Gunsmithing Gunsmiths - What brand caliper do you use?

[bluto77]

I did a search for this in this section and did not find a thread like this. I figured I would ask the guys that use these tools for a living....what brand of calipers do you use? I'm getting into reloading, and one thing I've noticed is how hard it seems to be for me to get a consistent reading on my Cabela's calipers. I do realize that a lot of the reading has to do with how good or bad the operator's measuring technique is, and I am working on that. I also know there are much better quality calipers out there, and since the main reason we hand load is for consistency to produce the best results, I should probably invest in a higher quality tool for the most important aspect of the hand loading process.

Right now I'm leaning towards Starrett since they're made in the USA (at least the expensive ones are). I don't know that I want to fork over $250 for calipers though.

 

[300sniper]

For years I've used a Mitutoyo 505-675 (Enco - Guaranteed Lowest Prices on Machinery, Tools and Shop Supplies) and really liked it. I dropped it the other day and needed a replacement.

I replaced it with a Brown and Sharpe 599-579-4 (Enco - Guaranteed Lowest Prices on Machinery, Tools and Shop Supplies). I didn't notice it when I placed the order that it does not have a thumb wheel to drive it. That bugs the hell out of me. I honestly liked the Mitutoyo better. I'll probably end up ordering another one if I can't get used to the B&S.

And I don't think I'd spend $250 on calipers either. I'm all for having nice tools but I just don't see them doing anything that calipers at half the price do.

 

[cal50]

I am a toolmaker by trade and I like the Mitiyoyo calipers the best. I never liked the Starrett or B&S calipers. Digital with no external gear rack is what you want, the rest is what feels the best because accuracy is about the same.

 

[elfster1234]

$25 frankford arsenal!! love it! let the flaming begin!

seriously... I think they are awesome for the money.


Frankford Arsenal Electronic Caliper 6 SS

I did a search for this in this section and did not find a thread like this. I figured I would ask the guys that use these tools for a living....what brand of calipers do you use? I'm getting into reloading, and one thing I've noticed is how hard it seems to be for me to get a consistent reading on my Cabela's calipers. I do realize that a lot of the reading has to do with how good or bad the operator's measuring technique is, and I am working on that. I also know there are much better quality calipers out there, and since the main reason we hand load is for consistency to produce the best results, I should probably invest in a higher quality tool for the most important aspect of the hand loading process.

Right now I'm leaning towards Starrett since they're made in the USA (at least the expensive ones are). I don't know that I want to fork over $250 for calipers though.

 

[bluto77]

Digital with no external gear rack is what you want, the rest is what feels the best because accuracy is about the same.

How can I tell if they have an external gear rack? That's not something I see listed in the descriptions of the advertisements. And what do you mean by "the rest is what feels best..."?

Btw, I work in an office and have a hard time telling my head from my ass, so this stuff isn't obvious to me like it is to most on this board! Any and all guidance is appreciated.

 

[pfcustom]

Well, here in the mountains of Lower Appalachia we use the eyecrometer, the feel-o-meter and I have a set of Mitutoyo venereal calenders!!

 

[cal50]

How can I tell if they have an external gear rack? That's not something I see listed in the descriptions of the advertisements. And what do you mean by "the rest is what feels best..."?

Btw, I work in an office and have a hard time telling my head from my ass, so this stuff isn't obvious to me like it is to most on this board! Any and all guidance is appreciated.

A caliper with a dial and the little hand that spins around it like a watch are regular "dial calipers". It has a gear and rack. The rack you can see as you open the calipers, its in the recessed area of the frame. They work fine but if you get any metal chips or dirt in the gear rack its not good for the calipers. Digital calipers do not have this gear and rack.

 

[McLarenross]

Ive had Mitutoyo, Brown & Sharpe, Starrett, Fowler, and a few off brand dial calipers, and a bunch of the Chinese digitals. I personally prefer the Mitutoyo dial calipers for overall ruggedness, accuracy, and feel in my hand. I did like the B&S I had but it felt kinda fragile. Fowlers were fine but I always seemed to need to re-zero the dial. The Starrett 6" I had was more expensive than the Miutoyo 8" and I cant say I can justify the extra cost. Dont get me wrong, the Starrett was a great piece, but I ended up selling it (and most of my other spare tools) and consolidating down to a 6" 8", and 12" Mitutoyo. Of all of them I use the 8" the most. The Chinese digitals are actually very good for the money so dont dismiss them. I have found them to be plenty accurate for reloading and other applications where plus or minus 0.002" was acceptable.

 

[MarinePMI]

Well, here in the mountains of Lower Appalachia we use the eyecrometer, the feel-o-meter and I have a set of Mitutoyo venereal calenders!!

Are those used in conjunction with the german torque wrench "Gootentite"?

 

[tarfu64]

Mitutoyo & Starrett, interchangably.

I found several for pennies on the dollar thanks to Craigslist, usually machine shops going under or estate sales. I've procured seldom-used calipers and tons of other indicators/calipers/depth gauges the same way.

 

[E. Bryant]

I've got Mitutoyos that I use for "precision" (heh!) work, and a handful of $10 Chinese ones from Harbor Freight that get used for less-critical tasks such as getting rough measurements from bar stock, etc.

The nice thing about the cheap ones is that I don't cry if they end up getting hurt. The main downside I've found isn't a lack of precision (they are completely adequate for any tasks suited to calipers); it's that they have some quirks such as not maintaining their zero after turning off (which means they need to be re-zeroed every time they automatically shut-off). Battery life also isn't quite as good, but it's not like those little coin cells are terribly expensive.

 

[pfcustom]

Are those used in conjunction with the german torque wrench "Gootentite"?

Yes, use that amount all the time!

 

[long range newbie]

my dads friend uses Mitutoyo but there like 250, and he has a ISO-9001 standard

 

[DarbinCo]

Travers tool had the Mitutoyo absolute 6" caliper on sale last month for around 130 bucks. Since my current digital Mitutoyo calipers were circa 1990 I decided to get a new one even though the old ones still worked perfectly. Ill leave the old ones on the reloading bench and use the new ones on the lathe. The absolutes are pretty cool, they always retain the last measurement even if you turn them off and back on again. You can turn them off and move it, turn it on and it's at the new current measurement and will zero perfectly. I don't trust it using it like that but its pretty cool! They've probably been this way for years and I didn't know it. The larger digital display on the new one is a plus for eyes that need reading glasses now too!

 

[Cleftwynd]

Even the best calipers are just guestimators anyway, for anything requiring precision use mics. Anyhow, I have come to prefer Mitutoyo over Starret or B&S or Fowler, just has a nicer feel, I also prefer dial calipers 99% of the time.

 

[stangfish]

One more for the .100 rev mitutoyo. I do love the way my B&S feels and it not having the wheel never bothered me but I have heard that complain before.

 

[Delta4-3]

If it's some thing that needs to be measured really precisely, I use a micrometer, otherwise I use my B&S calipers.

 

[MikeeBooshay]

Mitutoyo and Starret digital calipers, get used the most around my shop.

Also have B&S, Starret and several lesser brands of dial calipers. The Starret 6" have the exposed rack and pinion, and are not holding zero currently - time to trash those, or send back to rework.

Two things to keep in mind here - firstly, buy once, cry once. The tools section on craigslist is also a great place to get quality stuff for cheap. When you go that route, buy the guys whole box full of stuff and get a better deal.

 

[Spuhr]

Anything that feels good in the 60-80 dollar range.
An electronic Caliber have a limited lifelength and I dont spend uge amount Of money on them.
If the measurement is important , I would NEVER use the caliper anyway!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD,

 

[valentine]

If you want a really good caliper I recommend this one S_Cal PRO µ. I have the predecessor and I really like it. Swiss quality and not cheap, but I have mine for years in a machine shop. And be sure to get one whicht is IP 67 rated and water and dust proof.

 

[csdilligaf]

For the last 20 yrs I only use Mitutoyo absolute 6" caliper, Love them. Buy them without the SPC on sale for $120 at a number of places. I check them often with gage blocks and ring gauge's. Inside and outside repeat and are accurate.

 

[Clark]

I have calipers in the gunsmithing shop, the reloading room, and on my desk.
My cousin has a patent used in the Mitutoyo digital calipers, so I have some of those.

I have used all kinds of cheap Chinese, Mitutoyo, Starrett, Brown and Sharp dial calipers.

Some cheap Chinese work very well, some poorly, some in between. They are a crap shoot.

These days I just buy what ever Mitutoyo 6" dial calipers are on sale.

You need pin gauges or gauge blocks so you have feed back on calipers to know how good they are and how well you are operating them.

 

[bward]

I have a set of Etalons that I really like. I had a set of Starretts break on me a couple days ago.

 

[x ring accuracy]

I have calipers in the gunsmithing shop, the reloading room, and on my desk.
My cousin has a patent used in the Mitutoyo digital calipers, so I have some of those.

I have used all kinds of cheap Chinese, Mitutoyo, Starrett, Brown and Sharp dial calipers.

Some cheap Chinese work very well, some poorly, some in between. They are a crap shoot.

These days I just buy what ever Mitutoyo 6" dial calipers are on sale.

You need pin gauges or gauge blocks so you have feed back on calipers to know how good they are and how well you are operating them.

True words

 

[STR]

Starrett is all I've ever really known since high school, but I agree with the others on the other names.

 

[athhud]

To those of you who have tested the performance of calipers, did you find that the Chinese junk was reliable as far as repeatability is concerned? For 90% of my uses, it doesn't really matter if the true dimensions match the reading on the caliper. All that matters to me is that the caliper always shows the same reading for the same dimension.

 

[Clark]

It is like buying barrels.
Sometimes a cheap barrel will be a real hummer, but not that often.
Cheap calpers, like the Midway from China I got in 1999 were had a precision of 0.0002"* and an accuracy of 0.001", until they wore out 10 years later
Lots of other Chinese $20 calipers were not very good, even more in between.

The Mitutoyo calipers cost 3 or 4 times as much, but were always as good as it gets.

*some skill required

 

[300sniper]

To those of you who have tested the performance of calipers, did you find that the Chinese junk was reliable as far as repeatability is concerned? For 90% of my uses, it doesn't really matter if the true dimensions match the reading on the caliper. All that matters to me is that the caliper always shows the same reading for the same dimension.

I was out and about one day and had a need for a dial caliper for something. I stopped by Harbor Freight and got a $20 Chinese caliper. Yes, it made me cringe buying it. Truth be told, years later it still measures exactly the same as my Mitutoyo and B&S. The HF caliper stays at home for reloading and what ever I need to measure at home when designing something.

 

[x ring accuracy]

I was out and about one day and had a need for a dial caliper for something. I stopped by Harbor Freight and got a $20 Chinese caliper. Yes, it made me cringe buying it. Truth be told, years later it still measures exactly the same as my Mitutoyo and B&S. The HF caliper stays at home for reloading and what ever I need to measure at home when designing something.

That proves you can always find a diamond in the rough. Best thing about those....when you break a set it's no loss. When you break the $150 ones being stupid you cry ALOT

 

[DroidSniper]

Mitutoyo seems to be much better in digital. I just buy used Starret bought used of ebay or Craigslist. Don't buy the "global" series those are made overseas. You also need a couple outside micrometer and a Depth gauge. I use analog stuff because it's cheaper and it always seems the batteries are dead when you need them.

 

[300sniper]

I still prefer dial callipers over digital. I did recently get a B&S 599-125 digital mic (https://www.mscdirect.com/product/57134215?Arg=nv) that I absolutely love though.