Chronograph’s - cheap vs expensive

[Backcast88]

I have the Magneto Speed. Not a fan to be honest and it will either get sold or end up in the pile of other crap I don't use. Labradar or Garmin are the way to go. Both with give better reading than any of the shoot through or Magneto chronographs. And based purely on size and portability, the Garmin would be my top choice.

 

[Harvey_NW]

Comparing my ProChrono to Magneto speed, the magneto speed gives about 10 fps higher. That's the difference between 15-20' downrange and at the muzzle.

Same. I ditched a magnetospeed sporter for a prochrono too and I've been really happy with it, and I have some pretty big data sets with decent ES/SD.

The benefit of a chronograph is it obviously gives you peace of mind when you get good consistent results with reloads, and it doubles as a safety check for referencing velocity with published pressure results. But I don't really think it's necessary to have a personal radar to get things done right, especially when you usually have to adjust velocity in the calculator to get everything trued up anyway. I'll probably end up with a Garmin because I'm a geek and it's pretty convenient if I need to go test loads real quick at the public range a mile from my house. But otherwise, the prochrono has worked great for me. I did not have the same experience with a Caldwell I borrowed from a friend before I switched from the magneto.