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cdoc42 · October 21, 2006, 08:30 AM

In my view, the chronograph adds to the experimentation forum of the reloading experience. If you load just 2 or 3 calibers, using the same bullets, powder and primers that someone suggested and you found that happened to produce the desired accuracy, you don't need a chronograph.

If you have a 300- or 400 yard range, you don't need a chronograph. But if you're limited to 100 yards and you're going on a trip where you'll need to shoot to 300 yards or so, you can't look in the manual to get your expected trajectory if you don't know how fast your load is going. If the book says a particular load will produce 3000 fps, it doesn't mean that will happen in your rifle. It may not even be close. If you've paid all that money for a trip and happen upon a 300 yard "taker" thinking your bullet will drop 5 inches, and it really drops 9 inches, well, you get the picture.

If you read a lot and apply it to your reloading, you don't need a chronograph. Just believe what you read. But as you experiment with loads and use a chronograph, you'll find for yourself what many say here, as has been said above.

But perhaps most simply, as reloaders get into their hobby, invariably the question burns in one's mind: I wonder just how fast that bullet is going?

October 21, 2006, 08:30 AM	#4
cdoc42 Senior Member Join Date: March 13, 2005 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 1,687	In my view, the chronograph adds to the experimentation forum of the reloading experience. If you load just 2 or 3 calibers, using the same bullets, powder and primers that someone suggested and you found that happened to produce the desired accuracy, you don't need a chronograph. If you have a 300- or 400 yard range, you don't need a chronograph. But if you're limited to 100 yards and you're going on a trip where you'll need to shoot to 300 yards or so, you can't look in the manual to get your expected trajectory if you don't know how fast your load is going. If the book says a particular load will produce 3000 fps, it doesn't mean that will happen in your rifle. It may not even be close. If you've paid all that money for a trip and happen upon a 300 yard "taker" thinking your bullet will drop 5 inches, and it really drops 9 inches, well, you get the picture. If you read a lot and apply it to your reloading, you don't need a chronograph. Just believe what you read. But as you experiment with loads and use a chronograph, you'll find for yourself what many say here, as has been said above. But perhaps most simply, as reloaders get into their hobby, invariably the question burns in one's mind: I wonder just how fast that bullet is going?