Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Labradar chronograph

Folks ,
I’d like to hear from anyone using the Labradar .
I’ve got an Oelher P35 and I was wondering if this new unit is much better .
So please tell me your personal Pros & Cons with this newer unit .

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
Soup

I much prefer the golden retriever unit myself. It's very user friendly if you scratch it behind the ears.

Damned critter just keeps trying to retrieve the bullets.

I've had an Oehler 35P for more than twenty-five years, but I bought a Labradar about a year or so ago. Both are excellent units. The Labradar can be set up very quickly and there is no need to go downrange to do it, as on a public range where it may be necessary to call a cease fire. If that's not important to you, you're missing out on nothing by sticking with the Oehler.

Best $ I ever spent on a chronograph. Love it. Set it up on the bench, “aim” it at the target, turn it on....you’re in business.

Very happy with mine. Easy to set up use etc.

Cheers

Eric

I would rather have a golden. Really easy to live with.

I have both but the LabRadar is much easier to set up.

Money well spent in my opinion. I just used mine for the first time today and am loving it. It took 5 shots to figure out how to aim it and then fired 30 more from 5 rifles without a hiccup. Even with the initial setup I was ready to shoot long before I would have if I were setting up my M2. Also, it turned out to be quite windy today and if I even tried to setup the M2 it would have blown over as soon as I turned my back. The Labradar just sits on the bench recording shots one after the other. I used a piece of 3/4" BC for the base with a camera tripod ball head mount and it worked perfect. It is spendy to put together when you include what you really need to do it right but if you are serious about handloading I don't think you will be sorry.

Exactly. Love mine.

They are both good units, but the LabRadar is much easier to work with. I have been very happy with mine.

One thing nobody has answered is whether or not is can you overshoot the beam width when the Labrador is aimed dead center on a target 100 yards away then moving to a target 200 yards away efficiently enough to give a valid reading? The 35P can.

Have owned a M35 since the early 90's and a Labradar for almost two years. I ran them together and calculated the difference in distance from the muzzle a half dozen times and they agreed within single digits all but a few shots out of several hundred rounds.

If I'm headed to the range I almost always plan on using the Labradar because there's no need to step beyond the firing line for setup--and setup is quick once you learn the nuances. I also use it when shooting from prone when I want to chrono a load. And recently it worked in low teens temps when cold weather testing--I was skeptical it was going to work. I did bring it into the cab of the truck with me each time I got in to warm up!

The Labradar records velocities out to 100 yds at four increments of your choosing. By setting the increments very small with the final increment at say, 30 yds from the muzzle, it will catch the bullet fine when aiming out to 300 yds the one time I tried it. If the Labradar doesn't pick up the bullet at every increment it will give an error reading and "possible" velocity reading. When that has happened to me the possible velocity was within the expected velocity of the load I was shooting.

Although when aiming out to something like 600yd distances I'm thinking the bullet may travel outside the beam pretty quickly and the shot might not be recorded..

Any issues with a covered range?

None so far.

Not at the two covered ranges I've tried it.

Good to know, my Master Chrony has been rather optimistic or low as of late. The whole range is not covered of course, but it is for about 20 feet beyond the benches.

I appreciate the all of the information I've received from this post .


Keep it coming !! Before I lay out that much $$$$ I want to be sure it's worth it .


How is the battery life for a day of testing loads ? Does one set last the day ? 3-4 hours .

Soup

Forget about the onboard battery option and pick up a high mA-hour portable/rechargeable battery pack. They are cheap these days and one with a reasonable rating will easily give multiple range sessions of trigger-based doppler usage.