tossing the pact chronograph

bought one new years ago. It was a piece of crap right from the git go. I would get readings about every 3rd or 4th shot. I bought it to replace a piece of crap chrony and thought i was buying a good unit. Ive got two of there scales and a dispensor and they work great. Well it sat on the shelf for probably 5 years because it was about useless. I took it out the other day and couldnt get a single reading from it. I said enough. I bought a competition electronics from midway. Put a battery in it and took it out yesterday and it worked perfectly. Only down side is no remote reading. It has a deal that will pair with a bluetooth phone but this old cogger still has a flip phone.

PACT would probably repair/replace it!

never gave reliable readings new. Buddys freind had one just like i and his was the same. Half the time no reading and when you get them the can vary buy 400 fps. Now it wont work at all. I thought about trying a new set of skyscreens and if it didnt work then sending it to pack but for the price of shipping and the sky screens it was just as cheap to buy this one. Like i said you have to give up remote reading which i will miss and the ability to print readings but i never did that anyway.

Good to hear the CE unit is reliable. My old Chrony would vary the velocity readings by up to 100 FPS depending on how far above the sensors the bullet traveled. I ended up getting a Labradar.


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Originally Posted by smithnframe

PACT would probably repair/replace it!

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I doubt it Pact is one of those company with a lifetime warranty that’s not.I had a Pact chrono with issues. Contacted them about returning it under warranty. They said parts were no longer available for that model it was a PC squared.Offered me a newer model at a discount I looked at Midways price it was cheaper at Midway. No more Pact for me. I think it’s kinda foolish for a company to offer a lifetime warranty on electronics but if they do they should back it.

Does anything electrictronic seriously have a "lifetime" warranty? If they do, I wonder whose lifetime they refer to.

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Originally Posted by 1hole

Does anything electrictronic seriously have a "lifetime" warranty? If they do, I wonder whose lifetime they refer to.

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Boy, ain't that the truth!!

I don't know what model my Pact is but it's been utterly dependable and, appears to be accurate. As your friend had similar difficulties, was that model a lemon to begin with?

I don't have one and don't want one but if I remember correctly, the RCBS ChargeMaster is only warranteed for two years. I'm quite content to measure my few precision and/or maximum powder charges all by myself.

I have a Shooting Chrony I think the brand is, they are sold at Midway also, not too bad really, I used it with air guns and pistols and was satisfied with it's readings. I shot it with a LBT 250gr wadcutter and it even survived that after I found all the pieces and put them back together, it barely missed the circuit board and the "eye" that reads motion.

i have a caldwell chrony for about 3 or 4 years now and i like it. i use it only rarely, like going from h4198 lot # a to h4198 lot # b.


https://smile.amazon.com/Caldwell-Ba...%2C177&sr=8-14

First Chrony I had was a piece of work too. Shipped it back and they sent me a brand new one with an apology letter.

I’m just dying to drop $500 on one of the new dopplers but am just too cheap!

Art

Back in the late 90’s I looked over a Pact professional chronograph at the SHOT Show. It was a digital and programmable package that offered a lot of features my Oehler 35 did not have. I ordered one and for about five to six months it worked fine. Then the screen started to dim, the keys would stick and often not respond at all. It wasn’t long and I was unable to record or read anything. Called Pact and packaged the unit in the original box sent it to Texas as they requested. About six weeks later it came back but I was unable to notice any repairs in fact the unit came back in the same condition and without any repair paperwork.

A follow up call informed me that somebody errored and sent it back without authorization. When asked for a shipping label they balked ( another story ) so I send it back three day FedEx. Five weeks later and after half dozen non-returned calls I finally get some woman who tells me the unit cannot be repaired as the electronics board is no longer available. Okay what about your warranty ? I’m told they will get back on this. A week later the unit is back with a note saying the plastic keyboard membrane was cracked and therefore the board and keyboard probably got wet. So a defective membrane creates a probable moisture problem. One part fails resulting in another part failing and since parts are now discontinued the customer can pound sand. Trust me I not only shooter who has been stung by this outfit.

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Originally Posted by Tazman1602

First Chrony I had was a piece of work too. Shipped it back and they sent me a brand new one with an apology letter.

I’m just dying to drop $500 on one of the new dopplers but am just too cheap!

Art

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i had two that were junk

so far so good. I shot 33 rounds through it this morning and got good consistant readings EVERY time.

found out too it can be remote read. It has Bluetooth. Im not a computer wiz and thought that was just on a phone and i still use a flip phone. The people from them told me my laptop probably has it and helped me set it up. Now i can remote read on my small laptop

I have had a Caldwell Chronograph for 4 years. Never had a problem with it. I think you can hook it remotely, but I have a $25 flip go phone. Always gotten good readings on it.

As per my post on 5-02, I bought one of the Competition Electronics ProCrono's to replace the Shooting Chrony I killed with (1) pellet of #9 shot. So far, the PE has worked fine, "so far". All the best on your new purchase Lloyd.

25 more rounds today and it hasnt missed a beat. Kind of cool looking at the readings and strings on my laptop.

I have both of Oehler 33 and 35 , they work great untill you shoot the skyscreen:sad:

another advantage to this one is a set of screens cost about 10 bucks. I bought two extras

Howdy LLYOD
I have a pact that have had for over 50 years ,I have had little problems with it over the years , At first it would go off and on ,so I took it apart ,it had the springs in the connectors where loose so
I bent them and cured that Problem and then years later I was shooting my Black Powder rifles over it and it started to give crazy readings ,So I took it apart and could see anything that could do to make it work ,then I looked at the screen eyes they looked dirty so I took them apart and sure enough they were gruddy ,so I used some windex on them and have had a problem since.
Last fall I bought a Labradar , I'm still testing that machine ,it looks promising.

still loving this new one. Ive shot probably a good 200 rounds over it and it hasnt missed a beat.

My Pact worked well for years, then it quit, I sent it in for warranty repair/replacement and was offered a new unit at a discount. Nope I want a repair or replacement per warranty still waiting and that was 9 years ago I think. The Pact warranty is worthless in my experience!

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Originally Posted by Lloyd Smale

bought one new years ago. It was a piece of crap right from the git go. I would get readings about every 3rd or 4th shot. I bought it to replace a piece of crap chrony and thought i was buying a good unit. Ive got two of there scales and a dispensor and they work great. Well it sat on the shelf for probably 5 years because it was about useless. I took it out the other day and couldnt get a single reading from it. I said enough. I bought a competition electronics from midway. Put a battery in it and took it out yesterday and it worked perfectly. Only down side is no remote reading. It has a deal that will pair with a bluetooth phone but this old cogger still has a flip phone.

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Buy a cheap android tablet. I paid $99 for a Samsung 7" tablet at Sam's Club a year or two ago, put a 500GB microsd card in it, and have most of my metalworking and shooting/reloading/gunsmithing info on it, among other things. They have Bluetooth, so you should be able to link to the chronograph for remote displace.

Bill

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Originally Posted by BobT

My Pact worked well for years, then it quit, I sent it in for warranty repair/replacement and was offered a new unit at a discount. Nope I want a repair or replacement per warranty still waiting and that was 9 years ago I think. The Pact warranty is worthless in my experience!

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Sorry about your difficulties.

I have no idea why your problems have occured but I do know a bit about why most "lifetime" warranties aren't.

I have a 30 year old PactPRO that I've been well satisfied with. I especially like the built-in ballistic computer, the built-in printer and the user programmable data processing system. Many small operators (like PACT) design a great tool but can't build all of the parts in house, therefore they must contract with others to provide parts they can't make.

Thus, even with the best of intent, if critical subcontractors and suppliers go belly up the small maker will loose his source of components and has no power to keep his lifetime promise.