Looking for calipers

You may not believe it, but my Harbor Freight digital calipers work great, cost little (under $20). For 'my' needs they are more than sufficient and more accurate than I'd ever notice.

Honestly, IMHO, just about everybody's are made in China anyway. Your needs may vary, I'm just loading range plinking, low-mid power, MOD (Minute of Dead) accurate loads.

Yep!

I use an old Midway dial caliper. No batterys to fuss over!
If I have to be more precise, I have a couple of Starrett micrometers from when I had a real job in tool & die work.

But if I was to buy a digital, I would get a Harbor Freight "top of the Chinese line" model.

If it doesn't work, throw it away and buy another one.

PS: If you have a H-F store near you, take a jacketed bullet of known diameter with you and test it out before you buy it.

rc

I have a Mititoyo set that is fantastic, but I also have a Lyman digital set that is just as accurate, but it does require batteries.

Hope this helps.

Fred

Speaking of batterys.

I have seen here on THR several times where folks experiancing fast battery drain found the fitted case the H-F calipers come in turns them on when the lid is shut.

Cut away the lid liner to clear the ON button and the problem goes away.

rc

I have an RCBS one and am happy with it:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=899293

Well I have a set of broken harbor freight ones so I don't think I want to do those again.
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Well take them back to Harbor Freight and get them replaced. Should not be any problem at all.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=43546&cat=1,43513

They've got 'em from $30 on up, including a Starrett if you want to burn money. Great company, too!

ReloaderFred said:

I have a Mititoyo set that is fantastic, but I also have a Lyman digital set that is just as accurate, but it does require batteries.

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I've bought quite a few LNIB reloading related tools on Ebay. Recently, I bought the set below for $80. Both the Mitutoyo digital caliper and digital micrometer are in PERFECT like-new condition and came in the nice wooden box shown. I also bought a LNIB Mitutoyo dial caliper about a year ago for $26!! I bought a Mitutoyo dial indicator and a Mitutoyo analog micrometer a couple of years ago (both virtually new) for $22 and $25 respectively.

Plus 1 on Evilbay.

You can also sometimes find fairly good buys on Starret & Mitutoyo in pawn shops too.

rc

RCBS vernier caliper & Mitutoyo micrometer . Started years ago with the plastic one. A feeler gauge is handy for checking the gap between cylinder and barrel on revolvers, + setting shoulder bump when setting up FLRSing dies.

rcmodel said:

Speaking of batterys.

I have seen here on THR several times where folks experiancing fast battery drain found the fitted case the H-F calipers come in turns them on when the lid is shut.

Cut away the lid liner to clear the ON button and the problem goes away.

rc

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Hmmmm, makes sense. Will have to check it out.

I have experienced short battery life with the inexpensive calipers although have not seen it turned on by the box. I do remove the battery when not in use.

I find the Frankfort calipers are adequately accurate but most of the time I use a solar caliper. It's a pain to use sometimes when the solar cell gets shielded. It is more expensive than what the original poster is looking for.

rcmodel said:

Plus 1 on Evilbay.

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All of the items shown here are in like-new condition and the total cost on Evilbay was less than $150 which includes shipping. They all came with cases too. To put that in perspective, a new Mitutoyo 6" digital caliper is around $150.

I went to Menards (a local Lowes/HomeDepot) type store.
Cost me less than $25

S&W brand from Midway. No problems so far. Had a $15 unknown brand caliper off of ebay and had to return it.

For digital I have 3 different brands. HF, Carrera and Wixey. Apart from the display differences, I can't tell the difference.

My issue with most calipers is the thumb wheel. Any that I have tried had edges that hurts my thumb. We do have a Starrett dial without a thumb wheel, which I like. But you have to pay for the name.

I bought a set of digital calipers from Harbor Freight and they work just fine. I tested their accuracy against several others and they are right on...

Harbor Freight works fine IF:

you buy the slightly more expensive stainless steel 6", and that 1. will zero at any length 2.has auto shut-off 3. comes with spare battery 4. reads to the nearest .0005 and accurate to .0001

The price is less than $20-on sale is about $15. Their less expensive shorter ones are poorly made (plastic or other) and won't zero at any point in the movement.

I had a Franklin and dropped it, so I bought a Harbor Freight. I like the HF best and they BOTH still agree on length

I have a Mitutoyo -- about 36 years old--still very accurate.
two digital from Harbor-Freight---one very accurate--one - 1000th of an inch off--not bad for$10 on sale
A Frankford from Midway--dial unit--very accurate--about $30--on sale right now $21

Walkalong: And that's the truth. 4-decimal display-4th digit is 'either' 0 or 5, accurate to the +/- .001". If your oal is 1.1353, the readout will be 1.1355. If the oal is 1.1352, the readout is 1.1350.

Sure 'sounds complicated, doesn't it. Works well and is easy to read.

Try your local pawn shops. We got a Starrett dial caliper that retails for over $100 for $15. Just be sure to test them out first.