Which chronograph?

[mtnclimber]

Well its come time, Ive decided to get a chronograph.

Which one do you use and why?

I've done a lot of research and its difficult to find one everyone seems to find reliable and not finicky with how it performs. Just like anything theres a lot of mixed reviews so I'm hoping to find more of a direction and ask some roksliders. Im not picky on features, i just want accurate readings.

Fire away!

 

[squeekieslayer]

It seems the consensus seems to be that the magnetospeed Is the most accurate and consistent for the money.

Joe

 

[Sam Millard]

I used an Oehler 35 for years. This winter I picked up a MagnetoSpeed V2. They are both reliable and accurate.

I would highly recommend the MagnetoSpeed. Easy to set up, portable, and accurate.

 

[IAHNTR]

The one thing that I'm curious about the Magneto is using it on saboted muzzleloaders. I've looked, but not much out there on this.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

The one thing that I'm curious about the Magneto is using it on saboted muzzleloaders. I've looked, but not much out there on this.

The trick with a sabotted bullet is to set the chrony up about 30yards out. This is the only way to get reliable numbers(believe me, I tried) so the magneto will not work well for muzzleloader applications.

 

[gelton]

I can tell you that I use a Pro Chrono that had great reviews at Midway USA but I question its accuracy almost every time I use it, especially in the sun.

 

[aron]

I use a shooting chrony and like gelton don't trust mine. Not much good it is if you can't trust it.

 

[Joe M]

Magneto speed is the way to go, you don't have to worry about lighting and it's really fast to set up.

 

[dangerousD]

I've borrowed a friend's CED Millennium (not sure if it was the "2") for use with my bow, but I hated it. Half the time I don't get a reading and it would always error out on my lower velocity bows/arrows, even though it says it can read from 50 fps up for archery. I used it several different times in all variations of lighting and configurations and just wanted to smash that thing with a hammer each time...

I'm actually in the market for a chrono of my own, but mainly just for archery. I would love to hear suggestions on a chrono recommendation for archery.

 

[IAHNTR]

Does anyone have any new information on the doppler radar from http://www.mylabradar.com/#Home? Seems I could use it for bow, muzzy, rifle, slingshot, etc......

 

[mtnclimber]

The magneto speed has had amazing reviews, and it's ease of use is quite nice. But man that price tag is killer.. Buy once cry once I suppose but I really wasn't wanting to spend $380 unexpectedly. I'll put out an add in the classifieds to try and get a used one hopefully

 

[mtswampfox]

have had pact since they came out many years ago. on second one that was sent back for a refurb also have the fancy sky screens that require 110. works for me but not up on the latest and greatest but would give them a look. have had good luck with their cs.

 

[AZ Vince]

I'll be getting a Lab Radar when they come on the market.

Try a Google search and you will find what I'm talking about pretty easily.

 

[gelton]

I'll be getting a Lab Radar when they come on the market.

Try a Google search and you will find what I'm talking about pretty easily.

Wow, that thing looks sweet, thanks for the heads up. They only have a short time if they are going to hit their Spring 2014 release date. Seeing on other forums that these are supposed to run between $400-450 if that is true then it may be a no brainer. Just hate being the guinea pig to find out how accurate they are. The technology seems to be pretty sound though.

 

[mtnclimber]

Wow Vince that thing looks sweet! The only issue id have with the magneto is it would change the harmonics in the rifle so any shots for velocity are essentially wasted as far as accuracy is concerned.

 

[AZ Vince]

I'm planning for Fall or Winter of 2014 after the bugs have been worked out.
Momma didn't raise me to be a Beta Tester. Yes, it's a little pricey, but I think it will be far more accurate and doesn't mess with the barrel harmonics. Also don't need to worry about sunlight affecting my readings.

 

[16Bore]

Been using a Shooting Chrony for a few years. For whatever reason, it'll sometimes go into MPS mode. No biggie, but drops have shown it to be pretty damn accurate.

 

[Ryan Avery]

Been using a Shooting Chrony for a few years. For whatever reason, it'll sometimes go into MPS mode. No biggie, but drops have shown it to be pretty damn accurate.

You have gotten lucky then! In my experience and many others, it's a terrible chronograph.

 

[16Bore]

I've heard that more than once, believe me. But I also heard that thin barrels don't shoot and moly sucks. It's usually set in the same place every time I use it, but full overhead sun reveals the true suck of the thing for sure.

 

[Hunt'nFish]

Haven't used a Magnetospeed.

The only ones I had & used was the ProChrono, Oehler Mod43 PBL, and the Chrony.
One time I set up all three and shot through them at the same time.
Results were surprisingly similar and only differed by 20fps ES.
IMO, what my experience yielded was that one brand would stumble up this type of light and another stumble under another type of light. While all worked well under bright overcast light. The Oehler didn't like bright sunny light, while the Prochrono did. The Chrony seemed the most tolerant, but because of the hinged design the angle of the optic sensors varied a bit each time I set it up resulting a little more head scratching than I would prefer. So make sure your consistent there. Of the three the Oehler was the one I settled on, even through it seems picky about it's light preference. When I get really anal about things like Velocity ES & SD I set the screens up on a 10ft pole w/ 5ft spacing on screen 1&2 and 10ft spacing on screens 1&3.

One thing I liked about the ProChrono was it's ease of setup and use. After we had it's offset from the Oehler figured out, we'd set it up down range infront of our target to capture down range velocity in order to do a V1 V2 BC calculation to fine tune our actual BC. You could read the display w/ a spotter at moderate ranges, at longer ranges we had to use a person w/ a radio. I always dreamed of having the acoustical target for the Oehler PBL but never could justify the cost. I do have the strain gage setup for it though, and getting pressure data taught me a lot.
Hunt'nFish