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wncchester · August 16, 2012, 04:47 PM

Any beam scale will do well for the rest of your life if you take care of it. Nothing will if you abuse it but digital nothings will last very long. Those who praise their digital scale they've been using for six months - or even six years - need to understand it's only a matter of time until it craps out and years of life outta anything electronic is the exception rather than the rule.

Beams poorly used are "slow, hard to read" etc. but we shouldn't blame the tool for that! A beam sitting on a sturdy shelf about chin high during use is very easy to see and if the powder measure is located close to it we can easily develop the skill to virtually match the 'speed' of a digital powder dumpster. And a beam scale will always follow a trickler in real time while most digitals have a frustrating tendendency of 'hanging up' at a reading and move up in jerks - it's quite slow to keep adjusting trickled powder charges to a specific value with most digitals and no user skill can compensate for that quirky performance!

I used to work as a precision electronic instument repair/calibration tech at what was then Cape Kennedy. I have three beam scales I use for powder and one digital I only use for weighing bullets and cases. My first reloading scale is/was Lyman's (Ohaus) forerunner of the current RCBS 1010. I've never used the expanded scale above 505 grains for reloading so that's been a waste but it's just as sensitive and reads exactly the same today as it did when I took it out of the box in 1965. And it's ready to double that! It does not drift zero or calibration, and it doesn't care if the room temperature changes or the power line voltage fluctuates while in use either; I challenge anyone in love with his digital scale at any price to match it! But, fact is, ANY beam scale sold by RCBS, Redding, Lyman or Dillon will do the same thing mine does. (Lee's will too but it's a slight PITA to work with.)

I'm not trying to convience anyone to do anything, just stating my opinon and the experience I base it on.

August 16, 2012, 04:47 PM	#19
wncchester Senior Member Join Date: December 1, 2002 Posts: 2,832	Any beam scale will do well for the rest of your life if you take care of it. Nothing will if you abuse it but digital nothings will last very long. Those who praise their digital scale they've been using for six months - or even six years - need to understand it's only a matter of time until it craps out and years of life outta anything electronic is the exception rather than the rule. Beams poorly used are "slow, hard to read" etc. but we shouldn't blame the tool for that! A beam sitting on a sturdy shelf about chin high during use is very easy to see and if the powder measure is located close to it we can easily develop the skill to virtually match the 'speed' of a digital powder dumpster. And a beam scale will always follow a trickler in real time while most digitals have a frustrating tendendency of 'hanging up' at a reading and move up in jerks - it's quite slow to keep adjusting trickled powder charges to a specific value with most digitals and no user skill can compensate for that quirky performance! I used to work as a precision electronic instument repair/calibration tech at what was then Cape Kennedy. I have three beam scales I use for powder and one digital I only use for weighing bullets and cases. My first reloading scale is/was Lyman's (Ohaus) forerunner of the current RCBS 1010. I've never used the expanded scale above 505 grains for reloading so that's been a waste but it's just as sensitive and reads exactly the same today as it did when I took it out of the box in 1965. And it's ready to double that! It does not drift zero or calibration, and it doesn't care if the room temperature changes or the power line voltage fluctuates while in use either; I challenge anyone in love with his digital scale at any price to match it! But, fact is, ANY beam scale sold by RCBS, Redding, Lyman or Dillon will do the same thing mine does. (Lee's will too but it's a slight PITA to work with.) I'm not trying to convience anyone to do anything, just stating my opinon and the experience I base it on. Last edited by wncchester; August 16, 2012 at 04:54 PM.