Best ballistic chronographer for the money for new to rolling
- Thread starter wayupnorth
- Start date
wayupnorth
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Northern Alberta
almost $800!
while i must admit i will be picking one of those up eventually i think ill stick to a more entry level one for now to get the ball rolling.
while i must admit i will be picking one of those up eventually i think ill stick to a more entry level one for now to get the ball rolling.
- Location
- West Quebec
CED M2 would fit your needs well
I use a Master Chrony mounted inside an old Makita box - glass lenses are siliconed onto the case where the sensors pick up the passing bullet. Because of this arrangement, I need no shadow screens - it always works. Even if there is half an inch of snow on the glass lenses, it still reads perfectly. A couple of long screws in the box work as sights to line it up with the target.
The Master Chrony has a separate little brainbox that sits beside the shooter to read and control things - and I just take the brainbox home and leave the makita box with the pickup unit at the range ( I have a home range). I don't even remember the last time that I brought it home - it might be four years and it always sits out in the weather. The little brainbox comes home with me so I can transfer the data onto charts.
Only twice has someone shot my chrony - and it was cheap to replace parts because the real brain is separate.
Here is a caution - mice or squirrels love to eat the insulation from the wire which connects the pickup unit to the brain - it must be made of soy bean plastic, so I wrap it with hockey tape.
The other consideration is cold weather and batteries. It comes with a 9 volt battery plug, which is not enough voltage for cool weather. I put some AAs end to end in a plastic pipe with a spring and wires to each end - and used it at 12 volts for a few years. Now, I use an ATV 12 volt battery - and just bring it back to the house to recharge about once per year.
Back to the animals - the squirrels have gathered mushrooms - dozens of them - and brought them into the shooting shack - and they just leave them everywhere - not like nuts gathered for safe storage. I think that I will catch a squirrel in a live trap and feed him some of these and see how he behaves. Seems like even the squirrels are becoming self-destructive - I'm sure that someone has a political punchline to explain this phenomena.
The Master Chrony has a separate little brainbox that sits beside the shooter to read and control things - and I just take the brainbox home and leave the makita box with the pickup unit at the range ( I have a home range). I don't even remember the last time that I brought it home - it might be four years and it always sits out in the weather. The little brainbox comes home with me so I can transfer the data onto charts.
Only twice has someone shot my chrony - and it was cheap to replace parts because the real brain is separate.
Here is a caution - mice or squirrels love to eat the insulation from the wire which connects the pickup unit to the brain - it must be made of soy bean plastic, so I wrap it with hockey tape.
The other consideration is cold weather and batteries. It comes with a 9 volt battery plug, which is not enough voltage for cool weather. I put some AAs end to end in a plastic pipe with a spring and wires to each end - and used it at 12 volts for a few years. Now, I use an ATV 12 volt battery - and just bring it back to the house to recharge about once per year.
Back to the animals - the squirrels have gathered mushrooms - dozens of them - and brought them into the shooting shack - and they just leave them everywhere - not like nuts gathered for safe storage. I think that I will catch a squirrel in a live trap and feed him some of these and see how he behaves. Seems like even the squirrels are becoming self-destructive - I'm sure that someone has a political punchline to explain this phenomena.
There really isn't much more to tell - just have a look around your garage and find an old cordless tool case and fit the Chrony into it. Once it is situated and screwed down (or up,) then mark and cut little holes above the sensors - then silicone a couple pieces of glass over the holes. Draw a line on the case through the centre of the sensors and put a couple of sighting screws on this line to accurately line up the Chrony with the target.
For the electrics, get an old walkie talkie or toy and cut the power supply wire that plugs into a little 9 volt battery - this is to clip onto the factory Chrony harness. (Take notice that the positive and negative are reversed now - you will understand when you do it.) Solder longer wires onto this little jumper to connect to the new battery tube.
The battery tube is easy to build - line up 6 AA batteries and check length and voltage - we want at least 12 volts of power and a length of pipe long enough to drop them and a spring into - to keep them tight together. Two nails with wires soldered to them are stuck in holes drilled crosswise though the ends of the tube. These batteries will last at least a year of frequent use - unlike the original dinky 9 volt battery which will not last half an hour at - 25F.
If you have a separate brain box, get clever with a little place to wind the wire up inside the case and maybe some sort of legs. I use a plank, with the Chrony sitting on one end, and my rifle bags sit on the other end - so I can adjust the aim of the chrony on different targets by sliding the plank from side to side. I have screws protruding from the plank to perfectly locate the box on the plank.
No sky screens are necessary. The bullets should travel more than 3 inches above the box - closer will not improve anything except Chrony sales.
There - I've said everything that I know.
I'm sorry - pics are not easy to get.
For the electrics, get an old walkie talkie or toy and cut the power supply wire that plugs into a little 9 volt battery - this is to clip onto the factory Chrony harness. (Take notice that the positive and negative are reversed now - you will understand when you do it.) Solder longer wires onto this little jumper to connect to the new battery tube.
The battery tube is easy to build - line up 6 AA batteries and check length and voltage - we want at least 12 volts of power and a length of pipe long enough to drop them and a spring into - to keep them tight together. Two nails with wires soldered to them are stuck in holes drilled crosswise though the ends of the tube. These batteries will last at least a year of frequent use - unlike the original dinky 9 volt battery which will not last half an hour at - 25F.
If you have a separate brain box, get clever with a little place to wind the wire up inside the case and maybe some sort of legs. I use a plank, with the Chrony sitting on one end, and my rifle bags sit on the other end - so I can adjust the aim of the chrony on different targets by sliding the plank from side to side. I have screws protruding from the plank to perfectly locate the box on the plank.
No sky screens are necessary. The bullets should travel more than 3 inches above the box - closer will not improve anything except Chrony sales.
There - I've said everything that I know.
I'm sorry - pics are not easy to get.
wayupnorth
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Northern Alberta
so this is what i decided to do.
or better said, this is what my dad decided 'we' should do.
hehe!
he really liked the write up on the Caldwell G2 Crony.
i wanted the CED M2 but he said he was gonna buy so i left the final decision to him.
so he picked up the Caldwell G2.
our plan is to run with that for a while to see if we are gonna stick with reloading.
if we do we will pick up a Labradar next year.
or at least i will.
i love to spend money!
and im not gonna lie im VERY on the fence about shooting through the Crony!!!
or better said, this is what my dad decided 'we' should do.
hehe!
he really liked the write up on the Caldwell G2 Crony.
i wanted the CED M2 but he said he was gonna buy so i left the final decision to him.
so he picked up the Caldwell G2.
our plan is to run with that for a while to see if we are gonna stick with reloading.
if we do we will pick up a Labradar next year.
or at least i will.
i love to spend money!
and im not gonna lie im VERY on the fence about shooting through the Crony!!!
^^ How about 204 Ruger at 4200 fps, 17 Rem at 4200 fps...I'm sure there are several more.
My understanding is that the Labradar has issues with small diameter bullet bases at speeds approaching or exceeding 4000 fps. I suppose a guy could keep a cheap chrony on hand for these specific situations but for a $700 system, this shouldn't need to be.
My understanding is that the Labradar has issues with small diameter bullet bases at speeds approaching or exceeding 4000 fps. I suppose a guy could keep a cheap chrony on hand for these specific situations but for a $700 system, this shouldn't need to be.
Have you tried Hirsch precision? The accuracy claims blue tooth connectivity, phone app and a majority of reviews online has me interested in testing this chrony out over my Blue beta master chrony.
Got Juice?
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Peoples Republik of Kanukkistan
I am of the opinion when spending Labradar money, it should do it all out of the box
That is my only issue with it.
Got Juice?
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Peoples Republik of Kanukkistan
Regardless of the chrony, congrats on the purchase!!! Now you can reload and know what speed you are at. I love reloaders without chrony's .... ""THE BOOK says this load is at 3000fps"" Yeah, so what does it chrono at? No Idea? oh, you don't own a chrony, so you are just guessing?
Yep... gotcha.... hahahahaha.
It's like bench racing vs drag racing... but the BS stops when the last yellow drops!
