First Cartridges

Discussions covering the components and techniques of reloading for your handgun.
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Macd
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Re: First Cartridges

Post by Macd »

Ohio3Wheels wrote:
killian6pk wrote:Thanks everyone, when you are as new to this as I am, you see problems everywhere. So hopefully I am not driving you all crazy with questions. :)
When in doubt, ask,, we've all been there.

Stay well, be safe, make smoke,

And because some of us are old we forgot and went back again lol.
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Re: First Cartridges

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

Macd wrote:
Ohio3Wheels wrote:
killian6pk wrote:Thanks everyone, when you are as new to this as I am, you see problems everywhere. So hopefully I am not driving you all crazy with questions. :)
When in doubt, ask,, we've all been there.

Stay well, be safe, make smoke,

And because some of us are old we forgot and went back again lol.
Yep, that too :lol:

Be safe, stay well, make smoke,
Curt.......makin' smoke and raising my carbon foot print one cartridge at a time +guns +guns
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Re: First Cartridges

Post by mikld »

I have owned 3 digital scales. All have the problem you are having. My latest uses A/C power, is at least 10' away from any fluorescent lighting, no fan or electric motors near by, and I still get
trickle up "jumps" of .2-.3 grains even when I go slow and pause. I have checked it against my RCBS 5-10 and my Lyman D5 scales and depending on the time of day, phase of the moon, or how I hold my tongue, sometimes, not every time and not the same variation, the digital will be off, +/- .1-.2 grains.

To get the fewest variations, I calibrate the digital with the supplied weights each session. I "tare" often. and I go slow. Sometimes during trickling up I will remove the pan and replace it (and very often the weight will change). I have a process that works, but I have to be vigilant and check often...

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Re: First Cartridges

Post by killian6pk »

I fit that old category well, except in my mind where I am still 25. The rest of me knows I'm old.
Macd wrote:
Ohio3Wheels wrote:
killian6pk wrote:Thanks everyone, when you are as new to this as I am, you see problems everywhere. So hopefully I am not driving you all crazy with questions. :)
When in doubt, ask,, we've all been there.

Stay well, be safe, make smoke,

And because some of us are old we forgot and went back again lol.
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Re: First Cartridges

Post by killian6pk »

mikld wrote:I have owned 3 digital scales. All have the problem you are having. My latest uses A/C power, is at least 10' away from any fluorescent lighting, no fan or electric motors near by, and I still get
trickle up "jumps" of .2-.3 grains even when I go slow and pause. I have checked it against my RCBS 5-10 and my Lyman D5 scales and depending on the time of day, phase of the moon, or how I hold my tongue, sometimes, not every time and not the same variation, the digital will be off, +/- .1-.2 grains.

To get the fewest variations, I calibrate the digital with the supplied weights each session. I "tare" often. and I go slow. Sometimes during trickling up I will remove the pan and replace it (and very often the weight will change). I have a process that works, but I have to be vigilant and check often...

Frankford Arsenal® Platinum Series.
I'm glad to know that it is not just me. I basically have settled on what you are saying as the answer. Just wanted to find out if anyone else was having the problem and how they fixed it. Sounds like the fix is just diligence and holding my tongue correctly. :D
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Re: First Cartridges

Post by Macd »

My scale is an RCBS 750. I have had it for several years. As I mentioned previously the pan weighs 157.3 grains. After calibration and zeroing the pan weight, whenever I lift the pan off the scale it should read -157.3 and return to zero when I put the empty pan back on the scale. Occasionally it will vary 0.1 grain either way, which is the stated tolerance. I wait a few seconds and if it doesn't correct itself I rezero the scale and then lift and replace the pan several times to check.

I only worry about small variations when working up loads or trying to squeeze the last bit of accuracy out of a rifle. It isn't really going to make much difference for bulk handgun reloading. Same applies to rifle plinking or hunting rounds. The objective for these is "Good enough" not perfect and after initial setup only every tenth powder charge gets weighed. Another reason to stay away from max loads.

One last tip, make sure the scale is turned off/unplugged and stored with nothing on it, not even the pan. An instrument that can measure a difference of one seventy thousands of a pound should be treated as delicately as a wife who just discovered she gained 10 pounds.
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Re: First Cartridges

Post by mikld »

Yesterday I reloaded a few 45 ACP loads but this time I turned off the CD/Radio (player about 4' from scale and speakers about 6'-8' away) turned off all lights except one 100 watt incandescent over the bench. Still got the variations as above when trickling up and weight going up .1 or .2 grans when lifting, replacing pan with powder. I am a little OCD and normally very careful when charging powder, and during a load workup try to hold .1 grain variation or less...
Last edited by mikld on 30 Jul 2020 12:45, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: First Cartridges

Post by killian6pk »

Thanks Macd and Mikld (anyone ever tell you your names sound like twin's names :) ) I really appreciate knowing that others are doing what I was trying to do. Stuff like this bothers me some. I do some woodworking and am fine with close enough. But with things that might kill me I would like to be a little more careful than that.
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