blazerking78
Member
I have been wanting to get a good digital caliper for my reloading and was wondering if any of you have any preferences to a brand and why? How far should the measurement go, to .00 or .000?
Caliper Choice?
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D. Manley
Member
There are lots of good calipers out there and for the most part, I believe many are actually produced by the same vendor and merely "branded" for different companies. The only bad ones I ever got was a cheap set from Harbor Freight that was a few thousandths off and could not be corrected. FWIW, the last 3 I got were CARRERA PRECISION and have been excellent for the money. I particularly like the titanium version although the standard version is perfectly adequate. The three sets I have now consistently measure precisely the same to .0005 decimals.
dubbleA
Member
Browne & Sharpe, Starrett and Mitutoyo are the the better instrument brands, whether you want to spend the money on them is up to you. Measuring to the 3rd decimel place is plenty for handloading.
highorder
Member
My caliper is a Mitutoyo, my micrometers are Mitutoyo and Starrett, with one Brown & Sharpe.
Most were hand me downs from the old boys that retired from my shop.
Most were hand me downs from the old boys that retired from my shop.
ranger335v
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Ditto to Cajun's experience with Harbor Freight calipers.
My first "cheap" Chinese caliper was years ago from Midway, their brand, but later noticed the HF model was identical so I got another for about half the Midway price. Now, I have several. So far as I can tell, all of the reloading company branded calipers, dial or digital, are identical to mine. ???
I'm sure they don't always work tho. I once bought an expensive Porter-Cable router that was bad and a DeWalt drill that was bad, but both were quickly replaced. I've had a few new cars that also had to have some dealer corrections. All that's irritating but such failures are a fact of life. I guess it's no big deal when the seller stands behind the products. I've had a few failures with HF's inexpensive air tools but they do refund or replace immediately. (It's easier if you kept the sales receipt!)
I now have two (HF) 6" dial calipers, one 12" dial capiper, one 6" digital, three 1" dial indicators plus two 1" and one 2" micrometers. They all agree with my Brown & Sharpe/Starrett micrometers, the older Midway caliper and a Swiss made (Craftsman branded) 6" vernier caliper. They all agree quite well, the worst is within a quarter thousant on my Johanson blocks for total accuracy. And I've had no returns.
For (some) professional machinests the better ones are likely worth the cost but spending 8 to 12 times more money for big name brands on 6" calipers to be used for reloading is pointless, IMHO. Pay what it takes to make you comfortable but know we can afford to break a lot of HF calipers before we equal half the price of one Starrett. And the expensive ones will be brokern too if dropped!
My first "cheap" Chinese caliper was years ago from Midway, their brand, but later noticed the HF model was identical so I got another for about half the Midway price. Now, I have several. So far as I can tell, all of the reloading company branded calipers, dial or digital, are identical to mine. ???
I'm sure they don't always work tho. I once bought an expensive Porter-Cable router that was bad and a DeWalt drill that was bad, but both were quickly replaced. I've had a few new cars that also had to have some dealer corrections. All that's irritating but such failures are a fact of life. I guess it's no big deal when the seller stands behind the products. I've had a few failures with HF's inexpensive air tools but they do refund or replace immediately. (It's easier if you kept the sales receipt!)
I now have two (HF) 6" dial calipers, one 12" dial capiper, one 6" digital, three 1" dial indicators plus two 1" and one 2" micrometers. They all agree with my Brown & Sharpe/Starrett micrometers, the older Midway caliper and a Swiss made (Craftsman branded) 6" vernier caliper. They all agree quite well, the worst is within a quarter thousant on my Johanson blocks for total accuracy. And I've had no returns.
For (some) professional machinests the better ones are likely worth the cost but spending 8 to 12 times more money for big name brands on 6" calipers to be used for reloading is pointless, IMHO. Pay what it takes to make you comfortable but know we can afford to break a lot of HF calipers before we equal half the price of one Starrett. And the expensive ones will be brokern too if dropped!
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dagger dog
Member
I have the Mitutoyo in metric, and the Chinese cheapos in inch, and both are dead on, I would check the "NAME BRAND" reloading calipers before buying as many of these are Chinese copys and you are paying for the paint and logo only.
Go with the three decimal, most digital battery power are anyway, battery use is a factor with battery digital, I went back to a dail because of battery use. The only way I could get any semblance of battery life is if I removed the battery after use, If I left it in the caliper, it ran down a whole lot quicker.
Go with the three decimal, most digital battery power are anyway, battery use is a factor with battery digital, I went back to a dail because of battery use. The only way I could get any semblance of battery life is if I removed the battery after use, If I left it in the caliper, it ran down a whole lot quicker.
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I have Brown and Sharp, Mitutoyo, and Harbor Freight calipers. I use the easy to read (which is why I bought them) Harbor Freight calipers unless I am measuring to the nearest .0001. Then I get out a micrometer. Also, if something strikes me as odd, I'll break out the good ones and check. The HF ones were on sale for $10 last week, and go on sale regularly.
For 99.9% of our needs, the inexpensive ones work just fine. .001 is not going to make or break us until we get into the more advanced reloading, and even then as long as the caliper repeats its self, we are generally OK.
The link D. Manley provided looks like a good source for inexpensive quality calipers. I book marked it for future reference.
For 99.9% of our needs, the inexpensive ones work just fine. .001 is not going to make or break us until we get into the more advanced reloading, and even then as long as the caliper repeats its self, we are generally OK.
The link D. Manley provided looks like a good source for inexpensive quality calipers. I book marked it for future reference.
If you are going to use for a long time like life or several years then I would recomend Browne & Sharpe, Starrett and Mitutoyo, these are some of the better instrument brands like above post suggested. I have been in the Machine shop business for 38 years and can tell you that you get what you pay for when purchasing measuring tools.
hdblue
Member
I have a set of Starrett Dial calipers and Mics that are about 15 years old. I take them into work every now and again and checked them against a set of calibrated gauge blocks. Always dead nuts on.
Jim Watson
Member
A cheap digital or dial caliper is fine for reloading uses.
Any measurement I have wanted more precision on was less than an inch and better measured with a micrometer. I got a Starrett second hand, for bullet diameter, casehead expansion, etc.
Any measurement I have wanted more precision on was less than an inch and better measured with a micrometer. I got a Starrett second hand, for bullet diameter, casehead expansion, etc.
bobotech
Member
I use the Harbor Freight calipers however I have noticed that they are sensitive to lube or other substance on the slide.
If my fingers have lube or oil of some sort on them and I use the caliper, there is a chance that I will get odd readings. I will slide the caliper out and it might stop reading at a certain point and then start reading again after I pass that odd point.
If I clean them with rubbing alcohol, the problem goes away.
If my fingers have lube or oil of some sort on them and I use the caliper, there is a chance that I will get odd readings. I will slide the caliper out and it might stop reading at a certain point and then start reading again after I pass that odd point.
If I clean them with rubbing alcohol, the problem goes away.
mike6567
Member
Mitutoyo is definitely one of the best brands you can buy but they can be pricey. I have a craftsman digital caliper I've had for years. I've had it calibrated a couple times and every time they say it has barely drifted.
I got the cheap battery-powered, zero reset six-inch from Menards. It measures to 1/1000 and 1/2. Plenty accurate for my purposes. Also, as others have said, it looks identical to any other off-brand - just has a different logo.
Tequila Mockingbird
Member
Look on eBay...I got an excellent Mitutoyo dial caliper for IIRC 15 bucks...
MikeS.
Member
I like my Frankford Arsenal from Midway.
something vague
Member
Tough to chose with all these different suggestions. I just recently bought a set of Mitutoyo as I thought that I needed them for loading my match grade rifle rounds. But after comparing them to a 2 year old set of RCBS digitals I have zero difference in measurement. Go with a midrange priced set and you shouldn't be dissapointed. RCBS customer service reviews are impecable. I would highly reccomend a set of RCBS.
moooose102
Member
personally, i buy a decent set that do not break the bank. brown & sharpe, starrette, etc. are great for a professional machinist, that uses them every day, and his job depends on how accuratly he can measure things. that kind of accuracy and dependability is not REQUIRED in reloading. i have 4 sets of calipers. all 4 sets came from midway. 2 of them say "Midway" right on them, they are dial calipers. i bought them roughly 15 years ago. they still work just fine, and are very accurate. i paid $20.00 each way back then. several months ago, midway had frankford arsenal digital calipers on sale for $20.00 each, with my eyes getting old, i bought 2 set of them. one set had to go back, as they were doa. but both sets (now) work fine, and are accurate as well. for reloading, if you are within .001", your good to go. unless you are trying to set a new world record for accuracy. you should be able to buy a decent set for less than $40.00. just buy from a reputable place that is known for selling decent products. i have bought some stuff from harbor freight myself from time to time. but they are not what i think of when i think quality stuff. most of the stuff i buy from them is either for modifying, (making my own special tools) or for tools i can not take good care of or dont care so much if somebody rips them off. their tools make decent tool kit stuff. but i would not want to rebuild an engine with it.
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