686 Shooter
Regular
I have been wanting a Labradar for some time and when I saw the Calgary Shooting Centre had them on sale I finally decided to get one. I took it out to the range today and I thought I would share my first impressions.
I was a little worried as most of the things I read on the Labradar were positive, there was still a fair amount of folks saying it was overly complicated, difficult to setup, or they could not get it to track the bullets. I read the instructions over and familiarized myself with the controls before heading out, loaded up the truck and headed out with some 308 that I had chronographed before so I new what fps they would be running at. Once I got to the range setup was a breeze. Got the unit aimed, pulled the trigger, and no readout on the display. It was all my fault though, I forgot to arm the unit. I armed it and started shooting, the unit worked great. There were two shots that the unit didn't pick up all day and those were my fault as well. I didn't tighten up the tripod head correctly and the unit moved out of alignment with the target. After that every shot was captured. The Labradar proved to be accurate and consistent. The only thing I can think of that would cause folks to say this unit is difficult to use is either they did not read and follow the instructions or they received a defective unit. Setup was fast and easy. Compared to setting up an optical chronograph this is a dream.
Once you get home you can plug the unit into your computer and all the info from your session is conveniently stored in a file that opens in Excel. The sheet contains all velocities and kinetic energy of each shot at each distance you have chosen. It makes reviewing and storing the information a snap.
So after using it today the only cons I found with the unit were the tripod head and the price. To be fair most of my grief with the tripod head was probably partly my fault. The price is pretty high but the $100 off at CSC did help. I may find more cons as I use it more but right now I am extremely happy.
Is it worth the price? I think so. Ease of setup, ease of use, and the ability to download info in an easy to use format makes me think so. It also seems to be very accurate and consistent in its readings. Plus it has none of the headaches of an optical chrono. It's not downrange so it wont get shot and you can use it in any lighting conditions. If you were thinking of getting one of these I say go for it. If I run into any issues in the future I will update.
Thanks for reading.
I was a little worried as most of the things I read on the Labradar were positive, there was still a fair amount of folks saying it was overly complicated, difficult to setup, or they could not get it to track the bullets. I read the instructions over and familiarized myself with the controls before heading out, loaded up the truck and headed out with some 308 that I had chronographed before so I new what fps they would be running at. Once I got to the range setup was a breeze. Got the unit aimed, pulled the trigger, and no readout on the display. It was all my fault though, I forgot to arm the unit. I armed it and started shooting, the unit worked great. There were two shots that the unit didn't pick up all day and those were my fault as well. I didn't tighten up the tripod head correctly and the unit moved out of alignment with the target. After that every shot was captured. The Labradar proved to be accurate and consistent. The only thing I can think of that would cause folks to say this unit is difficult to use is either they did not read and follow the instructions or they received a defective unit. Setup was fast and easy. Compared to setting up an optical chronograph this is a dream.
Once you get home you can plug the unit into your computer and all the info from your session is conveniently stored in a file that opens in Excel. The sheet contains all velocities and kinetic energy of each shot at each distance you have chosen. It makes reviewing and storing the information a snap.
So after using it today the only cons I found with the unit were the tripod head and the price. To be fair most of my grief with the tripod head was probably partly my fault. The price is pretty high but the $100 off at CSC did help. I may find more cons as I use it more but right now I am extremely happy.
Is it worth the price? I think so. Ease of setup, ease of use, and the ability to download info in an easy to use format makes me think so. It also seems to be very accurate and consistent in its readings. Plus it has none of the headaches of an optical chrono. It's not downrange so it wont get shot and you can use it in any lighting conditions. If you were thinking of getting one of these I say go for it. If I run into any issues in the future I will update.
Thanks for reading.
