Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters JULY column--Chronographs

pete53 - I can't say for sure, but I bet the Labradar will read a .25 cal bullet just fine. It is the small-boattail .22 bullets, and smaller, like John mentioned, that it may have problems with. My unit reads my .223Rem V-Max bullets perfectly well.

The length of the bullet doesn't matter. It is the size of the flat portion of the bullet's base that matters. If that flat portion is too small, there is not enough surface area to reflect sufficient radar signal for the machine to receive and read. That is why some boattail .22 bullets can be difficult, but most any flat base .22 bullet works just fine.

thanks but i might as well wait now for the Generation 2 ? Maybe Mule Deer has some influence or knowledge when the next Labradar comes out ? i would sure hate to spend $600.00 and the next week the new one comes out and the 1st generation sells for $200.00 just to get rid of them. thanks,Pete53

Obviously, buy what you want when you want. Just to be clear, though, I have no idea when, or if, there will ever be a Gen 2 Labradar. My earlier comments were just my personal thoughts desiring an improved model. I have no special knowledge or influence with the Labradar folks.

yes i understand but i own 3 Chronographs now so i have plenty already ,my other thought is maybe someone else in the world might make a new version that works as good or better too maybe even cheaper ?

pete53,

I still have four chronographs after selling the Labradar, but do you have a ProChrono? I have their cheapest version, the Pal, which I tend to use when snow makes setting up the Oehler a PITA. Have tested them together than the ProChrono gets just about exactly the same average result. The distance between the screens is much shorter, and it doesn't have the second "check" channel, so it's not much use for statistical analyses. But it still provides usable averages.

I’ve had a 35P for many years and have been extremely happy with it. Setting up is an effort but with practice I got pretty good at it. My club in Minnesota had a relatively small membership, and as a retiree I could go during the week so that I almost never had a problem waiting for a cold range. When I moved to Colorado, I was very lucky to join a club, but it has a large membership, is very organized, and is usually quite busy.

The upshot of this story is that I recently ordered a Labradar. I’ve unpacked it, but not taken it to the range yet. I read a lot of reviews before purchase. I am optimistic that it will work for me as I load cartridges from .257 Roberts up to .375 H&H. I’ve seen negative comments about aiming, but then others chime in that it is not awful. When the weather permits, I guess I’ll find out.

JMHO, a rechargeable external battery is very helpful with the Labradar.

I got a rechargeable external battery as well.

Al,

Should work great for your purposes.

I tried 2 of them. They were terrible.

yep i got a ProChrono too i thought about using it ,guess i will try ? ever hear if a Labradar 2 is being made ? thank you,Pete53

Great article Mule Deer. I still have my Oehler Model 12 I bought back in the late '70s. I need to set it up one day to see if it still works.

John,

I’ve had a Pro Chrono for years and have used it a bunch. Generally like it but have noticed it gives significantly differing readings depending on ambient lighting, even within the same day. Have you ever seen that with yours?

Lately, I haven’t even been using a chrono. Instead I put best guess velocity in Ballistic AE, shoot it at 800 yards and derive corrected velocity using the software function. It works extremely well.

John

I have a Pact chronograph and bought my first one in the 80"s and really don't know how accurate it is. Mainly I use it to try and verify velocity when working up a new load. I know I can get by with out a chronograph. Once I settle on a load I will shoot it from 25 to 500 yards to see where bullets land. That is what I go by, where the bullet lands.

For most all Alaskan hunting the shot will be under 200 yards. My wife bought me a nice Leica 900 range finder several years ago for Christmas. Every year I have it around my neck. I keep thinking eventually I will have a shot that requires ranging, but.....

Hondo,

My ProChrono is very consistent in varying light conditions--but it's a recent model.

It's certainly much easier to "back figure" muzzle velocities these days, using software! And it certainly provides as much information as any of us really need.

I use chronographs mostly because of my profession, which pretty much demands it. Plus, it's a lot easier for me to test 4-6 rifles (a typical afternoon at the range for me) over a chronograph, rather than shooting them at various distances to obtain muzzle velocity. Then I test the rifles I may use at longer distances at the local 1000-yard range.

i do have lights for my pro chrono and 120 volts plug in at my 100 yard range would that keep it more consistent ?

You mean in addition to natural sunlight?

Wow John
Missed this last summer. A great write up on the subject. Also enjoyed the posts of others with their experience.
I enjoy the bullet shooting, and shotgun sports and getting good numbers for those smoothbore shells is no easy task. Between shell to shell variability and the challenge of the muzzle blast and fast dispersing loads some "Adventures" have been Had....
Can confirm the use of known lot factory loads to "Proof" the work is indeed very helpful.
Thanks again for writing this one up.

yes with natural day light also.

Don't think it would make any difference.

Have tested both my ProChrono Pal and Oehler 35P in widely varying light conditions with the same loads, and they're both very consistent, even with 17-caliber bullets.