For reloading and possible future gunsmithing work, which brand of dial caliper should I go with? Are Lyman, Frankford Arsenal, or RCBS adequate, or will I need a Starret, Mituoyo or something else?

Your best bet is to get a hold of MSC and order their economy dial calipers. If you catch them on sale, you can get them for around $17.00. You can pay a lot of money for calipers, but it's a waste of money. Calipers should only be used to determine measurements no closer than +/- .001". Anything closer than that and you should be getting a pair of Mics for the job. I've used the best to the cheapest, and you don't get what you pay for with the expensive ones. Even the micrometers made these days by China and Poland, are in a lot of cases, better than the name brands.
Here's MSC's Link

MSC

Hey triggerguard1
That link for MSC doesn't work
try
http://www.mscdirect.com/browse.process
Regards
Deafdog

You can also check Ebay.

I knew I should have tryed that before I posted it. Sorry guys. Well, at least you found it now.

I have a nice metal one, couldn't find it one day, so I went out and bought a plastic one. Springy piece of crap! I found the metal one thankfully. Stay away from plastic!

For what its worth, I use a dial caliper from Midway that I got for $19.00 and it has worked great for the past 5 years.they have it in there this month for $24.49 it is a SS 6" one. I have used it for reloading,getting barrls ready for the Smith,and putting on brakes. I has been will worth the money.

Doc