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Need New Electronic Scales


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I need a new electronic scale that is more stable than the one I own now. I tried a search but it didn't come up with answers that met my needs.

Requirments are:

After calibration, it MUST remain stable for at least 2 hours. I recheck drops after every 200 rounds so as not to have too many mistakes if I bobo. Current scale is wall powered and is turned on an hour before use to have time to stabilize. Admittedly this scale is 5 years old which is a life time for electronics, but it is occasionally turned off unlike the computer which is almost never turned off.

Capable of +/- .1 grain accuracy, though charges are weighed in mutiple of 10's is the total 50.0, 50.1 or 49.9. I would like to be able to weigh individual charges of some flake powders to see if there might be bridging in the drop tube or packing in the charge bar.

Not cost a pay check since I am on Social Security, cheap is not always good nor is the high priced brand always better.

Be from an American owned company.

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I picked up an RCBS ChargeMaster 1500 to replace my old Hornady balance. The 1500 is wall powered, stabilizes almost immediately and maintains a stable condition for as long as it is on. It does not power itself off which is an aggravation on some scales. I highly recommend the 1500. If I recall, it cost about $140 at the local Sportsman's Warehouse.

Art

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FWIW, there's a tiny $12 scale ("US Balance") at Harbor Freight and other importers that has a grains setting and claims to be good for "gun powder". It's useless for reloading because it only measures in whole grains.

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If you are looking for a decent digital scale for under $100 you may want to take a look at this one.

Link

Earlier this year I posted a review of this scale when I bought it. Since Febuary it has come down in price by $30.

See post #21

Works great. Holds zero very well & stays in calibration. The only issue is it goes to sleep in a few minutes of not being used. From what I read, most digital scales today seem to have that sleep feature. I wakes up quickly and there is no need to re-calibrate after each shutdown.

Maineshootah posted a review of a cheap scale he purchased around that time. A link to his review is in the above referenced thread too. (post #15)

Mike

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The following all have good and bad points you need to sort out what will work best for you.

I have Dillon. I don't recall if they power down on the wall plug adaptor, if they do just hit on, simple.

I have also used, PACT, RCBS, Lyman. All of these are fine scales. But for me the Dillon works best. But they do power down on battery. I have had the same batteries for close on 2 years and they due for replacement. I prefer to have them battery powered as I can move them from bench to bench quicker and easier. Wall powered will never go flat just when you really need them. A freind just bought a pair of Lyman 1500 and he is very happy and they look very well made. I have used them this weekend and they work well. I can't remember if they power down. Ask the companies involved, most scales do tend to feature the fact that they power down for battery life. So if they don't say they powerdown don't take that for granted, check.

Cheap scales are crap. Never found a good one in the long term. Reputable, well know companies only.

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  • 4 weeks later...

My Dillon digital scale died and I haven't sent it back to them yet with $85 for replacement. However I did pickup a cheapo digital off of Ebay for about $20 or so from vendor Digiweigh-Scales. It is very accurate and repeatable. I'll still get the Dillon replaced though :)

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I bought the Jennings and so far my only concern is that it sometimes powers off before I am finished measuring.

What I like most is the self calibration feature where I don't have to do the calibration sequence like I did with the Dillion.

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  • 1 month later...

I think the one I was looking at buying a couple of years ago was the

My Weigh iBalance 101 (i101)

100 gram capacity x 0.005 gram resolution But is only listed as .1 grain resolution go figure?

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/hobby-hunting-scales.aspx

or the My Weigh iBalance 201 (i201) here:

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/precisio...CFQMCagodNgvaXQ

These have a 30 year warranty, (impressive)

There are lots of others to look at there also.

I have an older rcbs 750 or something like that, It was made by Pact and seems good at holding zero after a short warm up period.

tom

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  • 1 month later...

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