Cheap electronic scale

[charles p]

Bought an electronic scale on eBay a year ago.  Not intended for weighing powder.  Figured I could use it to calibrate or verify weights on my beam scale.  Accuracy was .01 ounces.  Also reads in grains and grams.  Guess what, .01 ounce is not so accurate when converted to grains.  A scale that measures to 1/10th grain gives a finer weight measurement.

[necchi]

Your right, one one/hundredth of an once = 4.375grns
 That's alot when a person wants one tenth of a grain +/-

[sr sawyer]

Cheap and scale could be a dangerous combo in the reloading room
 
Ken

[cwlongshot]

I just want to interject a observation here.... I realize $$ are tight and every where we can save a bit helps. But..... Is something as cryptically and weighing powder charges some where you really way to utalize the cheap scale??

NOT me!!!

Buy a quality scale and powder measure, skimp somewhere else. 

Just throwing that out there....

CW

[rdlange]

So what's "cheap" here for an elec. scale?  $75... $200.?  Since I know nothing about them...
 
My RCBS 505 was $40 used and I considered that cheap. 
 
How much more for elec. is reasonable?  Just asking.

[Land_Owner]

Your range of units costs is about right for an electronic scale...

Googled this morning:

RCBS Rangemaster 750 @ $102
Lyman 1000 XP @ $99
Hornady 1500 Bench Scale $77

No endorsement of any of these as I have a Pact.

The biggest electronic scale benefit is the immediate readout and the savings of time in the reloading process.  GB and others have penned it right...

a scale is not all about how perfectly accurate it is, but how consistently it throws the charge or reads the same weight.

Repeatability is the key.

Consider the rifle reloader that weighs every brass case wherein weight is a means to verify internal case volume.  Just one more little tiny step on the road to repeatability in the Quest for Accuracy.  This effort can and is routinely performed on many balance beam scales.  I have done it for thousands upon thousands of cases on an RCBS 5 0 5 balance beam scale over years of reloading. 

Following my purchase of the Pact electronic scale, I found case weight measurements to be practically instantaneous, reproducible, a significant time saver, and I won't be going back to the 5 0 5 for this task.

I have weighed the same case and 2 independent check weight sets on the balance beam and the electronic scale finding 0.10 grain of difference.  Each instrument is advertised to be within +/- 0.10 grains of true.  Did that difference bother me?  At first, YES.  Yes it did.  I was initially concerned.  Then I relaxed, reduced my pucker factor, and reread what GB and others had penned...consistency is the key. 

Now, instead of reporting that my favorite 5 0 5 charge weight for "X" caliber is "Y" grains of Belch-fire powder, I report the charge weight measured by the Pact as "Z" grains.  I still achieve the same repeatable accuracy through my rifle, which is greater than I, the Weakest Link, can hold, but I achieve repeatably weighed rounds in a significantly shorter period of time at the bench allowing me more time at the range or in the field. 

This contributes one of the factors to the Internet being a poor place for "trusted" information in starting loads as your face is within 4-inches of a 35,000 to 60,000 psi "bomb".  Consider that and be Cautious.

[beerbelly]

Do you use the powder dispenser and  Pact electronic scale combo or just the scale. I was looking at their add and if the combo performs as they say I think i will give it a try.

[Land_Owner]

beer,

If you are seriously interested in the combo, and can get the companion Pact electronic scale with infrared data port somewhere else, contact me by PM and I will try to make you a deal on my Pact Electronic Powder Dispenser.  [GB, et al:  If this is fodder for the Classified Ads, then please relocate to that Forum].

I bought the Pact combo on 12/13/2006 and together they work AS ADVERTISED.
I trust the Pact combo to weigh consistently too.

The dispenser was purchased new, but has remained in its original box, and is practically unused since early 2007.  I used the Powder Dispenser and its transformer no more than 5 total days since its purchase. 

I would not think to break the combo up or sell the dispenser by itself except for the fact that I can throw TWO hand charges with the RCBS 5 0 5 scale in the time the combo throws one.

I have used the electronic scale since the day I took it out of the box, and it has remained constantly plugged in for the last two years.  So offering to sell the combo, after the fashion in which I have (or have not) used it, might be cause for pause - but I put that deal sweetener on the table for your consideration.

The current Pact advertising, I don't know when it "changed", seems to indicate they made progress in dispensing to "1/2 the time of 'older' Pact models".  If it can be determined that I have an "older" model, then perhaps you should seriously think about the newer model combo.  Maybe the "slowness" is in the data port or the load cell of the electronic scale.

If I find, through this or other thread, that my Pact combo is an "older" model, which could be "upgraded" to twice its current speed, I might consider that route and resurrect it for use alongside my 5 0 5 scale.  Increasing powder charging throughput from 2X to 4X is a real consideration...

[LATE NOTE:  I called PACT today 2/7.  To check if it is an "older model" one has to determine the color of the bushings that hold the ends of the powder tubes in the bowl of the measure.  When I get to the house this afternoon, I will unbox the unit, check the color, and call Texas again for instructions.  Older units can be upgraded!]

[LATE-LATER NOTE:  The Mfg. says my red (front) and black (rear) bushings are the NEW MODEL.  Dang it!  No upgrade for me.]