Looking for calipers

[korben88]

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMCTLG=00&PMAKA=FN76832294&partnerURL=http://catalogs.shoplocal.com/mscdirect/index.aspxopagename=shopmainPcircularid=16832Pstoreid=1040626Ppagenumber=49Pmode= That is a pretty good deal. I personally prefer starett or mitutoyo but I have used spi and they are good quality for the price.

 

[abq87120]

http://www.reidsupply.com/Detail.aspx?itm=YPI-1

Just got mine. Shipping was more than I expected but the total was still only $21.24. Works great and returns to 0 accurately.

It's description says you have to order 50 but I thinks that's wrong. I ordered one and it was shipped quickly.

Dan in ABQ

 

[RandyP]

As I and others have posted, for 'most' of us recreational reloaders-shooters, buying very expensive measuring devices is just not warranted. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, the pricier ones of course perform better overall, but you don't always need a BMW to drive to the store for a gallon of milk. lol

The Harbor Freight and similar 'branded' digital calipers are more than adequate to the task for the majority of us. And I say 'digital' because I too have them 62 year old eyeballs - lol

I appreciate that accuracy to the 5th decimal place might be dandy, but as an experiment, measure some factory ammo sometime and let me know if all the rounds fall within that 5th decimal place - lol

 

[ChefJeff1]

Hi fellow Idahoan, mine aren't digital. I got a set of browne and sharpe's on ebay for about$25 or so. I love them. They came in a nice wood case and work great. Easy to read, easy to zero, smooth as butter. Just don't spill gunpowder in the slide, it makes it hard to move.

 

[Hansli]

Harbor freight, had mine 2 years, 1 battery replacement, I use it for lots of things. Certainly accurate enough for reloading and general shop work.

 

[MCMXI]

As I and others have posted, for 'most' of us recreational reloaders-shooters, buying very expensive measuring devices is just not warranted. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, the pricier ones of course perform better overall, but you don't always need a BMW to drive to the store for a gallon of milk. lol

I used the same RCBS stainless steel (made in China) dial caliper for almost 20 years and managed to assemble tens of thousands of high quality loads with it. There was one piece of pot metal on it that was full of cracks (the serrated piece you push with your thumb), but that caliper worked just fine until the day I dropped it on the floor (about two months ago). Word to the wise, don't drop your calipers!!

 

[Ghosty1]

thats crazy. im a machinist, a starret for 15 bux? wow, good on yah!

for practical advice, can you read them, why do you want them?
avoid harbor frieght at all costs. they simply stink. i had a few crap pair that would not calibrate.
and they are very...uncoopertative
best bet, my opine, as this is about guns and you are asking, dial calipers
mitutoyo is really good. almost a standard...used. but a set of used 6" mits, dial
if they are off (they wont be) you can rezero them.
if you have money to burn and need to get closer than .005...then its a silly q, lol.

whatever you do, dont do home depot plastic. might as well use a scale...

-G

 

[Ghosty1]

1858, thats a thumbwhell btw...
it worked perfectly only as far as you know....

id trash it, but thats just me. you have more faith in your guns, than i do in your loads.
(not a slam...just poor tooling....)

-G

 

[jake556]

These are what I use awesome calipers no regrets!

http://cgi.ebay.com/6-150-mm-Digital-vernier-Caliper-gauge-micrometer-15cm-/280585007417?pt=Radio_Control_Vehicles&hash=item41542b7139

 

[Ghosty1]

thats not a very near caliper though!
just get a 6 inch dial caliper from mitutoyo. used even is ok.
you are working with guns, remember? are we gonna cut corners????

-G

 

[Jesse Heywood]

Harbor Freight works fine IF:

3. comes with spare battery

I learned that means you get two dead batteries.

 

[RustyFN]

I'm with RC, I prefer a dial caliper. For me it's easy to read, just as fast and I don't have to worry about batteries. Got these at HF for under $20.

 

[MCMXI]

1858, thats a thumbwhell btw...
it worked perfectly only as far as you know....

Not the wheel, the wheel "carrier" for want of a better word and yes, it worked perfectly ...

 

[Walkalong]

you are working with guns, remember? are we gonna cut corners????

We are talking reloading, where the nearest .001 will do 99% of what we need, and where being a couple thousandths off won't hurt a thing. Unless you are loading for a tight necked chamber and cutting it close (.0005 clearence for instance), the cheaper cailpers work just fine. The nearest .001 will do 100% of what most reloaders need.

We are not talking about cutting chambers, setting headspace, etc, etc.

 

[MCMXI]

you are working with guns, remember? are we gonna cut corners????

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=558622

its more fun to post. im a new reloader...perhaps you could give me tips?

So how much reloading experience do YOU have?!!!

Some folks such as Walkalong and rcmodel have been reloading before many here were born. I've been reloading since '92 and have assembled over 100,000 rounds of numerous pistol and rifle cartridges ... maybe even twice that number. In the early days, I didn't keep records of the 1000+ rounds I reloaded and shot EVERY month. I'm still learning and folks like Walkalong and rcmodel are a big part of that. Reloading is both a science and an art, and the bright people continue to refine both week in and week out. So before you start making posts telling the rest of us what we should or shouldn't be doing, take a good look at how much experience you have.

 

[Art Eatman]

I started reloading for an '06 in 1950. Used to own a serious % interest in a machine shop. Arguments like this make me grumpy.