Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Labradar

So let's not let $$$$ enter into the discussion. The good, bad and ugly.

Wasn't sure if you meant the dog or the country until I checked the spelling...assuming you mean this https://mylabradar.com/

Misses some small projectiles and won't read much over 3900fps

I've been using one regularly for several years. I've never used batteries, only a power pack (or whatever they are called). You get about twelve hours of use with a fully charged power pack. I've never had trouble "sighting" the unit, but some buy gadgetry that does the same thing. I did buy a base that I think works better than the one that comes with the unit. I've never had a need for a tripod, but some use them. I also bought the handy zippered soft case from LabRadar, but a laptop case of the right size would probably work as well.

Occasionally, I'll get no reading but a slight repositioning of the unit or gun barrel will correct this. I used to use a chronograph a lot and I've had six chronographs over the last forty+years, including the Oehler 35P. All of them have had slight quirks that you become accustomed to and and can work around. I haven't tried to chronograph bullets smaller than .22 on the LabRadar and I shoot no loads with velocities over about 3,700 fps, so I can't comment on those alleged drawbacks.

I don't have a strong background in computers or anything high tech. The LabRadar manual is written for smarter people than I am.

I like mine a lot. I don't shoot calibers smaller than .22 much or cartridges that have velocities over 3900 fps, so those limitations are not an issue for me.

The big thing is that I shoot at a range where there are usually other shooters, so setting up sky screens is a bit of a hassle. That's eliminated with a Labradar.

I find that I need to be careful to aim the unit precisely at the target in order to get consistent readings. I added a little plastic sight I got on Amazon to top of the unit to make that easier.

Otherwise I find the Labradar easy to use and quite consistent in its readings. And it's not affected by lighting variability.

For me the unit works great.

Have posted this before, but I bought one a few years ago to see what the deal was. Loved it for about six months, but as the Labradar people admit it didn't read bullets under .22 caliber, or over 3900 fps.

Then I went to the range one day with a 6mm rifle and a bunch of loads for a magazine assignment--and it wouldn't read the base of a very streamlined boattail, no doubt because it was so tiny. And it was reading other bullets, not just in that rifle but others, so was "aimed" right.

So I had to finish the range session with a light-screen chronograph I also had along. Went home and put the Labradar up for sale on the Campfire Classifieds.

If they ever fix those problems would buy another--and they work fine for shooters who don't have such a wide range of requirements.

Thanks everybody for the input. They are out of stock right now, so it looks like I get to wait.

A software limitation prevents you from returning to a previous string and adding to it, which makes shooting multiple rifles an issue.

For example: You shoot String 1 with Rifle A. Now, while Rifle A cools off, you shoot String 2 with Rifle B.

Now you want to shoot Rifle A again, but you now have to shoot String 3 with Rifle A, as you cannot return and add to String 1. That means the data from Rifle A is now separated into two strings, which means for combined data, you have to compile by hand (or spreadsheet program).

Get into multiple groups with multiple rifles, and the issue just multiplies.

As I have written before ... come on, Labradar, let’s see a Gen 2 (or a software upgrade).

To be clear, I still own and use a Labradar. I just used it Friday shooting pistols.

RickBin, just thinking out loud. Could you use multiple SD cards. Just switch out when you change guns. I too bring several guns when I go to the range.

I take multiple guns to the range and record information like temperature, app. wind speed, group sizes, maybe bullet hardness with cast bullets, etc., so no software limitations for me as long as I have my paper notebook.

Could get tedious , and error prone calculating Standard Deviations on an interrupted string.

Everything that Lotech said.

As Rickbin said it would be nice to record multiple strings from different loads/rifles. But just like Lotech everything gets written down in my load binder anyway.

Different SD cards should work, but a guy has to remember to change cards everytime he changes load/rifles. Knowing me, I would at some point most surely forget………

One of the biggest benefits of the LR is the ability to shoot from prone and record velocities. There is a piece of godforsake BLM ground 5 minutes from my house that deer and elk don’t even winter on. I have surreptitiously measured distances and driven short stakes in the ground out to 500 yds so I can set up targets or steel. Several pinion trees provide shade in the summer. Spend a lot less time driving and setting up.

as mentioned small bullets , some boattails and higher velocities are limited with a Labradar that i have heard but a cheap Chony always works which i have .

I’ll also add when I first bought my LR I compared it a few times to my M35, correcting for distance to muzzle. Except for 3 shots out of ~200 the two were very close with velocities.

The LR hasn’t had a problem picking up bullets from my 223 or 22-250, but I haven’t tried any uber VLD’s.

I've been running a LabRadar for a few years. I have had no problems once I figured everything out. There is a short learning curve when first starting. I shoot plenty of .224 bullets with boattails and they all get recorded. None of my stuff shoots at the 4,000 fps limit, so no problem there either. I bought an inertia trigger because it was highly recommended. I never use it because it just wasn't needed with my set-up. I use a LabRadar battery pack and no memory card. I mount the unit on a tripod and place it directly in front of me (off the bench) where I can easily reach the buttons from my shooting position. Get a hard case from Harbor Freight and the unit will never get damaged.

I highly recommend the LabRadr, it's one of the best investments I've made.

Too many missed readings with mine. I wouldn't recommend it.

Tony

Was at my club's range a couple months ago and a guy was there with his brand new Labradar unit. He volunteered to chrono some of my 7x57 rounds to help him with his learning curve. First few didn't register but then he started getting the hang of it. He admitted that it was all new to him but he said that so far he liked it. Looked to me to be complicated as he kept fiddling with something. I plan to keep my shooting chrony until it dies from old age or gets shot.

I had two PACT chronographs before my LABRADAR. With the PACT units it wasn’t unusual to miss shots depending on the sun angle. For my purposes I won’t ever go back to screen trigger units. IIRC, I’ve been using it from about summer of 2016.

With the LABRADAR, I’ll occasionally miss a shot because I forgot to switch the velocity range from rifle to handgun or vice versa. Once in a while I’ll miss the first shot because I didn’t aim it quite right or I bump the unit out of alignment. I position the unit to the right of the rifle, even with the receiver so I can reach the control buttons. I try to aim the unit toward a point that’s about 3/4 of the way between the muzzle and the target.

I’ve gravitated to the “doppler” trigger mode and that’s worked best for me. A few months ago I bought one of their power packs and that was a good addition and has plenty of power reserve. The loads I shoot that probably pose the biggest challenge for the LABRADAR are the 40 grain Ballistic Tips and Hornady Vmax with their tiny BT bases, out of a 22-250. I’m only pushing them to around 3800 fps. I don’t have any 17’s or 20’s that are faster than that, so the LABRADAR does fine for my purposes.

I have a Shooters Crony, CED, and Labrador. The Labrador is by far my favorite. I rarely chrono .22 and smaller and never over 4000 fps, so that's not a problem. Missed shots are rare. The greatest advantage for me is not having bad readings from variations in sun/cloud cover...Labradar doesn't care.

Easy set up and easy to use.

I wish I would have gone this way.


I started with wind screens but there’s only 1.3 days a year where the wind isn’t blowing here ( ). OK many 1.7 days, OK? I hated with a passion those damn screens.

Then I went with the device that attaches to the barrel. Works great on barrels without magazine tubes. Sure I have 17 caliber rifles where the Labradar may not have worked well, maybe a 204 or a 22-250AI, I don’t know.

I wish I had Labradar! I have a few rifle with magazine tubes. I take 4 or 5, maybe more rifles I shoot near the same time. Switching from barrel to barrel with the strap on barrel unit is a bother. I suppose I could build a longer bench and build a device like Dirt Farmer’s or MD’s…

If I had it to do over again I’d be buying the Labradar!