Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Electronic Scales

I had a chat yesterday with a nice fellow who lives in El Paso. He was trying to load cast bullets for his 303 British, but couldn't get the amount of powder into the case that the manual called for. He wanted to know what he was doing wrong. When he described what he was doing, and the powder, bullet, etc, I thought he might have been loading a 303 Savage. It turned out that he wasn't.

I was stumped until he told me about his scale. It was an inexpensive, Chinese made, battery operated scale that switches between grains, grams, carats, etc. In short, his scale was not weighing correctly. I suggested that he get a new scale, but not one from Walmart or a dollar store.

Whether you have an expensive scale, or a cheap thing that you bought from ebay or Wallyworld, make sure that you have a weight that you can use to check that it's weighing correctly. Most reloading scales come with check weights, but more and more people are buying pocket sized, cheap off shore scales. I cannot convince everyone to buy a scale made for reloading, but most would agree that a way to verify that the scale is weighing accurately is important.

Get a 50 and 100 gram weight, if you don't already have one lying around. Let your scale warm up for a few minutes and verify the accuracy with your weights before you start weighing powder. Or buy an old timey mechanical scale. They don't depend on batteries and are accurate.

Absolutely. I would never have just one scale, with no check weights. I have a Dillon and RCBS electric and a Lyman beam scale. I use the beam scale and check weights to verify the electrics.

I use a little Lyman digital scale. I calibrate it every time I start it. Simple process. I have no problem with using a beam scale, but prefer the Lyman digital. The scale comes with a weight to use for calibration. I believe if a person rtfm, and pays attention, the digital scales are ok. Sort of like digital cameras first came to the stores. I heard the "I'm not using one of them blankety things, I will keep using film cameras."

I have a Lyman as well. The Lyman 1500. I had problems with it until I moved my wifi out of the room and started using a surge protector. In today's world, there are so many things that can affect electronics. Wifi and rfi are probably the worst offenders. With many devices using some sort of wireless tx, it can interfere with correct readings. Your cellphone or tablet too, if they are close, can throw your scale off.

This is beginning to sound like an amateur radio chat, but I plug my scale into a spike and line noise suppressor. My Lyman really settled down. When I put a battery operated scale beside it. even after calibration, the DC scale, a JSR-100, can't settle down. I cannot use the JSR-100 in my office, but the Lyman is fine. I always check the readings against a mechanical scale whenever I start. The Lyman is rock solid.

I found the suppressor my scale is plugged into. It's a Tripp Lite ULTRABLOK 428 Surge Protector. $47.29 CDN.

Protect all electronics against surges, spikes and line noise
• 1410 Joule surge suppression rating
• Near indestructible all-metal case and unique noise filtration system, Isobars offer the highest levels of protection
• 2 Surge-protected AC outlets in direct plug-in format
• 10,000 Dollar Ultimate Lifetime Insurance and lifetime product warranty

https://www.amazon.ca/ULTRABLOK428-Protector-outlets-Direct-plug-Joules/dp/B00006B81D

We spend a lot of money on scales and equipment. In the world of amateur radio, filters and suppressors help our radios and accessories to last longer and work better. This also works for reloading gear.

I’m a curmudgeon - don’t fully trust them thar new fangled elektronik gadgets.😁
I have a compact Lyman digital that I use for weighing brass. According to my Lyman weight checks it’s fairly accurate although it tends to fluctuate by a few tenths at times. Not a big issue for weighing brass.
For serious work (weighing powder) I stick with my 50 yr. old Redding #2 balance beam. After all these years, it’s still absolutely bang-on.👍