I weight sort my pellets into batches that are separated by .1 grain. The reason I do this is to eliminate a variable, different pellet weights, that I have control over. I know I'm shooting ammunition out of my guns that is good as it can be. I'm mainly a hunter, and consistency in pellet weight is important to me at the longer ranges that I shoot. Eighty plus yard shots are quite common on ground squirrels and prairie dogs. Consistent pellet weight is one of the important criteria for hitting small targets at those ranges.
When weight sorting my pellets, I want a scale that is fast, accurate, and repeatable. After disappointing results from several of the commonly available reloading scales, I decided to see what else might be available in the marketplace.
You have to love Google and the internet. After some online research, I found the scales that are used in the Jewelry Business. These folks are dealing in gems and precious metals. I have a feeling that they are going to be real picky about accuracy and repeatability.
My next thought was, "but these scales aren't going to weigh in grains, they're going to weigh in carats, milligrams, and things like that. Actually, what I found was, yes they weigh in those weight measurements, and others, but many of them also weigh in grains.
For my application, I don't need a scale that weighs items up to 750, or 1000 plus grains. However, I do need a scale that will cover a weight range of about 7 grains to 45 grains, and do it quickly, accurately, and be repeatable. One of the things that drove me nuts about the reloading scales was, I could weigh the same pellet five times and get three different weights plus or minus a couple of tenths. It seemed like I was constantly re-zeroing the scales also. Not good enough for my application.
I purchased an American Weigh Scales model DIA-10. It weighs in grains down to .01 grain. I have found it to be very fast, accurate and repeatable. As a backup, I also purchased a Jennings JS-VG gemological scale that weighs in grains down to .1 grain. The scales look identical, just different brand names and a slightly different feature set. They both work to perfection.
These scales are not expensive either. They are in the $70 to $90 range. I actually picked up the JS-VG for $20 on a blemished sample sale. The pan cover had a very tiny crack in it. Not a problem. They come with calibration weights, a pair of tweezers for picking up small items, and run on four triple AAA type batteries. They also have auto power off to conserve battery life.
If you want an accurate, fast, repeatable scale for sorting pellets, check out some of the scales being used in the Jewelry Business. The ones I have work great.
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