Lee Loader

I found an 8 inch Mitutoyo electronic caliper at a local pawnshop. Works perfectly. Same readings with old battery and new. Have several standards to check them with. I would normally use a dial caliper but the Prestige one that I was last using got dropped and is no longer working properly. The Prestige replaced a Craftsman dial caliper. Both the Craftsman and Prestige calipers were used for more than 10 years before they were damaged and made unusable.
I also have and sometimes use an old Lyman caliper that is made of plastic or nylon. Accurate enough. Reads within .001 of my other measuring devices. It was also the first pair of calipers that I purchased.

I tried the HF(junk), went to Menards and bought the Tool Shop 6" digital, fills the bill for my needs and it has a lifetime guaranty,
Had the Lyman, it died, Frankford Arsenal, died went through batteries,
but the Tool Shop is working good no problems

I have a Frankford Arsenal and Starret dial, a Starret Vernier, and a plastic Central Tools dial, all still functional and accurate. As Boone pointed out they're easier to read and the electric ones I have had sooner or later dumped on me for one reason or another.
Get what you can afford, but try a dial caliper first IMHO.

If possible, I'd prefer a mechanical caliper. Unfortunately they're quite rare by now. I got a dial caliper with 0,05 mm (0.002 ") readout, and a digital decent quality caliper. Most of the time I use the mechanical one, the digital always has a dead battery, or it was taken out to prevent it from going dead, or it skips a few reads when it's too hot or too cold...