A Request: How Much Does A Dime Weigh?

[JohnH]

I've always been a bit concerned about the accuracy of scales. On thinking about it, I believe one way of checking it out is to ask others to weigh a few items we always have on hand. Obvioulsy my idea is to create a scale calibration weight. So I ask, what do these items weigh on your scale. It may be good to weigh several to see how much, if any they vary. Thanks for your help. JohnH

30 cal Hornady gas check

35 cal hornady gas check

A dime

[ph4570]

I use a Lyman weight check kit. It has a vaiety of metal weights. I recommend it, especially if you are using an electronic scale. I check my electronic scale on a regular basis and cross check with a RCBS beam scale.

[JSnover]

If you knew your scale was accurate at the time that you selected your weights, say, a gas check, a dime and a silver dollar (you need different weights to check for non-linear errors) it'd work but you'd have to put those items aside and use the same ones evey time. As currency values change, alloy composition of the coins changes.

[snaggdit]

Not to mention that as coins are handled they get thinner. Back in the day we used to use nickels to check out our "scales" IIRC, they were about 5 grams.

[Echo]

Hmmm... I believe the most important attribute of any scale is repeatability, moreso than accuracy. If a scale is consistantly 1% off, but is consistant in that error, it has more utility than a scale that is inconsistantly accurate, that is, one time 1% high, the next time 1% low, the average of which is dead-on accuracy, but variable.
Therefore, I don't own any check weights...
And remember - whatever it is, it is. We introduce error when we measure...
Sorry to sound pedantic. I taught stat for many years...

[mpmarty]

I've always used 52gr hpbt match sierras as check weights. Weigh one, then two etc. This way you can check scale accuracy at 52, 104, 156, 208grs. I've always found these bullets to be quite accurate in weight.

[RayinNH]

John, let me answer the question you asked. I don't have Hornady checks so I used the dimes. After going through my meager supply, I chose newer so they would have less wear and from the same mint hoping the dies and presses might be the same. After eliminating dimes that didn't fit those criteria I ended up with only two from three different years.

Philadelphia Mint:
2005 33.0 grs.---34.0 grs.
2006 32.0 grs.---33.0 grs.
2007 32.0 grs.---32.0 grs.

You can see they were devaluating our currency then by including less metal
These were weighed on a Redding beam powder and bullet scale (the ones with the brown crinkle finish).

...Ray

[southpaw]

I am with mpmarty on this one. select a few different bullets/boolits that you have and check your scale for repeatability and accuracy.

Jerry Jr.

[fredj338]

I am with mpmarty on this one. select a few different bullets/boolits that you have and check your scale for repeatability and accuracy.

Jerry Jr.

THis doesn't work either, neither does a dime. Even match bullets can vary as much as 0.2gr. A dime will depend on when it was made, as mat'ls. vary slightly from mint year to mint year, & whetther it is new or not. I use check wts. but anything will do as long as it is first verified on a known scale.

[RayinNH]

A check weight is obviously the best way to test accuracy. However if several people weighed the same bullet you could come to a pretty good consensus, unless they were all different . The thing a dime or whatever would tell you is if your scale has differed from week to week or year to year, especially with an electronic scale. Your local pharmacy would probably verify an item for you to use as a check weight or even your check weight to see if it is accurate ...Ray

[SciFiJim]

Hmm. I never thought to weigh money.

1964 silver dime 38.6gr (I found this one yesterday in some change I received)
2007 dime 35.0gr
2005 quarter 88.3gr


Weighed on a RCBS 505 scale

[mdi]

I asked the same q. last year and got the same number of "nay-sayers" telling me how it wouldn't work. Some info I found from Nov. 2008;
New dime = 35.0005 grains
New quarter = 87.5013 grains
New half dollar = 175.002 grains.
This info came from US Treasury Dept and used a gram to grain calculator. New coins, no wear. I tried it and compared weights with 2 scales (a Lee Safety Scale and a Lyman/Ohaus D-5. Both scales were as close to the same weights as I can possibly determine). I'm satisfied with the results of my trials!

BTW; there are some things a guy just wants to know 'cause he just wants to know...

[lylejb]

on an RCBS 10-10 scale,
84D 35.1gr
87p 35.4 gr

both have slight wear, but not bad.

to Ray: 57 - 59 gr?? are you sure about that? that seems high for 1 dime and too low for 2.

[HangFireW8]

It's like the old saying. "A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two is unsure."

I was absolutely confident in my first scale, a Hornady, for years of shotshell reloading. Then I got into metallic and bought an RCBS Master reloading kit, and my two scales disagreed by a tenth over 100 grains and another tenth for each 100 grains after that. It really bothered me.

Did it matter? No. I don't load any powder charges that big (no 460Wby or 505 Gibbs in my inventory), most shotshell loads don't go over 24 grains. Each scale was sensitive to a 1/10 grain at any point in their scale. So, I could still segregate cases and bullets and still had the sensitivity to identify a double charge on a loaded cartridge (not that that ever happened ).

Eventually I had four scales, a 1000 grainer for larger jobs, and an ancient Redding that came with a larger auction lot. At that point I had four scales that did not agree. So, I bought an RCBS weight kit from a retailer, as nothing from an auction house is traceable or trustworthy. I sent the Hornady back, adjusted the ancient Redding myself, and the other two were close enough that it wasn't worth messing with.

Now I have the experience to know that I can work up to a maximum charge, back off if necessary, re-examine if primer, recoil or velocity is out of whack, and I can pretty much look at a load, in a load book, internet posting or full shell case, and say "that looks wrong". The fact that I now load for accuracy instead of velocity accounts for a lot.

So, I would agree with the thought that repeatable is most important. I would add sensitive, though for a scale to be repeatable, it must be at least as sensitive as its graduations, or a bit more.

-HF

[zxcvbob]

I use a dime that I wrote "35" on with a Sharpie to check my scales occasionally. I always use the same dime.

[imashooter2]

I once passed a nice shiny dime around to all my friends to weigh on their scales. Here are the results:

34.4 Dillon elec
34.5 Lyman beam
34.5 Redding beam
34.5 PACT elec
34.6 Dillon beam
34.7 RCBS beam

As you can see, even the same dime doesn't always weigh the same.

[LAH]

I once passed a nice shiny dime around to all my friends to weigh on their scales. Here are the results:

34.4 Dillon elec
34.5 Lyman beam
34.5 Redding beam
34.5 PACT elec
34.6 Dillon beam
34.7 RCBS beam

As you can see, even the same dime doesn't always weigh the same.

Good one shooter.

[JohnH]

I once passed a nice shiny dime around to all my friends to weigh on their scales. Here are the results:

34.4 Dillon elec
34.5 Lyman beam
34.5 Redding beam
34.5 PACT elec
34.6 Dillon beam
34.7 RCBS beam

As you can see, even the same dime doesn't always weigh the same.

Yes, but the difference between the measurements is only .3 grains. So the percentange of error lies between .3/34.4 and .3/34.7 or .0087209 - .0086455 or 8 tenths of 1 percent. Most scales are only accurate to 1/10 of a grain. We are now talking about an error of 8 tenths of a percent of the usual accuracy guarantee. That is negligable. Even with a charge of only 5 grains we are talking an error that is within the +/- 1/10 accuracy. So I am satisfied with the weight of a dime. In the meantime I'll use some bullets. Thanks for the replies, JohnH

[imashooter2]

Yes, but the difference between the measurements is only .3 grains. So the percentange of error lies between .3/34.4 and .3/34.7 or .0087209 - .0086455 or 8 tenths of 1 percent. Most scales are only accurate to 1/10 of a grain. We are now talking about an error of 8 tenths of a percent of the usual accuracy guarantee. That is negligable. Even with a charge of only 5 grains we are talking an error that is within the +/- 1/10 accuracy. So I am satisfied with the weight of a dime. In the meantime I'll use some bullets. Thanks for the replies, JohnH

Your premise is flawed. To state that the difference between scales is .8 percent, you would have to weigh a range of standards to determine a constant error. This data only shows an absolute range at a specific weight. The same 3 tenths range could exist at 1 grain actual weight or at 100 grains actual weight. I will also note that in this thread we have reported dime weights between 32 and 35.4 grains.

Anyway, the point is, you can't ask folks on the net what a dime weighs on their scales and expect any reliable correlation to what a different dime will weigh on yours.

[fredj338]

Geeze, pop for a $15 check wt. set & be done with it.