Chronograph question

R

ron collins

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Sinclair has two chronographs for sale, the Crony and the CED M2. Is one better than the other. Whats the besy buy. Any opinions?
Also the Crony offers a new LED light system to mount on a existing system. Has anyone used this feature, if so any thoughts.
 
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Imo

I don't own either.

But before I had my Oehler I had a Pro Chrony that served me well for 10 years.

The CEM seems mighty flimsy to me. The Chrony seems to be a solid unit.

BTW you really don't need the printer.

I keep all records in spiral bound note books.

Just remember Chronographs are very sensitive machines and react to the clouds, sun, shade etc, etc.
 
I've either owned or played with just about every chrono on the market. Of the two you mentioned, the CED M2 is lightyears ahead of the ShooterChrony. Currently, I think the CED M2 is the best available chrono going. It's a little more spendy than the Shooter, but consider it money well spent and never look back!
 
Ron ...

ron collins said:
Sinclair has two chronographs for sale, the Crony and the CED M2. Is one better than the other. Whats the besy buy. Any opinions?
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After the novelty wears off you probably won't use it much. Go with the Chrony Master Alpha, but look around the internet for a range of pricing. You'd be surprised how your bottom line will improve even with shipping. ;)
 
I bought a chrony master alpha for around $90 to the door check out the internet, you'll be happy you did.

Dan Honert
 
Beta Master Chrony

Thirty five plus years ago I bought a Shooting Chrony, can't remember which model, but it didn't have the remote data readout. It served me very well until my eyes got too bad to read it from the bench. I sold it to a friend with younger eyes and I bought a new Beta Master Chrony with the remote readout head that goes on the bench where I can see it. That was ten years ago and both my friend and I are still happy with our Shooting Chronys.

Shop around, Midway, Midsouth, Natchez, etc. will have them on sale from time to time.

Dick
 
Oehler 35P

Had heard that the Oehler 35P at one time was one of the best out there. We have them installed on an indoor range I'm a member of, and understand these are still supported.

Any idea why Oehler discontinued there, we they no longer price competitive in the market place or???:confused:
 
dpapadimitrio@g said:
Had heard that the Oehler 35P at one time was one of the best out there. We have them installed on an indoor range I'm a member of, and understand these are still supported.

Any idea why Oehler discontinued there, we they no longer price competitive in the market place or???:confused:
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Not one of the best out there, THE best out there. Only chrono with three screens so it works like two chrono's in one. Thus, Oehler got gov't and military contracts and quit selling to civis. But they will still send replacement parts for the people lucky enough to have bought them when they could.

I can go to the range with my Oehler 35 anytime I want and know it will read. Can't say that about ANY of the SHooter CHrony's. My AlphaCHrony has to have the bullet pass within an inch of the "sweet spot" and even at that, the lighting has to be just right or it won't see a darn thing. Early morning, late evening, forget it. And when it does read, it is off from what the Oehler reads every time. It has no been relegated to a secondary chrono for ballistic coefficient testing only.
 
I have a couple of old 33s and some of the latest sky screens. No more often than I use one, I can write down the results. The only thing that is a pain is that they run on D cells, and the on off switch is easy to accidentally turn on when putting the unit away.
 
gg ...

goodgrouper said:
My AlphaCHrony has to have the bullet pass within an inch of the "sweet spot" and even at that, the lighting has to be just right or it won't see a darn thing. Early morning, late evening, forget it.
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On hazy and cloudy days when the light is low, do you LEAVE THE POLY-DIFFUSERS OFF the Wire-Rods that normally support them as mentioned in the instructions ??? The POLY-DIFFUSERS are not a mandatory fixture every time you set it up. I ALWAYS leave them off even on a clear day when our bench line roof casts a shadow on the firing line [which is where my tripod is located] and have never had a problem. I also mark the area on the Wire-Rods with Bright Green Tape, six (6) inches above the unit for my scoped rifle, so I know where the "Sweet Spot" in the line-of-fire is located. Once set up properly and for the prevailing climatic conditions, it's a piece of cake and fun to use ... and for me, it's always been without headache. Art :)
 
If you can afford it, get one with IR screens, as you won't be dependent on the ambient lighting for the chronograph to work. This is important if you use it at an indoor range regularly.

Also, RCBS has apparently released their own chronograph. I read about it on AccurateShooter. The RCBS website does have a listing if you search for "chronograph", priced at $149 USD, but there are very few details.

Midway USA has more details, and is priced at $124.99. I've copied and pasted those below. Please note, there is no mention of IR capability.

RCBS AmmoMaster Chronograph

Designed to store inside its own carrying case, the AmmoMaster Chronograph measures velocity ranging from 50 to 7000 feet per second while also measuring in meters per second. Storing up to 100 velocities, this chronograph features a detachable keypad display and also mounts to a standard camera tripod. Operates on a single 9 volt battery (not included).

Technical Information

Notes: (from the manufacturer)
Self contained carry case
Detachable keypad display
100 shot memory
Velocity range 50-7000 feet per second and meters per second
Operates on one 9 VDC battery (not included)
Standard camera tripod mounting
RCBS one year warranty
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abintx said:
On hazy and cloudy days when the light is low, do you LEAVE THE POLY-DIFFUSERS OFF the Wire-Rods that normally support them as mentioned in the instructions ??? The POLY-DIFFUSERS are not a mandatory fixture every time you set it up. I ALWAYS leave them off even on a clear day when our bench line roof casts a shadow on the firing line [which is where my tripod is located] and have never had a problem. I also mark the area on the Wire-Rods with Bright Green Tape, six (6) inches above the unit for my scoped rifle, so I know where the "Sweet Spot" in the line-of-fire is located. Once set up properly and for the prevailing climatic conditions, it's a piece of cake and fun to use ... and for me, it's always been without headache. Art :)
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Art,
I have left the diffusers on and taken them off and have even tried taping some orange paper to the tops (Oehler says that orange creates the best results diffusing the light and their's are made this way) but nothing has worked all the time everytime. The sweet spot on my Alpha is about where the brass elbows are. The sweet spot on the old Beta I used to use was about an inch below the elbows which became very close to the unit itself. I wish they'd make their "triangle" area bigger on all their models. With my Oehler, the "triangle" is huge and as long as the bullet goes through it anywhere, it will read it.
 
lojak said:
Also, RCBS has apparently released their own chronograph. I read about it on AccurateShooter. The RCBS website does have a listing if you search for "chronograph", priced at $149 USD, but there are very few details.

Midway USA has more details, and is priced at $124.99. I've copied and pasted those below. Please note, there is no mention of IR capability.
Click to expand...

I saw one of these new RCBS chronos in a store yesterday. I played around with it a bit. They have made the skyscreens look like Oehlers but I doubt they are. The functions sounded good on it and it was a neat package but it was awfully big. If they are using Shooter Chrony lenses, then I would rather have the compactness of the Shooter Chrony.
 
I've had an Oehler M33 since the mid-'80s which works OK most of the time, although - even with the latest factory upgraded diffusers - it still misses shots with annoying regularity. Sometimes this can be traced to one of the six D-cells being slightly low on voltage. That's the main pain with this chrono - you gotta check all six cells with an accurate digital voltmeter before heading for the range. Once they get down to 1.475v, you might as well toss 'em and replace with a fresh one. Dittos on Boyd's comment on the ease of accidentally tripping the M33's toggle switch and running the batteries flat.

Since I bought a CED Millenium, the M33 sits on the shelf. There's only one 9v battery to check with the CED, and the unit's LCD screen is way far easier to read in direct sunlight than the M33's small-character LED screen. I liked the CED so much that I wound up purchasing the M2 version when it came out. Though the CEDs both have a lot of features that I don't really need, they're accurate, neat, well-designed units.

I don't need three chronos, so at least one (probably the M33) is going to be for sale.
 
I had a Chrony F1 and updated to a Chrony Beta Master many, many years ago and am very happy with it. I leave the diffusers on it 100% of the time. The only time I have problems getting readings is when the sun begins to get too low on the horizon.

I have had no experience with any of the other chronographs, but have read some good reports on some of them.
 
I have the shooting chrony with the remote readout. It is very sensetive to position of the light as I suspect all are. Took me a while to learn that during the winter when the sun is low you need to tilt the chrony to the south or whaterver postition that gets the sun to shine directly down on the shades and directly on to the sensors. Whether it is more accurate than other brands I have no idea. But as long as I stick with one brand that seems to read OK and compare the velocities to loads, it seems to work for me. The data it gives me seems to agree pretty much with what I find when other people are talking about there "whatever" chronys. I do occasionally get what I think is a false reading, but I suspect that is true of all. The data you get from a chrony is only a relationship to the load you shot thru it. It may or may no be the true actual velocity of that particular load. Be that as it may, it is only a tool to be used in load development. Definately not to settle arguments.

Donald
 
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