Chronographs: Best bang for the buck?

Rugerman

Rugerman

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I am in the market for a new chronograph for mostly rifle loads but some pistol. Any suggestions for a reasonably priced but well made chrony? I have an original Oehler but it is so cumbersome to set up. I would like to know what brands and models to look for and what to avoid. Is there any problem, btw, with shipping/bringing them back over the border? I assume that these are not an issue but I don't know for sure.
:ar15::ar15::ar15:
 
unless you're alone at the range (to push the buttons at will) or have a remote, any of the advanced functions are useless.
go for the Chrony.
 
check the CED,or the POCKET PRO TIMER MAKER, they are now carrying a infrared sensor whixh are more accurate and more flexible outdoor or indoor, since you gonna spend some cash, you might as well spend it right.
 
I got the F-1 with remote. Works great, Just you need paper to write down the data. no big deal. I think they are the same machine as the next ones up the food chain in there line just different remote boxes.
 
I suppose that a Chrony might be better than nothing. Not much, mind you, and sometimes I wonder if the constant missed shots and variation from machine to machine doesn't leave one better off with nothing.
That's where I'm at now, nothing until I get something decent. CED maybe.
 
Dogleg said:
I suppose that a Chrony might be better than nothing. Not much, mind you, and sometimes I wonder if the constant missed shots and variation from machine to machine doesn't leave one better off with nothing.
That's where I'm at now, nothing until I get something decent. CED maybe.
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I once tested my Chrony against an Oelher that cost many times more. I shot through both at the same time. The downrange unit would record a few FPS less. Then I reversed them and repeated, same results. The two machines were produced identical results.
 
762shooter said:
I once tested my Chrony against an Oelher that cost many times more. I shot through both at the same time. The downrange unit would record a few FPS less. Then I reversed them and repeated, same results. The two machines were produced identical results.
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I'm glad your's works, really I am. I've had enough dropped shots over Chronies to pay for a Oelher, or a new rifle. There's three of us that have compared ours, and are lucky if we can get them to agree within 300 fps. I know now how one of these friends consistantly gets 150 fps more than me, on every caliber we share.:( Then there's the time when I watched a guy gain 400 fps shooting factory loads, just to drop back to where he started on the first group. He probably had the fastest .300 WSM on the planet for about 1/2 hour.;)
How about velocities that read a couple thousand off, on random shots?They don't really inspire a lot of faith in the shots that are 50 fps out of the pack.
 
I've owned a chrony F-1 for probably 15 years now. I haven't had a single problem with it in all that time and it has always worked fine for me. I'd buy another one anyday.
 
I was looking into buying one too, but stopped after I realized that I'd need to get battery-powered lighting units to make this usable at my indoor range. That's extra $$ for lighting plus having to rig a 12VDC/120VAC converter, so I stopped.

However, I did get the impression from searching many forums that the Chrony can be troublesome. The one recommended more often as both accurate & reliable unit was ProChrono Digital by Competition Electronics.
 
Does anyone have any experience with the Competition Electronics ProChrono? A couple reviews I have seen say it is a pretty good unit.
 
762shooter said:
I once tested my Chrony against an Oelher that cost many times more. I shot through both at the same time. The downrange unit would record a few FPS less. Then I reversed them and repeated, same results. The two machines were produced identical results.
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That was good to know.
The old Oehler I used to use had a five foot, I think it was, spread. I thought that it may be more accurate.
 
aridan said:
I was looking into buying one too, but stopped after I realized that I'd need to get battery-powered lighting units to make this usable at my indoor range. That's extra $$ for lighting plus having to rig a 12VDC/120VAC converter, so I stopped.

However, I did get the impression from searching many forums that the Chrony can be troublesome. The one recommended more often as both accurate & reliable unit was ProChrono Digital by Competition Electronics.
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I didn't find that out until after I bought it, I'll still try it inside without the light though. Anyone find any easy or cheap workarounds, I've never seen the lighting kit for sale anywhere.
 
curtmg said:
I didn't find that out until after I bought it, I'll still try it inside without the light though. Anyone find any easy or cheap workarounds, I've never seen the lighting kit for sale anywhere.
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You can see the kit on the manufacturer's site. It needs a 120V supply though.

Frankly, it should be easy to rig a couple of cheap battery-powered LED lights under a canopy of some sort. You want a steady light that's reasonably bright while blocking the flicker of indoor fluorescent lights. I don't believe the light color matters for this application, so a pair of cheap 'bluish' white LED lights will do. I was just too lazy... :D I don't compete so the PF of my reloads doesn't matter much.

Did you get the ProChrono unit? If you don't mind me asking: where from and how much? ;) I was going to the US this past weekend and was planning to get it from Graf & Sons for $105US but they were OOS. They have the light for $53US - currently OOS though.
 
aridan said:
You can see the kit on the manufacturer's site. It needs a 120V supply though.

Frankly, it should be easy to rig a couple of cheap battery-powered LED lights under a canopy of some sort. You want a steady light that's reasonably bright while blocking the flicker of indoor fluorescent lights. I don't believe the light color matters for this application, so a pair of cheap 'bluish' white LED lights will do. I was just too lazy... :D I don't compete so the PF of my reloads doesn't matter much.

Did you get the ProChrono unit? If you don't mind me asking: where from and how much? ;) I was going to the US this past weekend and was planning to get it from Graf & Sons for $105US but they were OOS. They have the light for $53US - currently OOS though.
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Scheels in Fargo, I got a Chrony, the second model, not sure what the designation is, came with the remote display. I'm thinking a couple Dollarama stick on LED lights, like I have in my Gun locker.
 
Chrony used to test their new components and designs on my range. They shot a 22, a 243, a 30-30 and a 308 - and a bow.

They had a long plank that would take a string of Chronies. In the middle was one of those expensive brands, starting with "O". They had it set up at double the normal spacing between screens, to increase accuracy.

Each Chrony was very accurate in that it had almost the identical relationship, shot to shot, with the O. That is, unit 1 was always 25 fp faster, unit 2 was always 15 fps slower, etc. i never saw a unit that was so much faster or slower than the O so as to be impractical.

The older units were unrelaible againmst a blue sky. they needed the white screens installed. The newer units seem to work ok naked.

The Chronies are accurate because of very high clock speeds. But they can be made less accurate if you don't have a fixed firing position and a fixed aiming point. if you shoot through the traps at a variety of angles, the distances vary.

the other source of error is getting too close. I shoot at about 15 feet. I like the model that remembers a string of 10 shots and then reads back the high, low, ES and SD.
 
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