which one is the most accurate and consistent beam scale

[Ole Joe Clarke]

Well, RCBS came through again. A "tenths" sticky is on the way, along with re-calibration instructions. I may have to buy some other green stuff.

Have a blessed evening,

Leon

P.S. They are also sending me a dust cover at no charge.

[LeadHead72]

I've never used the RCBS 10-10, but if I needed another beam scale, that would be a contestant.

I own and use an old Redding oil damped beam scale and a Ohaus 3100 Dial-O-Grain. If you can find a Ohaus 3100 I highly recommend it. They haven't been made in decades and are harder to find than hen's teeth.

I know this is an old thread, but I recently picked up an Ohaus 3100 and was wondering if there is an instruction manual anywhere for cleaning/maintaining this scale? More specifically, the agates.

[Cole440]

I have heard nothing buy positive reviews on the rcbs or Ohaus 1010.

[1hole]

Im gathering items to reload 45 colt as well as 30-30.Ill be using a single stage press for rifle loads so I need a beam scale. I have a digital which will be for double checks.

I know of no one who keeps a digital to verify a balance scale but do know several who go the other way. A balance works off gravity; as long as it stays the same and the owner keeps the pivot bearings clean and doesn't physically damage it there will be no changes over time.

Id like advice on which beam scales to look at and which ones to stay away from. Also there are many vintage or used scales on ebay is that a good resource or no.???

Scales from any of our reloading tool brands are quite good and any one will do as well as any other. Powder scales made before about 1960 didn't have magnetic damping and I'd not want one one of them - they work good but slow, it takes awhile for the swinging to settle. And there is little practical benefit from a powder/bullet scale that weighs over 350-500 gr or has a fancy beam mechanism like the old (Ohaus made) "triple beam" that was sold by Lyman and RCBS in the 60s.

I dont mind spending more for one that will last 20 years. thanks

First, a balance lasting a mere 20 years is almost laffable; any of them can/should live much longer than that. I have three balance scales; Lyman (Ohaus), Herter's and Lee. My original Lyman M-5 was unboxed in '65 and it still reads exactly today as it did then - to the tenth of a grain. I later "inherited" a same age Herter's and it also reads the same as always. Both of those have weighed thousands of charges and many pounds of powder. I got my "new" little Lee Safety Scale in a yard sale box about 15 years ago; it's something of a pain to use much because it's small and very light but it's extremely sensitive and dead-on accurate.

The critical value a reloader needs from his scale is absolute repeatability. The specific weights can be off a half grain and not matter but repeatability HAS to be there, and still be there for years. I've never heard of any balance scale that wasn't physically damaged not being fully accurate and consistent at any age.

All that said, IF I wanted to buy a new powder scale today I'd look at Dillon for the features and mail order price -- that is, if Dillon still carries their old balance beam. Magnetic damped Redding's are very good too but stay away from their old oil damped scales.

Any used Ebay scale with Lyman/RCBS/Hornady/Ohaus names will be quite good -- IF they aren't damaged. Other brands are good too but I don't know if it's true across each brand's board.

[jmorris]

I know of no one who keeps a digital to verify a balance scale

You do now. . That’s how I know my auto trickling setups throw with a single kernel variation (.02 grains).

[1hole]

You do now. . That’s how I know my auto trickling setups throw with a single kernel variation (.02 grains).

I don't question that your scale shows numbers as small as .02 gr. but that's quite light and I doubt any consumer grade digital being accurate to that degree. That's in the sensitivity range of very costly scientific scales and even they need routine calibration checks by qualified technicians with something better than a common set of scale "check weights" and pliers.

Totally different question, you say your scale detects a single kernel. I wonder, a kernel of what? I mean, a single kernel of IMR 4831 is much heavier than a single kernel of H110 or Red Dot!

[jmorris]

Yep, those are not cheap scales, more than most would spend on a scale for reloading for sure but I was curious and don’t own any beam scales that have that kind of resolution or accuracy. Their settings are to the tenth.

IMR 3031 is one that is fairly consistent as far as one kernel weighing .02 grains.

It is also correct to assume a digital scale that costs a couple hundred dollars isn’t going to be a precise instrument.

[hpdrifter]

I have a RCBS 5-5 and 2 Lee scales. The Lee's are every bit as accurate as the RCBS. I also have check weights that I verify my scales with before use.

However, the Lee scales are not for throwing a charge and finding out what it weighs. They're made for setting the scale to the weight you want to dispense, throw a short main charge, and trickle into final weight. You will get very frustrated "searching" for the weight of a thrown charge; a lot, lot, easier on any other make.

[Iowa Fox]

My two favorites are my original Redding I purchased in 1965 and a very early RCBS 10-10. Along the way I picked up more Reddings another 10-10 and others including a Lee. I still reach for my original Redding first but I have my wife double check me as the chrome beam with red markings has gotten harder for me to see. A friend of mine 2 years older than me uses the same Redding scale. At a match away from home his first shot with brand new Lapua brass locked the bolt. After beating the bolt open he touched of the second round which blew the primer and separated the case. He was smart enough to call it quits after the second one. That night at the motel he pulled a few rounds with a whack um puller and discovered he was 5 grains over on every round. He got 1 notch off on the hard to see beam. He was out all night pulling bullets with that whack um. The next day they worked fine for him after taking 5 grains out. If my wife's not around to double check me with the Redding I use the 10-10.

The Lee? I'm actually surprised they continue to manufacture it.

[jsizemore]

I know this is an old thread, but I recently picked up an Ohaus 3100 and was wondering if there is an instruction manual anywhere for cleaning/maintaining this scale? More specifically, the agates.

Pressurized air and/or a solvent that doesn't leave a residue. I use denatured alcohol.

[6bg6ga]

I have two old RCBS scales and a Hornady Digital. I have made one of the RCBS scales into an auto trickler.

[lightman]

I still have and use the old Herters scale that my Grandfather bought way back when we first started loading. Its oil dampened but I use it without the oil. I mostly use a RCBS ChargeMaster now but the old Herters keeps it honest! I've not had the drifting problems with the ChargeMaster that many report. My first digital scale drifted badly and had to be rezeroed constantly.

If I were to buy another beam scale it would be a RCBS 304 or the Ohaus equivalent. 2nd up would be a 1010.

[gumbo333]

Leadhead72 this is several days after your request for agate cleaning info. Many of the older scales(60's, 70's, 80's era) I think were made by Ohaus using agate bearings. Several had nearly the same model number. If you could find a manual for Lyman D7 or corresponding other Co. model, there may be cleaning info, just don't remember what the manual had in it. I used denatured alcohol on a soft q-tip to clean the bearing and used a sharp pointed plastic dental pic to gently clean the V. Dry everything gently with a soft cotton cloth as the evaporating alcohol may leave a bit of film. Don't mess with the bearings, just gently clean them. I use Lyman check weights, the light weight set, as I mostly weight light powder charges. But have a few heavier checks too. I know most on castboolits weight their boolits, much heavier. I buy mine, they weigh what they weigh, I'm not sure it matters one bit for most shooters. Those agate bearings if maintained may last a few dozen lifetimes.

[LeadHead72]

Leadhead72 this is several days after your request for agate cleaning info. Many of the older scales(60's, 70's, 80's era) I think were made by Ohaus using agate bearings. Several had nearly the same model number. If you could find a manual for Lyman D7 or corresponding other Co. model, there may be cleaning info, just don't remember what the manual had in it. I used denatured alcohol on a soft q-tip to clean the bearing and used a sharp pointed plastic dental pic to gently clean the V. Dry everything gently with a soft cotton cloth as the evaporating alcohol may leave a bit of film. Don't mess with the bearings, just gently clean them. I use Lyman check weights, the light weight set, as I mostly weight light powder charges. But have a few heavier checks too. I know most on castboolits weight their boolits, much heavier. I buy mine, they weigh what they weigh, I'm not sure it matters one bit for most shooters. Those agate bearings if maintained may last a few dozen lifetimes.

Yes, I'm the proud owner of a couple of 10-10's a 10-5 and have owned other Ohaus scales with the standard agates. Those are easily cleaned/maintained with a Q-tip, but the Ohaus 3100 is a horse of another color as you can see from the picture below.
I'm currently at work and unable to take a picture of the pivot points (agates, I am assuming) but there is a "clockspring" mechanism that attaches to that area and I want to be very careful not to screw things up.

[fourarmed]

Since retiring, I have part of my reloading operation in one house and one in the other. I use a Pacific and an RCBS 5-10 in one place, and a 5-0-5 in the other. I decided to make calibration graphs for them. I used Ohaus check weights of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 5.0, 7.0, and 10.0 grams on all three balances. I assigned a sensitivity error of +/- 0.1 grain based on my experience trickling powder in them. Turned out all of them read right on or slightly higher than the actual weight at almost all values. They all were well outside the sensitivity error range at the 10 gram (154.35 grains) measurement, where they read from 155.0 to 155.2. At the lower measurements, the Pacific was the best, though not by a lot. The absolute errors on all of them tended to get bigger as the measurements got bigger.

[M-Tecs]

The most accurate is the Prometheus. http://prometheustoolcorp.com/

That being said all of the standard balance beam reloading scales provide more than enough accuracy for the average reloader.

[oldhenry]

I use a couple of Reddings with the brown crinkle finish...one of them came off of E-Bay, age unknown....the first one was bought new a long time ago. Both have always worked very well for me. I use a set of weighs to check them periodically and they remain spot on. I never used the oil dampener system, but am satisfied working without it. LLS

+1 on the brown crinkle finish Redding. I got mine in 1960 from a friend. Paid $20.00 for it & a Lyman #45 Lyman lube/sizer: I was making $45.00/wk. then. I got a digital (Pact) later & would use the Redding to make sure the Pact wasn't lying. I now use only that old brown crinkle finish Redding (w/o oil in the reservoir).