[Guy B. Meredith]

To get back to your basic question, a chrono is very usefull as the published figures and actual performance WILL vary considerably. The tables just put you in the ball park.

With the chrono you will know whether the rounds are performing as desired. The usual routine for pistols is to start off at about 10% less powder than listed, load a number of rounds at that level and then several more groups with each successive loading .2 gr more. Don't know what increment works for rifles. Take the loads out and put through the chrono until you reach the performance you want all the while watching for over pressure if some of the loads are above the listed value.

Now as to camps favoring brands, the above Oehler is considered the Ferrari of chronos which is great for bench rest, but at this stage you may not want that degree of performance. To test the waters and get good solid basic performance at a beer budget price check the Shooting Chronys. The Beta version gives you the separate computer which is placed on the bench in front of you. It is easier to read that the LCD on the chrono and less subject to stray bullets.