Anyone used a Cheap electronic scale?

[spikehunter]

I was thinking about getting one of those cheap electronic scales, but I am somewhat skeptical. Are they as accurate as the RCBS and Lyman scales that are over 100 bucks? The ones I am looking at are around 30$. They are usually advertised as being portable

[Mike]

I got the inexpensive $25 hornady scale and ended up returning it the next day. It would vary in measurement from .1 to .3 grains. It seemed to jump all over the place. No amount of calibrating, leveling, and fiddling would get it to read consistently.

Budget about 100 for a decent scale minimum. The Hornady GS-350 is a nice one for not a whole lot of money.

Mike

[Westwindmike]

Be careful of your environment while using any electronic scale. Any air movement will cause the scale to fluctuate by several tenths. My nephew has one of the cheaper ones sold by Midway and it does a good job. The only bad thing is the auto shut off is set too short for him.

[E4 No More]

I got an inexpensive scale a Harbour Freight and dang near blew-up my handgun. I have no idea how this happened, but it switched from grains to grams on me. NOT GOOD! I upgraded to the new Hornady electronic scale/dispenser that has a cover to prevent air flow from messing with the reading.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

If going cheap for reloading, maybe at least buy from a reloading company rather than generic. I've used a small Lyman electronic for 10 years that at the time may have been closer to $100 than I recall, though scales with the identical external case are sold at places like Harbor Freight for $20 nowadays. The Chinese can manufacture to different quality points depending on price (just like any other nation) and just because the external case and features look the same, doesn't guarantee that the innards or QC is the same. Or maybe they are all the same and paying more money doesn't get anything better. Dunno.

One must be somewhat suspicious of measurements regardless of the price, and take care in measurements and calibration. Mine works best if I turn it on and let it "warm up" about 10 minutes before use. The shop has a concrete floor, and I started getting better results by setting a leveled concrete block on its end, on the floor by the loading bench. The scale sitting on the leveled concrete block on the concrete floor seems more repeatable than when it was sitting on the reloading bench and getting jostled every time I'd operate the press lever.

After warmup I calibrate the thing against a calibration weight right before weighing powder, and then hit zero and re-weigh the calibration weight a few times to make sure the scale is operating consistently. I just weigh to set the Dillon powder feed on the progressive press. And spot check the load occasionally.

There can be slight inconsistencies round-to-round in the powder charge, and slight weighing inconsistencies from the scale. So when setting or spot-checking the powder drop, I will drop 10 loads and weigh the total. Pull crank, dump powder from the cartridge to the scale, repeat 10 times. If I'm going for a load of 5.2 grains, then if I can't consistently get a 10-charge total weight real near 52 grains, I keep messing with it until I can. And I always stay a little below the published max load to allow for tolerances.

Even with a pretty expensive scale, you won't necessarily get the exact same measurement repeatedly weighing the same item. There is always some error slop.

Scales have specs for accuracy, resolution, repeatability. If a scale only has resolution of maybe 0.01 grams, with a repeatability of maybe +/- 1 or 2 Least Significant Digits, then it will at best repeatably tell you the correct weight within a couple of tenths of a grain.

Better would be a scale with 1 milligram resolution and not-awful repeatability. Used with care, such a scale ought to pretty reliably deliver the correct weight within a tenth of a grain.

Dunno if a mechanical scale is better really. There are a lot of fairly expensive 'scientific' triple-beam balances that are only accurate to 0.01 grams, so those might be no better than a middlin digital scale, slower to operate, and require as much or more skill to operate accurately.

I got interested in weighing stuff in addition to powder and bullets, such as precious metal coins or little devices I made, and bought a couple of 'middlin expensive' general-duty electronic scales and a set of calibration weights. The $80 one seems to work pretty good for the money, but the $200 one works better. I guess a $1000 one would work real dandy! If interested in weighing more than just powder and bullets, a pretty good set of calibration weights is very useful, to keep check on the accuracy, linearity, and repeatability of the scale.

[tnhawk]

I use a RCBS -good accuracy, repeatability

[Guest FroggyOne2]

I use a Acculab VIC-123 Price.. about 250.00.. that is the least expensive scale that I would reconmend for reloading.. It is a strain-gauge scale and weighs to .02 of a grain. As most scales at this price range and less will be very susceptable to static.. static is something one has to deal with.. clean your scale often with windex to help control the static.. do not use your scale near flourescent lighting, have a dedicated line for power. A scale should be on for at least 24 hours before loading, if you move it, even slightly, you must recalibrate it.. (in your best interest), watch for drifting.

[krunchnik]

I have a MTM Mini that goes up to 750 grains that was about $35.00,I also use a RCBS Rangemaster 750,I usually set the RCBS and then double check with the MTM,so far they have both worked quite well.Originally I crossed checked both of them against a Lee beam scale.Its a good idea to do that cross ckecking thing I guess.The only thing I dont like about the MTM is it also has the auto shut off set too short.My RCBS has a wall adapter so I plug it in,let it warm up and then zero it.This way a person can then just leave it turned on.I am reloading nothing but target rounds so my measurements are normally for Unique or Bullseye and on the light side say between 3 and 6 grains.Both scales measure this pretty accurately from what I can tell.

[SonnyCrockett]

Be careful of your environment while using any electronic scale. Any air movement will cause the scale to fluctuate by several tenths. My nephew has one of the cheaper ones sold by Midway and it does a good job. The only bad thing is the auto shut off is set too short for him.

I have that one......Works excellent but the auto shut off is a pain in the butt.....I have compared it to 2 others I own and it was

dead on.....

[gregintenn]

I bought one of the Frankford Arsenal ones from Midway. At the time, they were on sale fot less than $20. So far, I am amazed at the accuracy of it.

[spikehunter]

Froggyone you must be a scientist like myself. You are going through a lot of trouble for weighing. I have a regular beam scale that I could cross check with

[Guest Archminister01]

I use a Hornady electronic scale and have had good results. Cost was just under $100.

[Guest FroggyOne2]

Froggyone you must be a scientist like myself. You are going through a lot of trouble for weighing. I have a regular beam scale that I could cross check with

No.. I just do everything I can to keep vertical dispersion to a minimum. Which is very important when shooting at 600 to 1000 yards..