Redgum Posted December 19, 2010 Report Share Posted December 19, 2010 Right, before I start, yes this is extremely anal, but with the freezer well stocked with venison, goat, rabbit and pigeon and the temperature well down in the glass I thought I would share this reloading info. I quite like my lee beam scale, it took a while to get used to its little ways but I find it very reliable and like using it. My reloading department is located in my shed, quite a substantial shed as garden sheds go with electric piped in for sockets and lighting. The one thing it doesnt have is heating, always feel a little nervous firing up the supercer when it shares its space with several pounds of gun powder. When reloading a batch of 243 I decided, after charging five or so cases, to take this part of the operation into the warmth of the kitchen( it was below 2 degrees in the shed). I set the scale up on the table and re zeroed it,time for a cup of tea and a defrost before carrying on.As the scale warmed to the kitchen temperature the needle moved well above the zero, I rechecked the powder charges I had already done and they were all 0.5g heavy. The scale remained eratic for a couple of hours. Now my explaination for this is that the Lee balance scale has two magnets to steady the beam when it gets near to the zero. Magnets get stronger in lower temperatures and as soon as the beam was getting near to the magnets it was holding it even if the charges were heavy. I'm sure nobody is as mad as me to try reloading in minus 2 but I just thought I would share this with you all. Differant temperatures can make a differance to your reloading and from now on I will be do the powder charging on the kitchen table ( when the boss allows) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeker Posted December 19, 2010 Report Share Posted December 19, 2010 While you are at it consider the effect of barometric pressure.... I use a coin that equals my standard load as a check weight. All level, nice day and zeroed ... next day 0.1 gn high .. but low presure day ... This was with a Lyman & a Lee .. tho' Lee has higher sensitivity. Now I wonder what effect temp and pressure have on electro-scales and you'd never know!! Maybe on the kitchen table, in the warm and only on stormy days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy Posted December 19, 2010 Report Share Posted December 19, 2010 (edited) I was another reloading in -2 outside temperature, Like you i decided to do it indoors even though i have heating in my concrete block shed. It was taking far too long to get to a decent temperature, so did my weighing in the warm, then back in the shed to seat the bullets. The freezing conditions are bound to affect the scales Plus you would of had a build up of condensation as they went into the warm house. Edited December 19, 2010 by Dougy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floating Chamber Posted December 19, 2010 Report Share Posted December 19, 2010 Always let your scale come up to temperature. Condensation is a pain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted December 19, 2010 Report Share Posted December 19, 2010 Consistency is key I reload indoors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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