Chronographs

[bayboy]

I have a pair of Oehler Model 55's (like the 57's but older). They are a little bit of a pain to use but they are big enough that I don't have to worry about shooting them.

[azar92]

I have the Shooting Chrony Beta Master. I've only had 3 false readings with it in the 18 months that I've had it. One was when the sun was nearly setting and at too steep of an angle so that the diffusers couldn't do their job, and the other two where on a day in April that started out sunny (so the diffusers where in place) and some heavy clouds moved in. It became very overcast and I don't think the chrony had enough light hitting the sensors with the diffusers still on it. At the next cease-fire, I removed them and it functioned normally after that.

I've been quite happy with my Beta Master. If you do get a Shooting Chrony model, opt for one of the "master" models. You have the readout and the "brains" on the bench next to you. Mine is mounted on a regular camera tri-pod (a cheapo Wal-Mart special) and I put it about 15 feet from the muzzle.

My only gripe? It's interface is pretty archaic (and I'm no stranger to electronics). Basic functionality is easy enough, but more advanced things require having the manual by your side until you've used it enough to have memorized it.

[SamStafford]

Chronograph is next on my WANTED list.

[olmossbak]

I was curious about the status of Oehler's business due to the competition from all of the others now in the market so I went to the website at
http://www.oehler-research.com/index.html for any updates. They have suspended supply of their handloader type equipment but are continuing to service waranty. This includes the model 35 chronograph and the model 43 ballistics lab. They are continuing their professional/technical line.

When I bought mine Oehler was the first in the market and the best available. The downside was they were also the most expensive and were edged out by the availability of servicable tools at less money. I got to admit, I love my Oehler but today I wouldn't spend the money with cheaper units available.

[Hook686]

I have a shooting Chrony Alpha Master and a F-1 Master. The Master designation means the disply is on a 15' cable and can be on the shooting bench, while the chronograph is 10' awy to monitor the bullet flight.

The Alpha records 10 shots with statistical results. The F-1 simply shows the speed of the last shot. The F-1 was about $25 cheaper.

Since I shot my first Alpha Master and got a replacement for $35 I am satisfied with Shooting Chrony. I bought the F-1 on sale and have decided I really do not need all that statistical data. Folks show it, but I really wonder what they use it for.

A chronograph I find very useful for the reloader. Buy one, you'll like it.

[Nnobby45]

Is shooting a chrony really as big of a problem as this thread makes it out to be?

The only thing that I can think of is sometimes folks might forget that their scope is an inch or two above the bore. Even then, most chronies I have seen have a decent size shooting window.

The reason that sensors, or even the whole unit, tended to get shot is because it can be hard for the sensors to pick up a fast moving bullet under certain conditions. A fairly shiny bullet doesn't show up that well against a bright blue sky. That's what the difusser hoods are for----to simulate clouds and let the two sensors see the fast moving bullet.

So, the shooter tries to get the bullet as close to the sensor as possible to insure getting a reading, and with the bore below the scope, as mentioned, it's not hard to hit the sensor.

Larger and slower pistol bullets were never a problem. The sensors could still pick their bullets up when high above the sensor. Shooting big or medium bore rifles usually weren't a problem since the bullets didn't need to be too close to the sensor. The fast .22 centerfires, like my .22-250 could be a problem, however, since the light needed to be just right. I'd shoot as low as I dared.

There's a learning curve to properly using a chrono, even with the newer ones, but I'm happy with my Pro Tach Digital. I haven't used another type.

I believe Chrongraph technology has greatly improved since I bought my first one a couple decades ago.

[Whisper 300]

Also have a Oehler 33. LOVE IT!
By pure dumb luck I purchased on of the last available models 2 years ago and was told by the factory folks that at that time they were suspending manufacture of consumer chrony's .
Guess he was right.

Given that, I rarely let anyone else shoot over the screens as I would hate to have to do real physical harm to the moron who shot it.

Every thing else I read says the available units on the market now are quite good and very reasonable.
I think that for 100 bucks you can get nearly everything a reloader needs.

Gary

[glokmunkee]

Great Chrony for $100 that brings the display to the bench as stated before and if you add the printer you can have all of the stat data that the others have. I havent shot it though. Maybe I need to do that? I heard that was bad for them.

[azsixshooter]

Competition Electronics Pro-chrono (something like that). Had it since 1998 and have pretty much destroyed the metal rods holding the diffusers up with handguns. :>)

I e-mailed Comp. Elec. last week. They responded right away and sent me new diffusers/rods for 12.00 - no shipping, etc.

It wasn't expensive but it works like a champ.

I have one of these too, it has been great. Until I shot it! I accidentally just grazed the top after moving my target from 200 yards to 100 yards and neglecting to lower the chrony. My bullet just creased along the top and kind of "parted its' hair" and it continued to work for about 6 months. I knew what I was supposed to be getting velocity-wise and it seemed to be pretty close despite being wounded. Recently it was getting really off and frequently not reading shots at all so I took it apart and cleaned everything up and put it all back together and it was getting consistent readings, but they seemed to be consistently about 200 fps slow so I called Comp Elec and they were great. I sent it in to them and it should get there by tomorrow. They basically said the turnaround time will be about 5 days and if it's a worst-case scenario that they can't fix they'll just give me a brand new unit for something like $69. I paid around $100 for it new I think.

Before anyone says it's stupid to use a damaged, unreliable chrony please keep in mind that after I shot it I did not use it to work up any new loads or anything like that. I was just using it to see if I could tell whether or not it was continuing to give relatively accurate readings, which it did for awhile. I think the jostling around in the box to and from the range/desert was what eventually shook something loose inside and then it went really bad. After I fixed it I was getting consistent results, they were just 200 fps or so slow.

I think it's a great chrony, I need to work up a new load for my elk hunt over the summer so I sent it back for repair. I will definitely be a lot more careful in the future with things so I hopefully don't blast another one. I just got impatient and careless and didn't want to wait for another cease-fire to lower the unit after moving the target.

The WORST thing about it was a guy down the line had just come over and asked if he could shoot over my chrony and I politely declined to let him as I was afraid he might shoot it. He was really understanding about it and I felt bad after a while and went over and told him I'd be happy to shoot his rifle over my chrony if he really wanted to check his velocity. After I hit the chrony I showed him what happened and we got a good laugh together. I was ****** at myself, but sometimes you just have to laugh and resign yourself to be more careful in the future I guess.

[Adventurer 2]

A friend of mine shot my chrony (ordered a replacement sensor) - now I don't let anyone shoot through it.
Whichever model you get check on the availablility and cost of spare parts - sensors, rods, diffusers.

[bpratl]

The same thing happened to me last week....I let a friend test his reloads and the second shot wiped our the rear sensor.

[TheNatureBoy]

I ordered a Chrony Alpha Master and it came in this past Thursday. Took me a few minutes to get it up and going. I haven't taken it to the range yet but I did use it with my high powered pellet rifle (scoped). It worked fine. The only thing I want it to do is tell me how many fps my my load is traveling. Other than that.......

[freonr22]

I have a ced m2, I was so excited, Ive had it 6 months and finally was going to take it out and "show" my friends my cool toy and reload prowess, there were 12 of us there, I got a $10 made in Japan (not china) vintage tripod from Salvation army, very nice, heavy duty and i set it up 15' from the bench on a hill, and the wind blew it over and broke the swivel joint that happened 45 days ago and it sits still. darnit!

[A_Gamehog]

They have a non-volatile storage/Memory . What does that mean? When you turn off the chronograph at the range, get home, turn it back on, it has all that day's data on the screen. It records 9 strings with up to 100 shots per string. It has a data port for connecting to your computer to download to a spread sheet for records. I really like it because it's easy to see and read, and understand it's use. 100 bucks or less. You need a stand though, camara tripods work fine.

[Gun 4 Fun]

I had a Competition Electronics back in '86, '87, but got rid of it as soon as the Oehler 35P hit the market. I believe in buying the best I can afford, and the Oehler is it. I have never had to replace anything, other than the batteries in it, in 22 years of extensive use. I have mine on a 4' tube for better accuracy, and it still works fine on a camera tripod. I carry it in a plastic rifle case, and all I have to do is set it on the tripod, attatch the diffuser's, plug it in to the printer, and shoot.

I like the fact that it checks itself.