Looking to upgrade my scales. I want .02g accuracy. What are you guys using and how do you like it?

I have an RCBS 1500 Chargemaster for the past 3 years that's worked flawlessly. Don't know if it's .02 accurate or not but, the loads I've been using it on for 5.56, 25-06, 243, 7mm-08, 30-06, 300 WM and 358 win have all been accurate enough for any target I've used them on out to 700 yards.

Sorry guess I should have been more specific. Not looking to get a dispensing scale like the chargemaster, but a stand alone scale. I'm using the gempro 250 now.

I seriously doubt that going to .02 accuracy by weight is going to improve your groups. I might be wrong, but I don't think so. That said, it can't make your shot groups any bigger.

May not shrink groups, but it already made a good improvement in consistency. My ES went from 14 to 9 and SD went from 6.7 to 4.1. I may never see the difference on paper but at least I know my rounds are more consistent.

The gempro does good but I want one with a faster refresh rate. So that when trickling up I don't end up over shooting target and have to dig out a kernel or 2 with tweezers.

Agreed.

Unless you're shooting benchrest, .1 gr is plenty accurate.

I shot this evening with rounds loaded to .1 gr accuracy and elevation remained perfect at 600 yards.

what's your budget

I agree with what you are saying. Just I would like to be as consistent as possible. It is one of the few things that I can truly control. I realize I'm just being a little to anal for my application.:)

Would like to stay around 200-300$.

Acculab is pretty popular.

I run a high end Sartorius scale accurate to .02 grains. Does .02 grains make a difference? Let's talk about that!!!

Take the common RCBS charge master. It's accurate to +/- .1 (one tenth) of a grain. So if your scale reads 43.0 grains, you can actually have 42.9 or 43.1. That's a full .2 grain spread realistically. And since I have 4 charge masters, and run 2 of them full time to throw my initial charge, I would say that a .2 grain spread is about right. Some will be high and some will be low of what the actual weight shows.

Now, take a high end Sartorius scale that I run, that is accurate to .02 grains (two hundredths). It is accurate to within +/- less than .02 grains. So, if it reads 43.0, the error of this reading is less than 43.02 and 42.98 grains. If you want 43.0 grains, you will have that within .02 grains.

It's not just the .1 of a grain we are talking about. It's how accurate is your scale and the error factor built into the machine of how accurate it will be close to the desired charge weight!!

So, you have powder charges thrown from your typical reloading scales that are accurate to .2 grains (two tenths) to a highly accurate digital scale that is accurate to .02 grains (two hundredths), which is 10 times more accurate.

Realistically, what does this mean as a shooter? IF you are a hunter and load ammo for 100 out to maybe 2 or 300 yards, you may never notice or see the difference. You may not NEED this difference. But if you are a precision shooter shooting at much longer ranges, the powder charge IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR AMMO!! PERIOD!!! You will have about a 25-30 fps increase going up or down in .3 grain increments when testing loads. So, .1 of a grain is about 10 fps. With an error factor of .2 grains, that's 20 fps right there. And that's just the powder side of things causing this, and we haven't even talked about all the other 100 items that effect extreme spreads.

Is the .02 grains consistency worth it? Heck yes it is, especially to me and my customers.

Not arguing Chad.

I know the one thing we disagree on is the ladder test. You're a hand loading encyclopedia, and most of the rest of us are not. The reason I like it, is because it has worked for every rifle I have tested it on. So when the node is found, say on a 6.5 Creedmoor, 41.7 gr, 42.0 gr, and 42.3 gr grouped well below MOA at 300 or 500 yards. Shoot those for five shot groups and the tightest wins. Doesn't that give some room for scale error (.2 gr) in the powder charge on future loads?

Powder charge is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR AMMO! I couldn't agree more.

for your budget (200-300) i would invest in a beam scale and have the points machined/replaced and get it tuned. I'm not a fan of electronic scales but I also have a ridiculous beam based scale so i am a little biased.

i also know many of the nations top shooters and PRS champions that use several charge-masters in a line.....

beam scales work on friction, if the points are worn/rounded they will take more friction to move. if you don't want to machine/replace the points make sure they are clean and you can use electronic contact cleaner for that.

get what you get and make the most out of it. really that's all you can do.

I just have a hard time believing that A) you really are getting a consistent .02 grain spread in accuracy and that B) .02 grains makes any marked difference in performance.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about consistency - but there is a point where you are chasing your tail over splitting atoms. Sierra doesn't even bother with weighing charges when they test their match ammo for accuracy - they use volumetric loadings that probably have a .5 or more grain spread.

The humidity in your loading room can affect a charge weight by .02 grains. For 99.9999999999% of all shooting, a .1 grain margin of error is more than enough.

If you don't have VERY consistent brass, in terms of volume, I don't believe you're going to reap any real benefits with weighing powder down to 0.02 grains. OTOH, it can't hurt. To really take advantage of that much precision in charging, I'd say you need to sort brass by volume and then start taking a look at neck tension with every bullet you seat.

you can't look at the powder charge as a singular unit. shooting performance is the sum of the parts and striving for the least tolerance deviation on each part will make you consistent, accurate, etc.... getting your charges as close as possible is one of the things we have control over and can and should shoot for the best that the tools allow.

Yes, you are correct. Take my 6.5x47 Lapua. If I loaded up ammo with some rounds .04 to even .1 grains more than my optimal charge, I probably would not notice it inside 600 yards, except with a slightly more velocity in the .1 grain. What my point is, is that the .1 grains on a charge master is not actually .1 grains. It's a .2 grain spread because of the error factor in the scale. .2 grains is equal to about 20-25 fps for most calibers. If you are trying to achieve the most consistent ammo possible, you want something better than a .2 grain spread. I like to load my match ammo to the kernel of powder. Is this possible- yes it is. 1 kernel of H4350 weighs right at .025 grains (4 kernels weighs right at .1 of a grain). So, a scale that is accurate to .02 grains with an error factor less than .02 grains will achieve this. Do you need this precision for hunting ammo at normal distances- No. In fact, when I load my basic hunting ammo for my 270 Win or 223 and I am generally in a hurry, and I load it only with the charge master, b/c the .1-.2 grain spread is fine for this ammo. For my competition or long range precision (and especially for my 300 Win Mag that I shoot out past 1000 yards), the .02 grains consistency is very important. .02 grains will keep your speeds as consistent as possible, especially at longer range distances when I'm playing around at 1400-1780 yards.

I understand that, but I also understand that two charges of exactly the same volume or weight of powder will not burn exactly the same - even if they are from the same lot and same bottle- and spending so much time to get (what I view anyway) as essentially zero added benefit doesn't make sense to me.

More time can be spent, and with better results, with other factors - sizing your brass right, trigger control, etc. than the benefits gained from counting kernels of powder in the case.

Also have been told florescent lights will effect digital scales as well, just a thought if that is the lighting you use for reloading. Use a beam scale myself and have no issues....... just my .o2.

... sum of the parts. this part is controllable.

I can also assure you that a ES of 8-10 fps is far to the right of "zero added benefit"

More food for thought.
http://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/04/18/how-much-does-sd-matter/

^^Great link^^

Guess my Chargemaster is still up to the task making SD of 7. I concur that if you're missing with a good handload, it is extremely likey it is wind. Myself and my students have made plenty of horizontal lines across targets. Meaning the bullets did not vary on the vertical plane, but they do vary on the horizontal, that's wind. Also supports the reason I perform a ladder test.