I've been looking at several brands but not sure what I want or what will do what I need. First hand comments about quirks, problems, or total failures appreciated. Oh yes, I can't (or won't) spend next month's utility money on this piece of equipment. If there's not a reasonably priced option, I'll just p[ass and keep on pulling the lever.
Question about 'automatic' powder scales
- Thread starter Mobuck
- Start date
Help Support Ruger Forum:
Do you want accurate, reliable or cheap? These things are kinda intricate to be precise.
jgt
Buckeye
Haven't checked into it lately, but when I did, they were not happy with being too cold or hot. Needed to be away from air movement like ac vents and such. Needed to be checked often with weight checks. Were expensive. Electronics world moves very fast, so last years model can become obsolete in a hurry. All these problems may have been addressed by now. I use a powder measure set just below target weight and trickle up to intended amount. It is about as fast even though is not set and forget. Good luck in your search.
contender
Ruger Guru
I have a Lyman DPS III. I really like it. However,, the few quirks. As noted,, air currents can affect performance. I also don't use any of my electronic scale stuff around fluorescent lights. Apparently they too can cause deviations. I use LED lights.
Lastly,, the feature of how it slows down to trickle the last few grains can be a bit finicky with large grain powder. I did a slight modification to mine,, but at the moment, I can't recall what I did. It was to the powder feed tube I tinkered with Lyman sent me a spare to work with. That was years ago.
I really enjoy mine though. It gives me darn near perfect identical powder weights at a speed I can enjoy. Beats the heck out of throwing a charge, then weighing it.
Not cheap units,, but if you are really trying to be as uniform as possible,, and want to actually save time by not having to weigh each thrown charge individually,, worth the money.
Lastly,, the feature of how it slows down to trickle the last few grains can be a bit finicky with large grain powder. I did a slight modification to mine,, but at the moment, I can't recall what I did. It was to the powder feed tube I tinkered with Lyman sent me a spare to work with. That was years ago.
I really enjoy mine though. It gives me darn near perfect identical powder weights at a speed I can enjoy. Beats the heck out of throwing a charge, then weighing it.
Not cheap units,, but if you are really trying to be as uniform as possible,, and want to actually save time by not having to weigh each thrown charge individually,, worth the money.
Not sure if your looking at powder measure and scale? My experience is with RCBS, I have had 2 chargemasters. The bad they have limited warranty due to electronics. The 1st one started having keypad problems at about 7 years. I fixed that but it failed again several years later. There is an aftermarket company that will fix/rebuild RCBS.
My problem was likely due to leaving the unit in an unheated garage. With the 2nd unit I keep it in the house while not used in winter. I sold the 1st unit after it was repaired and still got more than the repair costs.
My problem was likely due to leaving the unit in an unheated garage. With the 2nd unit I keep it in the house while not used in winter. I sold the 1st unit after it was repaired and still got more than the repair costs.
RGRacing
Bearcat
I use a Frankford Arsenal DS-750 and Standard Scale Check Weights - Dead Nuts after a short allowed warm up. I have never had a bad experience with it.
Well, these comments help considerably. One of my big issues would be the air movement thing. Open basement with furnace drawing air past the reloading area. I don't have problems with a balance scale but if the powder dispensing units are this vulnerable, might create more problems than it solves.
Thanks guys.
Thanks guys.
I have a PACT digital scale and it has been perfect for over 30 years, knock wood.
I have one of those. I would never use it for powder. When I got it I was using it to weigh brass and set the "tare" with a case of the weight that was my target. The tare kept slowly drifting as I set case after case on the scale. Junk.
^^^ That would be a total fail in my book.
