Chronograph advice

[birdiemc]

suppressors can get very hot.. I WOULD THINK TWICE ABOUT HANGING ANYTHING on one.

Obviously you would want to use some common sense and not strap one of these on then go crazy rapid firing and overheat your suppressor and melt the attaching hardware. I cant think of a scenario where anybody would want to shoot so fast that they start melting things as that would also heat up the chamber enough to effect velocity and kinda defeat the whole purpose the way I see it.

 

[dm406]

Been using the lab radar for a couple years now, most consistent, works under any conditions, i.e. in any light as it is radar, easy to set up. by far the best I have used.
with the ease of set up you will be more apt to use it every time at the range which will give you more data, and more data is always good.

 

[KaSH0508]

I have a cheap Caldwell think I paid $59 dollars for it on sale. I also have the magneto speed V3. They read within 10 Fps of each other consistently. The Magneto being slightly faster I attribute that to the Caldwell being 12-15 feet in front of the muzzle. I have used the Caldwell speeds and had first round hits out to 1200 yards in multiple rifles. Downside to it, is it will miss readings from time to time and will occasionally report some ridicoulous low number where the V3 gets a accurate reading every time. It does affect my groups though that's why I use them both.

 

[PRCLITE]

I have a cheap Caldwell think I paid $59 dollars for it on sale. I also have the magneto speed V3. They read within 10 Fps of each other consistently. The Magneto being slightly faster I attribute that to the Caldwell being 12-15 feet in front of the muzzle. I have used the Caldwell speeds and had first round hits out to 1200 yards in multiple rifles. Downside to it, is it will miss readings from time to time and will occasionally report some ridicoulous low number where the V3 gets a accurate reading every time. It does affect my groups though that's why I use them both.

Well this is actually excellent news for me! I bought the Caldwell this summer but haven't used it yet. I figured I would just keep it for archery and get something better for rifle, but if you are saying it's reliable then I'll stick with it. I know in the ballistic AE software you can enter how far away the velocity was read but I'm not sure if I can do that in the AB software on the sig kilo. I guess we will see. The chrony I had before this summer was probably at least 10-12 years old and wasn't taken care of the best.

 

[bigdaddyWSM]

I also started with the Caldwell, worked great except got tired of waiting for clear line & perfect weather.

 

[Tommo64]

I use the Magnetospeed Sporter for load development and have had great results with it. A friend of mine has the V3, also works well for him I believe. Not sure the V3 is worth the extra cost over the Sporter in my opinion. Never used Labradar but they are in a completely different price bracket. Dollar for dollar I think the Sporter is hard to beat but I guess it depends on what you are looking for.

 

[Tommo64]

I bought the magnetospeed sporter a month ago hesitantly... I had read that people were successfully using with a suppressor but the mfr says it won't work, but being cheap I went ahead. I strapped it on, turned up the sensitivity and havent had an issue yet. It's picked up every shot I've fired. Federal 175 gr are reading about 75-100 fps below what's printed on the box, so I cant speak to accuracy of the unit. Never owned a chrony before, no software to check my numbers against. But I'm using for load development and it's working just fine for that.
I did buy the cable to hook up to my phone and that doesn't work. Tried on 3 different phones and a tablet, none work. After that, went back and looked at reviews and that seems to be the norm not the exception so if you go that route I wouldn't waste your money on the cord. That said, I went with the sporter over the V3 because I thought I could use the cable to get everything onto my phone for quick analysis, might do it differently now I think the V3 has SD card. As it stands now I just write down the velocity after I fire, which isn't that big a deal as I'm waiting between shots anyway.

Hi Birdiemc, I had issues with the cable also. I found you have to crank your phone volume right up to get to work, so if you haven't tried that already, give it a go. That said, I tend not to bother with it that often as you need to disconnect the unit from the bayo each time. So I tend to just write the data down on a pad and then input into Excel later.

 

[GMHVAC]

Count me in with the Lab Radar boys. It's the only way to go. I actually had one of those light sensor jobs from RCBS and shot through it at the same time having a lab radar on the bench. The lab radar is some thing like .5% accurate and the RCBS is +\- 10%. When it was cloudy the RCBS was 100 fps slower than the LR reading and was 100fps faster when sunny.
We have a saying at work where if you have a tool that is not accurate then it's useless. Full stop.
That being said, why would you use a chrony that makes your shot inaccurate? It's a waste of time and Ammo.

 

[PRCLITE]

Count me in with the Lab Radar boys. It's the only way to go. I actually had one of those light sensor jobs from RCBS and shot through it at the same time having a lab radar on the bench. The lab radar is some thing like .5% accurate and the RCBS is +\- 10%. When it was cloudy the RCBS was 100 fps slower than the LR reading and was 100fps faster when sunny.
We have a saying at work where if you have a tool that is not accurate then it's useless. Full stop.
That being said, why would you use a chrony that makes your shot inaccurate? It's a waste of time and Ammo.

I couldn't agree more with your logic. I'm a working man and my tools are my way of life both professionally and at home. I spend as much as I can on good tools and have no time for something that doesn't work. In my defense, the chrony I have was set a little too high in front of the bench one time and although didn't get shot, the front of it blew off from the percussion being so close. It still worked and I mainly used it for archery after that although did use it from time to time for rifles. It seemed to have done okay until I was able to actually verify my drops for the first time this past summer and found that I had to adjust my velocity drastically. I bought a Caldwell that came with a tripod and everything for a little over $100. Archery season sort of took over and I knew I wasn't rifle hunting this year for causes out of my control so I bagged the idea of an expensive unit until later. Even now, I don't think I'd use a chronograph more than a few times a year so I'm here trying to figure out what I should spend my money on... either a new chrono or a bullseye camera system to alleviate a ton of time walking.

 

[Tommo64]

I too have a magnetospeed sporter, in hindsight wish I would have gone with the Labradar. When I was looking at them, read many reviews that claimed the magnetospeed would not affect group size but it would change poi, in my expierence I've found that chrony hanging on the end of the barrel affects group size also especially on my sporter barrels, so now when I find a load with good es & sd I have to go home load it then back to range to shoot for group, where I could have done both simultaneously with the lab, should've bought once cried once.

Hi Steve,

I wouldn't say it affects groupings to any great extent but it certainly does alter POI by about 3 MOA. However, when I am using the Magnetospeed I am mostly looking for nodes with minimum ES and SD. Once I find loads that look promising, I will reload more of the same and come back and see how they group without the chrony fitted.

 

[mountaincarver]

ive questioned my chrony too at times. started taking it with me more to the range just to measure day to day. found it to be pretty consistent. in the winter when the sun is low and to the side, I question some of the readings. I have a couple of rifles that have verified their speeds at distance with one coming in a touch faster, and one a little slower. I have a very good shooting rum that wont even come close to what the chrony says. can hit 1500 yards but the in between distances are high but then zero again at sight in range. after pulling my hair out trying to ajust for bc and velocities which I never could match up to my confirmed data, I just accepted the fact that it may be scope or one funny looking bullet when it left my barrel. anyway, if you can get your rifle to match your ballistics program by adjusting your speed value only, then I would see if you could find someone who would let you shoot through their higher quality chrony and compare the readings.

 

[mikebob]

There are variations on this but personally i true for velocity at ~1/4mi and then BC at
~1/2mi.

I look at Velocity as the coarse adjustment and BC is fine tuning.

BC will not be the same as listed at every velocity. If you know what your velocity is with good readings then the BC is off a bit per your velocity. Change BC to compensate. When you use velocity only you end up with calculations that are off 1/4 at some but perfect at others

 

[Dolphin]

I currently have a chrony but from my experience I've had to adjust dramatically when verifying drops. I'm looking for a new chronograph but want to know if the magnetospeed v3/sporter or labradar are worth the price. How much adjusting needed to be done while verifying drops?

 

[Dolphin]

Step up and buy a Lab Radar. I didn't have good luck with the

I currently have a chrony but from my experience I've had to adjust dramatically when verifying drops. I'm looking for a new chronograph but want to know if the magnetospeed v3/sporter or labradar are worth the price. How much adjusting needed to be done while verifying drops?