Calipers

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Nowhere did I say I could and why the personal attacks?



should I crawl under my press and watch the ram kick back and forth also?

Thank the Lord for the ignore feature on this forum

Nope, you didn't say that. My apologies.

 

[oldduc]

Wait.....you mean these are not accurate enough for benchrest? They are really good plastic!

 

[Sixgun]

As long as it's made out of steel...it doesn't matter. They can all be zeroed out and you can check them by mic-ing a feeler gauge.

 

[Pwc]

For what we do, Harbor Freight calipers checked against drill index is good. If you use digital, remember to take batts out when you finish load session. Eventhough you turn them off, not all ele capilers go 'off', but to sleep. My $19 HF caliper readings match my micrometer.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Mit claims +/- .001" accuracy for their best calipers and +/- .00005" for their best micrometer. That's 20x more accurate. Yes, calipers have their place in every shop and reloader's tool set, but a mic is the correct tool for the job IF you need a precise measurement. You decide which is best in your application and as I said before, I do use calipers every single day. Resolution and accuracy are very different. I wish they wouldn't offer tools with better resolution than their own accuracy claim but I would guess that it sells a lot of tools.
I let this thread frustrate me as I've been in the tool and die industry to some extent for over 30 years. I get on shooting forums where .0002" tolerances are tossed around like child's play and then someone posts a pic measuring something with a set of calipers, to back it up...etc.

Ya gotta be smarter than what you're working with, comes to mind. That's not pointed at anyone, just a way of saying, pick the right tool for the job and know it's and your own limitations.

Here's a link to Mit.
https://www.mitutoyo.com/literature/

 

[Bob3700]

Ya there is that when your using electronic

For the reloading work we do u dont need a Starrett or other expensive caliper. Truly, they are only good to .001" anyway.
If u need more accuracy than that, a micrometer is required.
The inexpensive calipers are just fine.

 

[dmoran]

For what we do, Harbor Freight calipers checked against drill index is good....

Measure that drill index out at the tips of the jaws, again in the middle of the jaws, and again near the frame. Often with many cheap-ola's, there can be a few thousandths difference across the jaws. Do the same with higher-end caliper's, for a comparison. Likely you will see them hold true across the same jaw positions.

 

[muleman69]

BTW- I learned this from someone who spent a few decades as a US buyer for Chinese manufactured goods.

You give them the specs and they will manufacture the product for the agreed upon wholesale price at whatever QC adherence you set. So it is up the buyer to set the quality of the product, from shoes to electronic measuring devices.

Interesting,do they also set the quality of the components?

 

[Cloudrepair]

This setup gets me thru most stuff.

 

[Jeff3680]

Buy once cry once . Mitutoyo absolute's are the way to go .... Take it from a guy that makes his living using them ... But they are still not a mic ...

 

[Milo 2.0]

In the grand scheme of what we pay for this hobby, paying 100 for set of Mitutoyo's which last a long time, what pct would it be?
I was going to stay the coarse with my rifle builds this yr, last week I could live no longer w/o the Borden SS6. If I bought a new set today, I'd be at 8% for the yr, add in a stock, barrel, scope, trigger, loading components, be at 3%.
I could buy new calipers yearly and it would be less than 1% of total expenditures.

 

[Sniper338]

I bought some Mitutoyos... thanks for the help guys. Just cant go wrong with these...

 

[JimSC]

you guys persuaded me also. Just ordered a nice Starrett dial caliper. It may or may not help with my targets but I think it might be the right time to pimp out my reloading bench

 

[Sniper338]

Well. It just makes since...

Scale and accessories $1600
Annealer and parts- $1800
Dies - $2000
Neck tools and accessories $2000
Press $300
Arbor press $400
Misc tools - $5000
Etc...
Etc...

At the end of the day we got all this nice equiptment and 25 dollar calipers? Whats $100-$300 for a set of calipers when you got over 20k in precision reloading equiptment.

 

[JimSC]

I am getting 95 - 97% with the occasional 98% 60 shot aggregates regularly and using maybe $2500 worth of reloading equipment. I have wasted half that much or more on stuff that turned out to have no measurable effect whatsoever on my scores. But I am set up now to where my rifles and barrels should last me the year so consumables are all I really need so I have room in the budget for some luxury items.

 

[PatMiles]

Ive been fighting the batteries going dead on electronic ones, drives me nuts.

Battery life depends on the brand. I still have a Starrett electronic micrometer that would kill batteries while off and in a drawer. This model was known for doing just that. Called Starrett and was told "Yawn". Got tired of pulling and reinstalling the battery when I needed to use it. Finally went with a Mitutoyo which also has an auto off which the Starrett did not. No more Starrett stuff for me.

 

[SeabeeKen]

Electronic or manuel?

Mitutoyo or starett?

Or cheap frankfort arsenal electronic?

How big is the quality difference from cheap to expensive? Are cheap ones just as accurate? I never see this discussed...

I found these on Amazon. As good as any ive ever seen. accurate and repeatable. They have dial hands for standard and metric readings. I was so impressed with them that i ordered a set for my son and an extra for me. At $35 you cant go wrong. Very well made

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B5XJW7I/?tag=accuratescom-20

 

[Fotheringill]

Interesting,do they also set the quality of the components?

Yes.

 

[Milo 2.0]

Battery life depends on the brand. I still have a Starrett electronic micrometer that would kill batteries while off and in a drawer. This model was known for doing just that. Called Starrett and was told "Yawn". Got tired of pulling and reinstalling the battery when I needed to use it. Finally went with a Mitutoyo which also has an auto off which the Starrett did not. No more Starrett stuff for me.

I bought the Starrett digital, knowing the jap model was superior. More for the 4th number being smaller, I hate the 4 big numbers after the decimal point.
My Starrett 120A I bought in 2000 is still going strong. But being able to zero a digi with comparators and other addons is great, or easier.

 

[holstil]

I prefer Brown & Sharpe mics and calipers over mitutoyo and starrett.
Swiss made.