Digital Caliper Recommendations

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RassilonMonk

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Heya guys,

Any particular brands that are recommended, or brands to absolutely avoid? Looking to pick up a pair online this week. The manual ones I have have are old and probably not optimal for reloading.

Cheers, -W.
 
Mititoyo is great - but Ebay is full of fake Mititoyos. There is a site devoted to identifying fake Mititioyos. I was able to get a used genuine one for a reasonable price though. I gave up on CDN tire and other cheap ones - good for a while but not for long. If a caliper is not reading positively - a bit mushy and variable, use a little screwdriver to carefully set the clearance on the slide - it does make a big difference.
 
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Digital calipers are OK if you are working to accuracy of +/- .005" If you want to measure within +/- .001" (or metric equivalent) you need a micrometer. It is not so much that the caliper won't read closer, but the narrowness of the jaws and length of leverage of the caliper make it hard to get a good "feel". They are great for convenience because they measure inside, outside and depth. Just my opinion as an old machinist. Someone may chime in who can measure to a tenth of a gnat's eyelash.
 
anchor3593 said:
Mititoyo is great - but Ebay is full of fake Mititoyos. There is a site devoted to identifying fake Mititioyos. I was able to get a used genuine one for a reasonable price though. I gave up on CDN tire and other cheap ones - good for a while but not for long.
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My Crappy Tire one has been running great, on the same battery, for over a year now. But I've read lots of negative reports about them.
 
Go to a tool supplier and get a dial type. easy to read and doesn't need batteries. Calipers read close enough for the average reloader.
 
go to a hardware store and pick up a caliper. You don't need to spend $200.
I just checked if mine have a name brand on them, they don't. Stainless steel 0-200mm digital caliper, can switch between mm's and inches
price tag on the case says $49.95
Bought them ages ago and still work great.
 
I have a Mitutoyo that is about 15 years old now. It has been flawless, and is not hard on batteries at all.

It's great where you do not need to know to the last thousandth of an inch.

For the fine measurements I use a Vernier Micrometer.

Dave.
 
I've owned three Can Tire ones over the years and I won't get another; I was just measuring bullets last night and I could get anywhere from .311" - .3135" measurements on the same bullet on consecutive measurements, totally useless.

I actually need to get something better, but $200 is out of the question...
 
I have Mitutoyo's and a high quality dial type, both are very good. But I have also used much cheaper calipers that have been more than adequate for the job.
 
In our sales dept they sell Starrett Digital and Dial Calipers with an accuracy of .001" for 140.00.They have a cheaper brand called ITC with an accuracy of .001" for 40.00,I checked the cheaper Digital Calipers against our Webber gauge blocks and they were within .001" that is good enough for Hand Loading.I just happen to use an older pair of Swiss made dial caliper and they work great no battery.Good Luck
 
I got sucked into them Kannuckbucker's too back a while ago.
Now I pull the battery out when dun using it.
Possessed it is.
Munch munch munchmunch.

Pane in the arse.
 
Mititoyo is the way to go, its expensive and even comes in splash proof however I use the crappy tire brand when reloading, got a couple of them on sale and work great for the job, as for accuracy, you need to measure something you know for sure the size is and get the fell for both pressure and alignment, its easy to squeeze the jaws and change the size by a few though
 
Eagleye said:
I have a Mitutoyo that is about 15 years old now. It has been flawless, and is not hard on batteries at all.

It's great where you do not need to know to the last thousandth of an inch.

For the fine measurements I use a Vernier Micrometer.

Dave.
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Yup, mine is pushing 25 years old and works fine but I don't trust any digital caliper for precision measurements. Proper micrometers set against standards and guage blocks for when tenths matter.

For reloading purposes, why not look at a dial type? No batteries or encoders to get wonky and they are as or more accurate.
 
I use a dial caliper for much of my reloading measurements.
Whenever I need to use an attachment (like a bullet comparator), I use my princess auto store brand electronic.

I've checked both against the 1.000" disc that cam with my Starrett 1-2" micrometer, and they're both within 0.001". How close they are at other measurements, I'm not sure.

If your worried about batteries quitting on you, get a mechanical dial caliper.
 
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