Recommend a mechanical scale....

[JCM]

I'm new to reloading and I'd like to get a better scale.  I've got the Lee kit and I have a little trouble with reading the scale with it.

I'm not going to load huge amounts of ammo.  What I load will be used  for hunting.  I care about the accuracy of the scale, and how easy it is to use/read.  I want solid reliability and I want the charge to read the same when I put the pan back on the scale after weighing it the first time.  I've noticed with the Lee scale, that the angle the pan hangs at will affect how the charge weights.  I'd rather not have to worry about any of the temp/wind factors on electronics and I won't be loading enough to make them worth while.

Please recommend what you consider the best/easiest to use scale.  Most mech scales are in a price range that I'm willing to spend on a scale > $125.  

Thanks,

JCM

[jhm]

RCBS 10-10

[ricciardelli]

Ther RCBS 10-10 is a fine scale...I have one.  I also have an RCBS 5-0-5 sitting right next to it.  Both are excellent, so save a couple of $$$ and go the 5-0-5.

[longwinters]

Since you are saying "mechanical" and not digital I too would go with one of the formentioned RCBS scales.  I load probably 50 cartridges a month and my RCBS works just great. . . even when I am ckng every load.

Long

[lisa1lacy2]

I have a RCBS 5-0-5 and it is a good scale and very acc and I have a digatel pact scale and it to is good both read the same I check them often but if I would have to pick one over the other it would be the pact just because the set up is easer

[victorcharlie]

Count my vote for the RCBS 10-10......

[ought6]

I've used a Lyman 500 gr capacity scale for many, many, many years and no problem.  I'm also sure the RCBS 10-10 is equally reliable.  (By the way, even after so many (did I say MANY?) years of using the Lyman, it is still very accurate.)  

[MickinColo]

I own a 505, I bought it years ago back when a 10-10 cost $39 and I thought that was too much money at the time. A quality scale well last a life time if you take care of it. Redding, Lyman, RCBS, and a few others all make quality scales. The 10-10 is the top of the line, nice to have but not necessary.

If something would happen to my 505 scale to render it useless,,,, now that the kids are gone, the house is paid for, the cars are paid for, and the dog passed on, I’d buy a 10-10 without hesitation.

[TennesseeNuc]

RCBS 10-10.  Buy it once and use it a lifetime. :grin:  :grin:

[Paul5388]

My 505 is an Ohaus, 1973 model, I bought new.  I recently bought a 1 gram M2 calibration weight to check it and a Dillon D Terminator with.  The 505 is right on and the Dillon is off .1 gr.

The morale of the story is a quality beam balance will last a long time and stay accurate.  

The RCBS 505 is the same scale as my Ohaus, just a different color.

[Winter Hawk]

Mine is a Lyman-Ohaus I bought on e-bay a while back.  Then I sold the 5-0-5 I was using.  Not that there was anything wrong with the RCBS, but the Lyman has a cover and place for the beam and pans, so it becomes one tidy little package when I'm not using it.  If I have any concerns I can send it in to Lyman for overhaul and recalibration.

-WH-

[victorcharlie]

The RCBS 10-10 also comes self contained with all the pieces and parts fitting in the container.......

[Paul5388]

As an update, I used a complete set of M2 calibration weights last night to check the 505 and the Dillon.  The 505 is right on at 1 gram (15.43 gr), 2 gram (30.86 gr), 5 gram (77.15 gr) and it was .1 gr off at 10 grams (154.3 gr)  I could have gone with smaller weights, but I'm pretty well satisified with its accuracy.  

The Dillon is another story all together.  It started at .1 grain low and progressed to .7 grams low at 10 grams.  That's a 7% error on the upper end and is far more than +/- .1 grain!

[Ron T.]

I bought my first powder scale, an Ohaus 505, in the early 1960’s… and used it to load literally 10’s of thousands of rounds for the next almost 40 years.

I finally wore out the nylon inserts on which the balance arm blades rest (they got grooves in them) and so, I called Ohaus to buy some more nylon inserts.  The person I talked to at Ohaus said they wouldn’t sell the inserts and would not repair my scale since Ohaus had discontinued retailing their scales and made them exclusively for RCBS.

This person then said that they’d sell me the top of the line RCBS 1010 mechanical scale which was only used as a “display model” and was on display at a major gun show, but never actually used to weigh powder at a very low price.

I ok’d the deal and the “demo model” RCBS 1010 mechanical scale arrived at my home about 3 days later.  I have used the 1010 a considerable amount and have only one negative observation to make about it.

To set the 10ths of a grain of powder on the Model 1010, you must rotate a cylinder which is engraved with the 10ths of a grain and is, to me, fairly difficult to read… the “0” looks a great deal like the “8”, etc. because the numbers are very shallowly engraved on the cylinder.

To set the 10ths of a grain of powder on the RCBS (“Ohaus”) 505, you need only move the 10ths of a grain “blade” on the scale to the appropriate position in exactly the same manner in which you move/position the blade which is set for the scale’s major graduations.  The settings are, in my opinion, more easily read and are almost impossible to mis-read which is NOT the case with the RCBS 1010 powder scale.

If I had my “druthers”… I’d DRUTHER have the RCBS 505 than the more expensive RCBS 1010 powder scale… even if they were both the SAME price (which they’re NOT).

Jus’ my 2¢… other’s opinions may differ…


Strength & Honor…

Ron T.

[Paul5388]

Ron,

I believe the 502 used the same system you described for the 10-10.  I wasn't impressed with it either.

[Duffy]

Ohaus makes both the Lyman and RCBS scales. I have an old Lyman that is very similar to the 1010 RCBS. The only difference is the Lyman has the blade on the tenths and the RCBS has the rotating drum.  I bought the RCBS new in 78 and the Lyman I bought at from an estate and I belive it was new in the later 50's-60's. Both still work flawlessly. Just keep the gimbles (pivot bearings) clean, don't bang it around and it'll last longer than you!