Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Your Powder Scale

RCBS 5-0-5 enough said.

Dillon Eliminator.

Works great.

Had a Pact but it was very temp. sensitive and as my loading is from +100 to minus a bit I got tired of it and went back to the Ohaus and an RCBS measure w/micrometer. I do also use a Lil Dandy for my Hornet and 410 as well as a lee dipper set (w/the Ohaus) on occasion.-Muddy

That's all anyone really needs.

I use a 10-10 and a pair of 5-10's they work well, wouldn't mind trying out a Chargemaster!

Wow, a lot of you guys using the old school weights and measures! Can't argue with experience and success.

That said, I love my chargemaster for loading rifle cartridges. OTOH, I loaded 50 rounds of 223 last night using the chargemaster and it gets a bit tedious for that many rounds at one time. Should have just set up the powder measure...

Then again, each load is now weighed and COL measured individually which satisfies my OCD tendencies. Since There is just enough time to seat a bullet and measure the COL while my next powder charge is being dealt.....

You do have to be extra vigilant, IMO, when using the chargemaster because you are constantly switching from dumping powder to seating a bullet and just in time to dump another pan of powder. Got to make sure you don't miss a hull in the rack....

I'll also add that I have a $25 Franklin arsenal digital scale that I used to use a lot as well to speed things up. It always read .2 grains different that my lee beam scale, but it tracks right with my chargemaster every time. I highly recommend picking one of the cheap digital scales up just to keep your other scale honest and its great for sorting bullets and brass by weight...if your into that sort of thing..

I use the Chargemaster 1500 combo and really like it.

I have a RCBS 502 and like it very much, also have a Scheels 1500 Pro electronic scale, it works fine in the winter when the AC is turned off but in the summer it reads erratic when the AC comes on.

I would not use any scale that reads erratic at any time for gun powder.

As with loading for the .223 rem you know most powders used work great in the powder measure. Frankly, To use anything else for the 223, is just a waste of time: OCD or otherwise. As far as measuring each cartridge for COL, your wasting your time there too. Set your seater die and it's done: Pretty damn simple. However, checking run-out is something you may want to check periodically, but once you have your seater die set for minimal run-out you are good to go there as well. OCD is sometimes not a bad thing, but make sure your process is without fault, efficient and well executed. Loading 50 rounds of 223 rem takes me about 4 minutes, just to give you an example of the time it takes. No measuring OAL or any other bs either. Shoots consistently enough too:







Thanks for sharing your experience with the chargemaster though.

I agree with you on all accounts BSA, and you certainly cant argue with success.

I hear you on the concentricity. I've been watching for a deal on a gauge, but they aren't cheap for what they are. Guess I just need to take the plunge...

I like the Ohaus manufactured scales...

But over 50 years I've used and tested manual beam scales from every manufacturer, in every price range, in every locale and climate, and all of them proved to be as accurate as claimed.

The ones made in the 50's and 60's still work perfectly 100% of the time every time!

While they are handy for mailing and other tasks, I wouldn't use an electronic scale of any type commonly available to measure powder...I wouldn't own one.

Nearly every factor of internal ballistics can be seen as a function of volume, ie., chamber volume, case volume, bore volume, gas volume, etc.

Since powder measures measure in volume, a good argument can be made that loads that are consistent in volume will be consistent in energy content as well, as opposed to the variation of energy content of loads measured by weight.

Similarly, the bullet seater makes all rounds identical in length in terms of the bullet's ogive, which will vary from bullet to bullet, even with match bullets.

The ogive is what determines the amount of jump, which as everyone knows, is an important component to accuracy and velocity.

Measuring COL on a loaded round is only really a comparison of individual bullet length variations, if that, and is largely irrelevant... as long as the rounds fit in the magazine.

I have a 10-10 scale, but don't use it anymore. I switched to the Lyman digital and things go much faster now. If I didn't weigh each charge, I'd just use my old Lyman 55, which I still use for pistol.

Did you intentionally make both of these statements 2 hours and 2 minutes apart?

Did you fail chemistry?

That's why powder measures work.

Shot-to-shot variations in velocity and pressure occur with charges of identical weight, and contrary to what one might expect, I haven't seen a difference in shot-to-shot variations when comparing correctly thrown measured charges to weighed charges, but this is just a basic thread about scales.

to be honest I sorta like the Rockford arsenal reloading scale. That is the cheap electronic one that midway sells.

I've had a RCBS 5-10 since about 1975. Only one I've ever had. Only one I've ever needed. Works very well.