Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Digital or Mechanical?

You are missing out, the electronics are trustworthy!!!!!!

I have a chargemaster but if I had it to do over again I'd go with another 505. Get you a cheap digital and check the 505 at each session if you want, but I loaded for 20 years with a 505 and never had a hitch. AND the Charge Master isn't really any faster.

As much as I use and like my Chargemaster, I'd never be without a mechanical scale. I currently have a 5-10 that was sent back to RCBS in about 1994 for a tuneup. It may be due for another.

In the interest of preventing unnecessary wear when not in use, I turn the beam over and leave the scale set up like this with a dust cover over it:

Rcbs 1010

My 1010 did that, then I noticed that the counterweight on the screw was a very loose fit and would move ever so slightly when I tapped the pan if I didn't have the little nylon set screw tight. So I stopped tapping the pan. Look carefully, there's not much to go wrong there. Could take a known weight, bullet if you don't have a set, and set it gently in the pan with tweezers. Try it several times and see if the imprecision goes away.

Yeah, I know, you're looking for a reason to buy a new toy. We all do it.

Digital scales have been around for many years....not all of them have been good ones.

Almost all balanced beam scales are made by Ohaus and branded by several companies.....mine is a Dillon but I also have a RCBS that I got on Ebay…..an excellent machine.

Since I have very little experience with the digital scales I won't give thumbs up or down about them....but my experience with Ohaus scales has been excellent.....I'm staying with what works for me.

Mine is a 505, different than a 1010 no nylon screw. Looked closely at the knife edge with a magnifying glass and it looks a bit rough. Spent some time looking at youtubes, and I like the RCBS Chargemaster Lite, and the Lyman Gen 6. For those that have the RCBS how easy is it to clean out and change powders? The Lyman seems quite easy to do that.

I do the same thing. Leaving the scale set up over time probably contributes to more wear than actually using it.........

And it does help to keep the pivot clean so gunk doesn't grind it down.

I found 3 1/2 tablespoons of h4831 is just right for my 270 and 150 gr bullets. So no need for them scale contraptions

Yea, I like the teaspoon idea, got a bunch of those......…. Probably better to use my old Lee powder dippers, still can find a few powders that match the slide chart.

Then never mind.

I see that now, looked up the 505 instructions. I misremembered from 1980! Anyway if you don't know here's a picture of the 1010 fine adjustment. The poise (forgot the proper term too) is like a barrel nut on a threaded rod right below the scale. There's a nylon screw (not shown) that locks that barrel nut. Pretty slick.

I'm quoting a post from up the page so I'm adding this to clarify. This is in reference to a question about the Charge Master and changing powders.
It's not hard to do but you gotta be careful or you'll spill powder. There's a drain on the side that you need to hold a container under to drain the powder out of the hopper. Make sure you close it when finished. It's easy to forget. Take care to get all the powder out of the hopper and the auger. After I'm through charging cases and drained the hopper, I leave the machine powered up and I hit dispense so it turns the auger for a while to get all the powder out. A guy on another forum experienced high pressure from one cartridge out of 20 and we all believed that it was because he had used a fast powder the loading before and it trapped a grain or two of the faster powder inside the auger and caused a duplex load in one cartridge. It doesn't take much of a fast powder when mixed with a slower one to make a lot of extra pressure. It's scarey to think about that. He was lucky it wasn't a lot. It just made his bolt sticky and flattened his primer.

Very true, but you won't forget anymore after you've done it five or six times. Ask me how i know.

I have an RCBS 5-0-5 in the original box sitting on top of my reloading bench. It came with a big box of reloading stuff I picked up at a yard sale. I use a 10-10.

If you are interested in the 5-0-5 send me a PM with an offer.

I bought the Ohaus it is exactly the same from what I can tell Amazon with free shipping.

My old 70,s ERA 505 did not like our 7.0 quake and the fall!

I have been using the RCBS ChargeMaster more and more here lately. The scale has proven very repeatable but maybe a little slow to respond to very small changes. The calibration weights that it came with always read the same in addition to a 40 and a 55 grain bullet. I also have a small baggy with a few spent primers that also read the same weight every time. I use it to double check the scale for pistol loads.

When loading anything less than 50 rounds or so (which is most of the time that I load) I have taken to using just the scale with Lee powder dippers. It is about as quick when you consider the time it takes to set up a powder measure for the correct load or to empty and clean the powder chamber of the ChareMaster and quicker than dipping a light charge and trickling up when using a beam scale.

Well, bought a Lyman Gen 6, so far so good but only a few loads. Will see as time goes by.

its been years ago, but when I had my 505 going wacky, RCBS had me just send it to Ohaus in New Jersey...

took 3 or 4 weeks turn around, but when they returned it, its been flawless for 12 to 15 years now...

O'haus 304 Dial-a-grain.