Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Which chronograph ?

My old shooting buddy had a past and he thought it was THE THING till I brought out the 338 and kept blowing the thing around so bad it would not get a reading. I bought a pro chrono for $100 at Cabelas while on my way to see my son in Idaho. We took that $100 cheepo out in the desert where all the GIs shot everything you could drag out there and set it up on a shot to crap TV set. First shot with the 338 and it went flying through the air and hit the ground rolling. I thought I just pissed away a $100. Went and picked it up and it was still working and had caught the speed. Just about ALWAYS caught the speed unless you just plain missed the eyes. Trusted the readings on that on till I voided the warranty with a 40 gr. Nosler @4080 fps thru the screen. I bought another one and not too sure it is as good as the first one.

I had Chrony's for years. Then I bought an Oehler 35p. I have been spoiled. Yes it does take longer to set up. I haven't timed it but I'd say the most time spent is looking through the screens from behind the rifle to get it all lined up. It depends on what you want to do. I load for arms that do not have too much in the way of information for loading, and so use the Oehler and PressureTrace to keep things under control. If I had an '06, a bunch of powder and bullets, then sure, a Chrony or other less expensive chronograph would do the job.

Yes, the Oehler takes a bit more time to set up. But with practice I've found the difference between setting up the Oehler and the Pact it replaced is marginal. Now, I have taped the cords together as recommended in the instructions, so they are a "unit." And I have found it is not an issue to leave the sensors attached to the rod at all times, so I don't assemble and disassemble these every trip. So I set up the tripods, insert the assembled rod, and run the cords back to the bench. I've found the fastest way to install the sunscreens is to first insert the three offside black supports, then hang the orange sunscreens on these, then connect the onside black supports. I roughly level the rod, then tweak the positiioning of the set up for alignment with the target, and finally confirm the level. It goes pretty fast.

Kuskokid,

Dunno when you got your Oehler 35, but when I got mine maybe 3 years ago it came with Ken's instructions on setting it up quickly. Instead of sitting behind the rifle, then getting up to tweak the alignment of the chronograph several times, he suggests leaving the (unloaded!) rifle on the bags with the scope aligned with the target. Then get in front of the chronograph and look back over it toward the rifle's muzzle, then tweak from that end until the muzzle is pointed 6-8" over the center of the screens. That saves a whole bunch of time, and works on smaller chronographs too.

It takes me at most 5 minutes to set up the 35, from the time I get out of the pickup at the range until the first shot goes over the screens.

I learnt some tricks about setting up an Oehler from watching D'Arcy. Not only is the looking back at the gun through the screens a great plan, it really helps to put some permanent marks in the ground where you want to put your stands. Nails with some flagging around the heads has worked for me.

The Oehler is no hassle, and it gives me more confidence than my small chronos

Wow! I am learning stuff left and right.

I bought mine off this website from a fellow in Texas, about three years ago, but the machine itself is maybe 10 years old.

I will definitely try these tricks tomorrow. HA!

Learn something(s) new every day.

utah708,

I have a small triangular stone half-embedded in the ground directly underneath where the pole of the front stand goes.