I thought I knew a little about chronographs, but this thread here on Cast Boolits convinced me to make a chrono my next significant purchase. I understand a little about some of the features one can get, and I don't care too much about that. Convenient features are nice, but if all I had was something that simply indicated the speed of each bullet passing over the sensors, I'd be ok with that even if I had to write each one down on a pad.
So what's the problem? I'm leery of getting a chrono that just doesn't work right. Despite how simple the principle of operation of a chrony is, they don't always seem to be dependable. A guy I know at work got a Shooter's Gamma (I think? I know that "gamma" was in the name of the chronograph, it was a green metal box with screens and a 20' cord linking the chrony with the readout/controls) a year ago. He never was able to get around to using it, so he loaned it to me and I ended up potting around with it over and over for six months until I gave up.
This chrony worked ok with BB guns, airsoft (he tested it), and .22LR (I tested it). With 22's it read out about 1200 fps out of a Ruger 10/22, which is almost exactly what the box said the bullets should be going. No problem, everything's fine, works just like the instruction book said it should.
Well, everything wasn't fine. Throw anything heavier than a 22 over it and weird things would happen. Lots of error messages, like one eye saw the bullet but not the other, vice versa, or "other general error" or "bad light conditions" when it's perfect weather out, with and without the light screens. People with chrony experience would stop by occasionally and try to help me, and we went through every fix we could think of to no avail. Screens on, screens off. Fixing fabric and cardboard shields at various places around the screens to get rid of shadows. Very securely fastening the chrony to tables and tripods. Nothing made it work consistently. The only improvement we got was that instead of reading Error 1 or error 2, it started reporting fps numbers but these were numbers that were just not believable. Like my 45ACP with 230LRNs running at 1400 fps, it said. Uh uh. Try the 22s again and it reads 1200 fps just like it should. Next string it'll say my 45's are going 2000 fps. Crazy. It obviously didn't like muzzle blast or loud noises. (A guy in the lane next to me shooting an AR would make it go bananas too). Tried to make this thing work on 3-4 range visits spaced over 6 months and a variety of weather conditions. Got butkus.
So, sorry for the long winded story, but I really don't want to buy a lemon chrony. No guarantees I know, but surely someone makes a basic chrony for $200 or less which, even if it doesn't have bells and whistles, will let me see how many fps my pistol and rifle boolits are going? I just want something dependable and believable. The guys I talked to who have chrony's all say theirs worked straight out of the box and that there must have been something wrong with the one my friend from work had.
Got any chronys in mind that you'd recommend to me? features are nice and I'll consider paying for them, but something reliable and believable is my main concern. Call it "robustness", that's what I want in a chrony. Any advice?