Is the Labradar worth $560

[GE-Minigun]

Never used one and probably never will…that’s a lot of money. My father had a Oehler 35P that never didn’t catch a bullet, granted they are very close to the price of the Lab, but can be found in the $300 range and under. If I were in the market, it would be the 35P, but I only shoot pistols and shotgun and add in the fact I’m not in any type of competition to where I’d need one…my $.02

[hounddawg]

It does not hang off the muzzle which can potentially change your harmonics.

Oh the MS definitely changes barrel harmonics. Thing is I quit using any chrono for my load development so it does not matter. Once my load is developed, I put the MS on there and fire two, maybe three shots into the be. That gives me my FPS for scope dope. That is all I need

I can have pics targets that have loads that shoot in the two and three digits as far as ES/SD but put 9 out of ten shots in a 4 1/2 inch circle at 850 yards and ten of ten in a 1.5 inch circle at 300. Looking at those started me down this path

The thing that cinched it was when I was playing with barrel tuning on a .22 LR. Rimfire ammo has some sucky numbers as far as ES and SD. Yet play with the barrel harmonics a bit and you can tighten the groups right up using bulk el cheapo ammo like Thunderbolt

[stagpanther]

you can tighten the groups right up using bulk el cheapo ammo like Thunderbolt

Well, you can lead a horse to water...but you can't make him drink. Seriously, how would you compare tightening up of the rimfire ammo "before and after" due to a tuner--I'm genuinely interested.

[hounddawg]

During the 300 yard test of that .260 Rem ammo with the crap ES/SD numbers I noticed that the FPS did not matter on whether the shot hit high or low in the group. At first I attributed that to point of aim. When playing with the rimfire barrel tuner I was able to get low quality bulk with extreme ES/SD numbers to shoot as well as $20 a box ammo with lower ES/SD numbers. That is when I came up with my theory that velocity differences can be "ironed out" by the barrel harmonics on a properly tuned load.

Just a theory mind you but the fact remains that I have put 9 rounds into a 4 inch vertical at 850 yards then when that ammo was shot across a chrono the ES/SD was 168/56. I will know more in a couple of weeks, I have a bit more testing to do. I will be comparing some ProChrono Numbers to Shotmarker numbers and points of impacts from 300 - 850 yards

[RC20]

I missed the start of this, but I too like the LabRadar.

Cost: Yes its high, my $105 Chrono died one day (not shot) complete go through for any fixable oddity, kaput, dead, $105 gone.

Shots Missed?: I don't shoot it with Pistol (yet) - I am handicapped by the bench length as the (non braked) muzzle is past the end (26 inch target barrels).
A: It took a bit of playing with it to get the right spot and setup (close) but it rarely misses a shot. It does pick up stray muzzle brake guns adjacent to my bench (those should be relegated to the outside bench) . Much like second hand smoke, your right stops before it gets to my face.
B: There is an additional pickup device you can buy, have not seen the need.

Issues: Some.
A: It should come with the carry bag. You need a bag, for the price, yes it should come with the bag.
B: Buttons are a bit iffy response wise, got used to it. Firm push.
C: The buttons/menu are not the worst I have seen but it took a bit to work out how to get to where I wanted when I wanted it to.
D: I would prefer at least the option to set the screen up the way I want, I am not interested in ft lbs of force etc though I can see the use (but also really, it only goes out 75-100 yards, so you still have to calculate the drop off by hand)

Options: Yea the chargeable battery is mandatory in my view as is the bag.
I can do a rough site on the pissy V notch and get it ok, yes a peep or some such would be a nice adder.

Why did I get it?

The Chrony type are a pain in the ass to set up. While it did not kill it, I did grave mine (well before it died). So yea, like a cycle (those who have laid one down and those who are going to) those who have shot their Chrono and those who are going to (LabRadar is only going to get shot if I do, so far so good)

Clearly from my shooting some loads work well, some not and those are velocity nodes.
The ES and SD are ancillary though ES gives you an idea of how good your loads are.

I can cross powders, tune in on the velocity area and nail it down from there with powder variations up and down.

I built my own base that sits on the bench so I can manipulate the buttons all I want. Works for me, I can also slide it adjacent to the barrel where it the pickup works (about 1 inch).

My biggest problem was trying to run it in mid winter so cold and learning, some frustration there.

I did not want to be dealing with a thingy strapped to the muzzle that I had to deal with if I maneuvered the gun.

All reports and test against rate velocity ammo says its spot on accurate (one test used 3 and all 3 were within 2 fps of each other). So I trust it for accurate.

Would I buy it again?: I sold a gun to pay for it. I hope not to do that again. Its kept under shed when shooting, bagged, treated well so doing the best to not abuse it. I might go a while without it but likely despite the pain buy it again.

I mean really, powder (if you can get it) was $240 for 8 lbs. A new barrel is $350 or so. Scopes, don't get me started on scopes. My 4 target rifles ran something around $800 each without scopes.

I am happy with buying it and fully good with it once I learned how to manage the screens and where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do.