Pin Gage Set

[TCLouis]

Someone recently (Buckshot?) mentioned pin gauge set and gave a link, When I went there the price was reasonable.
Today I looked until I found some listed at MSC, but they were VERY pricey.

Where was that "cheap" set someone wrote about?

[Nueces]

TCLouis, Grizzly Tool has inexpensive sets. I use 'em.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/G9794

Mark

[leftiye]

Most of the references here to pin gauges have been ENCO. .250 to .500" set about $60.00. www.use-enco.com

[TCLouis]

Dang, I forgot that I had an expanding ball gage set.

I shot a bunch this afternoon and loads that grouped provided two groups of 3 shots each about 2.8" apart.

When I checked the throats this evening 3 passed the gage, 3 would not and by about the same amount.

Time to slug the barrel (brand new gun) and ream 0.359" (3 are that, 3 are tighter) or 0.360" depending on the barrel dimensions.

[garandsrus]

Here's another set that is a good price...

http://www.cdcotools.com/ Then search on "Pin Gage Set". The .251 to .500 is $55.

John

[Red River Rick]

Prices are cheap enough, but then it's probably a reflection of quality. Made in China or some other place in the asian rim.

Remember, you get what you pay for.

Here is a another source offering better quality: http://www.kbctools.com/usa/main.cfm

RRR

[garandsrus]

Rick,

I don't disagree that you commonly get what you pay for, but pin gages are only cylinders of steel. No moving parts, etc. The accuracy of the part is stated in the various adds.

The only thing that I would think could be different between the manufacturers is the hardness of the pin. I think they are all made out of tool steel though.

John

[Red River Rick]

John:

Just out of curiosity, do the cheaper pin gage sets offered come with certification? I doubt it.

The certification ensures the end used that the diameters are what they are, and are within a given tolerance level. Other factors would be, are they truly round and what is the surface finish like on the pins and how stable are they. Will they warp and distort over time because of internal stresses? Are they made from good quality tool steel or are made from some cheap high carbon steel which just allows them to be hardened.

I've seen some pretty bad pin gage sets over the years, and all have been cheap imports. I doubt you'll see the cheaper sets being used in reputable shops or high precision industry.

We all bitch about how we are losing jobs here in North America, and yet we still buy and support the cheap imported junk.

Just my thoughts. We are all entitled to buy what every we what to.

RRR

[leftiye]

TC,
My go0to for reamers is MSC. They have all grades of reamers (and everything else) from import to pay 10 dollars for the reamer and 40 dollars for the name stuff.

[Gun-adian]

I found this set on ebay. It's good enough for what I need.


http://cgi.ebay.com/M2-PLUG-PIN-GAGE-GAUGE-SET-0-251-0-500-INCH-250-PC_W0QQitemZ140167003620QQihZ004QQcategoryZ58231QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Buckshot]

..................Good ole 800Watt :-) (seller on E-Bay). I bought several things from him. Hopefully you don't have to e-mail him because you won't get an answer. Everything I was high bidder on, or "Buy it now" came in a reasonable amount of time. Check out his feedbacks, HA. Guys leave positives but are still bagging on him about something or other.

Since he's in Santa Fe Springs he's about 60 miles west of me. I threatened to come down there and firebomb his place if he didn't leave me positive feedback. He eventually did, but I just stopped leaving feedback for him.

I got a set of ER40 collets and a 3MT chuck for $140 and didn't expect much. Danged if they aren't really nicely made. Best of all they run true, ha! Heck ENCO probably sells the same ones and they're almost $400 for the commie set.

...............Buckshot