Hi all, there was a recent thread about digital scales vs beam scales. I recently purchased a Lyman Gen 6 and have been testing and evaluating for about two months and about 1000 reloads. FWIW, just a data point for anyone who is curious, here are my results

I considered a digital scale for three reasons:
1. Efficiency. Beam scales are slow.
2. I was skeptical that my RCBS 5-0-2 was not holding zero. After zeroing the scale, I would periodically check to make sure it was still holding zero. It was not.
3. Reloading bench/setup is built around reading a beam scale at eye level. Either elevate the scale or lower your position relative to the scale.

Today I tested identical loads except one batch was loaded with the beam scale the other with the digital
1. Rifle was a savage model 10 chambered in 223 with a 1x9 twist
2. Accuracy was identical as was POI. Both grouped 10 shots into 1 MOA
3. Velocity differed on average by only 12 FPS.
4. Standard deviation was 11 FPS (beam) vs 21 (digital)*
*A similar load using only a different bullet (52 BTHP) produced a std. dev. of 10 FPS

I'm hesitant to make any conclusions because I'm not convinced of anything. I would need to conduct more tests however I have neither the time nor the inclination for such things. I was very surprised at the performance of my beam scale loads because my bias going into this was that it wasn't holding zero. I didn't expect such a tight standard deviation. Perhaps the beam scale, even if it doesn't hold zero, is still more accurate than a digital scale? Who knows.

At any rate, I'm going to continue to use the digital scale as it is a good balance for me between time, accuracy, and speed.

Bill