RCBS/Ohaus 304 and 314 scale?

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heviarti

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has anyone tried either of these? A friend of mine said that neither scale is suitable for reloading (?) as they are both primarily chemical scales. One of the 1958 issues of american rifleman had a writeup on the 314, and an advertisement for the 304. My buddy is borrowing my large tub of american rifleman right now, so i can't read the writeup. Anyone tried either of these? as Bob says, do they "suck"?

I nearly bought a real nice torsion balance on ebay, accurate to 1/32 of a grain. more than I need, but overkill is always good. (at least as far as equipment goes...) Right now I have this little Redding i bought for $10, but it's missing the little wire hanger for the pan. I can't load a darn thing until i get that scale up... since that Lee dip load chogged so hard.
 
Your friend is mistaken. Any tool sold by any reloading manufactor is surely suited for the task. The expensive double and triple beam scales are over kill for reloading but they sure are nice. And no one makes better scales than Ohaus.

Don't trust digitals, I avoid electronic scales like the plague. There is a reason electronic repairmen have good job security.
 
Don't trust digitals, I avoid electronic scales like the plague
Click to expand...

Yep, Keep going back to my old RCBS 505. Trashed my PACT, literally.

Anything by OHAUS has gotta be good.
 
anyway, noone had said anything about why anyone might think that the 304 or 314 "suck" or are "a pain in the ass to use" I find the things to be built in a pleasing manner, but if they are difficult to use or troublesome, i don't want one. anyone out there got one,or personal experience?
 
IF YOU ARE ASKING ABOUT OHAUS THE DIAL-A-GRAIN, THEY'RE EXCELLENT!!!

I have been using one since 1972. There is literally nothing out there to compare it to as it is in a class all to itself.
I have also had three electronic scales since '72 and they're all electrogizmo trash, but they do make excellent targets.
My backup scale in case the DIAL-A-GRAIN goes on the fritz is an all but new Ohaus 1010 scale.
 
If you are lucky enough to pick up one of those wonderful older Ohaus scales used at a reasonable price, jump on it quick before it vanishes.

Just my .02,

Dave
 
RCBS 304

This is the only scale I've ever used for reloading. I've tried other scales (not electronic), but nothing comes close for ease of use, especially when I'm weighing brass cases or bullets for consistent weights. I see them on eBay quite often, occasionally NIB. There are a couple there at the moment. I've never seen an article in Rifle or Handloader on the 304, but it was sold by RCBS as a reloading scale.

The accuracy is the same as the electronic scales, but you can still exhale and inhale while you weigh your powder on a 304...
 
The accuracy is the same as the electronic scales, but you can still exhale and inhale while you weigh your powder on a 304...
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Amen brother. I'm sticking with my RCBS 505
 
Ohaus 315

I just picked up an Ohaus 315 check it out. Great scale, works perfectly just missing the check weights and tweezers (that what the empty slots in the base were for).
 

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Hey Igsracer the wooden storage box is a work of art by itself! :) I have an Ohaus 311 Cent-O-Gram that I bought from a lab supply shop around '81. It's a triple beam laboratory balance. It wasn't specifically made for reloading, but it works great and is accurate. You can read/weigh hundredths of a gram directly and interpolate thousandths. I just weigh in grams and convert to grains. The Hornady manual says (15.4324 x grams) = grains. So my 3.6 grain RedDot 38 spl load should weigh between 0.230 and 0.235 grams.
 
I have an RCBS 304 and it is fantastic. The dial lets you fine tune each measurement without disturbing the rest of the scale. Typical balance beam scales require you to move and wait for everythign to settle down again to take your reading. These scales are really common in "grams" but much less common in "grains for reloading. Hence a metric version will sell for $35 on Ebay while a reloading model will go for more than $100+.

DONT GET CHEAP AND BUY A METRIC WITH PLANS TO DO THE MATHMATIC CONVERSIONS It would be a hassle and sooner or later you will make a minor math mistake and BLOW SOMETHING UP!
 
I have an RCBS 304 and it is fantastic. The dial lets you fine tune each measurement without disturbing the rest of the scale. Typical balance beam scales require you to move and wait for everythign to settle down again to take your reading. These scales are really common in "grams" but much less common in "grains for reloading. Hence a metric version will sell for $35 on Ebay while a reloading model will go for more than $100+.

DONT GET CHEAP AND BUY A METRIC WITH PLANS TO DO THE MATHMATIC CONVERSIONS It would be a hassle and sooner or later you will make a minor math mistake and BLOW SOMETHING UP!
Click to expand...

I`d like to add that both grams and grains are commonly abreviated as GR. If the scale you are looking at isn`t offered as a "reloading" scale be sure to double check the unit of wgt it is reading in.
 
304

I have used a RCBS 304 scale since the early 70's and reciently bought a new Ohaus "Dial-a-gram" since my 304 was dropped during moving from one place to another. Very disappointed that it came in grams not grains. I contacted them about a new 304 or if they would repair my bent 304 and was basically told they had quit servicing the 304 and currently do not make a scale that reads in grains.
 
Lucky Me !!!

after foolishly selling an old 304 i bought back in the '70's, i got lucky and found a used one for a price i shouldda had on a ski mask and carried a "throw down" to buy.

i can't imagine a better unit for reloading use. that had to be the design parameters when rcbs joined with ohaus to create this model. with old eyes, less than one tenth of a grain measurements are EASILY obtained on the grain dial. with close monitoring and old eyes, 1/4 increments of tenth of a grain measurements are there. this means .025 grain measurement.

yeah, WAY more precision than actually needed for most applications, and the down-side is.....?

this seems to me the #1 reloading scale, period.

ralfus----+1 from me

heviarti---- disagree completely with your friend. this model is set up for reloading ONLY use. unless you want to do conversion equations from grains to "_______".

BuddyOne----i also +1 your praise for this scale, but i can't agree ~completely~ as i have to breathe in another direction when using the 304 and/or set up a wind screen if the air conditioner is going. keep in mind that this is the case even with a magnetic beam dampening system. very sensitive scale.

assuming that DaveInFloweryBranchGA was talking about the 304 dial-a-grain:

"If you are lucky enough to pick up one of those wonderful older Ohaus scales used at a reasonable price, jump on it quick before it vanishes."

+1

gunnie
 
DONT GET CHEAP AND BUY A METRIC WITH PLANS TO DO THE MATHMATIC CONVERSIONS It would be a hassle and sooner or later you will make a minor math mistake and BLOW SOMETHING UP!
Click to expand...
A VERY BIG +1.

I have enough trouble keeping track of grains.

I shudder to think I had to convert everything to grains from gram scale readings!

Might as well get a very good jewlers scale and convert from Carats!

1224.jpg
rcmodel
 
I polightly disagree,

I have a rcbs 505 and an OHAUS dial-a-gram which I use for reloading. Since I recieved the d.o.g. I do not even use the 505 anymore. Use check weights obviously to verify your scale is accurate. I write the conversion formula in the front of my reload manuals for back-up. Then on the page in my reload book I just write down the conversion. Google grain to grams or gram to grains and the first thing that pops up is an "automatic conversion" table where you put in how many grains you want and it tells you the answer in grams. Or just use a calculator and double check it. Once I have the answer I write it down on my reload page and that is the last time I ever have to convert it. Also in the front of my reload manual I made a table showing the conversion from 10gr, 20gr, 30gr etc. , It took about five minutes using the computer. The main reason I use grams is because nice OHAUS grams scales can be found on ebay for under $30, while the same scale in grains is close to $200. Also I like the larger OHAUS scales because I dont feel like I am playing with something delicate and you can set them with a turn of the dial.
 
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