Thread: Balance beam scales

What is the best balance beam scales to buy for reloading? anyone got some advice?

Cheers Guys

Redding #2 seems to be the go to

Originally Posted by Tommy

Redding #2 seems to be the go to

Cheers @Tommy I'll check it out

I've been using a Lyman set for about 25 years with no problems.
I have seen quite a few negative posts about one brand/model, I think it was the Lee ones.

I have and used the Redding scales and if speed wasn’t a consideration, I would still be using it. I’ve moved onto an automatic powder dispenser.

Originally Posted by 7mm Rem Mag

What is the best balance beam scales to buy for reloading? anyone got some advice?

RCBS, 5-10 is good, and 10-10 is awesome.

In general, the older the scale the better. I have some Ohaus / RCBS ones, and have been loading for high-prescision comps with them for years...

Do some googling, there are guys in the states that tune 10-10's and make them VERY good.

Whatever you get, try to install the beam scale on a very level, flat surface, and it helps a lot in terms of accuracy if it is at eye level, so that you are not looking at the needle from an angle.

My beam scale is a CH one i bought about 40 years ago ...cost me $35 which was about 1/2 a weeks wages. So I guess in todays terms it was around the $500 mark for your average blue collar worker.

+1 for putting it at eye level and on a level surface. If you dont have a weight check always make sure it is zeroed before use.

I dont really like the magnetic dampening on some, much prefer to use a thumb to slow down the see saw once you get near zero.

Thanks Guys, some good advice there

lee...some moan they are slow...no one moans about accuracy as they are good,always have been always will be.
a set of lee spoons will speed things up a huge amount and make sorting trail boss loads piece of cake.

I don't really care about speed, I really want to know the most accurate scale out there. Not worried about the cost, just want to buy once and get the best for accuracy. Whats all the precision shooters using? Cheers guys

If you want scales that measure to the nth degree, get a force restoration balance. You will be spending around 1K.

All the cheaper, even couple 100 $ electronic scales are strain gauge load cells, and have inherent creep issues.

It really depends on what you want to achieve. I'm fairly happy loading with a quality mechanical beam balance, and can get down to single digit SD. Sure, could go even further with a force restoration balance, but there are a whole range of other factors involved in accuracy as well.

Have ones Hornady much faster than lee and very accurate

Originally Posted by ebf

..... Sure, could go even further with a force restoration balance, but there are a whole range of other factors involved in accuracy as well.

Have to agree with this; so many other variables. I have some A&D Fxi 500 scales that cost well north of $1k and measure down to 1/50th of a grain. I get very low SD's on most loads. Do they make a difference? Not much if any at 100-200m compared to my old Lyman balance beam scales. Long distance shooting they may well do.

Originally Posted by 10-Ring

Have to agree with this; so many other variables. I have some A&D Fxi 500 scales that cost well north of $1k and measure down to 1/50th of a grain. I get very low SD's on most loads. Do they make a difference? Not much if any at 100-200m compared to my old Lyman balance beam scales. Long distance shooting they may well do.

Yup, and even this raises an interesting point. It depends on the kind of shooting you do.

For 1000yd benchrest, every single bit counts. If you are shooting F-class, you basically want to have a 10-shot vertical spread of below 1 MOA, preferably around 0,5 MOA. But if you look at actual / real world results from F-class, wind, and the ability of the competitor to read wind is by far the biggest differentiator. You'd probably be better off doing just enough to get single-digit SD and an "acceptable" vertical spread, and then focus your efforts on wind reading, as that would have the higher payoff...

Compare that to long range gong shooting, where in most cases first round hit on a relatively large (2 or 3 MOA) target is the primary issue. That again is a different skillset to F-class

With my Lyman beam scales I can see the difference a single piece or two of AR2208 makes, so I see no need to go any more accurate than that - it's not like I'm going to muck around splitting pieces of powder. I'm just a hunter who shoots paper sometimes though.
I have a small wooden kids chair that I use when weighing out powder, gets my eyes at the same level as the scales, which is important as others have mentioned.