Which chronograph should I buy?

[chizelhead]

The title says it all. I'm considering reloading and would like to get everyone's chrono recommendations. Thanks in advance

 

[sndmn11]

Labradar or magnetospeed

 

[Sccritterkiller]

You wanting chronograph with or without a supressor?

 

[archp625]

Labradar or magnetospeed

Agree with sndmn11. I bought the Sporter magnetoseed and its been awesome. I wish I would have bought the v3 so I would have the suppressor option.

 

[tdhanses]

Sporter magnetospeed and maybe add a labradar down the road if they ever are available or go down in price, not sure if they are worth the cost over the sporter but i’ve not used one.

 

[Rob5589]

My Pro Chrono has worked great. The Labradar looks slick if you have the coin.

 

[chizelhead]

You wanting chronograph with or without a supressor?

Both

 

[chizelhead]

Awesome. Thanks for everyone's quick replies. Does the magnetospeed shift POI?

 

[Wyobohunter]

Problem with the magnetospeed is it attached to your barrel. This makes it unreliable to both velocity and accuracy test at the same time. Doppler radar eats batteries and picks up other peoples shots (from what I’ve heard… no experience). I keep it simple with my shooting chrony Alpha master. It does everything a chronograph should do. It wasn’t crazy expensive and I can velocity test (including ES & SD) while testing groups.

Smart of you to get a chronograph right away. I believe it is an essential tool for the serious handloader. I went years without one. When I finally bought one it was a big step in getting better/safer loads.

 

[Rob5589]

Major plus to an optical sensor or doppler is being able to use it for other than bullets. I've used mine for arrows, paintballs, and my son has used it for airsoft. A do it all that's hard to beat for 120'ish bucks.

 

[Wyobohunter]

That too. I have shot arrows through mine.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I’ll keep using my Caldwell chrono. I’ve seen the magno and labradar chronos used. I didn’t see them do anything to justify buying one.

 

[EdP]

Rather than specifying one to buy, let's talk about the features you should be looking at. First, IMO, is that it doesn't attach to your rifle barrel and affect bullet flight or POI. I want to be able to correlate group size to stats so I want my chrono and rifle totally separate.

Second is remote read out and string control (reset) so you don't have to ask others on the range to stop what they are doing so you can step down range to change strings. This is more important if you shoot at a busy range, but is always nice to have.

Beyond that, I think most of the major brands are close in reliability and accuracy.

 

[Harvey_NW]

Another vote for prochrono dlx. I had the magnetospeed sporter and it was only a velocity tool on all of my rifles, happy I sold it and went to the regular chrono.

edit - the velocities match as well so I know it's as accurate as I need it to be.

 

[B23]

Awesome. Thanks for everyone's quick replies. Does the magnetospeed shift POI?

They certainly can, but not nearly as much as adding a suppressor will.

I only have a couple guns with smaller contours and they tend to have more POI shift with the MS Bayo attached but even in those guns it's pretty minimal. Most of my guns have varmint/sendero contours as well as many of mine are in the 18-22 inch length and POI shift in those is barely, if at all, noticeable with the MS Bayo attached but screw a suppressor on and the POI definitely changes.

 

[chizelhead]

Thanks everyone for your replies! How is the prochrono dlx or something similar in the rain? I live on the wetside of the PNW with a lot of dark, rainy days. I would have to set it up outside of the covered shooting area.

 

[PRC_GUY]

Labradar will be your best friend when you are reloading.

 

[Harvey_NW]

Thanks everyone for your replies! How is the prochrono dlx or something similar in the rain? I live on the wetside of the PNW with a lot of dark, rainy days. I would have to set it up outside of the covered shooting area.

All I can say is if you drive over the pass and shoot on my side, it will work fine

 

[35WhelenAI]

If shooting is done at an outdoor range a traditional chronograph is fine. Never had an issue with my Pro Chrono in 20 years. Cloudy days are best for a chronograph and consistency in my experience, not so much the rain. 🌧

However as is the case in some places around this great country it's getting harder to find an outdoor range so I joined an indoor range. Magneto speed is the only option for that in my price range and I really like it. I already know how my rifles shoot for accuracy, so I shoot some rounds to work up the load and see if it has the velocity potential I want. If it looks promising then I'll load up and shoot a few groups. It's not that much extra componentry in the long run but that definitely can be an issue in this day and age.

 

[FLShooter293]

I love my LabRadar with remote trigger. Put an aftermarket (fleabay) crosshairs on it and haven’t had any problems. Magneto’s are nice too