Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Chronographs / The Good, The Bad, The Straight Skinny

Gun Writers - you folks use chronograph's ... Reviews range from "OK" to "damn un-printable" on Shooting Chrony, PACT, RCBS etc. Some have great features while some are so-so. How about the Oehler 35P - worth the $$? Getting tired of flipping my hour glass over at the range - LOL Homesteader

There are many interesting options these days. I've tried several but not all.

The Magnetospeed works, and is handy on public ranges because it's right there on the muzzle, instead of requiring getting out front 10-15 feet and taking time to set up. But it does affect group size and point-of-impact, and doesn't work well with monolithics, especially all-lead bullets.

Also, I've found a foot or less between sensors (whether light-screens or other) isn't much help when judging a load's consistency. The average velocity will be about the same as with longer distances between sensors, but statistical analysis of the velocity of individual shots is just about worthless.

So far the best bargain I've found in lower-priced chronographs is the ProChrono, which is what I use for a back-up in case my my Oehler 35 has a problem--or I just want to do some quick chronographing of preliminary loads. Though I haven't tried all of them, in fact suspect it would be impossible, since new chromos appear all the time.

So far the Oehler has worked fine, and is extremely consistent from day to day, despite variations in light. Ken and I had a talk about that at the SHOT Show a year ago, and he know a LOT about dealing with variations in light.

John,

Would you recommend that a guy on a tight budget buy the Magneto or ProChrono?

The basic model of ProChrono is $100, the basic Magnetospeed $265.

DakotaDeer, I'm obviously neither JB nor a gunwriter. I'm only writing because I've had both a ProChrono and a Magnetospeed.

Pros of ProChrono:
- Easy to set up on a small or private range
- Consistent readings with good light conditions
- Can use the ProChrono while performing load development to kill two birds with one stone if desired
- Cost

Cons of ProChrono
- Takes a while to set up, must go cold on a busy public range

Pros of Magnetospeed
- Easy to set up on a busy public range, line doesn't have to go cold
- Reliable, picks up every one of my shots (jacketed lead core only from my rifles so far), very consistent
- Place screen right next to shooter, calculates SD, avg speed while shooting

Cons of Magnetospeed
- Cost
- Affects group POA and group size
- Because of the above, really can't use while doing load development

Just my opinion, you should make your decision based on your range. If it's a busy public range, you might save your pennies for the Magnetospeed. If you can fiddle with setting up a chrono in peace, the ProChrono works and is less than half the cost.

v/r
Joel

I think you answered your own question and I agree 100%

I've got a prochrono and like it a lot. I don't use public ranges and set it up just about every time I shoot. I wouldn't like the one that requires hanging it off the barrel, you couldn't test accuracy that way. I have faith that the velocities out of my prochrono are correct. I haven't tried the other brands.

John - appreciate your comments. I found the consumer's written reviews of these instruments all over the place leading to my inquiry. Who better to know their in's and out's then the folks that use them all the time. Homesteader.

boatanchor - this feedback was what I was looking for...the straight skinny. Homesteader.

Every penny IMHO.

'Survived' for years with others for years, but never really had confidence in the results. Posted WTB here on the Forum a year or so agao, and got several replies. Ended up with a like new Oehler 35P with extra screens, et al for much less than the cost of a new unit.

After using it the first time I wondered how I'd manage all those years. Hasn't missed a beat or not recorded a shot to date. I REALLY like that I don't have to take 10/22 with me to shoot over the chrono just to see if it's going to work!

I have Digital Prochrono and you can get a printer for it as well as a remote. and other stuff

John - just read a post on a new SHOT show product...using
DOPPLAR radar instead of screens. Unit sets up alongside the shooters rifle, pistol, bow etc. What next...lasers? Homesteader.

Yeah, I heard about it to. It would be handy on public ranges since it sets up next to the shooter, not in front, and unlike the Magnetospeed doesn't affect groups and works on every kind of projectile. But so far I haven't seen a price.

I saw around $450.

I've been pretty pleased with my Pro Chrony. For the most part the readings are in line with what my load manuals say I should be getting. If I'm off by 25 fps or so that is fine for me. It just isn't worth more than about $100 for me to know exactly.

I have had a couple of times when it seemed to do some weird things though. Once when trying to shoot some 44 mag loads it gave me the 1st shot at around 1200 fps. About what I expected. Shot #2 was around 2400 fps and #3 around 3600 fps. For some reason it was adding the velocities instead of resetting. Another time I was getting readings about 1000 fps slower than I knew were possible. Both times I just packed it up and stopped using it. All was fine the next times I used it. 2 odd days in 4 years is not too bad considering the price.

I can't help but wonder which one would be best for shooting in 55mph winds?
You know, for a guy that really knew what he was doing, so he could shoot groups in the .1's in said conditions?

R.

mine will show velocity rising if the battery gets low , sharp angles to the sun can do funky things too

I used Shooting Chronys as my quick-and-dirty chronographs for quite a while, but eventually grew weary of missed shots, obviously bad readings, and strange things happening at different light angles, no matter what I tried to prevent them.

Tested a ProChrono a couple of years ago during three hours of chronographing various rifle loads from .17 caliber up. I set the PC up directly in front of my Oehler 35P in mid-afternoon, and kept shooting until the sun was really low. The PC only missed a couple of shots toward the end of the day, both .17 caliber bullets, and after adjusting its position slightly it didn't miss any more. The average velocity of each load was within a few fps of the Oehler. (In contrast the last Chrony I used was always at least 2% off from the Oehler readings.)

One big difference between the PC and the Chrony was the INDIVIDUAL velocities of shots. With 5 shots or more the average was always about the same, but there was no way to tell anything about the consistency of a load from the velocity of each shot.
Also, the Oehler has the second "proof channel" that rechecks the velocity of each shot. The Oehler takes more time to set up, but the printed-out results of each string of shots save time after that.

Just tried another ProChrono belonging to a friend and it gets the same readings as mine with the same loads.