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Since apparently many have missed the many threads about chronographs on this forum, which have included my mini-essays on using a bunch, here they are again:
Have owned at least one chronograph since 1979. My first was in the early days of light-screens, so included both light-screens and "break screens," made of metal foil. They recorded the same velocities, with a 2-foot spacing, with a specific .22 Long Rifle factory load, and I used that chronograph (which is no longer made) for a dozen years. The velocities it provided also matched "reality" during numerous trajectory tests at 300+ yards.
I bought it due to just getting into gun writing, after years of writing about hunting, fishing, Western U.S. history, wildlife biology, and other stuff. Even back then it was obvious a chronograph was going to be necessary for any serious gun-writing.
That chronograph finally died in the early 1990s, and the company was out of business. But I still had the owner's contact info, and called him. He said he could repair it, but in the meantime more affordable chronographs had appeared. One was the Shooting Chrony, and believe it or not L.L. Bean sold them for $50. I bought one, checked it against the same .22 LR load, and found the velocities matched.
That was the first of three Shooting Chronys I owned, and all of them eventually proved unreliable, either due to aging or light conditions. I never could quite get them past varying light conditions, no matter what trick I tried. During that period (which lasted around a dozen years) I not only had my 3 Chronys result in some very strange readings, but also saw others at the local public range go bat-schidt.
About that time Ken Oehler started making the 35P again, so I got one. Didn't find it nearly as hard to set up as some people do, partly due to his excellent instructions which came with the chronograph.
After that I used the 35P as a test for newer chronographs, setting them up together to see what happened. Have since tested three ProChronos against it, the first one during a long afternoon where the sun went from high overhead to close to the horizon, with rifles in calibers from .17 to .30. It provided an average velocity very close to the 35P. Have since owned two more ProChronos, and they also tested very well. (The reason I don't own 3 now is I gave two away to young, semi-broke rifle loonies, including one who has three kids. Also gave one of his kids her first deer rifle.)
As somebody mentioned earlier, ProChronos don't provide the detailed info of the Oehler, but for the average handloader they provide a valid average velocity. One of my younger friends, a former Montana hunting guide and U.S. Army sniper who served more than one tour in the Middle East, has been using an early ProChrono for many years, and it still works fine--and he shoots a LOT.
Magnetospeeds also work fine. I've use two quite a bit (after testing them against the Oehler), but prefer to use them on a separate mount so I can test accuracy/POI and velocity at the same time. This is because I do this for a living, and my average range session involves 3-5 rifles. For somebody who doesn't shoot as much they work fine when mounted on the barrel, as designed.
Tried a Labradar, and loved it for the half-dozen sessions. It not only provided the same velocities as the Oehler, given the difference between sitting next to the muzzle and the Oehler 10-15 feet in front, but set up quicker.
Then one day it wouldn't "read" the velocity of 6mm 135-grain Hornady A-Tips. The Labradar company states they won't read bullets below .22 caliber, or velocities over 3900 fps--but the very small base of the A-Tip wouldn't provide a reading. Luckily, I had my ProChrono along, which worked fine. (I was also up against a deadline for a magazine article, and the "cheap" ProChrono saved considerable time.) If you don't shoot smaller bullets, or bullets at velocities over 3900 fps, The Labradar works great. But if and until the Labradar folks solve those diameter/velocity problems, it doesn't work for my purposes.
Will also comment that no, we don't "need" a chronograph to handload. But since buying my first one have learned that they save a lot of time and ammo, partly by reducing the "need" to add more powder until "pressure signs" appear, and partly by providing accurate velocity info that helps considerably in predicting downrange trajectory.
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