Looking to buy a Dial Caliper....Any recomendations?

[Glock Fan]

I need to buy a Dial Caliper. I looked at the local stores, Home Depot just had a plastic cheapo. Harbor freight has a digital caliper for good price but I am sure the quality will be to par with the price. Sears had a cheap plastic one also. I want a nice stainless steel one.

Does anyone have experience with the Dillon Precision Caliper? This one...

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/24584/catid/30/Stainless_Steel_Dial_Calipers

I also found this one on a random website. It LOOKS nice but does anyone know what the quality would be on the SPI??

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/24584/catid/30/Stainless_Steel_Dial_Calipers

Any manufactures that you know makes a decent Caliper for a reasonable price please let me know!

Thanks!

[FastFinger]

About 6 years ago I bought a $10 6" digital caliper at Harbor Freight, every time I've checked it against my old school Starrett 2" micrometer it reads dead-on the money. Changed the battery once, other than that it's been reliable and trouble free.

[What Just Happened?]

I've been using the generic one at McMaster Carr for reloading and it's been just fine.

[BSlacker]

Check out tool suppliers. This place has counter sales at the 605 and 60 fwy. Close to the Frys.
Nice digital.

https://www.shoprutlandtool.com/catalog/prestige-plus-electronic-caliper-0-6-inch_metric-0005-resolution/90001999.html

[Rust]

Best deal I've seen is the Craftsman branded Mitutoyo digital calipers for about $50. Unless you prefer the dial that is. I have B&S, Mit., and Starret dials, and as nice as they all are, the Mit. digitals are the easiest I've found to work with in 99% of uses.

[freonr22]

fyi, on the cheap end of the spectrum, the harbor freight and the midway/frankford arsenal, look the same but the el cheapo harbor freight will display fractions, i think to 32's, whereas the frankford arsenal will only display .001 etc

[Creampuff]

woodcraft

Too bad there isn't a woodcraft in the San Diego area. Unless you want to order online.

http://www.woodcraft.com/product.aspx?ProductID=143963&FamilyID=4440

Woodcraft sells quality products.

Lee Valley is one of my favorite companies to order from:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=&p=46036&cat=1,43513,43546

[Glock Fan]

thanks for the great links. I will have to check them all out! Harbor Freight cheapo isnt sounding to bad

No one has any expierence with the SPI calipers? Its swiss made and i found one for 25 bucks....

[Jicko]

About 6 years ago I bought a $10 6" digital caliper at Harbor Freight, every time I've checked it against my old school Starrett 2" micrometer it reads dead-on the money. Changed the battery once, other than that it's been reliable and trouble free.

+1 on the HF one, it works, and quite accurate.....

[Stockton]

About 6 years ago I bought a $10 6" digital caliper at Harbor Freight, every time I've checked it against my old school Starrett 2" micrometer it reads dead-on the money. Changed the battery once, other than that it's been reliable and trouble free.

+1 on harbor freight. Also the RCBS one is just great

[NotSoFast]

I bought a digital caliper that is +- .001 from OSH for $39.95. other than the battery being almost dead when I bought it, it has worked flawlessly. The brand is a General, which is a good brand, not too expensive, not too cheap.

[JagerTroop]

Best deal I've seen is the Craftsman branded Mitutoyo digital calipers for about $50. Unless you prefer the dial that is. I have B&S, Mit., and Starret dials, and as nice as they all are, the Mit. digitals are the easiest I've found to work with in 99% of uses.

+1. I have a 8" Mit.Digi, and 12" Mit. Dial. You may want to check out Rutland Tools. They always have the 8" Fowler Digi's on sale for like 40 bucks. If you go with Mit., Starret, B&S, you're going to spend a little more.

Fowler is probably the best brand for the price... with the exception of the "Craftsman branded Mit. for $50" I've never seen them. I'll have to check those out.

ETA*- the harbor freight ones work OK, if you're looking to spend about 15 bucks on a $2 caliper.

[Rust]

I may have led you astray here. I just looked up what Craftsman is selling now and it's a totally different model than they used to sell as well as being a bit more money. Their six inch model from a few years ago was either made by or a perfect clone of the Mititoyo. The shop I used to work for ordered a few of them, and aside from the branding they were identical. But unless you can find some one with old stock I guess they're another brand now.

[Glock Fan]

From my understanding most of them are all made in China and a lot of them are the same just with different prices and different names on them with the excetion of the well known name brand ones which are big bucks. It is just tough to buy one off the web without being able to feel the quality or lack there of.

I think I might give the SPI a shot. I just hate returning stuff that I bought online cause you have to pay all this dough for shipping back and forth and usually a BS restocking fee.

[motorhead]

the h/f digitals are fine. i too check with ls starrett and lufkin mikes. my aging eyes have trouble reading a dial anymore. the switch from inch to metric is just too cool. the 8" is often on sale and h/f has been kicking with a 20% coupon every month to it's mailing list customers. i've got the 8" and the 12". next, a digi dial indicator!
oh, avoid the real cheapo, bubble carded one. get the one that comes in a case. the real cheap one is, well, real cheap.