micrometers

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larry7293

larry7293

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Looking to buy a micrometer. Any suggestions on what to buy and what not to buy? Is Fowler a good brand. Saw this one on Amazon.
Fowler Full Warranty Outside Inch Micrometer, 52-253-001-1, Friction Stop Thimble, 0-1" Measuring Range, 0.00016" Accuracy, 0.001" Graduation
 
Ratchet or friction is fine get some gauge pins and you can get a feel for how to use a regular micrometer on round objects. If your readings don’t match the number of the precision ground rod, your using it wrong or the tool is wrong.

For micrometers I’d get one that reads to the “tenth” (of a thousandth) .000x.

Like this one.

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/42416974

You can spend more but a cheap one and gauge pins in the diameters you are wanting to measure that you can use as standards will be better than just a “top shelf” micrometer alone.
 
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Maybe give consideration to these/clone of these:

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I have used this very inexpensive Chinese made micrometer for a lot of years (Centech P895 w/.0001") that work very well, have a nice smooth feel (to include a ratchet action), and have extremely well finished mirror bright faces and flatness. When checked with gauge blocks it was dead-on, repeatable, and far more precise than I have ever needed for any reloading duties, checking engine valve shim thickness, etc... Also get a nice wooden box and calibration tool.

I think they may have been discontinued by Harbor Freight, as it seems all they have now use a battery powered LCD (which may be to your liking. Good luck.
 
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Walkalong said:
What will you be measuring? A good set of dial or digital calipers will do most reloading tasks.
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I agree. And as jmorris posted. A "standard" pin or block (known size) is useful, as fine particals and dust can cause the caliper to lose it's zero and it would be good to know that the caliper is keeping good measurement through it's range.
 
My recent experience with Fowler, with a 2-year-old dial caliper which had its carriage lock screw strip, leads me far away from that company. It took them three tries and four screw replacements, which STILL do not fit the threads. I then went for Starrett, an American company, the quality of which is unmatched outside of Switzerland. I have an Etalon mike which is outstanding, even after 60 years.
 
Walkalong said:
What will you be measuring? A good set of dial or digital calipers will do most reloading tasks.
Click to expand...

This is kind of how I found out that the HF calipers I have were off in specific areas, though out the full scale. I had knocked the set over and had 190 pins to pickup, and sort back to there home.

I have Starrett and Mitutoyo calipers and micrometers.
 
A couple of years ago when I was beefing up my collection of outside calipers there were lots of used Starrett and Brown & Sharpe on ebay for ludicrously low prices. Manufacturing is dead/dying in this country, and there are a lot of precision instruments being disposed of as a result. Obviously the last calibration date of such devices will be some time past, but as others have suggested buying a few standards will allow you to see that in most cases this is a non-issue.
 
All of my precision tools are either Starrett or Brown and Sharpe which I have picked up for ridiculous prices at swap meets, pawn shops or EBay.
 
Kp321 said:
All of my precision tools are either Starrett or Brown and Sharpe which I have picked up for ridiculous prices at swap meets, pawn shops or EBay.
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All of my precision measuring tools are Starrett, Mitutoyo, or Brown & Sharpe which I have purchased at ridiculous prices from machinists' tool vendors. (sigh)
 
larry7293 said:
Walkalong said:
What will you be measuring?
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Measuring bullet and case diameters. Accuracy.
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Walkalong said:
A good set of dial or digital calipers will do most reloading tasks.
Click to expand...
kcofohio said:
A "standard" pin [gauge] or block ... is useful
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I agree. I used to have Starrett micrometers but they were sold off. I do not believe we need micrometer level of accuracy for reloading. Keep in mind, countless matches (even 1000 yard Palma) were won using .001" dial calipers and .1 gr resolution beam scales for decades. :)

My one year old Frankford Arsenal dial calipers and Harbor Freight digital calipers of several years will repeatedly verify .355"/.400"/.451" +/- pin gauges which I deem good enough for reloading (Like .1 gr resolution beam scales). Certainly good enough for measuring bullets and case diameters - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/decent-cheap-calipers.839937/#post-10898609

Like check weights for scales, I believe having known "standards" like pin gauges are key to consistent and more accurate readings. Since you are measuring round objects like bullet and case diameters, round pin gauges (in the same diameter of bullets) should be good practice to get the "feel" of calipers.

Keep in mind, since many resized cases and finished rounds are often out-of-round due to uneven case wall thickness (sometimes even bullets/projectiles :(), you need to take multiple measurements around the case mouth/neck. ;)

Case wall thickness variance .100" below case mouth (sad but true) - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...nd-bullet-setback.830072/page-3#post-10712225

Case wall thickness variance .200" below case mouth (and we wonder about bullet setback variance) - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...nd-bullet-setback.830072/page-3#post-10713822


FYI, here are some bullet diameters I measured (Depending on your bore/groove diameter of barrels, bullet diameter can have significant effect on chamber pressure/accuracy as many factory barrels are oversized at .356"+ and larger sized bullets can help produce more consistent chamber pressures):

Jacketed bullets:

Hornady 115 gr HAP - 0.355" (Box indicated 0.355")
Hornady 125 gr HAP - 0.356" (Box indicated 0.356")
Precision Delta 124 gr JHP - 0.355" (Advertised at 0.355")
Remington 124 gr FMJ - 0.355" (Advertised at .355")
RMR in-house 115/124 gr FMJ - 0.3555" (Advertised at 0.355")
RMR in-house 124 gr JHP - 0.355" (Advertised at 0.355")
Winchester 115 gr FMJ - 0.355" (Advertised at 0.355")
Zero 115 gr FMJ - 0.356" (Advertised at 0.355")


Plated bullets:

Berry's 115/124 gr RN regular/thick plated - 0.356" (Box indicated 0.356")
Hunting Shack Munitions 115/124 gr RN - 0.356" (Box indicated 0.355")
Power Bond 115 gr RN - 0.355" (Advertised at 0.355")
Power Bond 124 gr RN - 0.356" (Advertised at 0.355")
Rainier 115/124 gr RN - 0.355" (Box indicated 0.355")
RMR 115 gr Hardcore Match RN thick plated - 0.3565" (Advertised at 0.356")
RMR 124 gr Hardcore Match RN thick plated - 0.3565" (Advertised at 0.3565")
Speer 124 gr Gold Dot HP - 0.3555" (Advertised at 0.355")
Speer 115/124 gr TMJ - 0.3555" (Box indicated 0.355")
X-Treme 115/124 gr RN regular/thick plated - 0.355" (Advertised at 0.355")
 
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Don't over buy and spend $ for precision you don't need. I have an old General/National micrometer and a no name stainless dial caliper that have served me well for years (both graduated to .001") and still check out as accurate. Cost under $15 each.

Recently I picked up a digital break caliper from HF for a special project. It was good enough for that project, but every time I go to use it the battery is dead. I've sworn off digital measuring devices for this reason and the fact that I can't trust zero without checking each time. Like guns, when I want it, I want it to work.
 
SCC said:
Recently I picked up a digital break caliper from HF for a special project. It was good enough for that project, but every time I go to use it the battery is dead.
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This is due to the fact that the cheap digital calipers come equipped with an alkaline battery rather than a proper silver oxide one. The calipers never turn off, only the display. The silver oxide batteries have a greater static voltage and about twice the capacity, lasting much longer in this application. In the end you have to remove the battery when the caliper is not in use to prevent draining the battery, but using silver oxide gives you enough additional runtime to where this isn't such an issue.
 
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Blue68f100 said:
This is kind of how I found out that the HF calipers I have were off in specific areas, though out the full scale. I had knocked the set over and had 190 pins to pickup, and sort back to there home.

I have Starrett and Mitutoyo calipers and micrometers.
Click to expand...
that's the exact same as I use.
 
Galil5.56 said:
Maybe give consideration to these/clone of these:

View attachment 799537

I have used this very inexpensive Chinese made micrometer for a lot of years (Centech P895 w/.0001") that work very well, have a nice smooth feel (to include a ratchet action), and have extremely well finished mirror bright faces and flatness. When checked with gauge blocks it was dead-on, repeatable, and far more precise than I have ever needed for any reloading duties, checking engine valve shim thickness, etc... Also get a nice wooden box and calibration tool.

I think they may have been discontinued by Harbor Freight, as it seems all they have now use a battery powered LCD (which may be to your liking. Good luck.
Click to expand...


I have and use (5 yrs) one of the Harbor Freight Chentech micros and find it as stated above
 
ray15 said:
This is due to the fact that the cheap digital calipers come equipped with an alkaline battery rather than a proper silver oxide one. The calipers never turn off, only the display. The silver oxide batteries have a greater static voltage and about twice the capacity, lasting much longer in this application. In the end you have to remove the battery when the caliper is not in use to prevent draining the battery, but using silver oxide gives you enough additional runtime to where this isn't such an issue.
Click to expand...

Until the battery pukes all over the electronics.



bds said:
I do not believe we need micrometer level of accuracy for reloading.
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Same here. A decent dial caliper is all you need for reloading. Just don’t drop them.
 
rskent said:
Until the battery pukes all over the electronics.
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I have a Helios dial caliper (or Starrett outside mics) I can fall back on, but it's not come to that. It doesn't remove the utility of the 20 dollar digital calipers.
 
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