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Calipers

I like to have a pair of each. Can measure oal and ogive without having to add and remove the pieces.

I have a dial caliper thats cabelas brand and its good enough, Im just measuring to make sure Im within the confines of mag lenth etc. I dont mount any thing to it anymore.

I also like to have a digital, that allows me to zero out easily. You can do the same operation on a dial, just have to remember that everything is plus 2.xxx or so when using comparators.
Moving from a hornady brand digital to to a mitutoyo 500-196-30 was like a whole new world, when I closed them down on something it gave me a reading and it was a repeatable reading with out a bunch of hehawing back and forth with it like the chicom hornadys. Same number in the end, just much less hassle to get there.
 
I use a digital 98% of the time. The only thing I don't like about them is that if you wait too long before using it again you have to have to turn it on and zero it out again. But the MM/inches feature on the digital is great.
 
I used the same Fowler calipers for over 40 years without issue. Got a deal on a Mitutoyo digital and the only gripe I have is I keep forgetting to turn it off. I'm getting lazy I guess, like the digital, at least today.

Lloyd
 
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Have Fowler and Starrett. Starrett are much newer and the switching from mm-inches much easier. The Starrett also shut off automatically. Also go on automatically which I guess is a handy feature. Accuracy between them I see no difference. Eyes won't do the verniers anymore which is a shame as I have some nice ones. (Mauser for one).
 
RetiredArmy said:
Which calipers do y'all prefer, digital or manual?
Thanks Bill
Click to expand...

I like dial calipers myself, but in a few instances, digitals are simpler to use. Digitals will sustain more abuse, something that should not be an issue with precision tools, but this is a real world we live in. The first dial caliper (Mitutoyo) our shop bought is long ago destroyed and gone. The second caliper we bought about 25 years ago (a Mitutoyo digital) is still going strong and so are all of the digitals (cheap or moderate Chinese) purchased after. Virtually all of the dial calipers (cheap and moderate Chinese) purchased after caliper number two are either trashed and tossed or sitting around the shop in pathetic states of repair, unable to be used.

Danny
 
Have both, my digital is an igaging and three Harbor freight that I've culled out that match my igaging measurements. The Harbor Freight that didn't make it are in my regular shop where 2 or 3 thou don't matter. Harbor Freight has these for 9.99 on a coupon sometimes.
 
It really comes down to how precise you need to be and for which application. If you are off by .0001 in measuring OAL, IMHO it doesn't matter. For some other applications where this level of precision is desired, you might be better served with a pin gauge.

Please advise what application for use. If just general, seriously, any will do.
 
I have some Mitutoyo digitals that I like but I don't use them much. A caliper is really just the wrong tool for critical dimensions, and as others have said, for measuring non-critical stuff, the cheaper ones do just as well as the better ones, now. It did not use to be that way. When I was in tool and die, you'd get thrown out for anything digital. Nowadays, even the cheap stuff is good enough for what a caliper is meant for. If I need a measurement to be within a couple of thou or better, I use a micrometer. I've have good and cheap mics as well, for pretty much the same reason. Although, I use the good mics by far the most....Different tool for a different job, mic vs. calipers
 
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