Powder scale recommendations please.

Targa said:

This one has worked very well for me.

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I bought that one as well...it's ok. It would often drift on me...but it was notable when it would do so. There's really no letting it "warm up" as it has an idle-off feature that you cannot disable. Unless you feel like standing there and randomly moving a weight on/off the thing to keep it awake.

I landed up getting a Dillon Digital Terminator and it is much better. Faster, drifts less, when plugged in it will just stay on. I keep it honest with a Lyman bar scale.

I've read about digital scales until my eyes bled and came to the conclusion that most that are less than $400+ will drift, or act up on occasion. It just takes paying attention to the thing and noting charges. Again, having a bar scale there to keep it honest is key.

I don't like spending a lot of money on digital scales. The last one I bought was a Hornady G3-1500. At the time it cost me $29.95 but today they are going for $62.99. Midway USA has it on sale for $51.24. I'm still using it and I double check it's accuracy with a Ohaus 10-10 or a RCBS 505 beam scale.

I really like the Hornady G3-1500 digital scale. It's simple to use, accurate and it's reliable. I'm glad I don't have to pay current prices on any scale, I'm cheap umm, I mean frugal lol.

alanwk said:

. . . digital scale. . . NOT break the bank.

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Pick new life goals.

Until you're ready to spend at least $200+, or live with the unreliability of cheap electronics, a magnetic-damped balance beam is the way. I'm partial to post-War Redding scales.

Note that "post-War" part. The one on my bench is older than I am, and easily trickles to a tenth.

I use a FA Intellidropper , also use a stand alone FA Platinum series Digital scale . Both work just fine .

I've been using Hornady's "bench scale" for over 12 years now. I has done a really good job. I also have the National Metalic scale that Midway sells and I
cannot recommend it . It will throw a fit and start weighing everything a few grains off. I caught it doing this when I was setting up my Hornady powder measure with the mic on the powder adjustment. It said I was weighing 7 gr and I knew I was weighing 4gr. It's done this twice now.
The Hornady has never given me a problem except for when it's warming up.
My Hornady Auto Charge also has been good to me. It's 10 years old and still working good.
I keep my loading room/laundry room about 70 degrees so I give the scales lots of time to warm up.

edwardware said:

Pick new life goals.

Until you're ready to spend at least $200+, or live with the unreliability of cheap electronics, a magnetic-damped balance beam is the way. I'm partial to post-War Redding scales.

Note that "post-War" part. The one on my bench is older than I am, and easily trickles to a tenth.

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DIGITAL....The OP's subject ! Pick new life goals , don't be so opinionated !

Typetwelve said:

I've read about digital scales until my eyes bled and came to the conclusion that most that are less than $400+ will drift, or act up on occasion. It just takes paying attention to the thing and noting charges. Again, having a bar scale there to keep it honest is key.

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Even on this forum, this question pops up about every 3 months. Looks like you’re north of 600$ for a decent digital, but I’ve found the cheaper ones can be useful if you pay attention. The balance beam can be used but it’d be better to have a set of check weights in the range of weights you’re interested in to be sure.
I also prime an empty case and weigh it and use a sharpie to mark that weight. It then becomes another check weight when I want to tare it and check powder throws. Good luck.

If you are reloading for precision, I'd take more looks at balance beams. I tried the digital scales about 12 years ago and they just were not accurate and very frustrating. I sent them back and got a RCBS 10-10 and I still love it. I don't see how a digital is really any faster. Maybe the newer digital ones are better than back then, but, as an electrical engineer, the analog scales are always going to be more reliable and consistent.

I won't use an electronic scale. I wish you well finding one.

You can spend everywhere from $25 to over $1000.
What's your comkfort level.

If you go cheap, is it gonna keep you awake at night?
I have several, a Lyman/Ohaus (I think it's a 505)
Plus a National Metallic Digital Powder Scale ($50 from Midway USA)

Had a Pact II but it died.

If you reload in the garage, you will discover electronic scales drift in the winter. I recommend a balance beam as a back up.

I have a Hornady gs1500 and an rcbs range master 750. I would not buy the range master again as the zero is not stable which can be a pain. The Hornady is ok for portable range work but it powers down rather quickly. It’s nice to have a place to store the pan and check weight with the Hornady and it packs well. I also actually did use the 1500 capacity for something that maxed out the 750, forget what it was though…

I know you asked about a digital scale but.....
I have tried several different digital reloading scales in the past. I started out with a Ohaus 10-10 beam type and currently use that almost exclusively. The last digital that I did not give away is relegated to measuring bullet weights to sort them. It was not sensitive enough to changes when using a trickler for my taste.

The RCBS Range Master 750 has been working great for me for years. I highly recommend it!

For those who have digital scales that drift using a wall wart, try a different power pack. I bought a GemPro 500 at a gun show (years ago) for $15 knowing it was probably bad and will not hold zero. When I got it home it drifted all over the place. I then plugged it into the power supply for my GP250 and did not drift at all. So I got a very nice scale on the cheap. If you have one that uses 12vdc, try using a battery to run the scale and see if it stabilizes.

alanwk said:

I am looking to buy a digital scale and would appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Lets NOT break the bank.

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I use Ohaus 10-10 and RCBS 5-0-5 beam scales but use FA DS-750 digital scale at the bench for quicker powder charge verification and bullet weight sorting.

If you do not want to spend much money, you can consider these.

Using Ohaus ASTM Class 6 check weights, beam scales are verified accurate to 0.1 gr which I consider "good enough" for reloading.

FA DS-750 is verified accurate to 0.1 gr but will drift +/- 0.1 gr but it has been proven durable for years and I keep it at the bench for quick general purpose weight check. The back lit display with large LCD numbers are easy for my eyes, if you have vision issues.

WAOAW (There are many copies being sold) is verified accurate to 0.1 gr and sensitive down to 0.08 gr check weights. It does not drift as much as FA DS-750 but has smaller LCD numbers that are harder to see. If you have no vision issues, I would actually suggest this scale over the FA DS-750 for everyday bench use.

Gemini-20 is verified consistently accurate to 0.1 gr and sensitive down to 0.06 gr check weights. It rarely drifts and I keep it away from the bench and use it only when I need more precise weight measurements. Gemini-20 is a great digital scale that is more accurate than 10-10/5-0-5. This is GEM20 and has larger platform more compatible with powder pan but I have not used it - https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Weigh-...85587&pd_rd_wg=fb4rj&pd_rd_i=B00ESHDGOI&psc=1

I considered buying a GemPro 250 based on positive member reviews but it was discontinued (Note highlighted comment in yellow - https://balance.balances.com/scales/9

If you need to resolve Varget down to 1 granule (Yes, not all Varget granules are cut same and will vary slightly in weight), you will need to spend more money for something like A&D FX-120i but after contemplating buying Ohaus SPX123, I took a chance on an analytical scale that will resolve single granule of Varget after 4th granule - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...lab-scale-for-120.873830/page-2#post-11627511

Slamfire said:

If you reload in the garage, you will discover electronic scales drift in the winter. I recommend a balance beam as a back up.

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This is what I use.

frogfurr said:

This is what I use.

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I frequently get confused about the graduations on the left scale, as they are in five grain increments! However, once set up, and independently verified, that Redding scale is very consistent, and my go to scale, in a cold garage.