Do you use a chronograph when you shoot?

2bad4u2 said:
Well, unless you don't mind the challenge of making things more difficult than they need to be, I guess you're right. Still don't know how you're going to know your exact velocities on days of various temperatures, humidity levels, or barometric pressure unless you plan on retesting across various known distances. Or how you plan on calculating ES or SD of your loads and how said environmental conditions affect your load and any effects on shot-to-shot consistency.

But hey, you're right. Obviously, it's not a necessity because guesswork is so much more accurate. :/ Seriously, for $100 you're doing yourself a disservice by not owning one.
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You make it sound like you won't take a shot without one.

Shooting known distance with known b.c. bullet will show a drop. Reverse engineer the shot on a calculator and you'll get a better idea of velocity than $100 chrony will tell you.
ES and SD will show on paper, always has always will.

IMO a new handloader is better served putting that $100 to his scale budget.
 
9x19p said:
You make it sound like you won't take a shot without one.

Shooting known distance with known b.c. bullet will show a drop. Reverse engineer the shot on a calculator and you'll get a better idea of velocity than $100 chrony will tell you.
ES and SD will show on paper, always has always will.

IMO a new handloader is better served putting that $100 to his scale budget.
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I've been shooting for 30 years and only bought my chronograph (2) years ago. So, no I wouldn't agree with your comment. I simply didn't need one until that point. The reason I bought one was because I was taking an interest in developing subsonic loads and having one allowed me to know exactly what my loads were doing. Something that simply couldn't be achieved by winging it.

Like I said, I agree with you. You don't HAVE to have one. I don't think you can make the argument that it's a very useful tool for gathering important information.

You can't make the claim that ES & SD will always show on paper because you have to take human error into consideration. And the further out you shoot those errors get magnified at distance, do they not?

I agree with you that a new handloader is better served initially with a highly precise powder measure and scale. However, the topic we're discussing here is long range shooting and I'm inclined to believe it's not generally something most novice handloaders get into right from the beginning. Besides, if $100 is going to make or break you, I'd suggest getting into another hobby.
 
I haven't used a chronograph since I shot mine three years ago... I shoot solely for tight groups... I don't much care what the velocity is as long as the accuracy is excellent... you certainly do NOT NEED a chrony... but if you like playing with numbers and make charts and tables, then by all means, use a chrony...
 
@ 2bad

1-Subsonic loads, I agree the tool is likely a must have. Yours is a relatively narrow application.

2-I didn't argue it's usefulness, I've used mine. For me it's not a must.

3-You're assuming I err.

4a & 4b-:) The discussion was "using a chronograph while shooting" not long range shooting. It's right there in the title. Perhaps you're right, I may be giving myself too much credit in my ability to read my targets.

It's all good brother, we're allowed different opinions. The interwebz say so.
 
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