Needing new caliper: which brand is good for the money?

[40-82 hiker]

Looking for which caliper to buy based on quality and cost.

My dial caliper from forever ago is shot. Not going into problems...

There are so many dial and digital calipers out there, many appearing to be junk. Which ones are good for the money?

Money is very important in this endeavor, but I want to get a set that is worth having.

Thanks

[hickstick_10]

A digital mitutoyo absolute and youl be well set up. They also make solar powered ones.

Itl hurt a bit but its a small price to pay in the long run.

[JASON4X4]

I have cheap harbor freight ones I payed 10 that read the same has my neighbors mitutoyos. Will they last forever I don't know but if someone drops them no big deal.

[CastingFool]

+1 on Mitutoyo. Mine is a dial caliper, not digital, been using it for close to 40 yrs.

[adrians]

Mitutoyo ,Starrett , both mine are dial calipers and have served me well over the years, my mics are these brands also.

You pay a little more coin but well worth it in the long run,,,:twisted::drinks::evil:

[dragonrider]

Get dial calipers, never needs batteries. Mitutoyo is my brand of choice.

[osteodoc08]

Mitutoyo or Starrett are gonna be the 2 big names here. There are fine pieces of craftsmanship and so long as they arent abused, dropped, kicked, etc; its a great value in the long run.

I picked up a set of Kobalt stainless steel digital calipers for $20 at Lowes. It does the job and is accurate enough for what I need them to do.

A micrometer is another story though........

[JASON4X4]

I agree that you should go name brand for a micrometer

[Bradley09]

Spi is not bad they are supllyed with track able calibration certification so they can meet manufacturing standards and will be acurate with in 0.0010 I have only seen dials by them up to 6 inch in standard or metric. They have digitalis in 6,8,12,24,40 inch. Mitutoyo and starret are great calipers both come with cert's but are more costly, I would stick with a company that provides cert's it shows that they feel the quality will be there year after year. The cheap HF calipers are ok but start to get damaged and worn out fast in a manufacturing environment the ones we tryed could not hold repetablity after a week. I have been using enco for tools for my work you might wanna take a look

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have to agree with the Mitutoyo brand and I also would recommend the dial version over the digital version as there is addition skill needed to use the digital versions effectively and consistently. The Mitutoyo Dials are also the easiest ones to read easily.

The Mitutoyo 6" calipers are about the best bang for your buck out there and if you take care of them they will certainly last you for the rest of your life,,, How ever long that may be. :mrgreen:

Randy

[canyon-ghost]

I have a Starrett dial caliper, right now.

[country gent]

Yoy will see Mitouos 6" digitals in almost every tool room around the country next would be starret and Brown and Sharpe. Yes they are more expensive but they are a quality preccision tool. At our plant All measuring tools had to go thru gage and layout to be certified accurate and issued an iso number. Several in gage and lay out told me when I was looking for a set of 12" calipers that the above always passed others were questionable. One plus to digitals is that for repetitive work they can be zeroed any where along the scale. If trimming cases zero at max case length as zero then just read the +/- from zero. Sorting bullets zero on lowest read the out of round directly in .001s. We had mitouos on the floor that in years had never been set to true zero but zeroed on a gage for production.

[LynC2]

If you want a mike, then Mitutoyo or Starrett are great choices in spite of the cost. For the average reloader, most any caliper will do the job. I have a Mitutoyo caliper and a cheapie Harbor Freight and they both work close enough for measuring cases.

[JSnover]

I've used Starrett, Mitutoyo, B&S (digital), SPI (digital), Fowler, and some no-name chinese caliper I bought from Midway 20 years ago. All of them measure within a thousandth of each other, verified with a set of Starrett standards.
Don't abuse them. Don't drop them.

[40-82 hiker]

Thanks to all. I've been researching all suggestions, but $$ seem to be a problem. My current calipers have coughed up a fur ball (overnight!), so I've got to get something soon.

Your posts are greatly appreciated!

[ssnow]

It's sometimes hard to see the way for better tools when the budget is tight, but I tell you, Starrett or other top brands, are good value for the money spent.

There is an E-Bay seller; shopsupplytoolcompany, that currently is offering a Starrett caliper for 88.20 with 6.50 shipping. New in the box. Buy it if you can.

There are other sellers as well, but I have made two purchases from this seller, and can vouch for them.........product as advertised and fast shipping.

If you just can't swing it right now, then a set of Kobalt calipers from Lowes will get you by for awhile.


In general, some new to reloading/casting expect too much from their calipers. Even a top notch brand is only accurate to +/-.001. But, that is .001 over 6 inches of travel.........The better calipers will hold closer than that at the typical measurements used in casting/reloading. I just can't say that for the cheaper models. Yes, the better ones cost more, but they are worth every penny, if you can make it happen.

Ideally, you would want a ten thou mic for measuring bullet diameter, calipers are not the best tool for that purpose but work well for other needed measurements used in the reloading process.

[DougGuy]

If you want pretty decent for cheap, the Kobalt from Lowe's is not bad, they have a lifetime guarantee and I have already replaced one because I dropped something on it and broke the LCD screen. Instant replacement, no questions asked. Plenty accurate and switch from decimal to metric. Buy some extra batteries when you get it!

[jmort]

This is what I got and can recommend for $28

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003119EDE/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=27UO44IFJYUFC&coliid=I2TFTQKZWP78E2

[MtGun44]

I recommend a NO BATTERIES Mitotoyo - bought used on eBay. I have a number of
different ones including digital and regular, and the digital are great except when the
batteries die and leak!

Bill

[jmort]

"NO BATTERIES Mitotoyo - bought used on eBay"

Have one of those as well. Still liking to use the $28 digital unit I linked more.

[40-82 hiker]

It's sometimes hard to see the way for better tools when the budget is tight, but I tell you, Starrett or other top brands, are good value for the money spent.

There is an E-Bay seller; shopsupplytoolcompany, that currently is offering a Starrett caliper for 88.20 with 6.50 shipping. New in the box. Buy it if you can.

There are other sellers as well, but I have made two purchases from this seller, and can vouch for them.........product as advertised and fast shipping.

If you just can't swing it right now, then a set of Kobalt calipers from Lowes will get you by for awhile.


In general, some new to reloading/casting expect too much from their calipers. Even a top notch brand is only accurate to +/-.001. But, that is .001 over 6 inches of travel.........The better calipers will hold closer than that at the typical measurements used in casting/reloading. I just can't say that for the cheaper models. Yes, the better ones cost more, but they are worth every penny, if you can make it happen.

Ideally, you would want a ten thou mic for measuring bullet diameter, calipers are not the best tool for that purpose but work well for other needed measurements used in the reloading process.

Thanks. My current set has lasted me a number of decades, though they were not very good to start with. However, they got me by...
This time, I'd like to get the best I can given $$, and do the research to get me there. Thanks to all for the help to do so...

[EDG]

I am a professional user of calipers (both verniers and dial) since 1968.
I have used Helios. Brown & Sharp, Starrett, NSK (Japan), FWP (Polish), Mitutoyo (Japan), Midway (el cheapo from China)
and others. Many of these were employer owned and I used what they had in the tool crib or in inspection. In most of my engineering jobs I was able to get my boss to buy my own set of calipers. I wound up buying the Mitutoyo 8" (0-100) dial calipers. I have had a set of these in 4 different companies and never had a bit of problem. I did have to watch them like a hawk because they tend to grow legs and jump into other peoples desks. The time span of my owning these calipers covered about 35 years. I always got the 8" because I have large hands and I tend to handle calipers at a 45 degree angle. My hand is about 6" long in that orientation. Six inch calipers are like a toy of you have to do much measuring over 2 inches because you don't have room for one handed operation.

With all that said, I have 9" verniers and 6" Midway calipers at home. The 9" are FWP made in Poland. I paid $5 for them with a smirk because I knew the old man that owned them could no longer read them. Now 46 years later I need bifocals and strong light to read them. The 6" inch Midways were $20 on sale and have given perfect service for hand loading. I am a bit of a tool snob so it kills me to say that. No matter I still prefer the Mitutoyos.

[brody]

If $ is a problem keep an eye on ebay and you will eventually find a bargain for what you want. Got my Mitutoyo and Starrett's there and couldn't be happier.