Chronograph advice

powdergun

powdergun

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Not sure wher to post this but I figured this spot would be as good as any.

Just looking for some oppinions on which chrono on the lower end of cost are worth buying. I don't need a pile of features just a readout for muzzle velocity.

Thanks
 
Best tip is not to shoot it.
The one i have is green and folds. It says shooting chrony on it. Known velocities compare quite well with its read outs. Without it i would never have known one of my 300wms is ballistically a hot loaded 30/06
 
Shooting Chrony here too.
Not sure which one I have but it has the printout feature and memory.
Not overly expensive and works great.
Have had it over 10 years and no issues at all.
 
I bought the magnetospeed. I like it for its convenience and never leaving the firing line, but when working up loads I now load a separate velocity string to shoot through it, then shoot groups as it affects grouping and POI.
 
Shooting Chrony are Made in Canada and work pretty good. Theu can be finicky. Mine has been with me for many years and still ticking along. I shot mine once, don't shoot yours.
 
I have a Caldwell Deluxe kit. Works just fine. On bright sunny day it needs a cover on top of the antennas. Mine is an older one, hard wired to iPhone or iPad. I don't use it much, as I don't spend any too much time "working up a load". To me, it is a neat gadget that provides info on velocity of my cast bullet loads, mostly in my "old army rifles".

I do see the value of a chronograph when striving for some decent accuracy. I am a mild digital gadget freak, so this thing is right up my alley.
 
The shooting chrony can give different speeds depending on the light I found. I went with the cheapest magneeto speed I could find and I’m super happy with it. Almost never get an error and that’s not something I can say for the shooting chrony which you can’t reset without going to the unit which can be a serious pain in the %%% if you’re at a shooting range.
 
I'm on my second Shooting Chrony as the first failed to withstand a 77gr round from my evil baby killer AR. I use the Beta Master that has the separate corded readout. Works good. It's not perfect but it does what I want it to do.
 
Lab radar is the bees knees!

A bit expensive yes, but super precise, and gives much more info on each shot.

Being able to shoot, and collect both group development info and velocity data is just more cost/time effective for me. With the cost, and at times, difficulty in obtaining some loading components, being able to shoot both groups and collect velocity data is a major plus.

One of the features that I like about the Lab radar is the ability to track your bullets at predetermined intervals to the target. Knowing the average velocities at the target is handy to compare advertised BC values to real life values.

Another cool thing I noticed about this feature was when I was shooting high performance cast bullet loads. I was shooting 200 grain .310", #311299 cast bullets at progressively increasing powder charges (with powders normally associated more with jacketed bullets). I wanted to see how close I could get these cast bullets to shoot at jacketed velocities and maintain acceptable accuracy.

The Lab radar picked up that the 100 yard velocities of some rounds were distinctly different than the rest in a given group. Upon closer observation, I usually could identify a slight flier on the target, to the bullets that showed a different resultant velocity at 100 yards than the rest of the rounds in that group (even if two bullets started out at the same relative velocity, but arrived at the target at different resultant velocities).

With this information I believe that I can track at which pressure point the cast bullets (with this particular alloy) are experiencing some structure damage during the firing sequence. As this damage starts to effect the bullets structure/shape, the result is either a flier caused by an altered bullet shape or resultant velocity differential at the target.

It was surprising how much velocity I was able to get from a cast bullet before the load stats and groups started to open up. This was with both a Rem 700 Varmint Laminate rifle (308 Win) 1:12" twist and a Browning B-78 (30-06) and 1:12" Twist.
At least it seems to appear this way.

Sorry about the side tracking!
 
Start with the cheapest CHRONY model available and there are used ones on the EE.
Essentially the internal guts are the same.
A noted writer placed an original CHRONY in between his 3' and 5' spacings and found it to be just as accurate as his big money chronograph.
I am now on my second CHRONY and they are a good starting point.
My first one would not accurately record the first shot. Sometimes the external lighting gives wrong readings and there is always the problem of having a dead battery.
 
.284 said:
The shooting chrony can give different speeds depending on the light I found. I went with the cheapest magneeto speed I could find and I’m super happy with it. Almost never get an error and that’s not something I can say for the shooting chrony which you can’t reset without going to the unit which can be a serious pain in the %%% if you’re at a shooting range.
Click to expand...

Not if you have the Beta, like 8x68 my readout’s (and controls / reset button) is on a 20’ cable you string back to your bench.
 
 
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