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I am on a slippery slope heading towards reloading - which scales?


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malc if your staying at mine after the butchery demo you can load some of my .222s if you like to try

 

colin

 

I did not realise you were a re-loader - a kind offer but it may be safer to just let me watch you do a few. I don't want to wreck your set up.

 

Probably not, when he immerses, he immerses.

I am guessing Activatiii is a quiet genius on reloading. He seems to master anything he touches.

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Malk, I have some Hornday scales you can borrow for a while if you like. I might even have a spare set of 6.5 Swede dies. I'll have a rummage when I get home

 

That would be great to try out.... I will be at the London meet up in Feb. I have "arranged" to be working there for 2 days!

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Which scales to get as I head towards reloading. Digital or balance? Which makes to avoid and which to aim for?

 

I am after an RCBS press in the Cov area if anyone has one.

 

I would suggest a simple beam scale. I would avoid the Lee, not that it's not accurate but it's very fiddly to set and change the weight. All the RCBS range, the 502, 505, 5-10, and 10/10 all use exactly the same floating agate bearings so none is more accurate than the other. The difference is in the poise system, how you set the weights.

 

The Redding No 2 is also a good simple scale. A beam scale will last you a lifetime if it's not abused, a digital will be in the bin in a couple of years.

 

I have found Optics warehouse the best place for scales for price and service.

 

I have around 25 different beam scales and a couple of digitals, the digitals are good for weighing brass and bullets but I always use a beam for powder.

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Do not go with the Lee scales. OK! i was reloading sort of ok for the 222 but then again i could throw a rouge charge into a case and still shoot a cloverleaf.

 

Digi scales work but i do not like the fact that you are relying on electronics and a battery. im sure they work fine but im not overly convinced with them. plus the beam scales are more accurate than digi

 

i like my 10-10 RCBS, NJC's fault but i picked up a good cheap set for the states. Also look for Ohaus scales. they make the scales for RCBS and are identical apart from colour and price.

 

once i get a good working load i make a check weight with solder. i check every time i reload. also an old laptop and web cam facing the pointer makes reloading easier for me.

 

 

Lee die i use to say where as good as anything else but less money. i have just learnt this is not true as my new 243 die set give different neck tension so i need to fettle the neck die to get it closer to the FL die. easy job for me but not for everyone.

 

 

more than welcome to come and play with the reloading stuff. NJC has a go saying im to anal with my reloads. he throws his loads together and shoots better groups. i have to go over the top on the reloads to as i cant shoot as well as him, he has no heart beat to affect his shooting. Bit like blunderbuss.

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activeviii,1066 i am sure you guy have done a lot more reloading than me as i only started 6 months ago and only do 20 at a time but i use lee beam scales and find them ok am i missing something ??

i find they do take a while to settle but other than that they seem to weigh very accurate,

but again i am new to it so could be missing something

 

colin

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I would suggest a simple beam scale. I would avoid the Lee, not that it's not accurate but it's very fiddly to set and change the weight. All the RCBS range, the 502, 505, 5-10, and 10/10 all use exactly the same floating agate bearings so none is more accurate than the other. The difference is in the poise system, how you set the weights.

 

The Redding No 2 is also a good simple scale. A beam scale will last you a lifetime if it's not abused, a digital will be in the bin in a couple of years.

 

I have found Optics warehouse the best place for scales for price and service.

 

I have around 25 different beam scales and a couple of digitals, the digitals are good for weighing brass and bullets but I always use a beam for powder.

 

As he says :good:

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activeviii,1066 i am sure you guy have done a lot more reloading than me as i only started 6 months ago and only do 20 at a time but i use lee beam scales and find them ok am i missing something ??

i find they do take a while to settle but other than that they seem to weigh very accurate,

but again i am new to it so could be missing something

 

colin

Nope, Lee scales will get you by but once you try something like the RCBS scales with the damper in you will see what all the fuss is about.

 

I load between 100 and 200 at a time. i set the lee powder thrower to drop a 1/2gr short and then trickle in until just before the line, then hold the beam down and stop pan swinging, let go and watch the scales. they go up, down, up to the final position. i do this on every single load so i have a constant.

i use to do this with the lee scales but it was up,down,up,down,up,down,up,down,up,down,up and stop.

 

i did, for a short time, use electronic scales but it wasn't to my liking, i sold the RCBS and bought a cheap $4 drugy scale set that i use to weight bullets, cases and just to check. they are surprisingly accurate, i think it was to .001gr but again, i don't trust electronics. plus they turn off after about 15 seconds and you have to reset them.

 

keep and eye on ebay.com in worldwide. i let a set of the ohaus 10/10 go for $50 and bought the green ones for more. yes, stupid me as they are identical. it even says on the underside of the RCBS 'Ohaus'

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have you used one of these lee perfect powder measure's

http://leeprecision.com/perfect-powder-measure.html

 

i got a second hand one any opinion's on them??

 

colin

The Lee measure works well - in fact it works just as well as any measure. All measures work on the same principal, just a mechanised version of the Lee dippers.

 

Laurie Holland did a review/comparison with several different measures, from the cheap little Lee at about £25 up the Harrell at about £400, sure the Harrell looks like it should be in an operating theatre, but was it any more accurate - No.

Review HERE

 

I know many shooters are happy to load charges thrown directly from the measure, personally I throw a grain or so light and trickle to weight on the beam scale.

 

To get anywhere near consistent charges with a measure it takes practice and a systematic routine. Just think how a drop tube increases the density of the powder in a case, the same thing happens in the chamber of the measure it there are unwanted vibration.

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i think with reloading you can go as far as you wish with info and cost also it can become a bit of a brain boggler when reading into it.. i have a small set up with cheap digital scales lee cast press (could not get on with lee scales) and i have grate fun making my own 243 and they work wonders in my tikka..

 

malk wen your round next come have a play and i have a shanfer you can take too.. just sold my lee scales you could of had them freebi

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have you used one of these lee perfect powder measure's

http://leeprecision.com/perfect-powder-measure.html

 

i got a second hand one any opinion's on them??

 

colin

As 1066 says, they are no better or worse than others, for more money, on the market.

 

I use these, one for each calibre, set, like 1066 does, a tad under the final load. i know NJC uses one as well and sets it bang on, weighs the first and then throws 10 direct into case and then weighs the next one.

 

I made extension tubes up for the bottoms of mine as i found, when offering up the pan, it was a little kack handed so adding an inch to the flow tube made life easier.

 

one thing with all the throwers is to hold the pan up to the spout or you dump your load and it flies everywhere.

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