Need Recomendations For New Rifle Weigh In Scale

KEITH MYERS

KEITH MYERS

New member
I am currently getting all my supplies ready as Match director. I need to purchase a scale for rifle weight in.
 
Sam's Club sells a digital scale that weighs in lbs/ozs and sells for less than $50. It's what I use at Rachel's Glen. It will weigh anything up to 350 + pounds.
 
How big is the platform? Do you use anything to help center the weight of a rifle when using it? I was thinking of placing an aluminum cleaning cradle on top of the scale.
 
go read its specs.
since we have a one ounce allowable,,,, the scale needs to be sensitive to less than that...
and yes i just lay mine across the scale too...

mike in co
 
Also, if you are shooting registered NBRSA or IBS you will need to have on hand, either borrow or buy. a set of certified weights for 10.5# and 3#. These are needed to zero your scales and if they are digital/electronic they will need about a 10 minute minimum warmup before zeroing.
 
I use a set of Ultraship 50's and they work pretty well. I'm not sure what the resolution is, but I check them with a set of official weights when I weigh a rifle to make weight. As long as my rifle weighs at or a half ounce to ounce less than the what the official weights weigh, I feel I'm good to go. The scales will weigh in lbs and ounces as well as decimal pounds with my 10.5 pound weight weighing 10 lbs 8.5 ounces according to the scales.
 
You will need a 10 LB Cert weight if you have any 6X rifles show up to shoot. A 10, a 3 and a 1/2 lb weight(s) will cover everything.
 
If one is looking for affordability, it would seem that the discussion becomes which Chinese scale to buy. Our local Harbor Freight has a Sunday ad, every so often, that has a coupon that is redeemable for a 20% discount on any one item, with some exceptions. I used one to buy this scale, http://www.harborfreight.com/70-lb-32-kg-digital-postal-scale-95069.html which you may note, weighs to .2 oz. and is on sale for the rest of today. Mine seems to work just fine.
 
I bought an electronic scale about 5 yrs ago. This is an AND--Model SK-10K reads to .01 lbs. It will give me the same weight
marked on the barrel a year later in hundreths of a lb. Think maybe It cost $ 299.00, I have no regrets. Actually I'm thinking about
a second one to more closely define rifle balance.
 
Bought a scale the other day that reads in pounds and 10's oz. So 12 lb and 2.5oz might be a reading. That part is ok.
But if I move my rifle left and right on the platform I can change the weight reading. What do you do about that when trying to weigh rifles? I think it has to do with the center balence point of the rifle being in the center of the platform.
If the barrel weight extending too far past center pushes the scale platform down at an angle or not straight down it seems to effect the weight reading alot.
What is the technique ya'll use when weighing rifles? Don't want to have any problems at my upcoming NBRSA 600 yd match.
Mike
 
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Keith,
I bought a My Weigh Ultra Ship 75 from "Oldwillknottscales.com" out of Oklahoma several years ago and have been happy with it. It weighs up to 75lbs, has a remote display that you can detach from the main unit, has a 30 year warranty and has a service center in Phoenix ( which I have never had to use :) ). It sells for $44.90 and runs on AC or batteries. I use it quite a bit around the house for weighing rifles, packages and just about everything. I also use it at our registered VFS Matches. You might check them out or give them a call.

Best,
Dan Batko

"Where are we going and why am I in this basket?"
 
mike cockcroft said:
Bought a scale the other day that reads in pounds and 10's oz. So 12 lb and 2.5oz might be a reading. That part is ok.
But if I move my rifle left and right on the platform I can change the weight reading. What do you do about that when trying to weigh rifles? I think it has to do with the center balance point of the rifle being in the center of the platform.
Mike
Click to expand...
The load cell in most of these modern import postal scales is mighty small. Accurate but small and yes the load on the platen needs to be balanced. Most times even balance left and right and slightly to the front.
 
KEITH MYERS said:
I wonder if using a cleaning cradle on top of the scale would help with the balance issues.
Click to expand...

It doesn't on mine. The issue is not weight distribution. The issue is balance, that is what throws the platen guides into a bind.

If you could get it apart and lube the platen guides and the holes they run in it might help a little...but not that much I'd guess.
 
gene,,,
nice scale but a bit expensive in todays market.

mike in co
 
mike in co said:
gene,,,
nice scale but a bit expensive in todays market.

mike in co
Click to expand...

Mike, When I bought mine the price then was around $150 so I figured buy the best the first time and cry once.
So far, no disappointment. I really like the .01 pound increments. Makes it easy to add up componenents to arrive at a certain weight.
There was some concern about it's not reading ounces but multipling the reading by 16 will give ounces.
Gene
 
Gene DeLoney said:
Mike, When I bought mine the price then was around $150 so I figured buy the best the first time and cry once.
So far, no disappointment. I really like the .01 pound increments. Makes it easy to add up componenents to arrive at a certain weight.
There was some concern about it's not reading ounces but multipling the reading by 16 will give ounces.
Gene
Click to expand...
Yes Gene, I agree. Never any funny numbers at all and all the parts add up right
 
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