Chronograph?

R

randymacbc

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new to reloading and would like to see what my loads are doing.
I see Cabelas has the Shooting Beta chronograph on sale for $139 or the Caldwell ballistic Precision for $149. Are either of these worth buying and is one better than the other?
at this point I cant see investing in a Labradar
 
I have the Caldwell unit, works as advertised. It does have a very nice ap interface that connects to the unit via bluetooth and saves all your results as separate files that it can email directly to your selected address, very handy.
 
I recently picked up a MagnetoSpeed Sporter, and it's great. At $280'ish, they're a little more spendy than the optical chrono's you listed, but you can use the MagnetoSpeed in any weather or light conditions, there's no shutting down the firing line at the range for set-up & take-down, and it calculates ES & SD on the fly.

I got mine through Jerry at Mystic Precision - super awesome to deal with!!!
 
I bought the deluxe Caldwell unit. You can't use the magnetospeed with an auto pistol unless it has a rail. Otherwise I would have gone that route.
 
B said:
I bought the deluxe Caldwell unit. You can't use the magnetospeed with an auto pistol unless it has a rail. Otherwise I would have gone that route.
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Yup, same reason I didn't go with Magnetospeed - need a chrono for pistol too.
 
I bought the Caldwell and have had nothing but problems with my Galaxy s5,even after they sent me the USB cords.Wish I went with the Pro Chrono or the Shooting Beta chronograph in the first place.What a let down.I say avoid the Caldwell.
 
I gave away my Chrony Chronograph to a shooter, and I feel bad for giving it to him for free. The damn thing folds so unless you get an 'upgrade kit' (maybe the new ones have it stock now) you will have wide variations when you move the chrono around.
I was looking at the Caldwell as an alternative, but considering most of their stuff is plastic garbage, I instead went with the Pro Chrono chronograph off of amazon. Mainly because it has the UV kit so I can use it indoors.

If I had the money, i'd buy a Labradar. It's top tier, but $1k for a chrono is out of my pocket book region.
If I only shot rifle, I'd buy a magnetospeed. But I shoot a lot of pistol.
If I had more money to spend, I would have bought a Oehler 35.
But I'm cheap and only use a chronograph 2-3 times per year, so I went with a ProChrono. It's been great indoors and out.
 
HuntersStand said:
I bought the Caldwell and have had nothing but problems with my Galaxy s5,even after they sent me the USB cords.Wish I went with the Pro Chrono or the Shooting Beta chronograph in the first place.What a let down.I say avoid the Caldwell.
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No problems connecting to my iPhone, works great.
 
I've had Pact, Chrony and CED. Problems with them all.
(Chrony was the WORST, closely followed by CED)

Best one so far has been the Prochrono Digital. Simple, accurate, seems to take readings in all kinds of light levels - reasonably priced at $119 US.
Lots of options - Bluetooth connectivity - that's really cool, USB Connectivity to a PC (see it at this year's IPSC Nationals), etc.

Disclaimer: I don't sell Chronos - I just use them - so this is pretty much unbiased. :p
 
Shooting Beta works really well. Whatever you get make sure you get one.... A chrony is critical to good load development and record keeping if you are either bit serious at all about reloading SAFELY and really knowing what you are putting downrange.
 
I have the Caldwell and its nothing but a headache to set up, once its set its works great. Magnetospeed seems the best bang for your buck, with a very small profile and ease of use. That will be my next purchase.
 
scott_r said:
I have the Caldwell and its nothing but a headache to set up, once its set its works great. Magnetospeed seems the best bang for your buck, with a very small profile and ease of use. That will be my next purchase.
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The Caldwell takes under 2 minutes for myself and that's with setting up the IR lights since I shoot pistol indoors...
 
Redblack said:
Any opinions on the magneto speed ones? The sporter is under $300 and the V3 is $550. Are the extra features worth the price jump.
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The V3 has a nicer, easier to use, multi-button display/control unit than the Sporter (but it's not difficult navigating the 1-button Sporter). The V3 also has a rail mount attachment option that allows you to use it on handguns - provided they have a rail.

Otherwise, they're fairly similar.
 
Freedom Ventures said:
I've had Pact, Chrony and CED. Problems with them all.
(Chrony was the WORST, closely followed by CED)

Best one so far has been the Prochrono Digital. Simple, accurate, seems to take readings in all kinds of light levels - reasonably priced at $119 US.
Lots of options - Bluetooth connectivity - that's really cool, USB Connectivity to a PC (see it at this year's IPSC Nationals), etc.

Disclaimer: I don't sell Chronos - I just use them - so this is pretty much unbiased. :p
Click to expand...

Can you use this for both rifle and pistol?
 
I have a Beta Chrony. No complaints. I am never too sure about the actual velocity figures. I tend to assume they are in the ball park.
I think if you shoot a string under the same conditions then the ES and SD figures should be reasonably accurate enough to gauge your reloads/reloading in that regard.

I am going to buy a magneto speed for the convenience.
 
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