BigDanS
02-07-2015, 09:31 AM
I first started reloading as a kid at 16 years old, loading .38's and 12 gauge shells for trap shooting and put it down for 35 years. Two years ago I started reloading for rifles and have been making due with an old Lyman 55 powder measure and a 505 scale.
I finally treated myself to one of these:
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a561/Daniel_Scipione/AE7EFD66-0B8E-4587-9D72-DC9F8BD65911_zpswuivygze.jpg
$180 delivered, about $100 less expensive than the RCBS.
It came somewhat un assembled. You have to put the reservoir on it then it becomes somewhat permanently attached.
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a561/Daniel_Scipione/25AC352E-29DE-4565-B707-DCBD080163FD_zpstx7ve5gx.jpg
It has a 50 gram calibration weight, plus a tube restrictor for smaller powder and a small brush and some basic maintenance seals.
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/includes/img/lyman/scales-measures/7750550_LG.jpg
It needs to warm up for three minutes prior to use, and should be calibrated every time, which makes warm up and ready to use time less than 5 minutes.
I could not get mine to calibrate, so I called Lyman, and they walked me through pushing the scale base from left to right, which can happen in shipping. It was a pain and took me about two hours to play with it, determine it wasn't working and call Lyman. Lyman's customer service did not take the call at first, and had to call me back. So we got it to calibrate and I had to put it away because I was out of time for the day.
It has a really nice slim profile and can be easily stored on a shelf.
I decided to use it today for the first time. It went through it's 3 minute warm up cycle and calibrated just fine. I decided to use X-Term today and load some test .35 Remington rounds from 34 gr to 37 gr by .5 increments. I poured in the powder and it started coming out of the side. There is a gate that must be closed prior to use and It took me a few minutes to clean up and close it. X-Term is a small ball powder and it meters well but can get everywhere.
The instructions say with a small powder like this to use the restrictor in the tube. It easily went in and in just one powder throw it was right on the mark at 34 gr. However, with a small ball powder like X-Term it "bounces" when it hits the pan, so it can be a little messy and it might bug you if you are a neat freak like me. A few grains here and there can build up during a loading session. I suggest keeping it in something like a dinner tray when loading if you want to keep your bench powder free. The small brush supplied with the unit is supposed to be used to clean off any extra powder. I use compressed air.
The touch screen works really well. To set a load you type in the weight and press enter and it will discharge it fairly quickly. If you select the repeat function it drops the charge and then waits for you to put the pan back and drops another, and tells you how many times it has repeated. This is handy if you are keeping track of how many of a certain load you are making. I dropped five at 34 grains, then set it to 34.5 gr and hit repeat. It dropped each charge right on the limit each time. I made seven different charges, a total of 35 drops and it was off by 0.1 gr one time, so the powder went back into the hopper. I finished my powder charges at 37 gr.
Clean up was simple but not real fast. On the left side of the scale there is a chute that folds out, and then a gate that is opened by sliding it up with your finger. This opens the powder reservoir and allows it to empty back into your container placed under the chute. The reservoir can easily hold a full pound of powder and can take 30 to 60 seconds to empty. Once the reservoir is mostly emptied, I used an air hose to clean out the body and drop tube. It is not neat. You will spill some powder in the process.
Overall it was a big improvement over my manual scale and powder measure. I like the touch screen and slim design and repeatability and accuracy. Cleanup could use a little improvement. I feel it is certainly worth the money spent.
D
I finally treated myself to one of these:
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a561/Daniel_Scipione/AE7EFD66-0B8E-4587-9D72-DC9F8BD65911_zpswuivygze.jpg
$180 delivered, about $100 less expensive than the RCBS.
It came somewhat un assembled. You have to put the reservoir on it then it becomes somewhat permanently attached.
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a561/Daniel_Scipione/25AC352E-29DE-4565-B707-DCBD080163FD_zpstx7ve5gx.jpg
It has a 50 gram calibration weight, plus a tube restrictor for smaller powder and a small brush and some basic maintenance seals.
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/includes/img/lyman/scales-measures/7750550_LG.jpg
It needs to warm up for three minutes prior to use, and should be calibrated every time, which makes warm up and ready to use time less than 5 minutes.
I could not get mine to calibrate, so I called Lyman, and they walked me through pushing the scale base from left to right, which can happen in shipping. It was a pain and took me about two hours to play with it, determine it wasn't working and call Lyman. Lyman's customer service did not take the call at first, and had to call me back. So we got it to calibrate and I had to put it away because I was out of time for the day.
It has a really nice slim profile and can be easily stored on a shelf.
I decided to use it today for the first time. It went through it's 3 minute warm up cycle and calibrated just fine. I decided to use X-Term today and load some test .35 Remington rounds from 34 gr to 37 gr by .5 increments. I poured in the powder and it started coming out of the side. There is a gate that must be closed prior to use and It took me a few minutes to clean up and close it. X-Term is a small ball powder and it meters well but can get everywhere.
The instructions say with a small powder like this to use the restrictor in the tube. It easily went in and in just one powder throw it was right on the mark at 34 gr. However, with a small ball powder like X-Term it "bounces" when it hits the pan, so it can be a little messy and it might bug you if you are a neat freak like me. A few grains here and there can build up during a loading session. I suggest keeping it in something like a dinner tray when loading if you want to keep your bench powder free. The small brush supplied with the unit is supposed to be used to clean off any extra powder. I use compressed air.
The touch screen works really well. To set a load you type in the weight and press enter and it will discharge it fairly quickly. If you select the repeat function it drops the charge and then waits for you to put the pan back and drops another, and tells you how many times it has repeated. This is handy if you are keeping track of how many of a certain load you are making. I dropped five at 34 grains, then set it to 34.5 gr and hit repeat. It dropped each charge right on the limit each time. I made seven different charges, a total of 35 drops and it was off by 0.1 gr one time, so the powder went back into the hopper. I finished my powder charges at 37 gr.
Clean up was simple but not real fast. On the left side of the scale there is a chute that folds out, and then a gate that is opened by sliding it up with your finger. This opens the powder reservoir and allows it to empty back into your container placed under the chute. The reservoir can easily hold a full pound of powder and can take 30 to 60 seconds to empty. Once the reservoir is mostly emptied, I used an air hose to clean out the body and drop tube. It is not neat. You will spill some powder in the process.
Overall it was a big improvement over my manual scale and powder measure. I like the touch screen and slim design and repeatability and accuracy. Cleanup could use a little improvement. I feel it is certainly worth the money spent.
D