Tales from the chrono

[Catfish]

3 years back as I was getting my feet wet in USPSA, me and the wrecking crew traveled up to Little Rock, Arkansas to shoot the Arkansas Sectional - great match by the way!!

It was one of my first "big" USPSA matches and as I hadn't had the conversion yet at home for my Dillon, I loaded up my match ammo on my buddy Dave's (SgtSvi) 650. Dave had the press dialed in and as that was the first time I'd loaded ammo on a 650 (all prior ammo had been done on either a SDB or a 550), I was in love with that machine!! Man did it just shoot the rounds out, and in a hurry!

We get to the match and we're all hanging out in the hotel room resting before we go start causing trouble. Dave says that we should all try some of this Slide Glide stuff as he had just ordered some and it was awesome! So I break apart the Limited gun, slobber Slide Glide all over the place and put the gun back together.

The next morning, I tore up the first stage and the main thought running through my mind was "man, that Slide Glide is the sh!t! There's practically no recoil at all!" The rest of the day I'm just loving the gun as it is shooting softer than ever, just chugging along. I tell everyone constantly that man, that Slide Glide REALLY works!

So.

We get to the chrono. I'm still rambling on about how impressed I am with Slide Glide and then it's my turn at the chrono.

Let's just say it wasn't necessarily Slide Glide's fault the gun felt so soft.

Needless to say, I took a lot of grief for my Slide Glide enthusiasm for the rest of that match.

Can't blame SgtSvi - through his SV, with its Schuman (sp?) barrel, he made pf by a little bit. Let's just say that my Barsto barrel wasn't nearly as fast as the Schuman.

Now, let's hear your tales of woe at the chrono - I'm sure you have one or two!

[AlamoShooter]

Watching your buddies go Minor You feel bad for them

And watching your own ammo chrono slow but the bullet measure over weight so you scratch in at 165.04

[bgary]

At the 2000 Area-1 match in Missoula, one poor soul was having a terrible time making major. They shot the first three, it came back at 174.9999 or something. They shot the next three, and the best average was still 174.9. So, they're down to the last bullet, and the shooter gets a choice: shoot it or weigh it?

Now, at the time, there was an "urban legend" that claimed most chronographs couldn't *quite* catch a Montana Gold bullet in flight because of its bright color. Some wag on the IPSC-list dubbed it the "Glint Doppler Effect", saying that because the chrono confused the sparkly bullet with sunlight, it affected the readings. And... people believed it.

So, at the egging-on of his buddies, this guy pulls a sharpie out of his bag and colors the bullet black "so the chrono can see it better". hands it to the chrono-meister... thinks for a moment, and then second guessing himself, pulls it back and says "no... maybe the weight was wrong. Let's weigh it".

So they did. And it weighed a little more. Just enough for the calcs to put him at 175.000

To this day, I'm [personally] convinced that the infinitesimal weight of a tiny amount of sharpie-ink was what put him over. But... whatever it was, it worked.

I suppose there's a moral to the story. Just not sure what it is...

B

Edited March 12, 2008 by bgary

[latewatch]

Two stories, one high one low.

Florida State Match circa 1988-89. A guy on my squad scored a 200 pf shooting 200 gr SWC's out of a pretty much stock Colt Officers Model... OUCH.

Kentucky State Match a couple of years ago. I observed some revolver loads that one of our current contributors on the forum loaded for his wife that scored a blistering 84 pf. The good news was that he could recover the spent bullets from the cardboard and reload them............... Bet that was a quiet trip home that evening.......

[sfinney]

Several years ago at Area 4, shooting Open with a 5" SV - old PF comp and all, it really needed to go 175 PF + to be efficient, but...... at the chrono, came in 164

Luckily, it was I think my second stage, and my first was a standards? so I made the mental shift to make sure I shot A's for the rest of the match and ended up 2nd in Class after all, even minor.......

Now, looking back, I have to ask myself why it took knowing I made minor to want to shoot A's. Lesson to be learned there.

[dfwmiket]

Area 4. The Dec match. 26 degrees. COLD. Titegroup. ( For those who say it isn't temp sensitive, I say "read this"!) Chrono 164.97. MINOR.

Go back later in the same day after it warmed up and re-chrono'd, for piece of mind. 166. Major. DOH!

Lessons learned: don't cut it so close to the PF ( my chrono showed this at 169, but it was a shooting chrony--not an infrared CED) and make SURE you know your load under all conditions

Switched powders to VV n320 after that.........

Of course, I shoot Open now and make 174 easy. Comp likes it. No worries on minor, either!!!!

-Mike

[outerlimits]

western states in reno, circa 1987...shot my bowling pin loads (285gr hp)...think the power factor was 238 or so. also rememner area 2 in piru around speedweek 1991 i think. after chronoing my open gun, had them fire my steel gun just for the hell of it. couldn't get a reading till about the 2nd magazine. power factor was right at 96!

[Calamity Jane]

Area 5 back in 2005....came into chrono halfway through the match sitting with 5 mikes. I had a total nuclear mental meltdown at chrono. This was back in the days before I knew about a mental management system. Anyway, I was disgusted, disappointed and angry with myself and when I get that way....I cry. I gave my gun to the chrono RO with tears running down my cheeks. I was crying like a baby...couldn't even talk. With each bullet shot the RO was giving me constant reassurance telling me my bullets were going to make it. Walking away with tears pouring down my cheeks...I made everyone else worried they weren't going to make it. Oh yeah, I made major that day.

[Matt Cheely]

Limited nationals in 2006, come up to the chrono and they shoot my 3 rounds, 164.xx powerfactor

Whoops, they forgot my bullet was 185 instead of 180... Turns out to be 169 pf. Phew...

[L9X25]

I am standing in line waiting to chrono as the chrono guy is chronoing a husband and wife shooting on the previous squad. Instead of the customary 3 shots, I hear him continuing to shoot and shake his head. He finally turns to the wife and says that there is no way that he can declare her Major ... she was about 5 pf low. She yells MAJOR ... I am supposed to be shooting MINOR! She was basically shooting 160 pf and being scored as minor. All I can remember is her screaming at him all the way to the next stage.

We had gentleman that had declared Major and failed to knock over a plate with a center hit (yes plate, not popper) and demanded a calibration. The RM was called and, insted of calibrating the plate, took the gentleman (along with the ammo on his belt) to the chrono where he was checked and declared sub-minor. The gentleman walked to his car and drove away.

Edited March 12, 2008 by L9X25

[flyingchange]

I hadn't been reloading very long when I went to Area 3 last year, and apparently had not learned the finer points of the powder scale. Boy was I surprised when I chronoed to 124.3! I opted to shoot the seventh bullet instead of weighing it, and afterwards, one of my squadmates tells me, "Always weigh it." (Now you tell me!) I had only shot three stages to that point, so I continued on, shooting the rest of the match like my hair was on fire. The MD was kind enough to have my scores entered and print the results for me, so I could see where I *would* have placed. Came home, checked my powder charge, and found that instead of the 4.4gr I thought I was loading, it was only 4.0gr. Whoops. Well, better than erring the OTHER way, for sure!

[Flexmoney]

"Always weigh it" is NOT good advice.

Get your calculator out and do the math. See how much heavier the bullet would have to be to make the power factor. The chrono RO's aren't in a hurry, and they want you to make it. They will give you time...and likely loan you their calculator (if you don't have one).

[dirtypool40]

....and on that note.

At Area 7 last year my everyday 172 pf loads were shooting 164.99999999

over....

....and over

..... and over.

they come to the last round and the chronoman asks what I want to do, shoot it or pull it?

I rolled the dice, pulled it, and it weighed .01 grains different than the first one and that was enough for me to make 165.0000000000000001

He's a buddy I see at locals all the time, and we still giggle about how it's the closest he's ever seen.

[Matt Cheely]

....and on that note.

Ooooooooooooo. Now that's a good one.

[nm3gnr]

Showed up a day early to the WSSSC in Mesa. Went next door to the range to check my zero. The guy next to me asked was I shooting the match and if so I could chrono on his setup to make sure.

Thanks, I said, I will. I was chronoing 160pf !!! Wholy $#@, WOW #@%. They chronoed at home at 169 ???? WTF.

I was going to find a Walmart and some WW whitebox, then said oh well just shoot. Worried all night about Chrono.

Shot the first 4 or 5 stages like a bullseye shooter, 2 alpha, 2 alpha.

Got to chrono and came in at 166 pf !!

That was a big relief ! Turned up the speed a little throughout the rest of the match.

Still didn't finish too well. But that was a big lesson learned.

[DMS42]

Showed up for a match in the Seattle area a long time ago. I was in the Guard and since they were paying my way I shot using my hardball gun and issue TZZ Match Ball ammo. The stuff was hot and chrono'd a little over 875 through my gun for a PF of 202+. Think that I had the highest PF there.

[bruce282]

First major match, MD State IDPA Championship. I have concerns about my G17 holster being legal, so decided to shoot my GP100 38/357 is SSP. I knew that no factory .38 spl made the 125 pf so I ordered 300 rounds of S&B .357 158gr fmj. For those that don't know, IDPA cronos with crono guns, having the longest legal barrel without the shooter there. Only if you don't make it, do they come and find you, so here I am on a stage when the crono guy walks up looking for Bruce. I'm trying figure out how .357 didn't made minor when he asks me if I knew the power floor, i.e. pf for SSP was 125 since my ammo cronoed over 200?

Three years later and here I am, loading the same bunny fart 9mm loads on my 550 as everyone else.

Bruce

[All-Gator]

Area 6 in Birmingham either '95 or'96. I was shooting a Tribrid with one extra port closer to the chamber drilled right before the match (another stupid move)...sorta' a snubnose length of barrel . It required 12.1 grains of VV3N37 to make 175! The report and concussion were out of sight!!! I walked up to the chrono table and the chrono-guy looked at the pistol and said, "What's this?" He fired the first round ; jerked his head violently; looked up at me with his hat and glasses askew ; and said, "That's enough...that's major. " He handed me the pistol and I walked off.

[ipscbob]

"Always weigh it" is NOT good advice.

Get your calculator out and do the math. See how much heavier the bullet would have to be to make the power factor. The chrono RO's aren't in a hurry, and they want you to make it. They will give you time...and likely loan you their calculator (if you don't have one).

Gotta agree. Over the years I have found bullet weights to be very consistent and very close to the stated weight.

[flyingchange]

"Always weigh it" is NOT good advice.

Get your calculator out and do the math. See how much heavier the bullet would have to be to make the power factor. The chrono RO's aren't in a hurry, and they want you to make it. They will give you time...and likely loan you their calculator (if you don't have one).

Gotta agree. Over the years I have found bullet weights to be very consistent and very close to the stated weight.

I weighed one when I got home and it was 125gr (I'd told the chrono guy they were 124). If the one at the match had been 125 I'd have made power factor.

[Flexmoney]

There ya go...know the math, and what it takes to make a difference.

[Shawn Knight]

"Always weigh it" is NOT good advice.

Get your calculator out and do the math. See how much heavier the bullet would have to be to make the power factor. The chrono RO's aren't in a hurry, and they want you to make it. They will give you time...and likely loan you their calculator (if you don't have one).

Gotta agree. Over the years I have found bullet weights to be very consistent and very close to the stated weight.

I weighed one when I got home and it was 125gr (I'd told the chrono guy they were 124). If the one at the match had been 125 I'd have made power factor.

I remember that story....

[supercomp9]

Well Ok I have a couple Same cold Dec Area 4 , shooting it for my first time in several years

shooting open, just got the gun back couple month earlier from the gunsmith, shot a local match or

two ran great loads working good. chorno'd warmer temp just for the gun and load.

Get to the match come up to the chrono, and hand over the pistol.

and sit back and watch . the first three fall short 1201 avg next three squeak by 1223

option of the 7th shot I take it. and reavg highest three and get 1225.6 and my bullet

gave me the magic number 165.2

Now fast foward to three weeks ago. getting ready to shoot the Dbl Tap championship

wife gave in and let me have some income tax money and I find me a 6" Eagle in 40

to start shooting out of bullets off one weekend and shot a local match at the

bulletmakers Range , after match ask if they have any 175gr for the 40 nope all out.

have a bunch of 155gr. ok give me a two boxes , came home worked up

three small loads to test in the new 40 plus in the old para,

Tell the with what I need to do two days before the ro's shoot the match.

we goto the family farm with the wife and kids in tow after work, half way out forget the

brain to the chrono back to town, Damn Pact timer/chrono, ok get the brain and back out we go.

time still ticking, kids gettn hungry wife are we finished yet, set up the chrono,

figure I would try it out first with the 9mm that I took out of the safe, DAO Beretta .

fire the first round DAMN wind blew and whack hit the skyscreen, Oh S**T walk down to

look at the damage whew missed the main part , just hit plastic turn the sky screen around

reset the chrono, shot 3 times nothing happen no beep, play with brain again, got this time

timer/chrono running, first shot again Whack Oh S**T not again ... yep went to look at damage

WOW lucky again, just plastic parts agian.. figure I better get rid of the DAO Beretta and get on with what I

need to, before I can't... well 40 loads ran like a champ... warm in the 5" para and really warm in the 6" Eagle

No problem making Major in this gun with my current loads...

Off to see what a new set of skyscreens cost from Pact. because the TWO holes in my other one just Don't look right.

J. Kee

[Kingman]

VA Md sectional last year. had to do the 7th round and at that it came in lovely at 165.1

If I would have missed I never would have heard the end of it.

[Powder Finger]

Had a buddy from N.M. he's like 15 feet short with the last one to pull and weigh or shoot it.

Shooting H-108. So he asks what should I do With no hesitation I say shoot it! It's chambered

and I go wait can we talk it over for a second? So we go talk for 30 seconds about nothing.

Then say ok go ahead and shoot it. He made average by 1 FPS. Then he said I was evil.?!