Digital Scale

Do I need to spend a lot of money on a digital scale? Or will one of those small pocket scales be OK. I'm just going to be reloading 45 ACP. Any suggestions on a scale?

Thanks

If you are using a scale just to check the setting of a powder measure then a mechanical scale is plenty good. I've used a RCBS 1010 scale for 21 years. The only reason I would look at getting a digital scale would be if I wanted to weigh many, many items. For instance, weigh each of 100 pieces of brass to find average and max spread. Or to weigh every loaded cartridge to see if it is in the range expected for a loaded cartridge; that is, to detect for missing or double powder charge.

Someone who owns a digital scale may have a different perspective.

I bought a digital scale because I do so many different loads. A digital scale will allow you to use the tare feature and measure the charge while it is still in the shell. Saves a lot of time! Make sure you tare the same shell that you are going to drop the powder into...they do vary in weight.

If you are going to look for a cheaper scale make sure it measures to 1/100th of a grain to insure accuracy. An example would be 5.90 grains. If the scale only shows 1/10th of a grain, then you could theoretically be off by almost a full 1/10th of a grain. The scale could show 5.8 grains, but the actual weight could be 5.88 (almost 5.9 grains). When you get near a max load that extra almost 1/10th of a grain could be critical.

I bought my on ebay. I checked its accuracy with my balance scale, and also checked the weight of the calibration weights. It has really streamlined my changeover to different powders and charges

Important note DO NOT use the batteries that come with the scale. Use fresh brand name alkaline batteries. If the batteries are weak the scale will not stabilize properly.

In my experience, a digital scale is best for weighing many different things quickly - such as when sorting cast bullets into "too light" "just right" and "too heavy".
On the other hand, a mechanical scale is best at weighing many things that will end up all weighing the same, such as powder charges. Any of the mechanical scales will do, even the inexpensive Lee is excellent, as is the costly (nowadays) Ohaus/etc. 1010 model. One thing that you will wish to demand of a mechanical scale is a magnetic damper to reduce the time the beam spends swinging before it settles down. The ancient "paddle in the oil pot" style just don't cut it these days.
Best regards
John

I work in a research laboratory, so scales have been a daily use item for 27 years and counting. This question comes up from time to time and I feel like I have some unique knowledge having been involved in the use, purchase and upkeep of numerous digital scales. First, a properly maintained, quality digital scale is far more accurate than any beam scale. But, as reloaders, that type of accuracy is seldom needed, but is nice to have if it's quicker than waiting and fiddling with a beam scale. The trouble begins when you try to get a decent digital scale for $30-$100. It is simply not possible to have a digital that will, 1) determine a reading quickly, can be trickled into and update fast enough to determine the small changes, ie. be sensative enough for the job at hand. For this type of scale, you would need to spend a minimum of $200+. If you're not willing to do that, then I advise you to buy almost any beam scale. They're plenty accurate enough for reloading, and you won't get into trouble with a cheap digital.
If you decide to spend the bucks to go digital, then don't buy anything that the reloading companies sell. That's my humble opinion, and possibly tainted by using top notch scales, but a good Accu-Lab can be had for roughly $250, and it will outshine the cheapies by an astounding margin. If you do some ebay searching you can find a decent Mettler, or Sartorius in the 400 gram and under range for around the same money as the Accu-Lab or even cheaper. Usually these scales have the ability to change the units of measure to grains by simply entering the scales setup program. Also, most will have a zero tracking feature that keeps the scale zeroed, but that does not affect trickling as long as you're not trying to trickle one tenth of a grain total in the scale pan. As long as you go above .1 grain, it doesn't try to rezero. Most of these lab scales can be had in the .001 gram resolution, which equates to .02 grains. That's an average accuracy of two hundredths of a grain, far more than needed for reloading. I acquired a used Sartorius from work when they were upgrading scales, and I use it all the time. In the past I've had digitals from the reloading companies, and I can tell you they are mostly junk, and for roughly a C note or so more, you can have a much better scale and safety margin.
As I said, if I weren't wiling to pay the $200 or so for a good digital, then go with a $30 beam scale from ebay, just my opinion.

Here is what I have been using this year with great success. Here is the Cabelas link for the RCBS Chargemaster combo (Dispenser and Chargemaster 1500 digital scale together) at $ 324.99:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...853&hasJS=true

Here is the Cabelas link for just the RCBS Chargemaster 1500 digital scale at $ 172.99:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...853&hasJS=true

JMHO , I would highly recommend the combo. Great quality reloading equipment for my reloading needs. PM me if you have any specific questions on this equipment.

Hope this helps with your question. :roll:

Thanks to bchannell for the enlightenment! I ordered an Acculab VIC-123. After doing a lot of research on other forums I found that a lot of hand loaders are having excellent success with this unit. As I load 5.7 x 28, and it is a very touchy cartridge, I feel the money will be well spent.

I have a 5-0-5 RCBS and weighed a lot of powder, bullets, etc with it. So I figured I needed a digital. It works great for big jobs like sorting cases and bullets. For weighing powder I use the 5-0-5 most of the time.