Chronograph set up

5 yards is plenty for a .38. Most important thing is to keep the sensors out of direct sunlight. Most like to be in the shade

Set it up wereU won’t shoot it

My Pro Chrony say 5 yards for shotgun and handgun and that I will get better readings on an overcast day or with the sensors out of direct sunlight as MakBaba pointed out

5-7 yards is usually a good distance for most chrono's, but please remember the old saying: " There are those who have shot their chrono and those that will shoot their chrono"
Be careful, be safe and enjoy!

Before going to the range, open it up and get one of the aluminum rods out. Take it to Lowes or Home Depot and get wooden dowels the same diameter. Leave the aluminum ones at home, take the wooden ones to the range.

Your welcome.

71GTO said:

please remember the old saying: " There are those who have shot their chrono and those that will shoot their chrono"

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I say that often enough that I have it as a sticky to myself.

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Chronograph Users

Back in the early 1980s OA “Bum” Phillips, head coach of the Houston Oilers, said:

"There ain’t but 2 kinds a coaches,

Them that’s been fired & them that’s gonna be fired."


My observation of chronograph users is somewhat similar:

There ain't but 2 kinds of chronograph users...
“Them that's shot theirs, & them that's gonna shoot theirs”.

I'll admit, I'm in the first category.
Scoped rifles are the bane of a chronograph's existence.
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If it’s battery powered, plan on a new battery - hope you didn’t store it with one. My shoot through used a 9 volt (CED). Good luck.

Easiest way to use them is on an overcast day, clouds perform the job of the screens, so you don’t need them. Easiest conditions to use, zero concern to Sun position.

Like this.



How far away you need to be is dependent on how much stuff exits the muzzle that would pass over the sensors if too close.

With something like a pneumatic gun that can be inches from it.



Even rifles that would normally require more distance, can be used if things exiting other than the bullet can be diverted from going over the sensors.



I don’t generally try and shoot further from it than necessary.

#1, most important, shoot over it. Goal is middle of screen area as far as height above it. Actually shoot at a target at the range you intend to set your chronograph at, so you know where the bullet is going to be going (POA vs POI) before you start to chronograph. How long that takes depends on you but will certainly be quicker than starting a “I shot my chronograph” thread.

I shoot it at 10' to 12' away from the muzzle, I measured out some para cord with a hook so I just stretch it out from the bench and always the same distance, I also hang a 6"round target directly behind and at the correct center of where the bullet must go so as to activate the chrono and yet is safely within the zone!

71GTO said:

5-7 yards is usually a good distance for most chrono's, but please remember the old saying: " There are those who have shot their chrono and those that will shoot their chrono"
Be careful, be safe and enjoy!

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My Son shot one of my Chronys today ... a minute after I warned him, "don't shoot my Shooting Chrony."

Argghhhh

Oh well. It was a good day still. Together we put about 600 rounds down range, 300 pistol, 300 5.56, ... spent 7 hours on the back 40 eating sandwiches and drinking water and having a blast (pardon the pun). Tested some loads I had worked-up, broke-in his new AR (graduation money investment), dinged a lot of steel with our CCW pistols (my old butt smoked him but I'm not sure how many more years I'll be able to school him on the range). It was a darn good day although I'll a little sore. We did some intensive drilling.

He just graduated from college and is home for awhile before starting his first big job ... he was disappointed in himself that he shot my Chrony. I told him that he can buy me a new one when he is rich.

So depending upon the platform, typically I do a couple of feet away from the muzzle for pistols and four or five feet away for high powered rifles.

The real key is for the projectile to pass somewhere between 2-6 inches above the sensors, preferably with diffusers, and far enough away that the muzzle blast does not affect your readings.

I set up my chrono about 9 feet, basically 3 paces from my gun. What I normally do is set up my target, chrono and rest. Then using my rest an gun, I would just line up the sights with the target and making sure the aim point is between the rods and the blue tape (see red circles) I have on the rods. It takes a few times to adjust the tripod until everything lines up.

If I use a new red dot or scope on my hun, then normally I would put a dot on the target, shoot one round without the chrono to make sure it is close to zero, then line up the chrono.

If you trust where you are aiming, then setting up the chrono is not that difficult.

Well it happened today. Even with this thread fresh in my mind, it still happened. 5.56 69 gr. RMR read 1707 fps. ?? Looked at the chrono and the bottom plastic was hanging loose. Popped it back in place and continued my string with no problems. Whew! I dare any of you to get lower than this. ‍

gotta call that a mulligan!!!

If you’re shooting level across the sensors, you should have had a nice groove from front ALL the way to the back.

Just nitpicking, you might want to swap out those metal support rods for some wooden ones.

vaalpens said:

I set up my chrono about 9 feet, basically 3 paces from my gun. What I normally do is set up my target, chrono and rest. Then using my rest an gun, I would just line up the sights with the target and making sure the aim point is between the rods and the blue tape (see red circles) I have on the rods. It takes a few times to adjust the tripod until everything lines up.

If I use a new red dot or scope on my hun, then normally I would put a dot on the target, shoot one round without the chrono to make sure it is close to zero, then line up the chrono.

If you trust where you are aiming, then setting up the chrono is not that difficult.

View attachment 1005552

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What are those strange looking white blotches in the background? Sand piles? And where are the overgrowths of vines and moss?

MakBaba said:

Well it happened today. Even with this thread fresh in my mind, it still happened. 5.56 69 gr. RMR read 1707 fps. ?? Looked at the chrono and the bottom plastic was hanging loose. Popped it back in place and continued my string with no problems. Whew! I dare any of you to get lower than this. ‍View attachment 1005649

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Nicely parted on the right.

It's been thunder-storming and rainy every time I have time to get out and shoot. The weather's been more like May than June and June's almost over.

White blotches are steel targets at 100 yards. Rest is pure Kentucky

What is the point of swapping out the metal rods for wooden ones? Damage to the unit from the rods getting hit?

GeoDudeFlorida said:

What are those strange looking white blotches in the background? Sand piles? And where are the overgrowths of vines and moss?

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The above picture maybe a bit overexposed, but maybe this picture will explain what you were seeing. This picture was taken on the same day, about the same, with the same backstop to the left. This is eastern Washington state in early March.

WrongHanded said:

What is the point of swapping out the metal rods for wooden ones? Damage to the unit from the rods getting hit?

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Metal rods can transmit a lot more energy to the case if they are hit. I used to buy 1/8” dowels and use them instead.

That was Bum Phillips who said that, wasn't it?

71GTO said:

" There are those who have shot their chrono and those that will shoot their chrono"

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PS: I've shot mine, and it's a Magnetospeed! No joke.