Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Powder scale which one

Probably been asked before but I'm looking for a new scale. Not one of the digital ones, something to replace my rcbs 5-0-5 scale. My current scale acting wonky as hell I cleaned and cleaned sometimes will be trickling powder in the pan it won't move. Does it enough that it's getting irritating, so time for a new scale. I looked at the reviews on the hornady, rcbs, Lyman, etc. they are all good. The only complaint on the Lyman one is it's made of plastic. Thanks.

I replaced my 5-0-5 with a 10-10 and life is good! Needed something that weighs more than 500gr for steel goose loads!

Elk Country

I have a Lyman "M5" scale by Ohaus. It is a nice scale I won't part with. I would look for an older Ohaus 1010 precision scale, or one of the Lyman m5 or RCBS 1010 scales made by Ohaus on ebay.

Ohaus 1010 scale - ebay search

lyman m5 scale - ebay search

Pic of mine along with an RCBS Chargemaster I sold in the classifieds a while back.

Look for a 10-10.......I recently bought two off this site.

I've owned a new Redding, RCBS 5-0-5, Ohaus 10-10 and Lyman M5; I prefer the Lyman M5.

IMO, the American-made 10-10 and M5 scales trump anything on the market today, excluding some of the extremely expensive electronic scales.

As stated above, go to Ebay or post a WTB ad on the Classifieds here.

Damn man, I was watching those M5's on Ebay.........<grin>

79'

I took my M5 apart Sunday and cleaned it good, including the jewels and tuned it, it's almost perfectly balanced at zero and 260.9 grains but I plan to check it again with a check weight in the 50-75 grain range that is the max for my powder charges. The 505 may just need a good cleaning and tune. I worked on the M5 because I wanted to check the charges the Pact is throwing and it happens to be pretty darn accurate.

Get an Ohaus 10-10, the best balance beam scale out there. It is a design that has stood the test of time.

I had a similar situation ... after 20-25 years my RCBS 5-0-5 started to be a little twitchy. I bought the 10-10 thinking it would be an upgrade. I like the 5-0-5 better and if I ever need a new replacement, I will go back to it.

Tom

Another M5 fan here. Got it used but in great shape off eBay many moons ago.

Why do you prefer the 505 over the 1010?

I went with a RCBS 304 to replace the Chargemaster...mainly because I wanted a set when I was younger.

If I had a 505 that was acting up, I'd call RCBS. They'll make it work like new.

I think I may need to send my 5-10 back in...they refurbed it about 25 years ago and it worked perfectly, but I'm seeing signs of inconsistency again.

Another vote for an M5 or 10-10 manufactured by Ohaus. I have one of the Ohaus branded 10-10's. Great scale.

I’ve used a 5-0-5 since I started handloading. If it ever gives me a problem, it will go back to RCBS. I do take the beam off and dust it good every few times I use it.

I'd echo the suggestions about calling RCBS. I did some searching online about tuning and maintaining balance beam scales. Found some threads with useful suggestions and among those were accounts of folks getting theirs refurbished by RCBS and those with Ohaus branded ones also for a small fee of about $7.50 by Ohaus (several years ago mind you). Nothing to lose but the time and effort of a phone call to find out.

Some links to threads. Boyd Allen seems to be one of the primary posters on the subject but there are some others scattered throughout the threads with useful info too, 1066 among them.

Links:

Balance beam scale maintenance - accurateshooter.com

"Tuning" a balance beam - accurateshooter.com

Accurize a balance beam scale? - benchrest.com

A few weeks ago, I finally gave up on my RCBS 1010 as I could not get it to hold zero regardless of what I tried. I told RCBS that I had cleaned the beam and rebalanced the weights in the pan holder so that when the scale base was perfectly level, the beam was level and showed zero. I also removed and cleaned the agate bearings with alcohol and polished them using my dremel tool. RCBS said that this was what they normally suggest and I should send it in for maintenance. About 4 weeks later, they sent me a new M1000 as they too were unable to get the scale to maintain zero.

Out of the box, the M1000 was accurate and actually a little easier to use than the 1010. I will say that the parallax is a bit more noticeable with the M1000 due to the distance between beam and zero mark. However, it works great when at eye level or when used with a USB or IP webcam and a tablet computer. I use the latter and am happy with it. That said, my trusty old 505 is what I use most when I not using my Chargemaster. Moral of the story, RCBS is great to work with.

I'm going to pick up another scale and send this one in. I got it 10yrs ago in the rock chucker supreme reloading kit, been a good scale upto now.

Several thousand rounds and very happy with the RCBS 1010

Cleaned my scale the knife edge on the beam was shiny the graphite was worn off. So got some graphite reapplied to the areas. Then got some weight checks and wow my scale after I zeroed it then put the weights checks on was off .3grns I know some think that's nothing but still concerning. Hopefully this maintenance helps.

The 10-10 is a fine scale, also the old 5-10 if you can find one (under the Ohaus or RCBS labels).