Lee Safety Scale

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I had one years ago that I returned. It wasn't very accurate for me. But, as I said, that was years ago and they may have made improvements since then.
 
They will work but I got something else.

You'll be glad you did too.
 
With mine it was inconsistency. Weighing the same charge several times would give different results. This and the fact that it took forever for the scale too settle so you could actually get a decent reading. I returned it and got an RCBS 1010 which I still use today after 20+ years. It has been very reliable.
 
i have a digital scale. small one but works good really good. i have little small cup. you put it on press tare then pour in the powder when you get your load you done. what helps me is i have a set of lee dippers. then i put tape on the lee dippers and wrote little marks to reference powder weights with different powders.

then

lets say im looking for 30 grains of win 748. i use a lee dipper 1.9. that will give me roughly 29. pour in a full scoop then i slowly add more with another dipper until i get 30grns. so the lee dippers just get me into the ball park then i add more to get the weight i want. way faster than using a safety scale. or a balance scale waiting for it to stop.
 
The Lee Safety Scale is one of the most accurate scales you can buy. It's capacity is only 100 grains and it's balance beam is the same length as most scales that will handle up to 500 grains; this alone makes it inherently more accurate. Maybe the older ones weren't damped well but the current versions are and will settle to equilibrium pretty fast.

I have checked mine repeatedly with Lyman test weights. Once the scale is leveled, as any beam scale must be, it is right on, time-after-time.

You can get one for $20-25 at many online shops. It's the best deal out there. I am at a loss to understand the problems people seem to have with it. I suspect part of the difficulty is the Vernier Scale for reading tenths of a grain. You can look it up on-line and learn how to read such a scale; or, just follow the instructions that come with it.
 
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Unusable junk, Mine would NEVER actually ZERO. The thing would continuously fluctuate even in a still room with the scale empty.

lets say im looking for 30 grains of win 748. i use a lee dipper 1.9. that will give me roughly 29. pour in a full scoop then i slowly add more with another dipper until i get 30grns. so the lee dippers just get me into the ball park then i add more to get the weight i want. way faster than using a safety scale. or a balance scale waiting for it to stop.
Click to expand...


I used to use your methiod, BUT If you really want to speed things up Get yourself a powered trickler and an RCBS uniflow or equivalent.

Then use the powder measure to dispense a slightly underweight charge and then use the trickler positioned over the scale to bring the final charge weight up. I can dispense to the point where it only dakes a dozen or so grains from the trickler to balance out the scale and because you start with the scales beam at rest you don't have any fluctuations to wait to dissipate

I haven't had my dipper set out of it's box since adopting this methiod.
 
For weighing every charge? No. It is time consuming to set the zero. And moving the bar must be done slowly and carefully, or it seems to upset the zero. Which can be hard to do with fat fingers. But for use with a turret or progressive press and an occasional weigh, it'll do.
 
I have got one and a Lyman 1200- I have checked the Lee scale with the Lyman and they are right on each time I have checked it. For cheap scales, mine are fairly accurate time and time again. I will use them until they eventually quit on me.:(
 
Wow! Pretty wide variety of opinions on this. I have a borrowed 1010 now and I like it but $125 is outta my range now. I do have the RCBS Uniflow but only started using it after borrowing the scales. I had been using Lee dippers and the only problem I found was that there was no way work with very small variations of a load. 1.5 to 2.0 grains was about the spread depending on the density of the powder.

I guess it's worth trying the Lee scale. Midsouth Shooters is right here on my door step so returning it isn't a huge deal. I have the luxury of the borrowed 1010 to verify the scales before sending Boge's scales back home.

I'll buy a trickler with the money I save.:)

Thanks for the input
 
I love Lee products, but that scale, no way. I had one that wouldn't measure accurately according to my Lyman test weights. I sent it back and they sent me another that was no better. I bought a quality beam scale from ebay at a reasonable price.
 
As you can see the Lee works fine for some and not at all for others. I got one with the Anniversary Kit and thought it was OK at first. It gave accurate measurements according to the electronic scale and my calibration weights. But I did find that it was difficult for ME to use. I had trouble seeing the adjustmens and found myself actually having to pick up the scale (or the beam) to adjust. I was clumsy with the little button on the beam to lock the slide in place. I looked at some RCBS and Hornady scales at Sportsmans Warehouse and quickly decided I liked that style much better so I found an Ohous/Lyman M5 on e-bay for about $30.00 plus shipping and I am very well pleased with it. Try to go somewhere and compare the scales if you can before you decide.
 
The Lee Safety Scale is very accurate. The drawback is that it's hard to read, primarily the 1/10 of a grain numbers. I checked mine back to back with a RCBS 505 and they were always within .10-.20 grain of each other. Usually they were dead on or only .10 grain apart.
 
It's good. Had mine +20 yrs.
Here's how accurate. You breath on it. It moves.
It works for some people. And not for others.
Some people can afford to blow up their guns, too.
 
Here's how accurate. You breath on it. It moves.
Click to expand...

That's nothing special any balance scale will do that, The problem with the Lee scale is even if you DON'T breathe on it it still moves.



Some people can afford to blow up their guns, too.
Click to expand...
The mind boggles? What exactly is this comment supposed to mean?
 
I happened to dig mine out of the closet last week. I have been working on balancing it out and I will use it to check my check weights and to verify my digital scale. Then back in the closet. Too slow and frustrating to use other then this one task.

I have been eyeing a 1010 scale though. Maybe my next Midway order I will just add one to the collection.
 
I was given one as a gift when I started reloading. It worked sometimes, but the beam wouldn't balance consistently on the razor thingy. It was usable, but barely. I bought an RCBS 505 and it's been great. Of course, the Lee is only about $20, while the RCBS was about $75.
 
Here we go comparing a Ford Freestar (at $18,000) to a loaded Toyota Cienna (at $35,000) again.

Only when you compare the Lee scale....it's a 3:1 or 4:1 price difference.

If you want to be safe, you need a scale (IMO).

If your on a budget and can't dump hundreds of dollars into your hobby, the Lee scale is accurate and safe.

If you're having trouble reading this text, the Lee scale is not for you.

For the price, I expected a little plastic p.o.c., I was pleasantly surprised at the quality, simplicity and accuracy.

As noted by others.....it aint no Cadillac.
 
I actually tested mine today against my RCBS digital. Both came up with the exact same value for the same charge. The digital did it in about 2 seconds while the lee took about 5 to come to a complete stop. This is just checking that the same 30 grns of 3031 charge was "spot on" before charging the case.

The difference is the digital I just glanced at and got the value the lee I had to make sure the balance was coming to a stop. Also I had to check the balls and vernier.


The digital is faster and easier to use. It also costs about 10 times as much as the lee.
 
I put the Lee Safety Scale to work a few days ago.working up 30-06 loads. Since I was loading only 5 of each test charge, I weighed each load, instead of setting the Uniflow powder measure.

It is a slow scale, and it can be tedious when used this way. Used for verifying every fifth or tenth charge, this wouldn't be a real problem. That said, for the money, I think it's a very useful tool and for those on a budget, one only needs a tad more patience than with any other scale.

It would have been much easier if I had had a $10 trickeler,..that's next. :)

I checked it against the RCBS 10/10 and it was fine. The .1 scale is a bit tricky to read until you get used to it. I just picked up the bar so I could see it well, and set it to the weight I wanted to throw. Works fine, just a bit slower than the RCBS to settle.
 
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