I have been muddling by with the analog calipers I have from reloading, but would like to step up to a decent set of digital calipers, preferably in metal as well since my current set are plastic. Home Depot has them online for as low as $35 but my local stores don’t seem to carry them, or if they do I can’t find them and neither can the mouth-breathing idiots working there.
Will a set like the $35 example above do? I’m not measuring uranium or anything, just gun parts, mostly for documentation purposes and maybe a bit for some light fitting here and there. What do I get out of the deal for stepping up to the $90 model other than a longer beam that I don’t need?
Better selection/sources online? I don’t mind ordering sight unseen if there’s a make/model that tends to get good feedback in the shooting community. I also don’t mind spending on quality, but there is certainly a point of “good enough” for me on these. I don’t need the Colt, I don’t want the DPMS, but hope to find something in the Sabre/S&W range in terms of quality and features.
Why do you need digital? What’s wrong with your current calipers?
If you insist on going digital, just check out any on-line mail order house that carries relaoding supplies; Midway, Natchez, Lock, Stock and Barrel, etc. They have models at various price points, but I doubt they’re going to be any more accurate than an anlog dial indicator model.
I suggest not going to reloading places. Find some place that only deals with calipers and scales. The reloading sites will just be reselling them for more because they are not buying in bulk like a caliper/scale/measuring device site.
A few things. One is that they are not reading consistently. I have had some cases where I’ve measured something and taken a picture only to find out I had done the same thing prior and gotten a different reading. Nothing earth shattering, but I’d like more consistency in a metal beam than what I think I’m getting from the plastic parts.
I tend to take pictures of things being measured and weighed as my way of keeping records for myself, and digital also shows up better and easier in the photos.
and frankly, since a move not too long ago, I’m not entirely sure where the plastic ones are, and it’s not worth tearing apart the closet trying to find it. Easier to just buy a newer/better version of what I want than spend hours looking for a sub-standard part that I might not find anyway.
I understand your point about photographing measurements, that makes sense. The erason I was asked was there’s no inherent accuracy advantage that I’m aware of between digital and analog.
If you go to reloading on-line vendors, they all will have a decent selection of models at various price points. Between RCBS, Hornady and Lyman I always find RCBS is priced a bit higher, but I wonder if they’re the same exact model. Nobody mfg’s these, they just have models branded with their label. And all of them are probably made in China unless you jump up to Starrett, Mituyoto (sp??), etc. Then you’re into your “Colt” scenario.
Lastly, if you have a requirement to measure down to the ten-thousandths accurately you’ll need a micrometer. But if you’re looking to go no better than thousandths, then calipers work fine.
Will those do difference measuring too? Where you set it on a known object and then measure the +/- for each additional object?
My scale has a setting like this and I love it. I can set something on it, hit the reset, and then everything else I put on the scale tells me how much over or under the original object it weighs. I never thought of having this feature in calipers until I read a description on one of the Brownells pages, and now I like the idea.
I personally own a digital caliper and micrometer from them. Working in the aviation Quality Assurance business, where obviously parts are held to very high tolerances, I have found their tools to be of very good quality.
the General caliper that home depot sells is a good, inexpensive unit… battery life isn’t great, but it starts showing signs of battery depletion long before it actually goes out, so you have plenty of advanced warning. probably also depends on how much you use it- i use mine daily, and sometimes for quite a while at a time.
i’ve learned from experience not to buy anything that should be build with any degree of precision from harbor freight- those guys make some straight up gangster shit. but i have noticed that their mic and calip sets both seem to be well made. i still won’t buy 'em.
for the best selection of this kind of thing, try to find a machining tool shop… my local shop has about 15 different caliper and mic sets each, from $15 to $400. and they recommend the General, for a non-machinist.
I got two of the Frankford Arsenal when they were on sale at MidwayUSA for about $20ea. I find them quicker and easier to use than the analog.
I zero and use both of them at the same time and check one against the other and they have been consistently accurate (at least with each other) for a couple of years.
Rob, this is one area where I would pay the extra coin to get a quality tool. I know you say you don’t need first class but my guess if you will use them more than you think.
Sinclair sells a Starrett for $151 and the Mitutoyo for $137. I would also check with any compadres that run machine shops to see if they have some better disty prices.
Any auto parts place (Checker/Kragen/whatever they are in FL, Autozone, Pep Boys) will have an inexpensive set equal to what you get from Midway or Cabelas or other inexpensive sets. $20-$40 range. They are all made in China and probably are all variants of the same one
CED has a nice stainless steel one for about $60. I usually carry it but am out at the moment.
Same here, mine has worked great. I’ve had it for around 3-4 years now and I’m only on my second battery (which was even included with the device) though I can’t say that I use it all that often. I use it primarily for reloading, but also for a few other measurement tasks as needed.
A couple of years ago I found a complete set of Brown & Sharp micrometers 0-1’’ ,1’‘-2’‘,3’‘-4’’ and 0-6’’ dial calipers at a pawn shop I think I remember paying $60 for the complete set its not Mitutoyo but it is better than what you would get at harbor freight no plastic all stainless steel the kit also came with gauges to check there zero they all pass the gauge checks. Hell I don’t think they were ever used.
most likely true. and that is why I bought two. I think I paid $39 for both of them.
aside from the “two is one, one is none” habit, I use them to check one against the other and they have been within 1/10,000" for the last couple of years.
