Hornady scales

[headspace]

I have 4 powder scales at this point, 2 electronic and 2 beam style. The latest one is a Hornady electronic I bought just to weigh cases, but the damn thing has surprised the hell out of me. I tried weighing a few bullets and the weights were all vary close. So I thought I'll weigh out some powder. Remember this is not a powder measure costing over $300+ it's just an electric scale only. It cost about $65.
Since I began weighing powder with it my beam scales are beginning to sulk a bit. The accuracy of this thing is amazing, but you have to treat it gently. I won't tolerate any breezes so the doors and windows are all closed. There is a very slight delay as you trickle powder onto the pan, so if you want to weigh out say, 45grains you get to 44.8 and trickle a little a wait a little. I know that many like the speed of a powder thrower, but I just like to weigh my charges, and anything that increases the accuracy factor is a real plus. Besides for the price, you really can't lose. A 100gram weight and 2 AAA batteries are included.
JD

[tom604]

NOOOOOOO sorry for shouting but don't trust it i remember well the time i spent with my little silver scale and i too thought that all was well and good in the reloading room ,,but i was wrong. the shifty little scale would read the same for a while then go out by a grain or so ,,not .1 but a full grain!!

just for a test, load say 50 cases with what ever amount of powder you are using and then a day or so later reweigh the powder,,should be the same ??
but unless you have scored the lucky dip of scales i will say that about ten or so will be out i don't know why it weighs different a day or so later ? air pressure ? humidity?

i tried tapping the tray three times, lifting the pan a few times, putting the pan to one side or the otherside, dead center, trickling the last grain in and nothing worked. the 100 gm always read 100 gms

anyway i have a Lyman gen 6 on its way from the states about $300 aus dollars delivered so hopefully no more problems and if your scale works for you then all the best but don't trust it

[bigfellascott]

Is that the Hornady 1500 scale? I've got one and it seems to work well from what I've seen with mine, I check every now and again to make sure its still working correctly and its seems fine (I've compared it to my Chargemaster and its pretty consistent) certainly good enough to use for hunting ammo, target ammo well I'd buy something better to be honest.

[headspace]

I've checked mine regularly using known bullet weights as opposed to using the weight that comes with it, and found it to be very accurate. I've also checked against my Hornady beam scale and found the same thing. I prefer to weigh each charge and hardly ever use a measure. The little Hornady scale just works for me.
JD

[Will]

If you've tested it against balance beams and it's proven accurate then good find

Someone else can explain this better than me but I think the distrust for the electonic scales is because they compensate for micro movements and 'pick' a weight instead of necessarily being 100% accurate. So your readout isn't going up and down by fractions repeatedly and will settle on a number.

Margin of error I think is very low - 0.1gr or less, not enough to worry for many - but it's something potentially.

[tom604]

you get what you pay for, $65 for the hornady 1500 (and mine did seem to work for a while) or $300 for the gen 6. you do have to let the electric ones warm up, and away from other electronic's and wind but for peace of mind ill go with the gen 6

[Blackened]

you do have to let the electric ones warm up

And recalibrate them if the temperature increases or decreases significantly during a session.

[Lorgar]

About temperature, I've got the RCBS digital dispenser/scales combo and it's great in cool and moderate weather.

On a really hot day it's useless though. Overthrows a lot of charges and overthrows them by a lot.

Normally though only overthrows 1 or 2 by .1 gr out of every 50.

[headspace]

So you pay all that money for a scale you have to recalibrate every time there's change in the weather? Sorry boys, I'm sticking with my beam scale. I only bought the Hornady 1500 to weigh cases but found it pretty handy for powder as well. I enjoy reloading and as it's mainly for hunting I don't rush it. There's plenty of things I can spend $300 plus on.
JD

[brett1868]

I have a pair of the RCBS Charge Master Combo units and found them very accurate and after a little hacking of the settings I've got them throwing the correct weight %95 of the time. Mechanical scales can be prone to parallax error unless you have them mounted at eye level when looking straight ahead. I calibrate both scales using the 1 set of weights then every 10th throw or so I'll cross check the weights. I usually only run the 1 unit unless doing 100+ of the big stuff cause 233gr of powder takes ages to throw so having 2 units halves the time. For small charges up to 20gr I still use the old school balance beam though.

[headspace]

I have my balance beam scale on a shelf above the bench right at eye level to eliminate parallax. I also built a flip off cover for it to keep it free of any dust and crap in the air. When I want to use I just hing the cover back, the powder trickler is right the too.
JD

[Arth]

So you pay all that money for a scale you have to recalibrate every time there's change in the weather?

Pretty sure you just put a sample weight on and hit calibrate and it's done. Not a big deal

[Lorgar]

So you pay all that money for a scale you have to recalibrate every time there's change in the weather?

You calibrate it once before use.

Empty + hit a button.
1 weight + hit a button.
2 weight + hit a button.

Done. Takes 30 seconds.

About temperatures, I edited my post a little about using it on a hot day to be clearer.

When I said useless on a hot day I mean hot. Not warm. Has to be a stinker when I wouldn't be in the mood to do it anyway so hasn't been a problem. No reloading during Melbourne summer days, put it that way.

Normally it's great though. I reload 50 - 100 rounds in an average session and in the time that takes have never had to recalibrate and had no issues. I confirm with a balance beam a couple of times through the session also.

When doing load development or a couple of different cartridges it's great to be able to just punch in the number and get going.

[headspace]

That's great when you're loading fairly big numbers but as I'm loading for 4 rifles and all for hunting I don't load that many in a sitting so I'm happy to weigh each charge. I enjoy the whole process and not in any hurry. I can understand someone loading a lot of rounds will need a bit of speed though.
JD

[tom604]

just played with my gen 6 and in the words of the lego movie ,,everything is awesome !!! loaded 30 223s and 25 308s in almost the time its taken to type this reply,,i am a slow typer but it is as quick as all get out a bit of variation of .1 about 1 in ten or so but im only using it for hunting loads and i dont think .1 of a grain is going to be a deal breaker. all up im happy as a clam with it

[chacka]

It's there is a bit of an anti-digital scales vibe from a few of the old school reloaders, even for good scales.

If you're checking the loads against a balance beam and you know it's accurate what's to worry about