The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

jimmyhall wrote:Can anyone recommend a good digital scales, which dosn't cost a small fortune or a day to set themselves up

No, they probably can't. Good digital scales generally do cost a small fortune - well, £500.00 or so. Still, that's better than a few years ago, when you couldn't access Magnetic Force Restoration technology for less than about £1000.00. I have digital balances ranging from Good to Very Very good, but if I could only keep once balance for the rest of my life it would have to be the beam balance.

Cheap digital balances usually use strain gauge measuring, which is really at the limit of the technology when used at the resolution required for weighing charges accurately. They suffer from drift, slow settling and particularly from poor response to small changes (i.e. when trickling the last few kernels of powder). It is common to hear of people having to dab the powder pan with a finger to create a larger disturbance in order to overcome the heavy filtering which is the only way to keep strain gauge balances stable and not drifting at that kind of resolution. This is not conducive to precise measurements, and explains why this sort of technology has no place in labs.

If you still want a recommendation, I suggest the A&D FX-120i. You can read lots of opinions about them here.

..

Might be a daft question but do balance beam type scales have to be on a 'perfectly' level surface?

phaedra1106 wrote:RCBS 5-0-5, buy once, cry once :)

Agreed. A good Rock Chucker set has been pivotal for me.

Digital scales, especially those at the cheaper end tend to go out more than they are in... At least that's what I found with my Frankford Arsenal scales that I got when I first got into loading 4 years ago...

A good quality beam scale is the way to go.

I have an A&D FX-120i and it's exceptionally fast and accurate, however one thing the lab scale proved to me was how accurate my RCBS-505 was. That isn't to suggest the 505 isn't without problems (can bind on the balance pin against the sides of the case, is sensitive to dust and is slow), however in terms of value for money, I don't think you can beat it. If you want to load your rounds to the kernel, these are the only 2 options IMO.

Lyman gen 6 dispencer is very good, cost around £230 if the budget can go to it they are worth every penny

Blackstuff wrote:Might be a daft question but do balance beam type scales have to be on a 'perfectly' level surface?

Might be a daft answer, but I'd say no...depending on where I put my scales (5-0-5s) on the bench I sometimes have to tweak the front leg (which is high adjustable) to get the balance beam perfectly level at zero.

I've a gen 5 dispenser and I've checked it against balance beams a couple of times now and it's been right so far.

Produces .223 loads that are capable of .3moa so it must be measuring something right..

I'd like to test them again in a few months though, see if they're still ok. They come with a 100g calibrating weight too which I guess keeps them in check.

I tend to just check them against the weight at the start of every session.

I've got a little Frankford Arsenal scale that is good enough to set up the charge dispenser, cost me £50. Not Gucci kit, but works for me.

The only scale I use is the Hornady beam scale I have several of them and I have been at it a while. I also use a target master trickler coupled to a calibrated Hornady scale connected to a lap top with a web cam. I've tried digital scales but I all ways end up reverting back to my Hornady set up. Unfortunately they don't make this scale any more.