Well, as of today I'm officially a member of the club

[Jailer]

The club of guys that have shot their cronos that is. I always wondered how in the heck do guys do that? Well now I know.

No worries as I absolutely hated this shooting crony anyway and I'm not going to fix it.

Now the big question is what do I replace it with?

[geargnasher]

Oehler, and a boolit deflector. Welcome to the Chrony Frustration club, I'm surprised you didn't shoot it on purpose. I sent mine back three times before it worked right, I think the last time they finally actually shot over it with a real gun so make sure it worked. It's ok now, but I have eternal issues keeping the skyscreens from flying apart from muzzle blast, even at 15 feet.

Gear

[Jailer]

Trust me Gear, there were many times when I was tempted to shoot the thing. What a pile of dung this thing was.

I think it might just be time to step up to an oehler. With so many non factory and unique bullet combinations I've been playing with since I started casting and reloading a decent crono is a need and no longer an "nice to have" item. I was considering a PACT but I read just as many bad reports about those, and others, as I do of the shooting crony's. Very rarely so you hear someone speak bad of an Oehler.

[danski26]

I love my Oehler 35. I wouldn't consider having any other chrono.

[runfiverun]

i use a competitive edge dynamics chrono.
iv'e had it for 16-17 years now,
www.CEDhk.com
[852] 2866-6802 fax [852] 2866-6505 it's in hong kong.
thier usa fax is [610]366-9680
love it, the read out is right there at your elbow,it plugs into the computer.
the scyscreens are all that's out there.
i believe i purchased it through Dillon.

[gray wolf]

I think they should come from the factory
with a 1" bulls eye right over the internals

[Tom Myers]

Golly, I didn't realize that Chronys were that troublesome.

I have had mine for nearly 12 years now, It always works. Sunshine, cloudy, clear, raining, snowing, 95 degrees in the shade, below freezing. It has never failed to work. It is easy to set up, Just take it off the top of the gun cabinet, where it sits with the diffusers already deployed, screw it to the tripod and set the tripod legs into the divots in front of the shooting bench, plug the remote and 25 foot telephone cable into the box, turn on the switch and start shooting and reading the velocity. The only time I ever cuss it is when I forget to use a fresh battery. If I remember to turn it off when I'm not shooting, the battery lasts a long time.

I don't even remember when I got the chrony that I had before this one but it was a victim of my young grandson and a screwdriver. He twisted the elevation dial on my scoped Browning 280 Rem and I drilled it dead center. I sent it in to the factory along with $40 and within 14 days I received the one I am now using. The old one worked just as good as the replacement ('till it got shot and kilt).

[Jailer]

My Crony and a friend of mines absolutely refuse to read 45 ACP. No matter the distance, sunlight, shade sky screens or no, it won't read em. I'm almost glad this one is dead except for the fact that I really didn't want to spend money on a new one.

[Jailer]

i use a competitive edge dynamics chrono.
iv'e had it for 16-17 years now,
www.CEDhk.com
[852] 2866-6802 fax [852] 2866-6505 it's in hong kong.
thier usa fax is [610]366-9680
love it, the read out is right there at your elbow,it plugs into the computer.
the scyscreens are all that's out there.
i believe i purchased it through Dillon.

The CED is another one that I have looked at. They do seem to be nice but again just about as many bad reports as good. Sometimes I just wonder if it boils down to user error and the fact that people just don't understand how these things (cronos) work.

I'm going to do some more research but I'm sure I'll have a hard time straying from purchasing an Oehler. Cost is about the only thing holding me back at this point but as they say you get what you pay for.

[fatnhappy]

I love my Oehler 35. I wouldn't consider having any other chrono.

Ditto. I got mine at a garage sale of all places

[220swiftfn]

So the real question is..... are you going to mount it for the den wall???



Dan

[Jailer]

So the real question is..... are you going to mount it for the den wall???



Dan

Absolutely. It goes on the wall over the reloading bench. Nothing like a constant reminder staring you in the face to keep your mind right.

[geargnasher]

My Crony and a friend of mines absolutely refuse to read 45 ACP. No matter the distance, sunlight, shade sky screens or no, it won't read em. I'm almost glad this one is dead except for the fact that I really didn't want to spend money on a new one.

Bingo! Exactly the issue I was having. I happened to be in the thick of load development for three different .45 Colt revolvers, two .45 ACPs with a new custom boolit design, and some high-end .40 S&W loads with slow powders. I decided it was high time to get a chronograph so I could see what I was doing, so, being a cheapskate, I bought the cheapest unit I could. The Chrony would read rifle velocities sort of, and would read my hand swiping across it at 40 fps, but wouldn't read 800-1100 fps to save it's little electronic life. I talked to the very helpful tech guy and sent it back. He said they were having some issues witha bad run of "eyes" and replaced the electronics. When I got it back, it was doing the same thing, and the case didn't have the small scribe mark that I put on it before sending it in, so I suspect they just sent me a completely new unit with the same problem components. I sent that one back, and the "boss" tried it out and verified the issue. They sent me another complete unit and it works like a charm in all kinds of light, even oblique light angles like shooting south in the middle of winter. Really, I'm happy with it for the money, it now meets my expectations and works like I need it to when I need it to, but if I were to do it over I'd probably save up more scratch and get an Oehler. I've used several Oehlers and they are very, very nice units. Of course you pay a lot more.

I look at Chrony brand like Lee Precision equipment, it's cheap and works (most of the time), but might require a little tinkering and customizing to get it to work like you like.

Gear

[firefly1957]

My old Chrony works pretty good but has given me trouble with timing the 45 acp Corebon 165 gr +p load but only out of my 1911 5" barrel? any other problems I have had was from excessive muzzle flash or non-alkaline battery.

I have shot it twice but not destroyed it a cloth patch from a 40 muzzle loader cracked the screen and my 5mm Sheridan creased the sky screen.

[btroj]

I have knicked a wire for the screen and my daughter nailed a wire dead on. I knicked a wire with my very first shot over it from a K-hornet Contender.

Mine has been pretty trouble free. I find it is a bit picky at times about sun angle but I have found ways to get around that. I have had few enou troubles that I would buy another.

I will say that I am cautious about letting others shoot over mine. One shot and it is dead.

[PbHurler]

I love my Oehler 35. I wouldn't consider having any other chrono.

Absolutely! If you can swing it, I'd recommend the Oehler 35P without reservation.
(Huge skyscreen area too)

[RugerFan]

I haven't shot my chronograph, but I did blow the screens off it once. The first two (new) Chronys I owned were quirky and didn't work very well. Then a friend gave me a Beta model that belonged to his brother who had passed away. That one works like a charm.

[Jailer]

any other problems I have had was from excessive muzzle flash or non-alkaline battery.


Now why would the battery type make any difference? I do have a standard rayovac battery in mine and not an alkaline. Course it's dead now so I guess it doesn't matter.

[geargnasher]

Maybe the alkaline batteries deliver a bit higher voltage, or maintain voltage under surge loads better? I don't know, I buy alkalines in the biggest bulk packs I can because they keep for years and cost about the same as the carbon batteries in small packs.

Gear

[firefly1957]

I do not know why but I was ready to send it in for repair when I contacted them and they said is it a alkaline battery. The trouble was I was getting false starts every few seconds a guess is that the battery was not putting out level voltage?

[GaryN]

I bought a Oehler 33 in 1983 and it has been great. I am on my third set of skyscreens though. They shouldn't call them skyscreens, they should call them boolit magnets. The only thing I ever had a hard time reading was arrows. And that was mainly because of the small window I have to shoot over. You also need some kind of shield for shotgun wads and sabots if you use them.