Chronograph advice please

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AR-15 Gunman

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Hey Reloaders.
I had an RCBS AmmoMaster chronograph for years. It worked alright but now is defunct. Any input on a good quality chronograph you have had experience with would be appreciated. Has anyone tried a doppler style? Are they finicky with light as the traditional styles are?
Thank guys.
 
Labradar's are expensive. For me a ProChrono from Competition Electronics gets the job done.
 
4n2t0 said:
Labradar's are expensive. For me a ProChrono from Competition Electronics gets the job done.
Click to expand...

That's what I use too. No problems so far.
They're about $150 on Amazon.

Labradar is a great tool, no question about that. A bit too rich for my blood unfortunately. $750 from Hirsch, they have two in stock as of this morning.
 
If you shoot .17 to .20 caliber bullets at high velocities, the Labradar may not be a good choice. The magnetospeed is a far better choice for that application.
 
I use a Labradar with everything from slow .177 pellets indoors to .17 and .20 cal outdoors, the only limit is a max of 3900 fps. I also have a Canadian made 'Two Box' which is not light sensitive, but requires a velocity over 1250 IIRC to make a sonic crack as it is acoustic.
 
Depends on how serious you are about using a chronograph, and distance your going to shoot. Do you want it for precision shooting (Labradar), or just general load development (Shooting Chrony)? I may have misunderstood the gentleman whom has one as to what distance it records bullet velocities to but I thought he said it's good to about 300yds. I use a Shooting Chrony beta Master myself. Has the separate screen which attaches to the main unit by a CAT style cable. Works for me. Just remember to check to make sure it's not going to get shot (I'm on my second).
 
If you get the Labradar you will make many new friends at the range,
Myself not complaining i got to try quite a variety of guns that way (as guys get me shooting the guns they want to chrono)
 
After a lot of research on where to put my money down, I ended up with the Labradar. Very easy for initial set up (watched a few videos online - programmed my settings at my kitchen island) and set up at the range is a breeze (I have their orange flat steel base). If you have a muzzle brake, make sure you know which direction the blast is going to avoid unwanted abuse on your chrono. I have also had great success with the Bluetooth App for my Samsung, no issues with connection and my preferred option for use
 
There's no question the Labradar is more accurate and easy to use. What comes into question, at least in my mind, is how much do you gain by spending $600 more than if you bought a Chrony or Pro Chrono?
I shoot regularly to 800m for F-class competition. I feed the average velocity from my $150 CE chrono into a free ballistics calculator from Hornady.
The results are pretty much spot on. In my case I don't think there's much to be gained by going higher end, other than convenience.
There's always going to be a better mouse trap, but the mouse usually can't tell the difference.
 
Chilly807 said:
There's no question the Labradar is more accurate and easy to use. What comes into question, at least in my mind, is how much do you gain by spending $600 more than if you bought a Chrony or Pro Chrono?
I shoot regularly to 800m for F-class competition. I feed the average velocity from my $150 CE chrono into a free ballistics calculator from Hornady.
The results are pretty much spot on. In my case I don't think there's much to be gained by going higher end, other than convenience.
There's always going to be a better mouse trap, but the mouse usually can't tell the difference.
Click to expand...

Convenience is a big one, as I use it for both indoor pistol and outdoor rifle.
When using it for pistol, the low light interior is not a problem.
When using it for rifle, I do not need to make the firing line safe to set up chrony, and am of no disturbance to anybody.

I agree, had the Caldwell chrono and labradar gives pretty much the same results, maybe with a bit more confidence in them.
Like anything in life, luxury and convenience has a price tag to it.
 
I want a better chrono than my old RCBS one. I want to use it for load development. I will take that info and input it into my Ballistic Program. I was annoyed with the light sensitivity of my RCBS chronograph. I shoot medium to long distance 300-1000 Metres
 
8x68 said:
Depends on how serious you are about using a chronograph, and distance your going to shoot. Do you want it for precision shooting (Labradar), or just general load development (Shooting Chrony)? I may have misunderstood the gentleman whom has one as to what distance it records bullet velocities to but I thought he said it's good to about 300yds. I use a Shooting Chrony beta Master myself. Has the separate screen which attaches to the main unit by a CAT style cable. Works for me. Just remember to check to make sure it's not going to get shot (I'm on my second).
Click to expand...
I want a better chrono than my old RCBS one. I want to use it for load development. I will take that info and input it into my Ballistic Program. I was annoyed with the light sensitivity of my RCBS chronograph. I shoot medium to long distance 300-1000 Metres
 
I bought a Shooting Chrony Beta Master earlier this year. Have used it on a couple of range trips for load development and it works well enough for me!

May not be the newest tech and user interface, but functional and seems robust enough. As someone that is just starting to get some real experience with reloading I'm happy with my purchase.
 
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