Can you recommend a chronograph?

R

rolf

Guest
Like the title saids. I`m looking for one so I can finally try out my loads, properly.
It`s no disadvantage if it`s both good and cheap but as always quality comes first.
BUT, I`m not for gadgets that looks like christmas trees with all the extra you can find. It`s more then enough for me if it has the basic stuff one need in order to clock your loads.

//Rolf
 
try a CED

Take a serious look at the CED, I dont think you can go wrong with it.
I have been using one for about 5 years and they are great. I use the infared and can shoot in the dark with it. My old one was a M1 and I liked it so well I upgraded to a MII and it is even better.
 
I have a - -

Pro Crono. I like it just fine. They sell for around $100. I also bought the remote switch for mine. For what I want it for, it is great. I am not terribly interested in it being Gnat's Whisker accurate but just want to know " pretty Much" where I am at speed wise. The one I have will record 9 strings so it is handy for testing loads; all I want it for. it is light and compact, runs on one 9v battery. ***** My rating. :D
 
Thanks guys!

Like I suspected, four answers and four different brands. I`ll look them up and see what differs.
If you have the time could you please ad the price? Unfortunately this is pretty important.

Regards
Rolf
 
I've got a PACT bottom of the line model without printer (it reads out velocity for each shot, standard deviation, average deviation, extreme spread, and average velocity) because I know how to write and more importantly I'm CHEAP. It works well, and cost me ~$130 with the mounting rail. The price hasn't gone up from what I've seen.

Oehler no longer makes chronographs for "civilian" use, but they are top notch instruments.
 
I've shot through just about all chronos old and new and use chronos on a daily basis. The best performer with the best price...........Oehler 35 period. But, like mentioned earlier, it is not commercially available at the moment. The next best..........CED Millenium 2. For now, get one of these and don't look back.

The very best chrono price not a factor...........OEhler 43 with acoustic skyscreens.
 
having owned several...here is my two cents.
ohler is no longer available as a consumer product,,,but i own one.
i had a pact and they are crap as far as i am concerned...mine was at the factory being fixed more time than it spent at the range

next up would be the cedII......think its the best of the less than 800 dollar chrono's

mike in co
 
Why would anyone spend hundreds of dollars to find out if his bullets are going 3250 fps as compared with 3200 fps? A chronograph is a useful tool but is not an end in itself. Many of today's world-class shooters do not even own one.

BTW, I use a $100 PACT. I've had it ever since the good old boys in Texas began making them and my greatest expense so far has been a couple of 9v batteries.

JMHO

Ray
 
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Get a Pro Crono..there cheap ,there good and you won't use one that much...
 
Glad to see that you guys still are out there trying to help me out.
This is an old thread and since then I`ve bought a Pro Chrony. Nothing fancy but it gets the job done.

Take care.
//Rolf
 
ohler is going to do a limited run of 35's!!!!!!!!!!
about 5/600 dollars each
still the best on the market
go see thier site
mike in co
 
grouper

You know that I'm a long range shooter too, and I do chronograph, a lot. For all the reasons that you said. My point was that you don't need a $600 chronograph to tell you what you need to know. It can be done with a $100 set-up. Maybe I am just lucky but my PACT has been working for the past 15 to 20 years (I can't remember exactly what year I bought it) with nary a hitch. Others may tell me that it's not as accurate as a $600 unit but I don't think they can prove that and besides, what difference does it make? I always confirm the information by actual shooting. You need to do that no matter how much you've spent on a chronograph.

To chrono or not to chrono, and how much to spend on one has always been open to discussion amongst shooters. For the guy who likes all the bells and whistles and enjoys the charts and numbers I say get that $600 black box. If I could do it for $50 I would. And spend the other $550 on components.

JMHO

Ray
 
I have an Oehler model 33 that I traded a friend a new Ruger #1 7mm -Bonanza dies and 2 boxes Federal Premium ammunition for. The cronographs came in to Guncraft just after I had bought my brother a new rifle.....

It has worked every time with no problems that many others speak of.
I do not lend it to other shooters any more .....
I now have TWO sets of screens- Ha!

If I was looking for a new cronograph I would quickly email Oehler and buy one of the new model 35 production run being made this summer.

Glenn:D
 
cause when you get one shot not in the group and the chrono says all is good..the question is why ? with a ohler...you know why...the dual screans tell you one shot was not the same as the rest...........
you can guess why or buy the best

tell me how far off point of aim are you when you dial in your scope for 600 at 3250.....but it was actually going 3200 ??
do you shoot production bullets or br ?
do you shoot factory bbls or custom bbl ?
do you shoot factory chambers or custom chambers ?
why use a piece of chit chrono ?
 
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I use an Oehler 35, but only because that was the only other choice when I realised that my rat trap Chrony couldn't manage Aussie sunshine. I'm finally decided to buy the third screen because I can now, but I've never been hampered with what I've used it for with just the two.

The way I see it, a chronograph is only one tool to use working up loads, though it's pretty important to me for the shooting I do at 1000 yards & beyond. All my test loads go over the screens which lets me correlate between what happens on paper with how elegantly any given load starts out & both are checked out against the evidence of the fired case from extraction on. I can't final tune a 1200 yard load off the bench at 100, 300 or even 600, Matter of fact, I've found that once a load offers an acceptable spread & can be tuned to a passable group at 100 yards, the next step is off my belly at 1000 to confirm that I've made the correct decision earlier & to refine the grouping as well as I can given the conditions on the day.

Now as far as 100/200 yard centrefire benchrest is concerned, I've often wondered why a shooter who is happy to toss loads out of his Harrell would bother with a chronograph at all. It seems to me that you guys have proved that you can get the grouping irrespective of what the velocity spread is - unless you're using a chronograph to confirm that you're in a particular velocity sweet spot, in which case, aren't they all much of a muchness as long as they're reporting accurately?
 
Larry Elliott said:
I've got a PACT bottom of the line model without printer (it reads out velocity for each shot, standard deviation, average deviation, extreme spread, and average velocity) because I know how to write and more importantly I'm CHEAP. It works well, and cost me ~$130 with the mounting rail. The price hasn't gone up from what I've seen.

Oehler no longer makes chronographs for "civilian" use, but they are top notch instruments.
Click to expand...

I have been using a PACT PC2 for about 15 years now with one hitch. I managed to get the cord wrapped around my foot at the range one day, pulling the wire out of the photo cell. They had me a new set in less than a week! (my fault so I paid the $27)
I also used to shoot with a buddy (no longer a buddy) that used an Ohler #35. We'd goto the range with both of them doing load development, and it took him forever to get the thing set up. Where as I had mine ready in about ten minutes. I finally got tired of this and talked him into letting me build him a light bar on the same concept that PACT uses. Ended up getting my hands on some extruded aluminum that was left over from building machine guards. The stuff is strait but not cheap. Then he was able to set his up in about ten minutes as well. My light bar is 24" long where his is 48" if I remember right with three screens. Firing the same loads through both units saw little if any difference in anykind of weather. But mine was about half the price. Any measurment his did mine did, and like you said; I learned to write a long time ago. Both are great, but not without faults.
gary
 
As has been said, it depends on what you are trying to find out. If you are indeed looking for data on ES, SD, etc, then an expensive unit is the way to go. In someshooting disciplines, this type ofinfo is more important than actual velocity.

Last Sunday, quite a few of us were at Tomball, just doing our usual thing. NickMarino came over from Beaumont, he was trying several different powders in his 30, so we set my Ohler 35P up, (the printer has not worked in some time), and were able to compare heads up what our loads were actually doing.

Gary Walters had worked up a decent load for his 30BR, and was surprised to see it scooting along at 3050 fps. I brought along some Norma 200 to try with BIB 118'S, It shot real well at about 3010fps average. Vic and Nick both worked up loads with the Chrono, a few other shooters came over and put some rounds through it as well. One shooter suspected his 30BR was a little hot, 3150 fps over the Ohler proved it.

That is how we use a Chronograph. We are able to make direct comparisons on a particular day. You can make a change, and see direct reults.We all know that most 30BR's, 30GR's, and 30PPC's like 112-118 bullets at about 2950 to 3000 fps. With the Chrono, you can just load it untill it hits that, and then tune on either side of that window to tighten it up.

I even leave my 35P in the range house, any friends who wish to use it can. Aside from putting a bullet through one of the screens, I can't see much way you can hurt it.

As you can see, we are not looking for a lot of technical data. If I switch bullets, or powder, it is handy to see just what is going on. With most chamberings, you pretty well know what velocity capability is usuable, the Chrono simply helps you confirm velocities so you are confident that you are in a safe zone..........jackie
 
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