bowhunter elite

looking for some experience,,,,been reloading for 4mo and definately hooked! it has come time to upgrade from my little cheap lee scale and hoping i can get some info on what i need to look for in an electronic scale, since i' ll be doing this the rest ofmy life i want a good one! any info would be appreciated ---what i dont yett know that i will want later and what other guys experience tells me i want to stay away from.

stubblejumper

I bought the first electronic scale sold by rcbs when they first came out.In the years that I have owned it I have found it to be as accurrate as any balance scale that I have used but much ,much faster.There are now many electronic scales on the market that are much cheaper than the one I have and I would think that most would perform as well.

Mark whiz

Let me ask, " how happy are you with your powder measure" ?

If you have questions about it too or if you weigh the powder for each load, I highly recommend the RCBS or Pact (it' s the same units made be Pact) electronic powder measure & dispenser units. They link together through an IR port and make accurate loading fast & simple for around $300 (the Pact is usually a little cheaper). Lyman has just come out with a comparable unit (the 1200DPS I believe they call it) that dispenses & measures in 1 unit and runs $20 to $30 cheaper - and it may be a little quicker to set up (not that the Pact/RCBS units are, because they' re quick too).

The Pact system is what I upgraded my Lee Scale & measure to......and life has been sweet ever since. [8D]

Vapodog

there' s a number of balance beam scales available that are really good.

In my opinion, there' s too much at stake to go to a high priced electronic scale......and I' m sticking with my balance beam scale.

Guess I' m getting old!!!!

bowhunter elite

no i dont use a powder measure, i weigh each load-guess i think it' s fun! vapodog--what do ya mean too much at stake, not a smart a** question just dont understand what ya mean. sometimes when i' m reloading it appears to my eye as though the pile of powder is larger/or smaller than the previousl load--of course i start over and reweigh a new load, maybe i' m just not trusting my scales when i should, wanting to find out from guys withmore experience if they' ve had this happen,, and did a more expensive scale make any difference..i' m also having a hard time finding a load that groups any better than factory loads,, maybe i' m just not patient enough and hav' nt put in the time necessary to find that (perfect) load?

handloader1

I have a Pact scale, and it works great. Good luck.

stubblejumper

I actually set my measure a couple of tenths of a grain low and trickle in the rest on the scale so each charge is weighed.If something was to go wrong with the scale it would be easy to see using this method.This method also speeds up my reloading by a large margin.I actually tested my electronic against my old rcbs 10-10 and it is just as consistant.If you really want to develop the best load for each gun you may need to try several powders and a couple of different bullets.Just because a load is handloaded does not mean that it will be any more accurate than a factory load.

bigcountry

I got the bug also for a electronic scale. After loading for a long time, it strains my eyes watching the balance beam. You can be off .1 gr and miss it easy with a balance beam. Basically just easier on my eyes.

Solitary Man

I' ve got a PACT digital and a Redding Master beam scale. I much prefer the beam scale. I throw a charge a few tenths less and trickle up to my desired charge and I find it every bit as fast as the digital. But more importantly, I can absolutely count on the 100th load being just as precise as the first. The digital drifts from the actual weight and requires recalibration too often.

bigcountry

Really, thats good information. How often does it need this calibration? Been using this beam scale for years, just would like to be able to see better.