Pin Gauges

[John Allen]

Hi All, where are you guys buying your pin gauges? I want to get some before I send my cylinders out to dougguy.

Any manufacturer better than another?


Thanks John

[BK7saum]

I purchase the 0.250 to 0.500 set from Enco i believe

[BK7saum]

Import right now is less than $100.

[JSnover]

1 vote for Meyer.
http://www.meyergage.com
Hit Enco, MSC, etc. Lots of distributors out there.

[BK7saum]

I just gage cylinders and barrels. The import set has worked for me. Brad

[JSnover]

"Better" is fairly subjective. If you don't abuse or neglect them they'll last longer than you will; no need to spend a fortune on gages for casual use.

[EDG]

The Chinese pin gauges sold on eBay are more than good enough for our use. You can get a set from .061 to .250 for about $50 to $55 shipped if you mess with smaller bores. The .251 to .500 sets are going to cost about $75 to $85 shipped.

If you only want a few pins you will probably be buying Vermont pins at about $6 each shipped. Vermont, Myers and other brands might be a little better than the Chinese but they will be better by only a few millionths of an inch maybe - and they will cost 3X more.

I trolled ebay a long time before getting a used set of SPI pins at a good discount over new pins but I would not be surprised if they came from Taiwan, China or Japan.

[376Steyr]

Get a .250 to .500 set, which is very convenient when you unexpectedly get a new caliber to measure, and also comes in a storage case so the individual pins don't get lost.

[M-Tecs]

The pin gages come in plus or minus. You want the minus. I prefer Deltronic or Meyer but for your use the cheap imports will work well.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Apin%20gages

http://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/Measuring-Inspecting/Inspecting-Detecting-Testing-Instruments/Go/No-Go-Gages-Accessories/Plug-Pin-Go/No-Go-Gages-Accessories/Plug-Pin-Gage-Sets?navid=12107985

http://www.deltronic.com/products/plug-gages.html

http://www.meyergage.com/

http://www.vermontgage.com/tech/archive/chart.html

[Jeffjmr]

Sign up for Enco email list. Every month or so they have a 20% off, and sometimes combine it with free shipping.

I got the Import M2 (.251-.500) set PN 616-8131 for under $80 delivered. Internet price today is $95.95 and the email discount this week is 15%.

Spec is -.0002 to +.0000 and a sampling of 20 out of the 250 pieces all mic'ed at -.00015 to -.00010. With that kind of quality control I don't see why one should spend $100-300 for a fancier set.

Been very happy with all I have gotten from Enco. Just be patient for the email specials.

Jeff

[stu1ritter]

If you know the few sizes you need, Amazon sells them individually from Vermont Gauge for not very much $$$ http://tinyurl.com/jb4ql3h
Stu

[jmort]

^^^ This is what I did, but the link is for + plus gauges, I would go with the - minus gauges as suggested above. I do .223, .308, and .357 (9mm and .357) and .730 (12 gauge.) so I just bracketed those +/- for around $120.00 for 20 of them, as I don't need sets. Vermont is good quality. Worth it.

[stu1ritter]

thanks imort, yupper on the - gauges, I didn't look.
Stu

[Ballistics in Scotland]

For most of us, once we have got a fair measurement with a reloading caliper, two or three pin gauges should be enough. They are available cheaply on eBay from China, but you should search for "plug gauge" as well. Most are metric, but the conversion is easy, and a lot are disguised inch sizes. Most of them are carbide, and should also make useful cherries for cutting moulds.

[44man]

I never had a need, a slug is good enough but I have a ball gauge for holes.
if you have a problem you don't need them send the cylinder to DougGuy, he will make it right.

[John Allen]

Thanks all, I appreciate all the help.

[MtGun44]

Enco tool, get the "minus" set.

Bill

[ProfGAB101]

I ended up with several sets of metric pins from the ISO9000/9001/9002 certified company I once worked for. Seems the certification dept. regularly tossed the pin gages and bought new because having a 3rd party inspection company re-certify the pin sets was nearly triple the retail cost. So every year they tossed 2 sets of .25mm to 13mm. The ends of the pins had red or blue paint and a 2 year service life, red pins were dumped at the end of an odd numbered year and blue on even years.

That company threw out millions of dollars worth of useful items that they would rather toss than fill out paperwork. ( No wonder they are nearly out of business. )

[Clark]

I but from CDCO if I can. Same Chinese stuff and ENCO at lower prices. They don't have much. Sometimes ENCO does not have it, so I go to MSC. Their prices suck. But for in between pin gauges for dialing in bores, I have to get them from MSC.

http://www.cdcotools.com/

[Bill*B]

You can get individual pin gauges from McMaster Carr.

[Jeffjmr]

Enco sale today, 20% off code ONEDAY.

That would get you the M2 pin gage set for $76.76, plus shipping.

Jeff

[alamogunr]

I've posted several times about the Meyer set I got on Ebay. It was missing a few pins and I was taking a chance that among the missing would be one or more that I needed but such was not the case. If you can find one from a vendor that has a good price and "free" shipping, go for it. Full sets are HEAVY!. Shipping could exceed the cost of the gauges.

[MrWolf]

Thanks for the heads up. Ordered the set from Enco as I got a 15% and free shipping. Got the minus set and a pair of 6 1/2" tweezers (order had to be $99) shipped for $86. Not bad, thanks.

[Ole Joe Clarke]

Most of them are carbide, and should also make useful cherries for cutting moulds.

How would common folk machine a carbide plug gauge into a cutter? I never saw a carbide gauge pin while I was working, most are some type of tool steel, ground to the +0 -.0002 tolerance someone mentioned.

[John Boy]

Enco tool, get the "minus" set.
Ditto - the 250 Piece, 0.251-0.5 Inch Diameter (Minus) Plug and Pin Gage Set works for me