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Suggestions on a Chronograph


champ198

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Competition Electronics with the Bluetooth interface is my pick.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This one for a budget and the LabRadar for the best. I have both and use them both. You can not go wrong with either.
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I do all my testing indoors - either in my basement, or at our club.  I used to bring the lights and all that bulky stuff with me.  With the radar it is simply a package the size of a book, simply set it near your shooting position - no tripod, no lights... I attached a folding mini tripod to it.

 

The only thing I dislike about it is its silly orange color, I wish they had a choice.  :)  Its price I forgot as soon as I started using it.  :)

 

If all your shooting is outdoors, then yes, something like the ProChrono is going to be fine.  But I have seen some of them shot.  There is no chance of that with the radar.

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On 7/18/2018 at 3:00 PM, DesertTortoise said:

I also like the prochrono with blue tooth adapter. I have never used another one, but I'm happy with it.

I bought the "Amazon choice" no brand tripod and it's nice too

 

This is what I like best about the Bluetooth & free app:

 

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Clearly I need to order the BT adapter. Been nothing but happy with my Prochrono. 

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ProChono digital is definitely my choice in the $100 price range. It’s never failed to read accurately (unlike my old Chrony)

 

...including indoors with bright incandescent light placed next to the body, and aimed up at the underside of the screens.

 

Edited by MemphisMechanic
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On 7/19/2018 at 9:30 AM, Foxbat said:

But I have seen some of them shot.  There is no chance of that with the radar.

 

Oh yee of too much faith in humanity.  Somewhere up here north of the 49th a club labradar did indeed get shot.  Can't remember where exactly but the culprit put the radar back for the next guy to discover it was fatally shot dead.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have the Caldwell precision Chrono. I bought it used a few years ago. Recently, I got an error about the rear sensor failing. I called Caldwell and they are sending me a free replacement. No questions asked. That's great service!!

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I have the Comp Elec Pro Chrono with the bluetooth adapter with iPhono and love the adapter. As others noted above, I love the PDF export report option and do use that. Down side is the set-up time. Not an option for indoor ranges as can't go beyond the benches at all. At the outdoor club at least can set the unit up when closed to the public. Another down side is the reliability. The unit is lighting sensitive and this can impact reading shots in the string. I've lost a LOT of shots that didn't read based on clouds, too bright, etc. Have to be as close to the top of the unit with shots passing over the top or also won't read. Better bench rest or take the change of blowing your chrono to pieces.

Summary: Set-up intensive, not completely reliable, doesn't work with rifles, great reports! Not true muzzle velocity (but close)

 

For rifles I use the MagnetoSpeed V3. This unit reads true muzzle velocity and easier to set up. Down side is it changes POI. For new load development I have to load twenty or thirty rounds of each load weight to get and accurate velocity and group reading. I run ten rounds, 2 x five groups for a ten round string. Run all my load weights and then run all the same loads with out the bayonet. POI can shift a couple inches from the with to the without. The chrono display is from the '80 and in my opinion, consider crap. PIA for the export process to export string data. Very poorly done. I wrote an Xcel template that takes the CSV file and imports the data into a formatted report but this takes multiple steps where the Pro Chrono has the feature already.

 

For what I spent on the two chronos I would have bought a LabRadar.

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I started with a regular chrono, can’t remember which one. Then one day I forgot the tripod so I set it up on a barrel. Worked great till the wind picked up and it blew over at the same time I pull the trigger. I didn’t kill it, but it has a good war wound! I now have a MagnetoSpeed V3. Love it as I can chrono from the line, no going down range. However, it does not work on 1911 style guns, unless you jerry rig something, which I did and it works, but its not idea. I’ll be buying a LabRadar at some future date when its on sale. 

Edited by quiller
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I bought a Caldwell BALLISTIC PRECISION CHRONOGRAPH G2 after my PACT model 1 finally started giving erratic readings after over 20 years of use.  Love the lights on the bottom.  Works great where I live since lighting can be an issue.

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Just picked up a ProChrono Dlx with built-in Bluetooth.  Ran about 30 rounds on Friday before getting rained out.  Having everything show up on my phone was very handy.  I didn’t think price was too bad at $129.  Well less than some of the alternatives.

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