Chronograph recommendations?

[KS1911]

After reading the "chronograph help" thread, I'm wondering what everyone's chronograph picks would be. Which brand/model would you buy and why? What features are a "must have" for you and which ones could you live without?

Any experience with a company's customer service?, lets hear it.

Had one, and would rather "accidentally" shoot it so you could buy something else?

I've been looking at the CED Millennium, the Pact line, Shooting Chrony line, and at the top end of my list money wise, the Oehler 35p. All input welcome.

[versifier]

Oehler is the standard by which the others are judged. If I could afford it, I'd have myself a PBL with a case of strain gauges as fast as I could pull out the plastic. A friend has one of their more modest units that has been twice wounded and repaired. He loves it. I would, too.
That said, I use a 20 yr old Chrony with the cardboard skyscreens. I have yet to hit it, though if I did, I wouldn't feel too bad about it as by now I figure it doesn't owe me anything. I don't know how accurate it is, but it does seem to read consistantly.
An important feature would be screens that were far enough away from the electronics to keep it safely out of the line of fire and up on the bench next to me so I didn't have to get up and walk over to read the damned thing after every shot.

[Ken O]

I use the Crony a lot, if I buy another I will buy the one with the infrared skyscreens (CED?). It would be possible to use when you have the time available, not just when conditions are right. So a heavy overcast day, or after work when its dusk, you could get your workups done.

[David R]

I had one of the original F1 crony's. I liked it and used it quite a bit. It had 3 nice 223 holes in the top of the back and kept on ticking. I always thought it read a mite fast with all loads. I did shoot the display once. I sent it back and for a small fee they fixed it.

Last year it died. :( Crony gave me a $40.00 trade in value on a newer model. I bought the "Beta Master". It has the seperate display so if you shoot the crony, its only Thiry Bucks to replace that half.

My old one only gave reading for a single shot. This one tracks 6 strings of 10 shots and gives all the good numbers from the strings. I do like it. A printer would have been nice, but it was out of my budget.

This one seems more accurate and consistant. The new sky screens are far better than the old ones.

Rule #1 of owning a crony: Don't let anybody else borrow it. I try to use it at the range when no one else is there. If some one wants to know how fast their boolits are going, I shoot it for them. One dead crony is enough.

Good luck.
David

[KS1911]

I use the Crony a lot, if I buy another I will buy the one with the infrared skyscreens (CED?). It would be possible to use when you have the time available, not just when conditions are right. So a heavy overcast day, or after work when its dusk, you could get your workups done.


So I'm guessing that in order for a chronograph to pick up the bullet the sun must be casting a well defined shadow? Or it doesn't have to be THAT bright and actually seeing your shadow isn't necessary but not a dark rain like drizzly crappy sort of day ain't enough?

[StarMetal]

My chrono instructions say a cloudy day is best. Think, why would the sensors have sunsreens over them?

Joe

[felix]

Contrast should be low so a wild shadow won't trigger the counter logic. Infrared would be a better trigger than visable light for bullets/boolits. At any rate, a chrono should provide a graduation for sensitivity no matter what the measuring energy source is. ... felix

[fourarmed]

I started with a PACT PC. It worked much better on overcast days than clear. Eventually it stopped seeing bullets at all. I called the company, and they said "Send it back with a five dollar bill." I did, and very soon I got back a Model 1 with new skyscreens. It has worked fine ever since - cloudy or sunny - though I notice lately that I have to switch it off and back on a couple of times when I first set it up.

[onefunzr2]

I bought the Oehler 43PBL when they first came out, '97\'98? The acoustic target saves all the shots on my PC. And I never have to walk downrange to score a paper target. That will really come in handy once I get old and feeble.

I don't think there is any other unit made that I would\could trade up to. What's better or can give me more info about my handloads?

It did start acting funny last spring. I checked it against my model 35 just to verify. I sent it back to Austin, TX, they fixed whatever went wrong and I got it back the same week. No charge except the UPS freight to send it.

The included Ballistic Explorer program wouldn't work when I upgraded to a new laptop with windows XP. Gave Oehler a call and they sent me a new installation CD at no charge. I would definately rate the customer service of Oehler every bit as good as Dillon Precision.

[robertbank]

I have a F1 Chrony and love it. Wish I had the model with the extended reader to save time. That said mine works great. Now, I don't know about cloudy days but I do know that when you have snow on the ground and an overcast day my chrono whon't read anything. The chron needs a shadow to work with and in the above conditions it clearly is a no go.

Merry Christmas

Bob

[454PB]

I presently own two chronographs, a Competition Electronics and a Chrony. I have owned several Oehlers in the past, and they were good machines. I was dubious about buying the Chrony since it was so cheap, but it's the one I use the most. It folds up compactly and fits in a duffel bag along with my tripod. It has the readout and cord packed inside the case, and the cord is long enough to place it out there where muzzle blast doesn't affect readings. At my range, no one is allowed forward of the benches without a cease fire. My other chronograph is one unit with readout built in, and requires resetting at the unit. That means walking forward of the benches.

Having used skysreens since they first came out, I can tell you they have come a long way. My first Oehler gave many false readings if lighting wasn't perfect, I think I've had one or two false readings in hundreds of shots over the Chrony or C.E. I always use the diffusers, they take 60 seconds to install and save a lot of frustration.

I recently received a sale flyer from Natchez Shooting Supply, and they say that Oehler is going strictly commercial. I don't know what that really means, but they are saying buy now, they won't be available to the general public.

[David R]

The "Eyes" of the cronograph see the shadow of the boolit. If its a sunny day, the J boolit can reflect the sun onto the "Eye" and the it will not be seen at all. SO you need the sky screens on a sunny day. These diffuse the light so the shadow is better and easier to see.

On a cloudy day its best because the clouds are the sky screens. Lots of light going in all directions. The shadow from the boolit is easy to pick up.

Hope this helps.

David

[drinks]

My problems with missed readings on bright days was taken care of by using a black magic marker of the bullet noses.

[mike in co]

ohler(ale er)
spent and cry just once.
own the best
get the printer and do your writting at home not at the range.....
pact is crap.........spent more time at the factory than the range......
the ced looks good,,,,,,

[454PB]

I can't argue with your pronunciation, but you spelled it wrong

http://www.oehler-research.com/

[Ken O]

So I'm guessing that in order for a chronograph to pick up the bullet the sun must be casting a well defined shadow? Or it doesn't have to be THAT bright and actually seeing your shadow isn't necessary but not a dark rain like drizzly crappy sort of day ain't enough?

A dark drizzly day would not work, at least for the two Chronys I had. A bright overcast day seems to have the least errs, a bright sunny day is good also, the sunscreens disfuse the light.
I had the basic Chrony, put a hole in it and upgraded to a beta like a poster above did. I built a protector out of an angle iron and channel iron, here is a pic:

http://my.core.com/~kenelz/crony.JPG

[The Nyack Kid]

what i have is the Competition Electronics prochrono .
It was the lease expensive chronograph i could find . between my dad and i we have sent at least 2000 rounds over through it . the only problem we had, was we had it to close to the bench and we were always breaking the skyscreens (muzzel blast). it took us a while but we fixed that problem .

[Lee]

Ken O , that is what I plan to do with mine. I had the angle iron idea, hadn't thought of the channel. Thats the kind of set up to use when your eyes and hands get the wiggles. I lucked out when I shot mine, the boolit hit the metal sunscreen arm and set it flying. .480 Ruger, it's probably still going... :grin: ...................Lee ;)

[Dorf]

Ken O. -- Nice job on the "splinter shield", but it looks a bit heavy to mount on the flimsy tripod that I use. I have a Pact that has served me very well. I especially like the printing function and the ballistic program. What little problem(s) I've had (it won't stop a 7mm-08 slug!!) were quickly resolved by the factory and "coin of the realm". Having used it for a couple of years now, I wonder how I got along with out it. It sure takes the guess work out of what YOUR handloads are doing. Stan

[KS1911]

Thanks for all the replies and input. I really appreciate it.

After reading the posts here, several reviews on the net and the many mentions of this chronograph in countless gun articles I decided on the Oehler 35P. Yeah its alittle pricey but the 3rd skyscreen, printer and the Oehler reputation for accuracy pushed it over the edge. Then something happened, I read a post on here saying that Oehler was going "strictly commercial" and "won't be available to the general public" huh? ***? So I checked Natchez and Midway, yup that's the way it appears. Having seen this internet kind of thing before, I decided to call Oehler myself to find out the "real skinny", they confirmed it. They said they are dropping the 35 and 35P Jan 1st but will continue to support the models out there. Said they were still going to have the model 43 but that they are going to concentrate on their industrial/government stuff. So in my opinion, they just turned their back on the average shooters. Fine, strike Oehler off the list.

With Oehler gone the choices were simpler, Shooting Chrony or the CED.

Well my choice was:
I ordered a CED Millennium from Dillon, but without the IR skyscreens/battery pack setup. Figured I would give it a try without, then buy them later if needed.

The reasons I picked the CED over the Shooting Chrony Beta Master was cost vs. features, mainly memory capacity (225 shots CED / 60 shots Chrony) and the ability to upgrade to the IR screens if needed. For $50 cost difference I thought it was worth it.

The Gamma Master has a printer and a 500 shot memory which is about $20 more than the CED but has no option for IR screens and I didn't really see a need for 500 shots.

Hope this helps someone else that may be looking to buy a chronograph.

KS

[454PB]

There are some who will own nothing but the "best" in everything from reloading equipment to firearms. Good for them. I own a Freedom Arms revolver, feed with ammo loaded on Lee reloading equipment and boolits cast in Lee moulds. They play together very well.

I have nothing against Oehler, but having owned and used them, and other cheaper chronographs, I came to the conclusion that accuracy of velocity measurement was the same for all of them. Some have fewer errors, are easier to set up, and have a customer service department that gets you back in service if and when something malfunctions or get's shot. The Chronys are almost "throw aways", even though I've never had any trouble with mine or damaged it with an errant shot. It also agress very closely with my 10 to 20 year old records shot over an Oehler. What more do I want?

I agree, I don't want a piece of electronics sold by a company that no longer supports the individual shooter.

[Ken O]

Just adding a couple things here, the deflector I made in the pic above is heavy, I made a plate out of aluminum and welded an aluminum tube on it the fits over the shaft that comes up from the tripod, the whole unit sits on the plate and is adustable.
Some have posted how they have hit the skyscreen rods, been there, done that... just go to Home depot and pick up some 3/16 wooden dowl and make as many as you want. Check the size, I think thats what I bought, its real cheap.