Powder scales
 

Any powder scales to stay away from?

RE: Powder scales
 

I' m not too impressed with my Lee beam scale. It seems a bit inconsistant and its range does not go high enough. Its the only one I' ve ever tried though.

RE: Powder scales
 

most scales today are made by Ohaus, and they' re fine....some of the electronic scales are ok.....some I' d be suspect of!!!

Hornady has a fine scale, and after that I' d be leary!!!

If it says Lee on it.....well...that' s your decision!!!

RE: Powder scales
 

What ever scale you buy it would be a good idea to get a set of scale weights so you can check to see if they are reading right . The Lee scales work as well as any of the others ,not quite as sensitive and not as well made but they do work within tolerances stated .

RE: Powder scales
 

I have a Lyman and a RCBS,both work fine! Now I' m into HI-TECH,I have a electronic scale! As for a " junk" scale,good question...[:-]

RE: Powder scales
 

I like my Lyman 500. Don' t really see the need to dump 150 or better on a digital scale just so I can get a little more lazy.

RE: Powder scales
 

The one I would stay away from is the Pact BBK II electronic scale. That' s the small one. I' ve got one and I have very little (if any) confidence in it. Here' s one example why:

First, they say to let it warm up about 20 or 30 minutes before using it, so I always did. I say " did" because I don' t use it any more. Anyway, I was loading up some 7.65 Arg. rounds (20 to be exact) one day and weighing each charge. I wanted 47 grains of IMR 4350 in each case. After I finished loading each case I was curious, so I recalibrated and rezeroed the scale then reweighed the charges in random cases. Some weighed 47grs. while some weighed almost 48.5grs. I had to dump every one and reweigh everything using my Redding Master beam scale that I have absolute faith in.

That was not an isolated incident. I have weighed brass with it as well and gone back to recheck the first ones weighed and they would weigh a full grain or so different the second time around.

From what I understand, the more expensive Pact is a much better scale. Right now I weigh all my charges on the Redding beam scale, but I am considering buying another electronic to weigh bullets and brass.

RE: Powder scales
 

i have not had anyproblems with the lee scale but i have very limited expireiece. i do want a electronic scale thugh. it just seems simpler and easier

RE: Powder scales
 

Solitary Man , That' s interesting and very and timely I was about to order one of them soon. I saw them on Midway and read the reveiws on there and it sounded reliable though very sensitive to it' s surroundings. You' ve got me rethinking this one.

RE: Powder scales
 

Did you move the scale after you calibrated it? You need to recalibrate anytime you move a scale whether its a beam or electronic scale.
I use an RCBS (Ohaus) beam scale but would like to move up to an electronic scale to save a bit of time. I have utmost faith in elctronic scales- I use them alot where I work- if they are mounted to a granite table, they pretty much never go out of calibration- even our ultraprecise balances that weigh out to the 100,000th of a gram though these babies cost $15,000 a piece not $150.[8D]

RE: Powder scales
 

Well, after posting on Friday, I decided to give the Pact BBK II another try over the weekend. I again loaded 20 rounds of 7.65 Arg., each with 47 grs. IMR 4350. I let the Pact throroughly warm up and then calibrated it, not once, but twice. To double check, I also weighed each charge on the Redding beam scale.

The Pact started out fine. The first six or seven loads weighed exactly the same on both scales. Then, however, the Pact started wandering from the true weight. By the time I got to the 20th round, the Pact was off by .4 grains. I doubled checked the beam scale to make sure it was not the problem and it checked out okay. I then put one of the calibration weights back on the Pact and sure enough, it gave a reading .4 grains off. BTW, neither scale was moved during this test.

I really, really wanted the Pact to work, but it obviously has problems, although it did do better than the last time I used it. I may try it again, letting it warm up a full hour instead of 30 minutes.

RE: Powder scales
 

Ouch! that would certainly shake my faith in a particular balance.

RE: Powder scales
 

Solitary man.............

You ought to give Pact a call on that scale.................it has a limited lifetime warranty and I' m willing to bet they' ll fix it for you at no cost (unless it' s REAL old). Call ' em at 1-800-722-8462 and see what they' ll do for you.

I got their digital precision scale & powder dispenser for Christmas and that thing has been working flawlessly for me.............really helped speed up my reloading time, since I weigh out each load.

RE: Powder scales
 

Sounds like a good idea. I think I will contact Pact and see what they think. Might even see if they' ll let me trade it in on the higher priced version.

RE: Powder scales
 

Solitary Man: Ditto on the BBK! I bought one after my Hornady beam scale stopped working right (still don' t know why), and thought one of those electronic devices would be better. However, I' m tired of always having to recalibrate it every 10-20 rounds, temperature changes, having to keep the garage door closed to prevent errant breezes, replacing batteries, weird error messages that aren' t mentioned in the manual, etc.

I' m going to get a GOOD (maybe RCBS or Ohaus) beam scale (with test weights) and go back to the simplicity of gravity-operated machinery.

RE: Powder scales
 

Solitary Man, did you contact Pact yet and if so what did they say or do? I was really thinking of buying that model until now. Keep us posted please.

RE: Powder scales
 

No, I haven' t contacted them yet. It' s pretty low on my priority list right now, but I' ll eventually get to it.