Beam scale comparison

[troyboy]

Further to the last post my Hornady/Pacific model M scale arrived today. You will notice immediately that it is longer and more robust then Lee or the D5 and has a 500gn capacity.



Also note the 3 poise on the beam and graduations for the pointer. Lee(graduations for the pointer)has none, the D5 are .2 grain and the Hornandy are .1 grain. The Lee and the D5 both use a 2 poise. The 3 poise of the Hornandy in my opinion is much easier to use and it is without a doubt much more positive,when the poise is set, then the D5. The Lee locks if desired but is difficult to adjust in comparison. Out of these 3 the Hornady is much easier to adjust and use. With that said, it is not as sensitive as the Lee or the D5. Both the Lee and D5 start to move the beam with 1 kernal of R15 it took 3-4 to move the Hornandy. All 3 of these scales are accurate to the advertised .1 or 1/10g. The reality is Lee's accuracy is .02 or 1/20g past the 3 grain mark. The Hornandy was accurate to .02 or 1/20g until the 7.6 grain range then it was only accurate to .1 or 1/10g the rest of the usable range. It read heavier then actual weight. The D5/Ohaus is the more accurate and sensitive of the 3 but the Hornandy is easier to use and built better with an engraved beam(sticker on D5 plastic for Lee)and brass(aluminium for the D5) the 3 poise. Both the D5 and Hornandy make good use of magnetic dampening slowing the beam well. The Lee is much more twitchy and the Hornandy the most stable. The one thing that was an annoyance on the Hornandy was the pan hanger. It is a wire frame that the pan sits on and is awkward when compared to the Lee or the D5. The hanger on the D5 is the best of these 3. The Herters 5 , Redding 1 and an early RCBS are enroute so the madness will continue.

[c1skout]

sounds like fun. I compared my old redding scale to my Lee a couple years ago. I mostly use the redding only when measuring stuff heavier than what the Lee can go.

[EDG]

If you use each of the scale several years you will appreciate the Hornady a lot more. I have used all of those scales including the earlier Bair version of the Hornady. If you are interesting in pure accuracy set your scale with the check weights. For the most part having an exact powder charge compared to the manuals is not so important as to have each load the same.
Examine a Hornady manual sometime. It is clear that they interpolate the loads mathematically to give you a fraction of a grain increment to get an even 100 fps increment.

[1066]

Yep, you've got the bug Troy, excellent work. I agree about the wire frame type pan holders as used on the Hornady "M" and some other older scales.
To make these scale a bit more user friendly a new pan hanger/platform can easily be made. The pan platform on the Redding No 2 is easy to copy and, as the tare weight is set by the adjustable nuts on the end of the beam, you don't need to worry about an RCBS type weight box on the pan hanger.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/465...c-powder-scale

If you're going to make a new panhanger you will need to re-tare the beam so you could also use one of the plastic pans that incorporate a funnel spout and do both together.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/755...der-funnel-pan

[Ole Joe Clarke]

I have one of those Hornady powder scales, except it says "Pacific." Bought it new a looooong time ago. Still use it.