Who’s still running balance beams?

[Cbthomas]

My dad got me in to reloading at a pretty young age and he always had quality equipment by that being said he always used balance beams for powder measuring. Once I started buying my own equipment, the millennial in me thought I had to have a digital scale so I could see an actual number read out instead of tick marks on the beam.

I went the cheap route ($150) and tried both an RCBS and hornady.

Quickly realized the negatives like constantly having to watch and zero out the scale during loading sessions, letting the unit warm up a half hour before using it. I really like to throw a charge just under, and trickle every time and with a digital it just seemed like it was inconsistent. Trickle 2 or 3 kernels and nothing 1 more and Bam .1 or .2 too heavy.


So back to the Beam that’s older than I am. She’s not as sexy as digitals, but she always works.


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[Pickettpuncher]

I like my balance beam much better than the chargemaster I had

 

[TomJoad]

Love:


Hate:

 

[digger]

I have 2 autotricklers.One series 3 and a 4. However there will always be an RCBS 1010
scale on my bench.I’m just old

 

[Cbthomas]

I have 2 autotricklers.One series 3 and a 4. However there will always be an RCBS 1010
scale on my bench.I’m just old

The auto tricklers definitely look awesome but if I’m spending north of 1k I’m buying a ZERO press first


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[Bluefish]

Still use my beam as my main scale. Don’t trust cheap digitals and too cheap to buy a digital that’s good enough to replace my beam.

 

[Choupique]

I like a beam with a set of check-weights. Still new to this, but I feel like this is by far the safest way for me to go. I can set the balance to the charge weight I want, verify it with calibrated check weights, and go to town.

 

[seand]

measuring powder on a scale, trickling, - what a huge waste of time. No thanks.

Use the beam scale to set/check the actual powder measure, dump direct into the case and seat bullets.

factory ammo isn’t weighed, it can shoot well enough that guys can win with it in PRS/NRL.

 

[Leverwalker]

RCBS 5-0-2. Tedious, but it's what I know, and I trust it.

 

[Decker9]

Still using the beam scale my grandad taught me on as a wee boy in the 80’s (same powder cup and funnel too). It works great for the couple/few hundred rounds I shoot a year.

 

[11boo]

Really, it just works, unlike my electronic ones..

 

[Cbthomas]

Really, it just works, unlike my electronic ones..

View attachment 625169

I use the same RCBS 5-10 scale


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[Cbthomas]

Still using the beam scale my grandad taught me on as a wee boy in the 80’s (same powder cup and funnel too). It works great for the couple/few hundred rounds I shoot a year.

Good stuff!!


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[Tahoe1305]

I snagged two high end beam scales (old ones 505 and M5) a few months back. They are awesome. I feel sensitive to probably .05g.

I also got one of the reasonably priced creedmoor sports e scales. It’s a good value too but harder to trust than the beams. Much faster though. And no doubt reads to .01g.

 

[willfrye027]

I upgraded recently from a rcbs 505 to a…10-10

The next move is going to be switching over to just using a powder thrower straight into the cases. Just got a used Harrells that I’ve been tinkering with. I dont think it is going to matter one bit if I’m not trickling to the perfect weight..

 

[Cbthomas]

I upgraded recently from a rcbs 505 to a…10-10

The next move is going to be switching over to just using a powder thrower straight into the cases. Just got a used Harrells that I’ve been tinkering with. I dont think it is going to matter one bit if I’m not trickling to the perfect weight..

Yeah it depends on what I’m loading. 9mm/.223 runs on a Dillon 550 set it and forget it.

.204 varmint stuff and other “close range” stuff I’ll throw powder straight into the cartridges and go.

My 6.5x47L, 7prc anything I’m shooting long range gets thrown and trickled every case.


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[wyosam]

Depends on what I’m doing. A lot of the time, it’s the time at the bench that I’m after, and I don’t want to listen to the powder dispenser, so I throw and trickle on the balance beam. Do all my hunting loads that way.


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[N2TRKYS]

I love my RCBS Chargemaster 1500. I couldn’t stand how slow and inconsistent the balance beam was. I would quit reloading if I had to use a beam scale.

 

[Mike D Texas]

I haven’t used a beam scale since the 1980s.

Buy a quality electronic scale instead of a junk one and you’ll be good to go.


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[Rich M]

I use either electronic or beam scale to set powder dispenser and then run with dispenser. No more measuring every shell any more.