Magnetospeed Review

[Shrek]

I have received my Magnetospeed and I've just used it for the first time. Ridiculously easy ! That's the bottom line. I did my usual ADD pass through the instructions and three minutes later I had it assembled and recording shots. It comes in a really nice plastic case with everything you need and a battery in the unit. I had stopped and bought a battery for it assuming I would need one but nope , one in the unit. Only hiccup was I didn't put the plug it in tight on the first shot so I didn't get a reading. Plugged it up and recorded the next four flawlessly. Gives you all the info in an easy to read format and operation is super simple and intuitive. Finally got to measure the load I made for my 7-08 last fall. 140gr berger vld over 49.8gr H4350 with cci 200 primer in a ww case. Max 2891 , min 2882 , ave 2885 , and sd 4.3. Only had four left from last fall. Missed the first shot from my new 7mm wsm . Waiting on the copper to dissolve while I write.

 

[mtswampfox]

Thanks for that. Think it will go on my bucket list.the pact is nice but just a pia with all the tripods power cord for infrared screens then getting it aligned. Good luck on your hunt. Will it be live on line?

 

[Shrek]

First , DO NOT LET POWDER BLASTS GET ON YOUR NEW MAGNETOSPEED ! It will melt the plastic used in the body. Mtswampfox , my hunt will be as live as location allows. I enjoy the raw and unedited stories that come from a live hunt and I think a lot can be learned. I want to give credit and thanks to the people who've educated and helped me and I certainly wouldn't want to deprive my detractors of an opportunity to heap derision upon me. By being semi live last year my hunt was transformed by the exchange of information , encouragement , and opportunities offered. I would encourage anyone who has thick skin and self effacing humility to post a hunt live. You WILL say and do stupid things for all the world to see so if you are easily embarrassed it's not for you. On the other hand if you can stand the humiliation of having fellow roksliders see your mistakes then their feedback and help will help pick up the mess.

 

[mtswampfox]

Most of my rifles have muzzle brakes, will the redirected blasts affect the integrity of the unit?

 

[Shrek]

I don't think so. The Powder blast I was referring to is CLP Powder Blast cleaner.

 

[Shrek]

Some more thoughts. The Magnetospeed is a superb idea but it's not without a drawback. You can't really work on accuracy while using it. Although it's light there is no way that the couple ounces hanging from the muzzle doesn't affect the harmonics so you can't tune a load or finish sighting in your rifle while using it. That's the only drawback I can see. Otherwise it's a super simple and easy to use device that you will drag to the range without dread. It also gives a true muzzle velocity instead of a velocity taken 15' to 20' down range . I can't see me every using an optical chronometer ever again with its pia setup and finicky operation.

 

[rayporter]

i dont think all the opticals will go out of style for that reason.

heck-my first chrongraph was a timer. it gave a readout of .000xxxx seconds and i had a chart to convert that to bullet speed. and, boy, they are like a borscope. dont get one unless you really, really want to know.

 

[Shrek]

If I had deep pockets I guess I'd have an Ohler 35P for heavy load development but if you can only justify one it would be the Magnetospeed for sure. Found a new issue while I was cleaning up after the last shot tonight here at home. The rifle has shifted every so slightly to the left or the forend has warped. It has cut the clearance on the left of the barrel in half and doubled on the right. I can't detect any play in the bedding so I'm puzzled. I took it out of the stock and examined the bedding and couldn't see any reason for the shift. I'm too aggravated to really think about it now but between the low velocity and now the shift I've got too many variables I'm thinking of. Going to try the H1000 and some New Retumbo tomorrow. The I'll worry about why it has shifted.

 

[rayporter]

long time ago in a land far away my buddy built his first rifle. he had a 1.2 in. straight pipe put on and he bedded it. he did not use enough release agent so it was a glue in. this was before we knew that glueins were for real.

it shot lights out. many a buckeye groundhog gave up to that rifle. and then we got that danged chronograph. he sold it with a month cause it was only doing 2650 fps.

 

[CaylenW]

I've been using the MagnetoSpeed for a couple years. I use it in all my precision rifle courses and have virtually flawless performance. They've made significant upgrades to the components over the years and the current version is excellent.

There's no need to worry about muzzle blast on the older versions. (The newest version has a metal cover which protects the material from the muzzle blast.) I've shot literally thousands of rounds across the one older version I have and I've not seen any degradation in performance as a result of muzzle blast or material erosion.

As far as point of impact shifts with the unit attached; I've noticed some of my barrels won't mind, where others will. Longer, more slender barrels will have a marked shift and definite loss of accuracy but that is to be expected from those barrels.

Some folks will complain that using it impedes load development because it can cause point of impact shifts and loss of accuracy. I can see that, but I really don't care too much about velocity when I develop loads. As long as the velocity is keeping the bullet stable all I care about is accuracy. I don't check velocity until the load is developed anyway.

All in all, it's an awesome piece of gear and it's outputs are accurate enough to get 90% of my students within a minute of angle out to the edge of supersonic flight.

 

[mtswampfox]

Thanks for your input. Agree with your philosophy on accuracy first then see what the ballistics chart will look like.have found the books are pretty close on speed for starters.my concern with muzzle blast was confusef with a cleaning agent that eats plastic, much like deet. If purchased would be used on various rifles with brakes including an ar10, which would be a good tester with lots of blsst and recoil.

 

[mtswampfox]

Just a quick comment on my new magnetospeed delivered yesterday. set up was quick and easy especially going slow with the book at hand. took a couple of adjustments on the spacers to get my first reading. ran ten or so thru the 17 hmr then a few thru the 25-08 on the encore. the switch between the two went much faster . readings seemed true except for one outrageous 7500 fps that was deleted on the 17. the thing found most interesting was the ease of installing the sd card in my mac and seeing the excel program open automatically and there was all the info from my first shoot. side notes added for future reference and saved. for not being a hi-tec redneck that was fun. next is trying it on the ar's......

 

[Shrek]

Easy to use is the theme for sure. Makes setting up a traditional chrony seem ridiculous !

 

[Sam Millard]

I've been using the MagnetoSpeed for a couple years. I use it in all my precision rifle courses and have virtually flawless performance. They've made significant upgrades to the components over the years and the current version is excellent.

There's no need to worry about muzzle blast on the older versions. (The newest version has a metal cover which protects the material from the muzzle blast.) I've shot literally thousands of rounds across the one older version I have and I've not seen any degradation in performance as a result of muzzle blast or material erosion.

As far as point of impact shifts with the unit attached; I've noticed some of my barrels won't mind, where others will. Longer, more slender barrels will have a marked shift and definite loss of accuracy but that is to be expected from those barrels.

Some folks will complain that using it impedes load development because it can cause point of impact shifts and loss of accuracy. I can see that, but I really don't care too much about velocity when I develop loads. As long as the velocity is keeping the bullet stable all I care about is accuracy. I don't check velocity until the load is developed anyway.

All in all, it's an awesome piece of gear and it's outputs are accurate enough to get 90% of my students within a minute of angle out to the edge of supersonic flight.

Exactly the same experience I've had. With the rifle I use to test everything accuracy related, I fired a 10 shot group into .655" (5 w/ the bayo on and 5 without). Ironically, it seems if the POI shifts, it's up. Open muzzles, brakes, and suppressors don't seem to affect it at all. Great piece of gear and mine matched my Oehler 35 shot for shot while testing.

 

[AZ Vince]

Instead of waiting for the Labradar chronograph in looking at one of these.

 

[Shrek]

Instead of waiting for the Labradar chronograph in looking at one of these.

I had been waiting for the Ladradar too but gave up. It sounds like the ideal chronograph but ....

 

[AZ Vince]

I had been waiting for the Ladradar too but gave up. It sounds like the ideal chronograph but ....

Yeah, it does sound perfect. Almost too good to be true.
One can only wait so long.

 

[KMD]

The blade on my Magnetospeed is friggin' sandblasted from firing, and it still functions flawlessly...

 

[Sam Millard]

I was testing some reduced loads yesterday in the Canyon Rifle for the kids to hunt with. The group on the bottom was fired without the bayonet mounted, the top group with it on. The POI shift is so predictable on this rifle, I would have no reservations taking a LR shot with it all hooked up...I would just dial 1 MOA down from the correction.

 

[KMD]

Same here.
As long as the strap doesn't work loose, the POI shift & group size are pretty repeatable. Have had the mounting strap get loose from sliding down the tapered contour on some skinny barrels, so have learned to check strap tension after each shot.