RCBS 5-0-5 Beam Scale Error

What is the error of this scale? I've been reloading for a while now and have not had any problems with my loads causing any problems, but I'd still like to know how accurate my scale is. I'm considering an upgrade to the RCBS ChargeMaster Combo, but am currently short on funds.

 

The error? If you use it properly, it should get you to within .1gr, just like any other reloading specific scale will (beam or digital).

 

As said...Margin of error is +/- 0.1 grain...My 5-0-5 and my RCBS electronic read the same...

 

I want a digital scale.

I'm not a patient man. My 10-10 scale may be accurate, but it drives me nucking futs.

 

I have a 1964 Lyman / Ohaus D5 / 505 ( same as RCBS 505 ) still within .1 of my digital... Good scale.

 

Never saw a lot of advantage to a digital scale. Accuracy of the beam and the digital scales are the same +/- .1 gr. Always felt that electronics are too unreliable. Have used my Ohaus 5-0-5 scale for 30 years. Gravity never runs out or shuts down.

 

+1.

Don

 

And beam scales don't go bonkers when you try to trickle a change.

 

As I've posted several times, for the life of me I can't understand the current fasination with digital scales. What "problems" do they solve? Like ATA, my Ohaus/Lyman scale goes back to the mid-60s and is as accurate today as it was then, some 40 years ago. No reason to think it won't still be just as good in another 40. Any fan of digitals want to say that?

I worked as an electronic instrument tech in the space program for years, not all on scales but a few. Digital scales can be made accurate and sensitive but they need constant checking and recalibration to remain so. Check your local grocer's scale for their recalibration periods. Good digitals cost several hundreds of dollars and have recalibration schedules every 4 to 6 months. That maintenance isn't available for the simple and cheap types sold to reloaders.

Digitals aren't for me, I'll keep my old beam scale, thanks. Okay, I admit having only tried one reloader digital so I'm no "expert" on them. But common sense does prevail!

The digital scale I tried had a half second or more lag in showing a change. That made trickling charges a chore, we would usually over trickle and have to remove a few kernels to get it right. We did learn to trickle very slowly as we approached weight but that seemed to defeat the scales claimed virtue of speed, right?

And that digital's "calibration" tended to vary during use. We frequently checked it's weights against a beam scale; you know, one of the "obselete" types we can depend on! And we found it did need to be re-zeroed twice in one loading session. That's just not good enough for me, I want to know my reloading scale is reading the same, all the time.

I don't understand why anyone has a problem with the swings of a magnetically damped beam scale. Mine and every one I've ever tried will stop within two or three swings, and it doesn't swing at all while trickling. Not saying the swings don't happen with some but it's not happening with mine.

Get a good beam type scale. Don't abuse it, keep the bearings clean and the pivots undamaged and it will work accurately long after you are dead and gone. That's not likely with ANY digital scale I know of.

 

While I don't have the qualifications of ranger335v, my experience pretty much mirrors his.

I chucked my first digital scale in the trash after a little over a year of use due to an unresolvable calibration issue. I later bought another of a different brand and still use it, but with some reservations.

For weighing objects of unknown weight, an electronic scale is wonderful. It makes sorting brass by weight or similar chores much faster and easier. It also works well for weighing as thrown powder charges from the powder measure but is subject to calibration and zero drift as mentioned above. I don't like it for trickling up due to the lag and what also seems to be a bit of stickiness. While trickling in the last tenth or so, it will often hang at the same weight while more powder is trickled then suddenly jump .2 or .3 to make the charge a bit heavy.

My 5-0-5 always works no matter what. Keep it clean, treat it nicely, and it will last a lifetime and never need batteries or an electrical outlet. I wouldn't want an electronic scale without also having a balance scale to back it up. A set of check weights is also a good idea.

 

I've been using a Lyman-Ohaus 1005 scale since 1966. Never had a problem of any kind.

A few years ago, I got a pact electronic for Xmas. good scale, if I calibrate it every time I use it, and let it "warm up" for a while before using.

The pact is now back in the cabinet, and the 40+ year old Lyman-Ohaus is back on the bench.

But no matter what you get, a good set of scale check weights is about the cheapest "peace of mind" that money can buy.

 

I used to work in an electronics manufacturing plant and we used lots of ohaus digital scales to take accurate weights of adhesives, parts, insulation, etc.

They worked OK in a factory setting because they underwent constant maintenence. The had to undergo frequent calibration and testing to ensure accuracy. For most home loaders it seems like a beam scale is a much better option being as they are basically maintenence free.

A digital requires special care and use to guarantee accuracy (periodic calibration must often be done by a professional). Like several others have stated, for half the cost you can get a top of the line beam scale that will work with equal accuracy and speed until gravity wears out. When that happens you can use the money you saved on the beam scale to some purchase some more gravity and keep reloading!!

 

All you guys that are speaking ill of digital electronic scales must still have real good eye sight...I know...Yer all under the age of 50. Right?

I have both the RCBS 5-0-5 and the RCBS digital. I use the digital for a couple of reasons...1. It's just a little faster (remember, I weight every charge). 2. It's easy to read (I'm 64 and I need reading glasses). 3. It's accurate and repeatable... The 5-0-5 is used to re-enforce my trust in the digital and is never far away. My digital has been in service for the last 12 years and has not done me wrong yet...Of course the 5-0-5 hasn't either.

 

One question I always wondered... Does the magnets used for dampening ever get weak or go bad in a beam scale? Where's Bill Nye the Science Guy when you need him...


UPDATE.. just got off the phone with RCBS, they said no, that they are good for a lifetime.

 

Who's lifetime...??

 

Here's a little project while we're on the subject:

I have been thinking of moving aboard a sail boat...prolly in the 35 foot range. I do not intend to give up reloading but the beam scales won't work even in a quiet harbor...not sure how to handle the problem

 

An electronic may be your answer, but mine has a problem when my wife walks down the hallway outside the reloading/gun room. I have found that it can tell me when we just had a tinny earthquake too.

 

Old eyes and beam scales!

Bushy, I'm 67 and see the world thru bifocals. Will soon need trifocals!

I wonder, if your beam scale is hard to see well, do you have it sitting on a shelf at eye level? That makes a world of difference to me.

Philip, I doubt a digital would work as well on a boat as it does in a home. A 30 + footer won't pitch much at anchor tho. If you place a balance scale so the beam is in line with the keel you should have no trouble except in a storm or underway and you aren't likely to be interested in loading then anyway!

 

ranger335v

Yup...I hear ya. I'm 64 and use 1.75 store bought magnifiers. My 5-0-5 is on a shelf with a cover over it. If I feel that I need to check the digital against the beam scale I just uncover it and there it is at eye level.

Phillip Allen
On a boat....Hummm...That does pose a bit of a problem. Why don't you find a friend that has one or the other and borrow it and try it. Let us know how it comes out. Promise?

 

Check weights.

With them, you can measure the resolution, accuracy, and repeatability of your scale. Without them, a scale is an expensive way to guess how much powder you're putting in the case.

 

Phillip Allen,

Have you considered the Lee Improved Powder Measure Kit?

Lee Improved Powder Measure Kit from MidwayUSA

It's probably not the most accurate, but would be least effected by the motion.

 

The biggest problen I see with electronic scales, or any electronic reloading equipnent, is that in a SHTF situation you may not be able to reload due to no batteries

 

Hence having a beam scale to back up the electronic, adg1953...

 

Phillip...

See, You have a prime opportunity here to take advantage of and don't even see it.... You can now tell the wife you need to buy a 50 foot boat because your scale won't work on the one you got...

 

The big digital advantage IMHO is for weighing a large quantity of items (like sorting cast or match grade bullets by weight) especially if the weight varied much. I have a 505, but I only use it for setting a powder measure then it goes back in the cabinet.