Digital powder scale

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ghbucky

New member
I had a Frankfort Arsenal digital scale (DS-750 model, I think) that I used for some years, but I took a hiatus from reloading a few years ago due to the covid related shortages that hit everywhere and the lack of components.

Now that things are finally beginning to start becoming available again, I cleared my bench of accumulated junk and found my old scale missing. (I have a dim memory of it malfunctioning and tossing it because it was cheap, after all).

I have a Lee balance beam scale, so I'm not in a panic, but a digital scale is certainly nice for the ability to quickly check the accuracy of a throw.

I've been looking around the big sites (cabelas, midsouth, midwayusa, sportsmans) for reloading gear and finding scales ranging from $35 to the price of a nice press. I'm not after an auto-trickler (maybe some day!), but I also would like a scale I can trust to get it right and last for more than a few years.

Anyone have a favorite to share?
 
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Unclenick

Staff
The main problem with inexpensive digital scales has always been that whether or not they were stable or tended to drift between weighings was hit or miss for the owner. You could buy several of them, and some would be great and some so bad you wouldn't trust them. Mixed into that is the fact some folks have sources of interference, like fluorescent light fixtures or motors with brushes or mechanical speed regulators that can cause a scale to jitter just by their proximity or by putting electrical noise onto the A.C. line power that carries it around the home like a transmission line. The inexpensive scales and inexpensive versions of more expensive scales often have features like Faraday shields and line filters eliminated to cut production cost, when these features would eliminate the influence of the sources I mentioned, as well as reduce the influence of static charges on the operator that influence readings, particularly in the wintertime. Finally, the inexpensive scales tend to use transducers that are not as immune to drift and that have more hysteresis than the more expensive magnetic restoration transducers used in higher-end scales.

So, you get what you pay for, up to a point. That point is when you get to more resolution than affects accuracy or requires longer settling timed or more manipulation that slows the loading process down. So, if you have the money, consider investing in something like the A&D FX-120i (made in Japan rather than China; hence the pricetag) which can later be combined with the V4 Autotrickler (made in USA by the maker of the Shotmarker) if you decide to upgrade and which won't ever give you a precision or drift issue.

If that high end stuff is something you can't justify budgeting, I would swing to the opposite extreme. A lot of the very inexpensive scales will do most of what many of the in-between-level scales will do by way of resolution and drift for reloading purposes. They are just smaller and have lower weight capacity than some others. That one weighs up to 50 grams (771.6 grains), so some 5o BMG bullets could not be weighed on it. If you read the reviews, you see almost 2/3 give it all five stars, so it worked exceptionally for them, while 6% are one-star reviews from folks who had a lot of trouble with it. This is typical with inexpensive scales, but keep in mind you could buy several of them for what a lot of the reloading brand names charge for something that doesn't work any better, except maybe for being able to handle two or three times heavier maximum weights. I don't need that for powder. So I always tell folks to be prepared to return these cheap ones until they send you a good one.

Tips: For all electronic scales, get a grounding wrist strap to avoid static build-up on your body from influencing the scale, particularly in dry air. Keep the scale on a sheet of aluminum foil that you've grounded. Use an old dead-battery computer UPS as a line filter when you run it on AC to get line noise out. Don't trust the low-grade calibration weights. Take them to your pharmacist, who has a calibrated balance, and get the actual numbers. You can trim weights by filing if they are heavy or sticking little bits of metal tape on them if they are light.
 
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Nathan

New member
The Hornady electronic scales seem pretty good and most are able to be trickled into.

I have a Creedmoor Sports TRX-925 that I cannot recommend enough. Great scale. Good price.

Of course, I would be remiss not mentioning the A&D FX120i! Possibly the best!
 
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Shadow9mm

New member
I have the hornady digital scale. Works well, zeroes up and stays stable. Only down side is the auto shut off after about 2-3 min. Want to get their bench scale but i just cant justify the cost.
 
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tangolima

New member
I have older model of this, and it has been working great.

Smart Weigh GEM20-20g x 0.001 grams, High Precision Digital Milligram Jewelry Scale, Reloading, Jewelry and Gems Scale, Calibration Weights and Tweezers Included https://a.co/d/gVCdVde

People freak out when they see reading on a digital scale dithers. One moment it is 20.0gr, and the moment next it reads 19.8, or 20.2gr. It must be this and it must be that. It doesn't matter. Electronics sucks. Beam balance is the way.

But it is normal to anything digital, where physical quantity must be digitized. The least significant bit (LSB) always dither between 0 and 1. Or the reading always carries uncertainty of +/-1/2LSB, and the reading dithers +/-1LSB. LSB can be visualized as the step size or resolution.

Most electronic scales have LSB of 10mg, or 0.17gr. Note that the firmware is intrinsically metric. 10mg is converted and rounded up to 0.2gr. When I see reading dithers from 19.8 to 20.2gr, I will take it as 20.0 +/- 0.1gr.

The model in the link has finer LSB of 1mg. It dithers by 0.02gr. Mighty good enough for me. The powder pan is a bit small. But up to 60gr should be no problem. Or bigger pan can be used. This newer model has a bigger seat for bigger pan. Mine could be difficult. It comes with 2 calibration weights, which means a 3-point cal. I think it is more accurate than scales that do 2-point cal.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
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Nathan

New member
I have the hornady digital scale. Works well, zeroes up and stays stable. Only down side is the auto shut off after about 2-3 min. Want to get their bench scale but i just cant justify the cost.
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Which one shuts down every 2-3 min?
 
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Shadow9mm

New member
Nathan

Hornady G3-1500. has an auto shut off feature that you cannot disable to save battery. Instructions read like you can disable that feature, but you cant. I called hornady and asked after I got mine..... if your just setting up a powder thrower, or throwing a lot by hand its ok. but if your going back and forth doing things, and you have to keep re-starting the scale, its a major pain the the behind.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1023115832?pid=645087
 
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stagpanther

New member
I load using a chargemaster and then fine tune with a labratory-grade creedmoor sport digital with .o1 grain (not gram, big difference) accuracy. When cross-calibrated and zeroed--i've found the chargemaster will almost always get within .05 grain of what I enter for finer spherical powders, the difference opens up with extruded/sticks. A "true" labratory grade scale can be highly susceptible to environmental factors such as cold drafts, errant dust in the air etc. For use in things like 22lr charges where accuracy to the hundredths of a grain is essential--yes, a really good digital is worth it IMO. I can't make the same argument for "run of the mill" centerfire, other than it's just another variation tolerance that you can try to minimize.
 
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tangolima

New member
Haven't had chance to use auto dispenser. But 0.5gr for ball and more for stick is not impressive at all. Is it always over? I can't image how it can be under. The scale should be able to pick it up and trickle more. If it is always over, it probably trickles too fast. That's what happens when I manually trickle. Turning the knob just a little too much I am now over. I will have to pick out a kernel or two with tweezers.

Can you use that for pistol loads? 0.5gr error could be too much for that.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
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tangolima

New member
Shadow9mm said:
Nathan



Hornady G3-1500. has an auto shut off feature that you cannot disable to save battery. Instructions read like you can disable that feature, but you cant. I called hornady and asked after I got mine..... if your just setting up a powder thrower, or throwing a lot by hand its ok. but if your going back and forth doing things, and you have to keep re-starting the scale, its a major pain the the behind.



https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1023115832?pid=645087
Click to expand...
Most battery powered scales do that. But at least mine is not bad. It turns on within a few seconds. But it always does a tare upon power up. That could be annoying if you already have powder in the pan.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
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stagpanther

New member
But 0.5gr for ball and more for stick is not impressive at all. Is it always over?
Click to expand...
I senior brain-farted; what I meant was within .05 gr(ain). Thanks for the catch. The chargemaster actually does pretty well when taking the time to zero.
 
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Nathan

New member
Most battery powered scales do that. But at least mine is not bad. It turns on within a few seconds. But it always does a tare upon power up. That could be annoying if you already have powder in the pan.
Click to expand...

For the G3-1500, the directions explain how to turn that off….I have no idea for sure because I don’t own it. Just read the directions.
 
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Shadow9mm

New member
Nathan said:
For the G3-1500, the directions explain how to turn that off….I have no idea for sure because I don’t own it. Just read the directions.
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See my post #10. I read the instructions. They do state how to disable auto shut off. However the instructions are wrong. After many futile attempts to disable this feature l was unable to. I called hornady and they stated that part of the instructions was for the hornady m2 bench scale, and that the auto shut off for the g3-1500 could not be disabled.
 
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Marco Califo

New member
Went from a Uniflow to a Chargemaster a few years ago. ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS.
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+ONE
The Chargemaster Combo (scale and dispenser in one) is like going from a perpetual dark abyss to mid-summer sunlight. Have to wear shades!
Once you have experience how it was, and should never be to how it is NOW, you will never go back.
Yes, I have a couple of electronic and beam scales. I do not necessarily know exactly where they are right now. And do not care.
 
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tangolima

New member
Marco Califo said:
+ONE

The Chargemaster Combo (scale and dispenser in one) is like going from a perpetual dark abyss to mid-summer sunlight. Have to wear shades!

Once you have experience how it was, and should never be to how it is NOW, you will never go back.

Yes, I have a couple of electronic and beam scales. I do not necessarily know exactly where they are right now. And do not care.
Click to expand...

I have uniflow, trickler, and a scale. Doing the same, but just at 1/5 the speed. Quite ok as I can't afford to shoot much anyway. 20 rounds per center fire rifle each trip. Just make sure each one of the 20 rounds counts.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
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