Digital scale accuracy

shredder4286 · April 3, 2011, 07:14 PM

Hey all,

I got a hornady GS-1500 included with a LocknLoad kit- I've calibrated it, let it acclimate to room temp, crossed all the t's and dotted the i's. After calibration the scales read anywhere from 100.02 to 100.05 with a 100g weight on the scales. Am I just being too picky, or are these scales screwy?

wingman · April 3, 2011, 07:47 PM

Any vibration or wind motion in room such as fan, air conditioning, does not take much the digital scale is super sensitive.

wncchester · April 3, 2011, 08:07 PM

The second number to the right of the decimal point is irrelivant to reloaders; no reloading priced scale is that accurate or consistant, best we can count on is a tenth, not a hundredth of a grain. Adding the extra digit to the right on our scales is sorta like putting a 150 mph speedometer on a four cylinder car, use your scale and ignore that last number.

4runnerman · April 3, 2011, 08:13 PM

Most if not all digital scales will have a deveation of .0625 any how.I agree with other post--Ignore that number.

shredder4286 · April 3, 2011, 08:56 PM

ok, i thought maybe i was expecting too much out of the scales. appreciate the info

m&p45acp10+1 · April 3, 2011, 09:46 PM

I have one that ca nbe screwy if the batteries get low. I keep a brick of fresh batteries on hand, and recycle the used batteries to my remote control box.

Try weighing the same powder charge several times. It should be to within a tenth of a grain either way of the charge weight. Make sure you do not breaht on the scale, and no vents or fans are blowing on it. Then make 10 drops from your powder measure and weigh them several times. It should be to withing one tenth of a grain either way. If so it should do the job just fine. Be careful if you are at a max load weight. I do not load more than .3 grains from max listed loads with anything as a safty measure, and have as of yet had a load that needed to run that hot for best acuracy.

shredder4286 · April 3, 2011, 10:55 PM

yep, i replaced the batteries with brand new ones just yesterday. With rifle cartridges, I'll be setting my powder measure to throw under my target weight, and then trickle the rest of the way. For pistol, should I be worried about the several tenths of a grain fluctuation that I've been getting from one charge to the next?

medalguy · April 3, 2011, 11:44 PM

Check your manual for the scale and see what the accuracy variance is. You're talking about 2/100 to 5/100 of a grain variance. I doubt the scale is going to be more accurate than 0.1 gr.

April 3, 2011, 07:14 PM	#1
shredder4286 Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2010 Location: NE Washington Posts: 361	Digital scale accuracy Hey all, I got a hornady GS-1500 included with a LocknLoad kit- I've calibrated it, let it acclimate to room temp, crossed all the t's and dotted the i's. After calibration the scales read anywhere from 100.02 to 100.05 with a 100g weight on the scales. Am I just being too picky, or are these scales screwy?

April 3, 2011, 08:13 PM	#4
4runnerman Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2010 Location: Minnesota Posts: 3,577	Most if not all digital scales will have a deveation of .0625 any how.I agree with other post--Ignore that number. __________________ NRA Certified RSO NwCP- Performance Isn't Optional

April 3, 2011, 09:46 PM	#6
m&p45acp10+1 Senior Member Join Date: May 3, 2009 Location: Central Texas Posts: 3,930	I have one that ca nbe screwy if the batteries get low. I keep a brick of fresh batteries on hand, and recycle the used batteries to my remote control box. Try weighing the same powder charge several times. It should be to within a tenth of a grain either way of the charge weight. Make sure you do not breaht on the scale, and no vents or fans are blowing on it. Then make 10 drops from your powder measure and weigh them several times. It should be to withing one tenth of a grain either way. If so it should do the job just fine. Be careful if you are at a max load weight. I do not load more than .3 grains from max listed loads with anything as a safty measure, and have as of yet had a load that needed to run that hot for best acuracy. __________________ No matter how many times you do it and nothing happens it only takes something going wrong one time to kill you.

April 3, 2011, 10:55 PM	#7
shredder4286 Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2010 Location: NE Washington Posts: 361	yep, i replaced the batteries with brand new ones just yesterday. With rifle cartridges, I'll be setting my powder measure to throw under my target weight, and then trickle the rest of the way. For pistol, should I be worried about the several tenths of a grain fluctuation that I've been getting from one charge to the next? Last edited by shredder4286; April 3, 2011 at 11:07 PM.

April 3, 2011, 07:47 PM	#2
wingman Senior Member Join Date: August 20, 2002 Posts: 2,108	Any vibration or wind motion in room such as fan, air conditioning, does not take much the digital scale is super sensitive.

April 3, 2011, 08:07 PM	#3
wncchester Senior Member Join Date: December 1, 2002 Posts: 2,832	The second number to the right of the decimal point is irrelivant to reloaders; no reloading priced scale is that accurate or consistant, best we can count on is a tenth, not a hundredth of a grain. Adding the extra digit to the right on our scales is sorta like putting a 150 mph speedometer on a four cylinder car, use your scale and ignore that last number.

April 3, 2011, 08:56 PM	#5
shredder4286 Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2010 Location: NE Washington Posts: 361	ok, i thought maybe i was expecting too much out of the scales. appreciate the info

April 3, 2011, 11:44 PM	#8
medalguy Senior Member Join Date: August 31, 2009 Location: New Mexico Posts: 1,033	Check your manual for the scale and see what the accuracy variance is. You're talking about 2/100 to 5/100 of a grain variance. I doubt the scale is going to be more accurate than 0.1 gr.