I got tired of assuming that the price on Midway was a good one and went off web searching for a better price than 160.00 for a precision
Starrett 797 .0005 electronic caliper in stainless steel. Glad I did and I will do more of this in the future....

ONLY 93.00 - alot but you get what you pay for......and I didn't pay 160.00....lol

http://www.msdiscount.com/columnar.aspx?category_site=S...=8965&prod_id=120266

this caliper is top notch and is much better accuracy than the +/- .001 accuracy I had in my previous Lyman.

Hmmmm... I've got an electronic direct readout 6" model from Harbor Freight and Tool that I bought for $16.95. It reads to .0005" (and instantly converts to metric, if desired.) Readings check out against a good old micrometer in my tool chest.

Having a tendancy to lose or break things, I bought a second caliper just like it that is put away in reserve. Looks like I've got about four more of them to go before I've sunk as much money into them as the "bargain" caliper from Midway.

quote:

Originally posted by rje:
I got tired of assuming that the price on Midway was a good one and went off web searching for a better price than 160.00 for a precision
Starrett 797 .0005 electronic caliper in stainless steel. Glad I did and I will do more of this in the future....

ONLY 93.00 - alot but you get what you pay for......and I didn't pay 160.00....lol

http://www.msdiscount.com/columnar.aspx?category_site=S...=8965&prod_id=120266

this caliper is top notch and is much better accuracy than the +/- .001 accuracy I had in my previous Lyman.

Looking like a good price.

I know a number of people that have had good luck with Harper Freight stuff and some that didn’t. It just depended on what the product was. $ 16.95 for a "precision caliper" seems a little too good to be true.

Calipers are fast referance tools...if you are trying to measure in tenthousanths and I must wonder why....but that isn't of any mater buy a GOOD micrometer.

Another good place for pricing tools is Enco. I`ve bought a few things from them and been happy with them.

BTW that 0.0005" accuracy is the calipers "resolution, the accuracy is still only 0.001" A measuring tool has to read smaller then it can measure to give a good reading. To get a 0.0005" accuracy the caliper would need to resolve to the 5th decimal. You still need a mircometer to get good 4 digit accuracy.
The Starret is still a very fine caliper and should serve you well and be more then accurate enough. I`ve a micrometer of the same brand and have been happy with it for a long time now.

Used calipers 5 days a week for decades good tool, but they have there limits. If your working on tolerances of less than + or - .001 a good micrometer with a ten thousands of an inch (.xxxx) vernier scale checked with a accurate standard would be a much better tool of choice than calipers.

I just picked up another set from MSC. SPI digital claipers. If I remember right they were something like $70 or $80.

Why would anyone need one that accurate for reloading.

quote:

Originally posted by rje:
I got tired of assuming that the price on Midway was a good one and went off web searching for a better price than 160.00 for a precision
Starrett 797 .0005 electronic caliper in stainless steel. Glad I did and I will do more of this in the future....

ONLY 93.00 - alot but you get what you pay for......and I didn't pay 160.00....lol

http://www.msdiscount.com/columnar.aspx?category_site=S...=8965&prod_id=120266

this caliper is top notch and is much better accuracy than the +/- .001 accuracy I had in my previous Lyman.

Trouble is use technique limits the accuracy of calipers to about ±.001 for a very skilled user.
For a non-professional week end user you might be lucky to get ±.002. For closer tolerances a micrometer is required and even some mikes are poor quality.