[Hole maker]

I have a Lyman Brass Smith 500 balance beam scale, on the beam it has 3 different grain increments .1 tenth / 1 whole grn and 5grn, so I am going to load 15.4 grns, what do I do set it to 15 grns and like a dimwit set the whole grn setting to 4 which would be 19grns way over max for that loading, I did notice it seemed like I was dipping more powder, good thing for an electronic scale that I use all the time for first load and about every 3-4th load, I was in the right frame of mind but just did it, that is the 2nd time I caught myself doing so, has anyone else done this? Dip shit me, oh I mean Ron.

 

[ngashooter]

Go slow, be careful, and double check. Using the electronic scale to confirm is a good idea. I usually use my electronic scale and confirm with the Lyman balance. Anything that you feel is unusual, odd, wrong, or different while reloading is a signal to stop and re-evaluate. Glad you realized what you had done before proceeding. I like using powders that give a load density where any over charge is obvious. Thank you for sharing your experience as a warning to the rest of us.

 

[Mowgli T.]

My electronic scales croaked. I have been using a 10-10 scales for decades, It was necessary to use this scale full time. I had a set of RCBS weights to verify accuracy of the scales. Testing the scales several times before use removes all doubt I may have in the accuracy department. When I use the double beam Dial-a-Grain Scales I do the same weighing routine, No body ever got hurt reloading conservatively. I doubt if I'll replace the RCBS electronic scales,

 

[JohnnyDollar]

Early on I did the same using the Hornady Balance beam, confusing the 1gn weight for the 1/10gn weight.
I could see the first case I filled was too full, so I knew there was a problem.

Much like Santa, I learned to check the lists twice.

 

[rmichael63]

Can't offer any input but thankfully you caught it. I should learn to use a balance beam scale ...

 

[JohnnyDollar]

Can't offer any input but thankfully you caught it. I should learn to use a balance beam scale ...

My kit came with a balance beam, so that's what I learned on.

 

[rmichael63]

My kit came with a balance beam, so that's what I learned on.

I have my fathers scale but never learned to use it. When I started reloading 100% on my own, I went electronic powder dispenser.

 

[jayhdavis]

I have a Lyman Brass Smith 500 balance beam scale, on the beam it has 3 different grain increments .1 tenth / 1 whole grn and 5grn, so I am going to load 15.4 grns, what do I do set it to 15 grns and like a dimwit set the whole grn setting to 4 which would be 19grns way over max for that loading, I did notice it seemed like I was dipping more powder, good thing for an electronic scale that I use all the time for first load and about every 3-4th load, I was in the right frame of mind but just did it, that is the 2nd time I caught myself doing so, has anyone else done this? Dip shit me, oh I mean Ron.

Mistakes happen, that's why you should always double check. Since almost all my loads are close to filling the case (just short of compressed), too much powder is easy to spot. I have, however, missed charging a case once. I keep on my loading bench, to remind me to check charges, the bullet I had to drive out of the barrel of my SBH.

 

[MrHillBilly]

Done that myself. RCBS is the same type of setup. I think I loaded up 100 rounds before I caught it the next day. I went to load something else and looked at the scale and saw that I had that .5 grain set for 5 grains.

I had RCBS electric scale (First one they made for about 20 years) loved that thing. It started acting up so had to retire it. Still running analog scales now days, BUT I use a RCBS and a Lee (entirely different weight setup) and when I set up a charge I put it on both scales just to double check myself.

 

[Hole maker]

Go slow, be careful, and double check. Using the electronic scale to confirm is a good idea. I usually use my electronic scale and confirm with the Lyman balance. Anything that you feel is unusual, odd, wrong, or different while reloading is a signal to stop and re-evaluate. Glad you realized what you had done before proceeding. I like using powders that give a load density where any over charge is obvious. Thank you for sharing your experience as a warning to the rest of us.

ngashooter I was using HP-38 in a 357mag case as not to put to much wear and tear on my 1976 Security Six with H-110 it will flatten primers real quick, HP-38 does not fill the case very much and even though I check with electric scale I still use the flash lite trick, yes and I agree that it should have bin a warning sign when dipping the powder, I just figured I did not dip deep enough / small dipper about 2.5 scoups for that load, Thanks for concern and input, Be wise when you size and load not to explode, hey that was good I should be a poet, Ron with all my fingers still.

 

[rmichael63]

ngashooter I was using HP-38 in a 357mag case as not to put to much wear and tear on my 1976 Security Six with H-110 it will flatten primers real quick, HP-38 does not fill the case very much and even though I check with electric scale I still use the flash lite trick, yes and I agree that it should have bin a warning sign when dipping the powder, I just figured I did not dip deep enough / small dipper about 2.5 scoups for that load, Thanks for concern and input, Be wise when you size and load not to explode, hey that was good I should be a poet, Ron with all my fingers still.

Ron ... you are now deemed the forums Poet Laureate, Maya Angelou has nothing on you!

 

[Argee1950]

Go slow, be careful, and double check. Using the electronic scale to confirm is a good idea. I usually use my electronic scale and confirm with the Lyman balance. Anything that you feel is unusual, odd, wrong, or different while reloading is a signal to stop and re-evaluate. Glad you realized what you had done before proceeding. I like using powders that give a load density where any over charge is obvious. Thank you for sharing your experience as a warning to the rest of us.

Sage advice!!

 

[jayhdavis]

ngashooter I was using HP-38 in a 357mag case as not to put to much wear and tear on my 1976 Security Six with H-110 it will flatten primers real quick, HP-38 does not fill the case very much and even though I check with electric scale I still use the flash lite trick, yes and I agree that it should have bin a warning sign when dipping the powder, I just figured I did not dip deep enough / small dipper about 2.5 scoups for that load, Thanks for concern and input, Be wise when you size and load not to explode, hey that was good I should be a poet, Ron with all my fingers still.

I use an RCBS powder measure for throwing charges, and a digital scale for weighing charges. The nice thing about the digital scale is, once the powder measure is set to the desired charge weight, I can put a primed case on the scale, zero it, then charge the case and return it to the scale to check the charge weight. When reloading a batch of cartridges, I do this for every 5th cartridge as a quality control check.

 

[JohnnyDollar]

Reloading.....

 

[Hole maker]

I use an RCBS powder measure for throwing charges, and a digital scale for weighing charges. The nice thing about the digital scale is, once the powder measure is set to the desired charge weight, I can put a primed case on the scale, zero it, then charge the case and return it to the scale to check the charge weight. When reloading a batch of cartridges, I do this for every 5th cartridge as a quality control check.

I weigh the scale pan and use that with the powder charge to check on electric, I am a bit OCD so I use a single stage press and would not trust a powder dispenser and also too cheep to buy one, Ron.

 

[rclark]

I've always have and still do just use the analog beam scale. See no reason for electronic. No electricity/batteries. My Hornady was bought back in the early 80s and is still right on (checked with check weights). So I very much trust it, but I do double check myself. It is a bit simpler than above scale as this one has only two scales. A 0.1 up to 9.9 weight and 10.0 to whatever weight on the beam. So for most of my loads I move 'one' weight.

I don't recall ever mis-setting the scale. I do know though I am really careful with a 'new' powder as I am not familiar with how much volume for 'x' grains. Once you get a 'feel' for a powder you know what it looks like it the case for given load and catch problems (like you did ... "hey, that doesn't seem/look right... lets recheck the manual and scale") .

 

[Bob Lewis]

I started with a Lyman Ohaus M5 and used it for years but I didn't care for the lite 10-1/10 gr. poise so when RCBS brought out their 10-10 I bought that, it is the same exact scale but with a rotary 1-1/10 gr poise which to me more reliable and accurate then I got an RCBS 304, also may be known as Dial a Grain, and use it all the time checking it at every session also Have a little Lyman electronic for convenience and for measuring water capacity of cartridges. What I learned from the first scale with the sensitive poise was the check it every couple of powder charges, a habit I still have so I have never had a bad load get off the bench.

 

[JohnnyDollar]

I'm just gonna say it....
I have had little luck with electronic scales, I don't trust them.
They drift and are finicky. I thought they would be more precise, but I don't think they are.
I prefer my old balance beam.

 

[Hole maker]

I'm just gonna say it....
I have had little luck with electronic scales, I don't trust them.
They drift and are finicky. I thought they would be more precise, but I don't think they are.
I prefer my old balance beam.

I bought a elec / digital scale just to check every few charges when using my Lyman Brass Smith 500 that I use for all my reloading needs and it works perfect, it zeros every time, the first elec would always go to an even number and hardly ever go to an odd so I bought another one that was even cheaper than the first and it works great, I would also not trust an electric alone, if I do the math correctly -I weigh my scale pan with charge on electric- the Lyman and electric both jive, the only time I had a problem was when battery went low and it did drift badly, Ron.

 

[JohnnyDollar]

I bought a elec / digital scale just to check every few charges when using my Lyman Brass Smith 500 that I use for all my reloading needs and it works perfect, it zeros every time, the first elec would always go to an even number and hardly ever go to an odd so I bought another one that was even cheaper than the first and it works great, I would also not trust an electric alone, if I do the math correctly -I weigh my scale pan with charge on electric- the Lyman and electric both jive, the only time I had a problem was when battery went low and it did drift badly, Ron.

I can only speak from my experience.
I know people that have good luck with them.
I have 3 digital scales.
if I set all three up, I’ll get 3 different readings from the same charge. sometimes they are a little off, sometimes a lot, sometimes two are the same and one is off. But none of them seem consistent enough for me to trust them,
but that’s just me.