Chronograph. Necessity or Luxury?

[jmorris]

you are completely loading BLIND when it comes to NOT having a chronograph.

I disagree, the only thing that you don't know without a chronograph is the speed and that's all the chronograph will tell you.

Round showing pressure signs, you can see it without a chronograph.

What is your bullet trajectory? All you need is to shoot the load to figure it out (better choice IMO as the trajectory calculators are not always right on).

Just think how blind the hundreds of thousands of people were blindly reloading from the inception of firearms until the mid 1970's or later, once privately owned chronographs became commercially available.

[Bart B.]

Chinny33, I agree that we're completely loading BLIND when it comes to NOT having a chronograph. But the majority of us (that's the smallest fraction or more over 50%) don't care about knowing exactly how fast bullets leave. 99% of all shooting situations don't require it.

Besides it gets less as the barrel wears out. And changes with the position we shoot it in. And it's not directly proportional to peak pressure, either.

[buck460XVR]

Chinny33 POSTED: you are completely loading BLIND when it comes to NOT having a chronograph.

...are you shooting blind when shooting factory ammo? Factory ammo is loaded to the same SAAMI specs and tested the same way as published recipes.

I'm an average Joe Reloader that reloads for pleasure and accuracy. I stay well within the limits of published loads. I reloaded for years without a chrony, but got one a few years back because it was the thing to do. I have used it very rarely. It has shown me only that my velocities were within the range I thought they were. It has yet to show me what loads are the most accurate....I still take it outta the way and concentrate on the target instead of not shootin' the chrono to do that. Most of the time, I find a load that shoots well in my guns and stick with it forever, unless the components change drastically. Since I shoot for accuracy, velocity numbers mean very little to me. A little deviation in velocity means nuttin' if the bullets are still hittin' the bull. If they aren't hittin' the bull, I change the load regardless of the numbers.

To me, for the average Joe, they are kinda like the Tachometer on your automatic transmission family car. Neat to have, but is tellin' you things that have little influence on the way you drive. If it's tellin' you something is wrong, you have ignored others signs along the way. Now the guy that is into numbers and facts and wants to calculate everything to the lowest common denominator, or is a professional race car driver, it may be a necessity. Same with the chrono. Some folks feel the need to break down everything to the tenth decimal placement, take pictures and make charts with arrows and lines and multi-colored dots and then determine ballistics using their computer. Me, I just go shoot at the ranges I'm gonna hunt. In reality, you gotta do that anyway. Altho my eyes are failin' in my old age, I'm yet to consider myself blind.

[BuckRub]

Well put buck. Ditto Bart.

[zeke]

"...are you shooting blind when shooting factory ammo? Factory ammo is loaded to the same SAAMI specs and tested the same way as published recipes"

Given that some of the current "recipes" were in multiple versions of manual s dating back before the companys were willing to specifiy how they pressure tested their loads, i am doubtful. And yes, the methods of testing pressures has changed.

[LarryFlew]

While the chrono has helped me with some final load development in general I would have to agree with the latest posts being you can get most of the way to where you need to be without one.

[sunaj]

You don't think the manufacturers use a chrony? lol they list it on the ammo specs
If your load book lists the top load as say 3100 fps and your chrony reads 3900 even if you don't have pressure signs visible on the brass you are still pushing the pressure limits and you may experience pressure signs on brass after several more firings (hypothetical),
No you don't need a chrony to reload, but you do need a chrony if you want to be a serious reloader and shooter, 'nuff sed

[BuckRub]

Yes manufactures use them. To post imaginary numbers on their ammo. (A lot higher than prob the actual) no you don't need one. Nuff said

[jimbob86]

A chrony can be an eye opener ....NEED? Probably not. Useful? Yes.

[Brian Pfleuger]

See the thread Frustrated about the Flyer for a good example of why I find a chrony indispensable. Can such problems be solved without one? Yeah, but you're missing a ton of information, that costs as little as $75 and is compatible with every gun you own, that you can have every time you pull the trigger. No brainer.