Calipers

by Branch » Wed Jun 08, 2022 7:02 am

Just seeing this…. I have a couple pairs of General brand 6” digital calipers that I’ve had for probably 15 years. Bought them at Home Depot around $20 iirc. They’re certainly not the highest quality, but they are sufficient for general machine tool work and whatever you would typically need for gunsmithing. If you want to step up to something better, look into Mitutoyo or Starrett type brands, Travers.com or MSCDirect.com are usually good sources. Fowler and TTC (travers tool company private label) are usually decent mid-range choices as well.

by Ancient Order » Mon May 23, 2022 10:29 pm

https://www.amazon.com/iGaging-Electron ... B001AQEZ2W I've got a few sets of calipers. These are my favorite by a long ways.

by madams117 » Mon May 23, 2022 6:29 pm

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll take a look at Amazon and Harbor Freight both.

by RAMjetta » Mon May 23, 2022 6:15 pm

Maybe I'll try this one for $40 from Harbor Freight (inside track member price) since I have a Harbor Freight credit card burning a hole in my pocket. Lmao. https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-digi ... tc_may2022

JettaMan OUT!

by RAMjetta » Mon May 23, 2022 10:01 am

Yeah, Alice got me for $10.

There's probably a reason they're no longer available on Amazon. I tried the cheap way and it's time to upgrade. All things considered, they have gotten the job done with some patience but I would say buy a good set once for what you can afford and if it's not good (hold zero efficiently) then send it back. I'm probably gonna spend no more than $50 on my next set.

by RAMjetta » Mon May 23, 2022 9:55 am

Hawkeye wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 9:29 amI did a search at amazon and they range from under $10 to all most $200 all digital read out. I have two 8" and one 12" all manual read out. If I where buying a new caliper in would be a cheap digitail read out in the $20-$30 range. They are perfect for what we use them for in building 80% firearms. Keep them clean and in the case when you are not using them and they will last for ever, mine or over thirty years old. One good think about calipers you can set them back to zero easily. Yeah as I said, I bought one of those cheap ones off Amazon and it loses zero very easily. I wouldn't spend anywhere close to $200 but I would stay away from the $10 - $20 or $30 cheap sets no matter how easy to reset. Buy once or cry once. Ya feel me?

JettaMan OUT!

by sailman » Mon May 23, 2022 9:44 am

I gotta set a long time ago when I was doing a lot of reloading for competition and I went with a set from Frankford Arsenal. I've been very pleased with these the only thing I don't reload very often now and the battery seems to go dead in between the times when I need them. It's probably not a a problem with the caliper. A quick search on Amazon and they can be had for 27.99 with prime.

by Hawkeye » Mon May 23, 2022 9:29 am

I did a search at amazon and they range from under $10 to all most $200 all digital read out. I have two 8" and one 12" all manual read out. If I where buying a new caliper in would be a cheap digitail read out in the $20-$30 range. They are perfect for what we use them for in building 80% firearms. Keep them clean and in the case when you are not using them and they will last for ever, mine or over thirty years old. One good think about calipers you can set them back to zero easily.

by RAMjetta » Mon May 23, 2022 7:40 am

Good question. I bought a cheap set and that's exactly what I got. They are less than precise but get the job down with some patience. I need to upgrade so anyone that has some reliable digital calipers please let us know. I know they won't be inexpensive but I went that route already and hate myself (figuratively speaking) for it.

JettaMan OUT!