Reaching out for help in the SL valley

[fattybinz]

Started hand-loading last year with a lee precision safety scale and a cheap frankfurt arsenal digital scale. Upgraded this year to a chargemaster lite. Its a long story but basically I'm pretty sure my chargemaster reads .01 grains too high. Did all the usual troubleshooting (extended warm-up, room temperature environment, no static, no electronics nearby, level, no fans, no vents, no fluorescent lights) Bought a set of Lyman check weights but I have reason to believe those are slightly off as well since my frankfurt arsenal and beam scale read some of the weights to be .1-.2 grains high. The reviews for the said some of the check weights are .1-.2 too heavy. Basically, I'm driving myself nuts trying to figure this out, and having check weights that may be off isn't helping. I live in West Jordan and work in South Jordan; is there anybody nearby, or even anywhere in the valley, that has a dead-on, super accurate, beam or digital scale that would have me over for a bit to test these check weights and to file them down if needed? It'd just be so nice to have the confidence of having something to compare my scales too. The doubt is killing me. If you are super generous then maybe I can bring my chargemaster over to compare some weights as well. I'd be in your debt and you'd be saving me a lot of anxiety over this. Thanks in advance.

[fattybinz]

bump

[Critter]

I just use bullets as check weights. They are usually close enough for accuracy.

I would also trust the check weights more than a beam scale

One problem with beam scales is that just a fraction of a nats hair on the pointer can be off as much as you are saying along with the angle that you are looking at it.

Also as far a loading a case 0.1 or 0.2 tenths of a grain isn't going to hurt, that is as long as you are not at the maximum load listed and using a fast burning powder.

[rtockstein]

Originally Posted by fattybinz

Started hand-loading last year with a lee precision safety scale and a cheap frankfurt arsenal digital scale. Upgraded this year to a chargemaster lite. Its a long story but basically I'm pretty sure my chargemaster reads .01 grains too high. Did all the usual troubleshooting (extended warm-up, room temperature environment, no static, no electronics nearby, level, no fans, no vents, no fluorescent lights) Bought a set of Lyman check weights but I have reason to believe those are slightly off as well since my frankfurt arsenal and beam scale read some of the weights to be .1-.2 grains high. The reviews for the said some of the check weights are .1-.2 too heavy. Basically, I'm driving myself nuts trying to figure this out, and having check weights that may be off isn't helping. I live in West Jordan and work in South Jordan; is there anybody nearby, or even anywhere in the valley, that has a dead-on, super accurate, beam or digital scale that would have me over for a bit to test these check weights and to file them down if needed? It'd just be so nice to have the confidence of having something to compare my scales too. The doubt is killing me. If you are super generous then maybe I can bring my chargemaster over to compare some weights as well. I'd be in your debt and you'd be saving me a lot of anxiety over this. Thanks in advance.

Is there a typo or did you mean to say that your chargemaster reads 0.01 grains too high? If that is true, I wouldn't worry about it and just use the chargemaster because 0.01 grains is an extremely miniscule weight.

I'm about a year in to reloading for my rifle. I've gotten quite obsessed with it for some reason. I started using the Lyman 1500 touch scale, which is a small pocket sized scale that in reality kinda sucks. It drifts extremely quickly and you can't really trickle with it and be confident on the reading. But, I figured out how to make it work for me consistently. By that, I don't mean that I knew I was getting a true 60.0gr on my charge, but I knew that I was getting that same 60.0gr reading every time I weighed a charge. The scale came with a 100 gram check weight, so I figured as long as it was correct for that check weight I likely wouldn't be grossly over or under the true charge weight. Also, you can just use a match bullet as a check weight, like Critter said, just to make sure your scale is safely accurate. I ended up buy an RCBS balance, just because the way I had to use my digital lyman was a pain and it took forever. There's plenty of reviews that say the new balances, even if they're a quality brand, won't hold zero, etc. But, it's a mechanical instrument so I figured I could make it work correctly if it didn't. I did buy one of the Lee scales but I returned it because it wouldn't hold zero and those are basically non-serviceable. My RCBS scale has worked consistently well. I know it's about 0.1gr off of true measurement, but I don't feel like putting the effort in to making it dead on. It does consistently hold zero and measure my check weight consistently.

Anyway, hopefully that was of some help?!

If you're really concerned about the check weights, I can probably help. I work in a lab in SLC with a scale that reads to 0.001 gram, which is 0.015 grain. I used it to make a 60.0 gr check weight for myself. I can't have you inside the building, but I could get your check weight and check it on the scale. PM me if you're interested.

[KineKilla]

This is going to sound "wrong" but hopefully you get my meaning.

Consistency is more important than accuracy much of the time.

That being said, I too strive to achieve both. I'm trying to remember but I don't think my Chargemaster even displays to the hundredth of a grain. Seems like it only goes to the tenth power.



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[rtockstein]

Originally Posted by KineKilla

This is going to sound "wrong" but hopefully you get my meaning.

Consistency is more important than accuracy much of the time.

That being said, I too strive to achieve both. I'm trying to remember but I don't think my Chargemaster even displays to the hundredth of a grain. Seems like it only goes to the tenth power.



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That's what I was trying to say in my long winded message.

Consistency.

[fattybinz]

Well that is embarrassing. Yes, I meant .1 grains off.

[fattybinz]

a member of this forum reached out and let me pay him a visit today to test my check weights on his scales. Almost all of them were over by a about .1 gr. we filed them down until they were perfect. there are some great people on this forum!