balance beam scales
- Thread starter ADIDAS69
- Start date
WaltherRuger
New member
I have the RCBS 1010 scale, which I think has been discontinued. It is absolutely reliable. From what I gleaned, the M1000 looks to be a good scale. I would definitely get a good scale. You can scrimp on some things, but not the reloading scale.
I have the RCBS 1010 scale . . . It is absolutely reliable.I do too. And it is.
I did not know this. But it appears you're right because they're not available on MidwayUSA or RCBS; so I'll take that as no longer in production. What a shame.
At any rate, the "replacement" M1000 looks like a pretty good unit. I would get it if I was in the market for a new balance scale. Although I would miss the "rolling drum" on the 1010. Believe it or not, there are some load recipes that I have that are set to the 1/2 10th (1/20th of a grain). I would miss that capability.
More generically, I have no desire for an electronic scale. Maybe I'm old school, but I don't trust them. I like gravity powering my scale. I have found gravity to be pretty reliableAnd I rather like the ritual of setting up the balance scale, zeroing it, using the check weights, etc. For me, loading ammunition is a hobby in itself. I have no need to do things quickly; if I did, the process would loose its charm. That's just me.
Personal opinion: I bought an RCBS 10-5 (or whatever--it was a 5-0-5 base and 10-10 beam) and used for about three years. Ainsworth came out with a digital I could afford and I SOLD the beam ASAP.
I got it because I didn't want the fine poise to just rest in a groove—I wanted the thumb wheel.
If it says RCBS, it will work as well as another beam for reloading.
Points:
1) Mount at eye level
2) Have a good light on it
3) Be sure it is close enough to read—may even want a magnifying glass if you can't mount it close enough.
4) Never try to read above or below the pointer, or you'll suffer parallax.
5) Keep clean and free of aerosols, oils, dust and such.
6) Keep the beam off the base unless in use.
I got it because I didn't want the fine poise to just rest in a groove—I wanted the thumb wheel.
If it says RCBS, it will work as well as another beam for reloading.
Points:
1) Mount at eye level
2) Have a good light on it
3) Be sure it is close enough to read—may even want a magnifying glass if you can't mount it close enough.
4) Never try to read above or below the pointer, or you'll suffer parallax.
5) Keep clean and free of aerosols, oils, dust and such.
6) Keep the beam off the base unless in use.
603Country
New member
I retired my RCBS 1010 about 4 years ago. Got a PACT electronic and then moved on to a Lyman 1200 DPS3 unit, and I love that Lyman.
Today was the day that I taught a young friend (age of my grandkids) how to reload. I decided to show him the old school way, with my Lyman 55 thrower and beam scale. Man, I forgot how slow it is to do it the old way. Takes a while to dial in the thrower, then throw a load, put it on the beam scale and trickle. But, we did it that way for a while. Then he asked what that big Lyman thing was, so I entered the load I wanted and the unit threw it and trickled. He said "Wow, got to get myself one of those".
Never never never will I go back to a beam scale. I only keep it because I may lose power during the zombie apocalypse and will have to go old school.
Today was the day that I taught a young friend (age of my grandkids) how to reload. I decided to show him the old school way, with my Lyman 55 thrower and beam scale. Man, I forgot how slow it is to do it the old way. Takes a while to dial in the thrower, then throw a load, put it on the beam scale and trickle. But, we did it that way for a while. Then he asked what that big Lyman thing was, so I entered the load I wanted and the unit threw it and trickled. He said "Wow, got to get myself one of those".
Never never never will I go back to a beam scale. I only keep it because I may lose power during the zombie apocalypse and will have to go old school.
If it is similar in cost and makes my reloading process faster, I'm HAPPY to use an electrical scale...for as long as I have electricity or batteries...
Unfortunately, we have a fragile (vulnerable) electrical grid, which may be prone to wide and prolonged failures in the future. If that happens, then having ammunition and the capability to make more becomes a very important consideration. I don't have a balance scale yet, but it's in the works.
Unfortunately, we have a fragile (vulnerable) electrical grid, which may be prone to wide and prolonged failures in the future. If that happens, then having ammunition and the capability to make more becomes a very important consideration. I don't have a balance scale yet, but it's in the works.
You can find at least 100 threads on here discussing (or cussing) balance beam versus electronic scales. For weighing something as critical as a powder charge, I'm going with Nick C S on this:
My rule of thumb is that if you know the weight you want, use a balance beam. If you need to know the weight (as in case separation by weight), use an electronic. The first has to be exact; the second only relative.
As a point of trivia, about five years ago I decided to collect some old balance beam scales that were on Ebay and sold for almost nothing. I ended up with eight different scales. The oldest was a Redding that still used a brass beam and brass sliding weights for coarse and fine adjustments. Others were later Reddings, Ohaus, RCBS, and Lyman. One day when I had a lot of time on my hands, I measured a known calibration weight on all eight of them. The calibration weight was around 85 grains and the maximum deviation on any of the scales was 0.2 grains. Note that these scales were just as I received them from Ebay -- all were very well used and I did not attempt to calibrate any of them. As Nick C S said, gravity is generally constant at a given point here on earth. That's why I prefer balance beam for critical weighing and electronic for relative weighing.
I don't want to start another beam vs digital thread war, but I thought the OP might like a little info as to how the last 50 years or so of balance beam scales still maintained their accuracy.
My rule of thumb is that if you know the weight you want, use a balance beam. If you need to know the weight (as in case separation by weight), use an electronic. The first has to be exact; the second only relative.
As a point of trivia, about five years ago I decided to collect some old balance beam scales that were on Ebay and sold for almost nothing. I ended up with eight different scales. The oldest was a Redding that still used a brass beam and brass sliding weights for coarse and fine adjustments. Others were later Reddings, Ohaus, RCBS, and Lyman. One day when I had a lot of time on my hands, I measured a known calibration weight on all eight of them. The calibration weight was around 85 grains and the maximum deviation on any of the scales was 0.2 grains. Note that these scales were just as I received them from Ebay -- all were very well used and I did not attempt to calibrate any of them. As Nick C S said, gravity is generally constant at a given point here on earth. That's why I prefer balance beam for critical weighing and electronic for relative weighing.
I don't want to start another beam vs digital thread war, but I thought the OP might like a little info as to how the last 50 years or so of balance beam scales still maintained their accuracy.
603Country
New member
I was doing fine with that RCBS 1010 until I needed to weigh some cases. A friend loaned me his electronic scale. That was all it took. I realized that all this could be faster and easier. So then I bought the PACT, which I still use for recheck of loads. Then...I went to full electronic. What I do now to throw the load I input is.....push da button. Presto, my load is thrown.
Don't borrow an electronic scale. It's the beginning of the end.
Don't borrow an electronic scale. It's the beginning of the end.
An old Ohaus sold under Midway brand for rifle, and a $20 digital Gemini for pistol. In the beginning of time, well actually after black powder which was by volume, not weight, there was only balance beams. And I used plenty of the triples in the chemistry lab, but technology happens, today's digital's are far more precise, especially in the less than 5 grains range. I still have my old Lyman Pro and my Redding sitting next to a rotary dial phone in the garage.
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I'm not exactly sure what skimping on a scales means, but I do know that the budget priced, no frills, mechanical scales with a name on them are every bit as reliable as the expensive eletronic ones, and some may even argue, more so.
I'm still using the RCBS 5-0-5 that came in my budget RCBS Partner Press Kit I bought in the 80's.
My advice would be to not spend a bundle on a fancy expensive scale unless it's what you really want. 3.5gr is the same on my scales as it is yours.
Ole Joe Clark
New member
I have a Pacific M beam scale that I purchased sometime in the mid 70's. I finally bought a set of RCBS calibration weights and received them this week.
Checked the ole "M" scale with various weights and found out it was way off, about 1/20th of a grain, maybe less. I didn't try to adjust it, just put the check weights back in the tool box. I think it's close enough.
Have a blessed day.
Checked the ole "M" scale with various weights and found out it was way off, about 1/20th of a grain, maybe less. I didn't try to adjust it, just put the check weights back in the tool box. I think it's close enough.
Have a blessed day.
Don't trust electronics but I use one as a backup to my balance beam, just to verify and compare. Seems the electronics always measure a tenth higher than my RCBS 10-10. Been using the same balance beam for thirty years and it never fails. I use the electronic to verify my eyes are working correctly.
brasscollector
New member
I find that the small display on some of the electronic scales dictates the lil buggers be perilously placed near the edge of my bench so I can read them. Close enough that an errant elbow can knock one onto the concrete floor.. Did you know that the steel plate onto which items to be weighed needs to stay attached to the scale for it to work correctly? Toss that in the trash and contemplate buying a replacement. Now the 'replacement' only gets brought out on occasion when I need to weigh something of an unknown quantity and don't feel like tinkering with the beam. Most weighing happens on the beam..
jetinteriorguy
New member
For reliable accurate weighing of powder charges I use a beam only. But as an added level of safety, I double check loaded rounds with an electronic scale and pull anomalies to avoid accidental overcharges on my progressive press. Funny thing, so far every bullet I've pulled still had the proper powder charge and over weight has been due to other factors. I will add, I've only ever had one accidental over load, and it was due to user error on my Lyman beam scale. I didn't notice that the 5gr poise was set one notch too heavy and accidentally over loade my .357 by five grains with Titegroup. Luckily I was shooting in my M28 and realized it on the first round and that gun is such a tank it suffered no ill affects. But boy was that thing snappy since it was already at max before adding the extra 5gr. So as an added precaution I also use my electronic scale to verify that I haven't mad a major boo boo using the beam, and I've also purchased an older used RCBS 505 that is much easier for me to read and set. I brought this old scale to our instrument calibration shop to verify its accuracy and it's still right on the money, as is my Lyman, but the electronic scale was consistently off by .2 gr.
Luckily I was shooting in my M28 and realized it on the first round and that gun is such a tank it suffered no ill affects. But boy was that thing snappy since it was already at max before adding the extra 5gr. So as an added precaution I also use my electronic scale to verify that I haven't mad a major boo boo using the beam, and I've also purchased an older used RCBS 505 that is much easier for me to read and set. I brought this old scale to our instrument calibration shop to verify its accuracy and it's still right on the money, as is my Lyman, but the electronic scale was consistently off by .2 gr.