Cronograph's ??

[Greg Duerr]

I dont want to spend a lot of $$ ..............What is your experiance with Cronograph's .....are they accurate and consistent, what problems have you had.
It would be nice to know what my exact velocity is.....................

Thanks

 

[D.ID]

I dont want to spend a lot of $$ ..............What is your experiance with Cronograph's .....are they accurate and consistent, what problems have you had.
It would be nice to know what my exact velocity is.....................

Thanks

are they accurate and consistent? In a word.........NO.
In a bunch of words jumbled together to form incomplete sentences. Waist of money. There are a whole bunch of folks that will chime in any minute to tell you different so with that in mind, this is my opinion.
Drop tests at distance measured and reversed threw jbm or g7 free calculators will give you BETTER data for both establishing velocity, drops and verifying all at once. If any discrepancy exists in bc for instance it will be automatically compensated for within your individual rifle system within reason out to what ever range you tested.
There is no need to verify every 10 feet
You'll hear the tromp of there boots any minute , They will come to tell you to buy an expensive one, or to suggest a bunch of other gadgets to carry around and make this all way more complicated than it really is or to lecture on irrelevant technical details, But it doesn't change the facts or the reality. They will come, confident in there numbers..............................
Just so you know who is talking hear and now: I should probably add a signature line about being at odds with everyone as this is the case with increasing regularity, And just to kick the hornets nest (because i am in that mood today) The rem700 is not the best anything, the golden ring used to mean a good scope and the 308 aint the best sniper round even if it's the most common.

 

[Pdvdh]

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/new-oehler-35p-new-skyscreen-rail-first-test-data-60778/

This link will lead to a Thread that will give you a feel for the accuracy potential of chronographs based on data - not D.ID's or other's opinions. They can be accurate and consistent. They will all, occasionally, record an errant velocity. If you buy an inexpensive one with only one velocity recorded per shot, then you'll often never know if you received a bad velocity. As soon as I starting running two chronographs concurrently, I recognized that I would never again run a single chronograph. The Oehler 35P is the only factory chronograph I'm aware of that provides a 'proof' channel feature which provides the second recorded velocity for each and every bullet fired. My setup now provides me with four velocities for each bullet fired. I'm able to identified flawed data when they occasionally occur with this setup.

Are they worth it? Depends on your interest and application. D.ID tells you no. It would appear he experiences huge disappointment when others don't agree with his findings and conclusions. Not just with respect to chronographs. So I've given you a link to some examples of data recorded with my chronographs and you can reach your own conclusions and opinion about what might be best for you. If you're interested enough to complete the entire Thread, then maybe you'll appreciate owning and using a chronograph. If not, you may not find the cost and benefits and time to be 'worth' it.

 

[BrentM]

I have a beta that is ***. My buddy has one and it works awesome. Gave same reading as drop tests. Mine, never worked, never will, going back to Cabela's today.

 

[Greg Duerr]

One thing about this sight is that you can get so many opinions that your left wondering what to do .................The thing about velocity it that you have no idea if it right or not. I would guess that if you had two together that might give your mind some rest. Its like one of the guys I work with that swears that his Cronograph is accurate, his 25-06 with the 120gr is getting 3700 fps.
I have two rifles, a .243 Ackley shooting a 95gr Berger using 48gr of RL19 shoots great, have no idea the velocity..........
The other is a .19 Badger shooting a 32gr with 17.8gr of AA2200 there again I can only guess .............
I once had a .222 that I loaded a 46gr Calhoon with 23.0 gr of H322 The books said I should be getting 3200.................I ran it through a friends Crono and it said I was getting right at 2900.................
It would be nice to know for SURE without spending $$$$$$$ to find out.


gun)

 

[Sennaspeed]

The best inexpensive chronograph BAR NONE is the Pro Chrono Digital. Picks up every bullet fired even remotely close to the screens and is easy to use.
If you have a laptop add the USB Connectivity kit and you have a full function remote control with data handling capabilities.
Tried many different chronographs and if you don't wish to spend the money for a Oehler 35p or a PVM-21 you simply will not get better performance than you get with the Pro Chrono Digital.
As to whether they work and are useful the answer is emphatically yes. Combine a PCD with the Pressure Trace system and QuickLoad and you have some awesome capabilities.
I have all three systems and it's astonishing how well they all correlate with actual results on paper.
Uncanny.

 

[Sennaspeed]

I have done back to back tests of three chronographs, the PCD, the SC Beta, and the Oehler 35.
Setting them all up in line so one bullet trips all three I found them all to be very consistent. The closest one always recorded a higher speed than the furthest one for instance.
The SC Beta missed about half the shots but when it did read them even that *** gave speeds consistent with the others.

Talk to Ken Oehler about chronographs and you'll be talking to the leading light in the chronograph world. He'll tell you that making the crystal clock incredibly accurate is the easy part. Making good sensors is much more difficult.
The PCD has good sensors.

 

[BrentM]

Curious, if you don't know the speed of a bullet how do shoot LR? I mean, for me, I use .25MOA turrents and ballistics program to shoot moa solutions out to 1500. In order to do this I have to have a good FPS number to input. Without it, LR is not possible is it?

 

[Greg Duerr]

All of this is new to me.................Long Range to me is 400yards, and yet I have never shot anything close to that. My last Antelope was less than 200 and my last Mule Deer was way close, shot him coming through the Junipers at about 50 yards... My son shot a Black Bear at 211 this fall with my .243 AI
Velocity and BC is that all the info you need to come up with the figures...........I dont know. However it would be nice to know what my loads are doing..........Anyone live in Reno, Nevada, or close to it...........that owns a cronograph?

gun)

 

[BrentM]

Got ya. I was wondering. I don't worry about that either at the shorter ranges especially on flat shooting rifles. I am not much of a guesser at med to long range. At at 600 yards my rifle drops 60" from a 200 yard zero. I just dial in 10MOA and squeeze.

It is easy enough to measure drop though and calculate speed. For example if you shoot 100 and take the difference in the bullet drop at 200 you have a working number to plug into an online calculator. I have a iPod with Shooter so I can do it in the field if I need to. You might just do that and see how it all works out. I know my 204 ammo from Hornady says 3900 but drop measurements show 3600.

 

[Mxracer532]

I used a Pro Chrony Digital to get my ave velocity before having Leupold make my turret. Dead nutz on the $.

 

[D.ID]

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/new-oehler-35p-new-skyscreen-rail-first-test-data-60778/

This link will lead to a Thread that will give you a feel for the accuracy potential of chronographs based on data - not D.ID's or other's opinions. They can be accurate and consistent. They will all, occasionally, record an errant velocity. If you buy an inexpensive one with only one velocity recorded per shot, then you'll often never know if you received a bad velocity. As soon as I starting running two chronographs concurrently, I recognized that I would never again run a single chronograph. The Oehler 35P is the only factory chronograph I'm aware of that provides a 'proof' channel feature which provides the second recorded velocity for each and every bullet fired. My setup now provides me with four velocities for each bullet fired. I'm able to identified flawed data when they occasionally occur with this setup.

Are they worth it? Depends on your interest and application. D.ID tells you no. It would appear he experiences huge disappointment when others don't agree with his findings and conclusions. Not just with respect to chronographs. So I've given you a link to some examples of data recorded with my chronographs and you can reach your own conclusions and opinion about what might be best for you. If you're interested enough to complete the entire Thread, then maybe you'll appreciate owning and using a chronograph. If not, you may not find the cost and benefits and time to be 'worth' it.

Not suffering huge disappointment
Just well aware that this is one of those issues that I will be the lone voice of opposition or at least a member of the minority vote. That was actually my attempt to humorously admit that up front. It's all good.

 

[FEENIX]

Not suffering huge disappointment
Just well aware that this is one of those issues that I will be the lone voice of opposition or at least a member of the minority vote. That was actually my attempt to humorously admit that up front. It's all good.

I have no problem with your response, with or without attempt of humor ... but I know exactly what you mean >>> http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f28/best-cheap-chrono-102919/ gun)

I own a basic chrono that serves my intended purpose. lightbulb

 

[Pdvdh]

I have no problem with your response, with or without attempt of humor ... but I know exactly what you mean >>> http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f28/best-cheap-chrono-102919/ gun)

I own a basic chrono that serves my intended purpose. lightbulb

FEENIX confirms his chronograph is accurate using a hand-held stop watch, and what's good enough for him is good enough for the rest of the world. No humor attempted. Ooops... I'm so sorry FEENIX. Here's your humor...