Mitutoyo caliper - which one?

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christos808

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I've been reloading for a little over a year and until now have been using relatively cheap Canadian Tire calipers. The accuracy is ok, but the mechanism isn't very smooth, and I'd like to upgrade to something of higher quality.

I have seen several threads that say Mitutoyo makes the best quality calipers, but there are dozens of different models, many of which have features I have no idea what they are.

Those of you who use Mitutoyo, which model are you using? Why did you pick that particular model? Other than Amazon, what's a good place to buy them?

Thanks
 
I bought a solar powered one when I was a machinist. I still use it. Same with a Princess Auto digital caliper. They had to be calibrated for aircraft manufacturing
 
Go with the basic 8" digital model. The 6" is kind of lame if you want to measure anything longer than 5", you have nothing left to hold onto. You probably don't need the coolant proof model, so the cheapest digital model would be best in my opinion. Not sure what the model number would be, but they are all .0005" resolution.
 
I use the 6" caliper, part number 500-196-30. The 6" covers all calibers I reload for and any other jobs around the house. It's all I use at work and they are in some pretty harsh environments. I am not gentle with them and they stay accurate. When doing outside jobs i end up with extra tools that are surplus to my needs. These i typically sell off. Currently i have several tools listed on the EE if anyone is interested. When buying tools, especially online ensuring they are not fake or knock offs can be a challenge. Just be careful.
 
I bought mine over 20 years ago and I think my specific model is no longer made.

Here is the current equivalent:

http://www.atlas-machinery.com/6-150mm-digital-caliper/

I chose mine then -- and would choose this one today -- because it was the cheapest Mitutoyo digital caliper.

For what the average reloader needs these are really good. I don't think we need the features of the professional machinist models, such as cutting fluid resistance and data export.

Here's another Canadian tools dealer from whom I've bought stuff. They have the same model on sale at the moment:

http://www.kbctools.ca/default.aspx?page=item+detail&itemcode=1-808-500196&catlist=10199&parent=9056

I've purchased stuff from Atlas and KBC and both are good to deal with. I live too far now from the Atlas stores to walk in (I used to go to the Queen St. W. store all the time) so I tend to buy from KBC now -- their online ordering works well and delivery is quick.
 
Go for the cheapest digital you can find; you won't be measuring more than 6'' reloading (I think?). I have worked with a few brands and Mitutoyo really is in a class apart IMO
 
I use the 8" version of that one in post 5. Due to the nature of the job it takes a beating and gets used everyday for the last 7 years(same set). When I put it against the gauge blocks it's always dead on. I would never treat my own like this but it's amazing the rough life it's had and is still dead accurate!
 
Regular 500-196-30 , the 6" usually comes on sale around $160, $180+tax is more normal, or 500-197-30 the 8", around $220-230 and does give more to hold onto, easy to handle.

No SPC output, and no solar panels or IP67 crap, not worth the extra cost.
 
At one time my work justified the $300 for a Mitutoyo caliper but the first time it got dropped on the floor it never worked again. Now I have a bunch of Mastercraft & Princess Auto spread out thru the house/loading room or out in the shop ( I like to have one close at hand whenever I need one LOL). I can buy a "bunch" for the same price as one Mitutoyo and have only one that didn't measure a test bullet I use the same as the others (it was out 1 thou). The first Mastercraft I bought over 10 yrs ago just quit measuring this summer (after almost daily use in that time) and numerous of the "cheap" calipers have been floor dropped and not one has shown any degradation in service.

Lots of other things to spend 300 bucks on in the shooting/re-loading game when just as good measuring service can be had for $ 49.
 
I watched this video expecting that I would buy a Mitutoyo: https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqZx_FNbSs

But the reviewer highly recommends this cost effective alternative: https: //www.amazon.ca/iGaging-ABSOLUTE-Digital-Electronic-Caliper/dp/B00INL0BTS?th=1 (comes in lengths from 6" up to 24").
 
For some reason, this thread got me to thinking about micrometers. I found this virtual micrometer online and learned how to read the things in a few minutes:

http://www.stefanelli.eng.br/en/virtual-micrometer-thousandth-inch-simulator/

Happened to be near a Princess Auto the other day and picked up their cheap 0"-1" 0.0001 and 1"-2" 0.0001" mics.

I have to say: these things are a blast to play with.

I've been setting measurements on my Mitutoyo digital calipers and reading them with the mics. With practice you can really see the differrence between the mics' one tenth resolution and the calipers five tenths resolution.

This is probably not an important difference for reloading -- at least not for the sort of reloading I do -- but it is interesting to see from a technical and how-mics-and-calipers-work point of view.

I'm sort of tempted to get a good quality dial caliper, just for fun.
 
A 0-1" mic can definitely be useful, much more accurate for diameters of bullets, necks and when using many sizes of expander balls within a few tenths of each other.
It's also usually fairly easy to tell if something it out of round with a micrometer.
Although I use all Mit's for mic's as well, some digital, the cheap ones as usually ok mostly for this type of stuff.
 
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