new reloader, need to buy a scale

[nxfedlt1]

Any suggestions? I stopped by one of the local shops and demo'd both a 550 and a hornady LnL, and have decided to go with the LnL and casefeeder.

That said, I also purchased the Lee FCD, EGW U die, and Redding comp seat die for the .45.

Tumbler is taken care of by a neighbor, as is a set of calipers. I still need a scale though, and before I get into buying and discovering I could have purchased a better alternative, I thought I'd ask here.

Which scales do you suggest, and what do I need to steer clear of? Thanks!

[halogrinder]

i bought the cheap RCBS scale.... its a peice of CRAP.

[redintex]

I have had great luck with the D-Terminator digital scale from Dillon. It is about $140, but it has worked very well for me. There may be others that will do the job for less, but this is the only one that I have had experience with, and it is 100% functional.

[Thomas Moore]

you get what you pay for, i've always believed this. don't buy anything but the dillon electronic scale, it will last you years.

[Dave Gundry]

Yup - get the Dillon. You need to have absolute trust in knowing just how much powder your throwing, so that means you need a scale that you can absolutely trust.

[Boats]

I use the big heavy cast Lyman beam balance. And have one of there cheap plastic scales in my traveling load box. Both work well but essential is a set of check weights. Any scale needs to be proven any only a good set of check weights will confirm your set up.

Have looked long and hard at the electronic scales. I may see advantages to them for long runs of weighting every charge. But to confirm volume measure settings you don't need electronic. Old fashion works just fine.

Boats

[k_day64]

Get a D-Terminator from Dillon. I have been using scales for over 20 years. I swore off non-digital scales about 10 years ago and will never go back!

~k_day64

[kevin c]

My beam scale had all the accuracy this sport's reloading requires, but was slow.

Go digital. Go Dillon.

[edwin garcia]

My beam scale had all the accuracy this sport's reloading requires, but was slow.

Go digital. Go Dillon.

Uniquetek pocket scale.

[Jeff Matzka]

Started off with the cheap Lee balance scale, went to a Pact digital. That lasted about 13 years. Went back to balance scale - Dillon's Eliminator. It's accurate, reliable, and I don't find it any slower than my Pact digital scale was while it "settled" on a reading.

[njl]

I've got the Lyman XP1000 digital...and it generally works, but I've found it to be inaccurate at the low end. i.e. one charge of 4.3gr of powder might register 4.1gr. Adding a second charge to the pan will register 8.6. I really doubt the second one was 4.5gr. I generally combine 5 or 10 charges (and divide appropriately) to make sure the powder bar is dropping the right charge. It'd be nice if I could trust it to weigh a single small charge.

[k_day64]

As a marine once told me "consitancy is everything".

I have been using my digital scale to measure every round. As I use the press my fiancee' measures the final weight to make sure that I didn't over charge.

This is most important when I am making .308 match ammuition. This is a method that Marine Corp Snipers use. If it is good enough for them it is good enough for me.

Yes, I know I need a life.

~k_day64