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

digital scales are a thing that needs a lot of money investing in to get repeatable accuracy. sure cheap sets will get you roughly there, but when we are talking about grains, suddenly grams seem course (like mm compare to inch...)
quality beam scales are so much more repeatable, and with things like magnetic damping, they even out fairly quickly. moving the poise can be a bit fiddly if you have sausage fingers. but i think the main thing with beam scales is their simplicity, and the fact you can calibrate them yourself.
I sat mine on a block of wood with some rubber feet, and a marked place on the bench, so if i moved them, when i put them back i come straight back to zero. the feet also cut out the movement i was getting from the ever so slight movemnet of the bench which was bolted to the interior side of the flats exterior wall, because if you watched it, it would move with the wind, or ppl walking about upstairs, another thing that shows how sensitive they are (rcbs 505)

What ever you do don't buy a Lee beam scale they are rubbish.

If you are getting into it to save money then forget it as you won't.

You will shoot more though and if you get your head round it you will shoot more with more accurate ammunition, hand loading will not make you a better shot but it will help you understand your firearms better.

Also thoroughly search the site here as this topic comes up every month or so so and is covered extensively along with specifics on kit and processes.

Just got the Lyman 48th edition as a PDF file so thats saved me a few quid straight off and plenty of reading to boot!

Link below for those who fancy putting it on their phone for those " " moments

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j ... Sg&cad=rja

I picked up a Targetmaster trickler to work with my beam scales - it saves a lot of time and effort once set up.

IMHO, a quality set of beam scales is the way to go, digital scales can suffer from `wandering zero` syndrome.

I have a Redding No.2 beam scale which is a quality piece of kit and always delivers consistent results.

It is a good idea to mount your beam scale at eye level, to minimise parallax deviation.

ukrifleman

I use a target master trickler with a tuned Hornady beam scale. The scale is modified so you can mount a web cam to monitor the beam. It displays on my lap top. There is a you tube video some were of the set up showing how it works.

Not the most experienced reloader but I can well recommend the lee classic cast press and the rcbs 505 scales. Like you I did plenty of research before parting with cash, and you can get started for a lot less than £1000! But you will always have a mental list of things you could just do with, so spending on shiny things is potentially never ending.One thing I can say is that digital scales do have uses, I use the beam scales to meter and the digital scales to measure, i.e. beam scales for metering repeated powder charges at a given weight and digital for measuring weights of cast bullets for example, much faster.

You don't need to spend a £1000 to get started.

I'll make the following comment about Lee kit - it's like the difference between a cheap set of Chinese screwdrivers and a high quality tool steel set. 90% of the time you won't notice the difference, but hit a tougher screw (i.e. case/primer etc.) or don't follow it's little foibles and you'll soon see failures. It will also wear out a lot quicker. Quality shows through.

That said, I still use some Lee stuff, there's not much wrong with the dies or the Classic presses as several have mentionned above (although do check them for manufacturing faults before use).

Digital scales can be good - if they are properly set up and powered. They can save you time, but not money. If you go down that route, buy a mid-price set from a laboratory instrumentation supplier.