Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Chrono, Yes or No

What did we do before chronos? Ignorance is, or was, bliss, I guess. We trusted what was written in a manual or on a box of ammunition. The manufacturer would know, right? And we happily took those factory loads, or our reloads, into the field and harvested game. We killed game for years. And then some more years. And still more. All without the comfort of a chrono.



But then, chronos started coming down in price, and slowly, we began to buy them. And what was written in our reloading manuals or on a box of ammunition wasn't always true.

What did that mean? There were a lot of possibilities.

Our readings came from our own gun and chronograph, not the ammunition/powder company's equipment.
Companies used their own rifles or a universal receiver. Often, they were a different barrel length than our own rifle.
They used different cases, and primers, or lots of powder.
Even different bullets of the same weight.

Or it meant that our chrono couldn't accurately determine velocities!



But what did that mean?

If your favourite 180 gr. 30-06 load listed at 2700 fps at the muzzle, but chronoed at 2550 or 2600 fps, do you demand your money back? Or, if you're a reloader, stuff more powder in, to bring it to 2700fps? No! And especially NO, if you've been using that load for years and taking game. Because, regardless of the velocity displayed on the unit, the load worked.



So what does that mean?

It means having a chrono is not a requirement for reloaders or anyone else. They are a fun to have toy, unless you are in the business of having to know. And of course, if you have to know, you buy an Oehler!