Arsenal, Smart-Reloader and anything bought unbranded from the net. The worst balance beams scales out there are the Lee. Pure dog droppings. Quick fix check wieght. 168gr Match bullet from Sierra, Hornady or Nosler, all will usually be within .2gr of what they say they are or .15%. Keep the same one aside and you are sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big_kahuna Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 I use the RCBS Chargemaster 1500 electronic unit as my main scale, and use an Ohaus 505 (mine is branded RCBS, bought it in 1982) balance beam scale for quality checks. I also use a set of check weights. Both scales have been awesome and measure within a tenth grain of each other at worst. I believe that most of the big name balance beam scales (RCBS, Hornady, Lyman, etc) were all made by Ohaus back in the day... Not sure if that is still the case though. A friend of mine bought one of the cheapie no-name electronic scales for $30 and it was junk... inaccurate and inconsistent. We spend thousands of dollars on guns, ammo, travel, fees etc but some folks want to save a few bucks buying an off-brand scale? Just doesn't make any sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaster113 Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Voted for the dillon electronic; had mine for about five years with no problems at all. Its a little pricey compared to others, but its accurate enough and has not failed yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rexican Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 Just got the MidwayUsa sale brochure Franford Aresnal Digital $19.95 it don't get no cheaper. I've used one for about two years it works. When cold below 40 you have to let it warm up. +1 on the Frankford Arsenal when it's on sale at Midway. I got mine last year and pretty much retired my old RCBS balance beam scale. Mine is a POS. If you weight the same things 10 times it won't show the same weight even 50% of the time. I have also had issues with my cheapo frankford arsenal digital scale. Since I'm not confident with the accuracy for powder measuring, it has been relegated to weighing bullets i cast. Glad to hear Dillon is still on top with their customer service! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentG Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 Been looking for a new scale and this thread helped me find resources to help find what I want. http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-gempro-250.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry cazes Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 Best alround scale available is the Dillon Electronic. Mine are about 12years old. This may have been true 12 years ago but is not anymore. I went through two in the space of one year and gave up on them. Even when they were new the basic accuracy was poor and repeatability was dismal. Three years ago I bought one of the Uniqetek scales and it has been rock solid. Every time I sit down to reload I check my powder throws first and the Uniqetek has never given me reason to doubt the results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNsTeR Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 I just bought one of these http://www.digitalscalesaz.com/MyWeigh-Gem-Pro-500-Digital-Scale and it is pretty sweet. Love the extra precision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tzygä Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Dillon D-Terminator Scale and also Dillon Balance Scale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noylj Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 If you use a beam balance, you should always remove the beam if balance is not is use. Also, I always prefer to keep the balance off the bench so it does not suffer from the vibrations of press usage. I have my original Ainsworth electronic from the late '70s still working. I like my little Lyman 1000 XP. Nothing beats my RCBS ChargeMaster, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modoc Posted September 22, 2010 Share Posted September 22, 2010 I am running an older (Ohaus) 10-10 scale after borrowing a Lyman Electric scale and trickler. the Lyman takes 30+ Min. to warm up and is a pill to keep calibrated in my garage. (I know, temp. diff.) I think that I will always have a beam scale on hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakshow10mm Posted September 26, 2010 Share Posted September 26, 2010 Definitely use two scales. I have a cheap digital Neva I got off eBay. Also use an RCBS 510 or whatever it is beam scale. The beam sets the charge and the digital is a quick confirm during loading. Brand doesn't matter, since Dillon doesn't actually make the scales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CocoBolo Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 I have an RCBS Range Master 750 that I got in a trade for labor. I have nothing but good things to say, but it is the only scale I have ever used. I have the same scale. Never any problems after 5 years. Calibrate it once in a while (I calibrate each time I load, if it even sits for a day, I re-calibrate, takes 3 minutes...). My .02... Ok, GrumpyOne we now have something in common, my Frankford Aresnal after 3 years of faithful service went OZONE. I can no longer trust it. I ordered a RCBS Range Master 750. Unfortunately it was trying to figure out why my 38SC Crono score was low at Nationals that I discovered that it was .3 gr off, I didn't minor but the gun does not flatten out till 174pf and I cronoed 167. So now I got 500 rounds loaded for Gator with only 10.2gr instead of 10.5, so I just got the old beam scale out and loaded 500 major 9's for my other gun and I'll bet they hit 175pf. I weighted some 124gr RN Zeros they were all over 130gr. How much could a 125gr weigh? 134gr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tripwire Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 I picked one of these up from BE at pretty generous discount, because it had been factory reconditioned. It works great. Jack How about the one Brian sells? BE Scale I am considering it. Hard to beat the 20 year warranty. I have been using one of these for about 6 months as an upgrade to a non electric beam scale. I love it. It is fast to zero/settle down and so far has been very repeatable. I also like that it is just big enough to get the job done and doesn't take up a lot of space on my bench. Brian also threw in a free powder pan/funnel with the deal. I would definitely recommend it. Thanks Brain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 With a 20yr warranty for $75, I might have to get one of those from Brian some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyC Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 I have the RCBS chargmaster and it is great, I assume the digital scale minus the trickler would be same quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooter545 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Dillon D-Terminator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Wayne Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 I just bought out a retiring reloader who had the older version Dillon Electronic. It matches charge weights exactly with my Dillon new version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTinVA Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Been looking for a new scale and this thread helped me find resources to help find what I want. http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-gempro-250.aspx Thats the one right there. I just bought one and really like it. I caught mine on sale at Old Will Knott Scales. It has .02 grain resolution and a 30 year warranty is nice as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Dillon D-Terminator Scale and also Dillon Balance Scale Got the same two, both now 15-16 years old. Use the electric because it's faster. If they ever give out, I'll be ringing up Brian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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