Chronograph

[Heat]

Lancetkenyon, do you mind if I send you a PM with some ?'s on setting up a turret cap?

[PRDATR]

Best thing about a chronograph in my opinion is knowing the consistency and extreme spread of your rounds.

[rcdinaz]

I have a cheaper Chrony too. It gets close, but there is NO REPLACEMENT for true range drop verification. Good ballistic solvers will have a velocity trueing capability. Use it, and it should correct your velocity to what it is actually shooting for current conditions. But a cheap chrony will get you close enough for a starting point.

Yes! Most of the programs are pretty easy to tweak as you mentioned.

 

So far my Chrony has been very close and I give it the benefit of the doubt that I may not adjust correctly for MV vs Velocity where I set up the Chrony.

[lancetkenyon]

Lancetkenyon, do you mind if I send you a PM with some ?'s on setting up a turret cap?

Not a problem.

[azsugarbear]

I used a Shooting Chrony for years and it served me quite well. I did hit one of the bars that holds up the difuser - but that was easily replaced. The are a bit of trouble getting set up, but you get used to that. There is both accuracy and consistency to consider. My unit may have been off a little on fps/velocity, but it seemed to be pretty consistent with its readings. I used it to get an idea of speed when doing load development. I was looking for the smallest spread/difference of different loads. When final load had been selected, it gave me a general idea of what to enter into ballistic software. After that, your actual drops will establish your drop table and you will vary your velocity and bullet BC to get your ballistic software to match up with your actual drops.

 

I now use the Magnetospeed II and will never go back. Ease of set up, ease of reading results, more accurate readings and rarely get an error reading because it does not require the bullets shadow to trip the photo-electric eye. Downside is you cannot use it for archery and it does shift POI on medium & lighter barrel contours. The shift doesn't bother me as I don't use it when shooting groups. BTW - I could give you a good deal on my old one.

[nralifer]

There are basically four ways to measure projectile velocity. Using light (Chrony, Oehler), sound (Superchrono), magnetic field disturbances (Magnetospeed) or radar reflection (Mylabradar). The optical chronographs are the most familiar to all of us, and work by detecting a shadow as the projectile crosses 2 or 3 light detectors and measuring the time it to do that, then calculating the velocity. Optical chronographs would work for all bullets, shotguns and even arrows, but are finicky. There are now small radar chronos for arrows that will attach to the bow but are not useful for firearms. One of the newest chronographs (search Superchrono) is useful only for supersonic projectiles, but is extraordinarily versatile. It has two microphones spaced apart and as the bullet traverses that distance the crack of the shockwave the bullet generates as it travels over the microphones triggers a counter that measures the time it took the shockwave to go by both microphones. It will not work with arrows or bullets traveling at subsonic velocities. In December a low power Doppler radar chrono is scheduled to be released (mylabradar) that can measure arrow and bullet speeds over short distances. Probably the best value and greatest versatility is achieved with low priced optical chronographs, but these are finicky in terms of the intensity and quality of light needed to make them work, and are weather dependent.

 

One thing you have to be ready for. Once you start measuring velocities it is hard to stop. It can be frustrating and fun at the same time. Have fun.

[Whitesheep]

Nice review of the options out there nralifer. It looks like most chron's work as intended so maybe your next consideration is ease of use and the software contained in the unit. My buddy and I share a CED Millenium chronograph we purchased form Dillon for $200. It works well, has nice large openings (harder to hit the screens) and a large storage capacity with decent string editing capabilities. It can also download data to a spreadsheet, but I don't use this feature much. Whatever you choose, be sure to purchase and carry extra screens and supports with you just in case you miss the opening or wind knocks over your screens.

 

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/24728/catid/32/CED_Millenium_Chronograph

 

I agree with several other posters here that the last thing you measure is speed once you have found a dependably accurate load. This will help you START the process of determining drop at distance when combined with a decent ballistic calculator. I use Bullet Flight level 2 on my iPhone. There is also a level 1 and military level of this software.

 

http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-reviews/kac-bullet-flight-app/

 

Once you have a starting point for bullet drop it is necessary to confirm it in the field at multiple distances.

 

This is my process. YMMV

 

Post back what you pick and why.