Which Chronograph?

Timney

Well-Known Member
Am considering buying a chronograph for testing my homeloads, but not sure which one to go for? Any thoughts most welcome - any good or bad reviews or experiences?. Thanks in advance.
Timney
 
There must be someone on this site that uses a chronograph for homeloading? , any advice would be appreciated. :confused: Should I avoid any particular models? It would be for reloading both .243win and .308win if any of that makes a difference?
Timney
 
ill just nip and have a look to see what one i got :D

ive got the sporting chrony , i think it can from the sportsman centre .


cheers lee
 
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Hi Timney
We use a PROCHRONY can't fault it very simple to use and very reliable, Gives reading for highest, lowest and average speeds
All the results we have got from this chrony have worked spot on with ballistic programs
 
That's good enough for me, thank you all for the responses. I was already kind've aiming (excuse the pun) for the Chrony range but you've all made my mind up.......hmmmm, now which model??:D
Thanks guys.
Timney
 
I had one of those which I bought from Optics Warehouse in Devon. It was fine, but most of my faffing-about shooting is done on a proper range; I therefore replaced it with a Chrony of the kind that has the display and buttons on a 15' cable, which means I can read the display without using binos and reset it without using a fishing-rod.
 
Those of you looking for an accurate chronograph would be well advised to steer clear of the cheaper models under £100. You do get what you pay for here.

Our Club was looking for a chronograph to keep at the range so the duty RCO could check on 'hot-loads'. Although it's a private club it's still governed by MOD velocity limits, so I ran a few checks on a couple of contenders.

I used an Oehler 33 as a control (1st chrono) and set up a CED Millenium (2nd chrono)behind it for an in-line test. I used a Sako .22RF, a .222, a .223, and a 7mm RM and fired a series of commercial ammunition and handloads over the pair of chronos.

The first problem was that the CED failed to read every round that the leading Oehler did. This was in January in a low slanting sun. Most chrono's fail under these conditions but the Oehler didn't.
The second problem was that when the CED did register it gave readings higher than the first chrono.That of course can't be right as the bullet is slowing downrange all the time.
What was reassuring was that the CED over-readings were consistent.

I then did another in-line test on a summers day with the CED (1st chrono) and a Chrony (2nd chrono) at the same distances. This was with a much faster load series. No failures to read this time, but again the Chrony (2nd chrono) read higher than the CED which itself was optimistic on the first test.
What was not reassuring this time was that the differences weren't consistent.

When doing the number crunching later, I used the Applet on the Norma.CC website to work out what the readings should have been.

Assuming the Oehler readings were right, then the CED over read the Oehler by 20 - 35 FPS consistently at typical speeds of 2800-2900 FPS.

The Chrony over read the CED by 25 - 50 FPS at higher speeds of 3300 FPS upwards, and the Oehler by an estimated 50 - 80 FPS.

Perhaps it's down to the internal arithmetic, but the Chrony didn't accurately mirror the true scale of the shot-to-shot variations which occurred. This had the effect of smoothing these out, and might leave the user with the impression that a particular load is more consistent than it really is.

In percent terms, the differences found in absolute readings are small. All the same if you're looking for say 3000 FPS from a particular recipe then you may not be getting it after all.

Anyway, after all my work the Club went ahead to buy the cheapest model of Chrony possible ..... bunch of cheapskates. At least if the machine readings on this are quoted with a wagging finger then my efforts have given everybody a bit of wiggle room.
 
The second problem was that when the CED did register it gave readings higher than the first chrono.That of course can't be right as the bullet is slowing downrange all the time.
What was reassuring was that the CED over-readings were consistent.

I then did another in-line test on a summers day with the CED (1st chrono) and a Chrony (2nd chrono) at the same distances. This was with a much faster load series. No failures to read this time, but again the Chrony (2nd chrono) read higher than the CED which itself was optimistic on the first test.

It was interesting that both the chronos that were furthest away read faster speeds in your tests.

But it has got me thinking - At what point does a bullet actually stop accelerating and then begins to slow? I presume it is at the precise point the rear end of the bullet leaves the end of the barrel or when all the propellent has burned? or which ever of the two events happens earliest.
 
Assuming the Oehler readings were right, then the CED over read the Oehler by 20 - 35 FPS consistently at typical speeds of 2800-2900 FPS.
Wow plenty of scientific insight there. You calibrated one of the chronographs then? Or just went with the expensive one?
Regarding the CED , personally, never had a problem with it.
 
I bought a Chrony in the US around 12 years ago. Still works fine & always accurate enough for my purposes.
It's much cheaper if you get one from USA..& if it's a used one, there's no duty or VAT to pay on it when it comes in.
 
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