Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Garmin first time out

Feinwerkbau 300S .177 pellet rifle.
I've had this thing for a very long time forgot how much fun it is.
Figured it would be a good place to start.
If it can handle .177 pellets it should be good to go.
It was.

Shot one group just messing around.
Then turned on the Garmin and set it on the bench.
It missed the first shot....
Oh boy.
Set the thing up on the box so it was more even with the bore.
It never missed a shot after that.


This thing is supposed to have a velocity of 630 fps.
But that was 30 years ago.
And I just grabbed some pellets .
Some kind of hunting pellets not sure.
Was more interested in getting it working.
And seeing how it worked.
Pretty simple.
Had the app on my phone and got it sinked up with my phone.
If I can do it .
Anyone can.

Seems pretty straight forward.

10 shot group at 30 yards.
I haven't shot this thing in years.
Its fun.
General impressions.
Danged handy.
Straight up easy to use.
I kinda don't like touching it.
Wish you could control it from the phone.
When it gets warmed up and I start testing my bench guns again I'll run a direct comparison against the tried and true Ohler model 33.
Which I consider the gold standard in accuracy in bullet speed measurement.






dave

Told ya so

Nice shooting.

A local shop has them priced at $500

I love mine. It hasn't missed a shot yet and, as you know, is super portable. They take up very little room in the range bag.

not knocking the new technology but what will it do that a good old-fashioned chronograph will not? I've always asked myself about the all the other ones it's already out for a while the Big Orange ones damn it forget the name now a friend of mine has one and I'm just trying to figure out the real advantage except maybe slightly more accurate with velocities..
labradar for the Big Orange ones that's it...

One thing it brings to the table is that it SHOULD never be hit by a bullet because the setup wasn't perfect...... if you shoot the Labrador or the Garmin, it's intentional.

Idholton,

I had problems with screens. The first was wind. The second was clouds vs sunshine. It was a pain in the butt. I gave away ($15) my old chronograph. I didn’t want to shoot the few days a month when the weather was perfect to measure velocity.
I have a Magnetospeed now. It’s pretty good. I have not had good luck using it with some lever actions with full magazines. I’d prefer to not have to shoot separately groups, sighting in, and measuring velocity etc. I know MD and Dirt Farmer have a way around that. I suppose I could add onto my shooting bench and build similar. But my luck, I’d shoot the chronograph. At any rate it would take extra time - time away from shooting.
I didn’t buy a Labradar because I wanted to measure 17 Hornet, high velocity 22 caliber and similar. Besides the extra price didn’t seem worth it.
From what I’ve read the new chronographs will cover all my needs. I don’t see a downside. I’m into classic rifles and cartridges, but classic electronic technology - not so much.
Now there seem to be two great options. If someone would want a reason to write a review “A” vs. “B” and get paid for it…
But even if the writer didn’t write that review, either option looks pretty good to me.

Biggest advantage, shared with MS and LR, is that no one has to stop shooting so you can set it up. Mine stays in my range bag, ready for use at any time. No screens, no cables, no stands other than the tiny tripod. Lighting conditions don’t matter. Setup takes maybe a minute.

Not a spreadsheet guy, but on an iPhone or iPad, the data can be exported directly into the Numbers app, including AVG, STD DEV, SPREAD, and your notes, plus the velocity and energy of course. No need to email anything.

# SPEED (FPS) Δ AVG (FPS) KE (FT-LB) POWER FACTOR (KGR⋅FT/S) TIME CLEAN BORE COLD BORE SHOT NOTES
1 2522.2 -15.9 2330.3 416.2 9:20:14 PM "
2 2574.8 36.8 2428.6 424.9 9:20:55 PM "
3 2548.4 10.3 2379.0 420.5 9:22:55 PM "
4 2522.2 -15.9 2330.3 416.2 9:23:36 PM "
5 2554.3 16.2 2389.9 421.5 9:37:46 PM "
6 2528.2 -9.9 2341.4 417.2 9:41:02 PM "
7 2572.4 34.3 2424.0 424.4 9:44:52 PM "
8 2536.4 -1.7 2356.6 418.5 9:45:52 PM "
9 2518.1 -20.0 2322.7 415.5 9:46:33 PM "
10 2490.9 -47.2 2272.8 411.0 9:47:05 PM "
11 2551.1 13.0 2383.9 420.9 9:47:42 PM "
12 2542.0 3.9 2367.0 419.4 9:49:25 PM "
13 2542.0 3.9 2366.9 419.4 9:50:15 PM "
14 2528.3 -9.8 2341.5 417.2 9:51:52 PM "
15 2536.5 -1.6 2356.8 418.5 1:54:35 PM "
16 2542.7 4.7 2368.4 419.6 1:55:09 PM "
17 2575.2 37.1 2429.3 424.9 1:56:15 PM "
18 2512.6 -25.4 2312.7 414.6 1:57:00 PM "
19 2534.8 -3.3 2353.7 418.2 1:57:42 PM "
20 2528.4 -9.7 2341.7 417.2 1:58:26 PM "
-
AVERAGE 2538.1
STD DEV 20.7
SPREAD 84.3
Session Note M70 EW MB 165gr NBT 44gr Varget Fed GM210M Win Brass
-
All shots included in the calculations

The above is a simple copy and paste from Numbers, so the columns got messed up, but in the app they display perfectly and can be printed out like any other spreadsheet.

Wind and light conditions can be a problem for sky screens.
I typically don't bother going out in high winds.
I've never had to many problems with lighting.
Found I can work around most of it provided it's not to dark.
When it's to dark to register a shot... It's to dark.
Busy public ranges can mess things up.
But the Garmin is very handy.
I've played with my buddies LR.
One buddies is excellent. Works every time.
The other is a POS and I wouldn't own it.
Figured I wait for something better .
And I'm thinking it's better.
If it will register.177 pellets.
With ease. And it does.
Only thing left for me is to dig out one of my speedsters.
Have a old 22 CHeetah that will run up close to 4300 fps
Be interesting to see how it does with that.
The real test will come when I run it side by side with the Ohler.
dave

Well be sure to let us know how it works when you stretch it out a bit.

I wonder about who else in the digital industry is working on competitors against the new Garmin device? The way those electronic/digital engineers hate to be one-upped by one of their own, and the way they work to impress each other (often to the detriment of simple Luddite souls like me), it shouldn't take long before one of them brings out an even smaller unit competitively priced to the Garmin. Or a unit that replicates the Garmin in size and function but at half the price. The question for a guy like me who desires to jump onto this bandwagon is not what else is in store rather when it's in store, and should I just get the Garmin and be done with it.

Well what you buy today is already obsolete. They will sit back and wait till the sales start dwindling then roll out something different that has been on the schedule for a couple years. Just look at the Garmin out 30 -60 days and then LR rolls out something new and an upgrade in software for the old. They had those just sitting there till pushed in a corner. Rule of thumb hardware life cycle is 2-3 years. Software 90 days or 1 year at best before the latest and greatest rolls out.

I’ve seen a few places running them at $100 off lately.

Thinking my days of this type of testing are over.
dave

I have borrowed a couple different 33's over the years. Mainly to test the chronograph that I own at the time. Or when I wanted some CORRECT Velocity Numbers. The Ohler 33 is accurate, but a real pain to Set Up, Transport, and Store.
My Competition Electronics Chronograph works fair. I have a multiplier of 1.012 to correct it to an Ohler 33. Apparently that is within Specifications, and Competition Electronics would not calibrate it. Or they cannot calibrate it, I am not sure which. They do make repairs. I broke a 9V Battery wire off inside the case, and sent it in for repair. For an Old School Chronograph it is not a bad option.

When we replaced the concrete bench tops on the 200 yard Range, I relocated an old bench top to D Bay "A Big Handgun Bay". I located the Bench on the right corner out of the road. Normally this Bay is open to chronograph in. This took care of bothering other people on the Rifle Range. However all that you can do is chronograph. The Garman will allow you to shoot groups or zero while getting velocity numbers. No need to be in front of the Bench Line setting up your unit bothering other shooters.

Money Savings using the Garmin.
I am working with a 22 ARC at the moment. I am buying Factory Ammunition so far to get Brass. We are talking $1.65 a shot for the Cheap Black Box. The ability to Zero while Chronographing Loads at the same time saves on Ammunition Costs. You can check Velocity while shooting targets at any distance on the range. The ability to have velocity numbers covering the entire range session would give you more data to work with. An example would be to Check Zero at 100 Yards. Then Check your Drop Chart Data at 200, 300, 400, etc. Instead of a Five Shot Chronograph session you now have a 20> shot chronograph session for a more accurate set of numbers.

My local dealer has a bunch of them in stock, as of last week anyway. The plan is to pick one up Monday after our Contractor gets done spreading rock on the 200 yard Range. They got about half of the rock down Friday, so Four Hours tops to finish it, I would think. Three of us are going together to buy the unit, and store it at the Range.

I have used a buddies Garmin, and I am sold on it.

Bob R

Ran mine for the first time yesterday. Wow does this thing work! Super easy and never missed a shot from 3 different AR's. Color me impressed.......................

New and old methods both tell you the speed of a bullet, but the new ones beat the old ones hands down for ease of use and practicality on a club or public range.

For the old ones, you have to go forward of the firing line to set up the screens. That's OK if you can do it quickly, but about half of the chronograph users I've seen want to dick around for 20 minutes trying to get it just right while everyone else waits. On the bright side, you can shoot for groups AND get speeds at the same time if it's set up properly, but everyone else will hate you for wasting their time. And that's if everything goes well the first time, which is not promised.

An old-school chronograph can be inconsistent or not work at all on gloomy days, and we get a lot of those around here. If you're testing handloads, then you either have to load a bunch of the same stuff in case the chrono misses a shot or you come back another time and try again. The fix is to adjust the position of the screens, so again you're going forward to fiddle while other people wait.

With some cartridges and loads, an old-school chronograph will read muzzle blast instead of the bullet, so you either have to set up a baffle (on its own tripod) and/or move the screens farther downrange. This basically triples the amount of fiddling around required downrange. None of this is immediately obvious so you spend a lot of time and ammo figuring out what's wrong. Best of all, there's always the chance of putting a bullet through it.

The MagnetoSpeed is a massive improvement over old chronographs. But it's sensitive to the position on the rifle and POI shifts when you strap it on to the barrel. The attachment system is beyond lame, and I've seen one slip enough that muzzle blast cut the webbing that holds it on the rifle. You can also forget shooting for groups with it in place and it doesn't work on handguns. On the bright side, they're small, they're light, and you can't put a bullet through one.

The Labradar avoids all of that, but it's the size of a suitcase. The Garmin seems to have all of the advantages of a Labradar but it's a fraction of the size.

I'm definitely interested.


Okie John