Caldwell Ballistic Precision Chronograph

Mr_Flintstone said:

Well, I ordered the Caldwell chronograph today. Here’s hoping that I have a good experience with it. For the price, it was hard to pass up. If the phone hookup works, that will be a plus, but it’s not like I’m going to be doing strings of 50 or 100 shots. I mainly just want one to give me a good measure of 5-10 rounds; enough to tell me what my loads are doing in my guns.

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one thing! you will need one of these adapters. it should have came with your iphone

I think you will enjoy it, chronos can be fun, and a good tool.
It looks like the Caldwell can be connected to a phone/device with a cable. It''s nice to be able to pull the data and save it for later.
My CE chrono spits the data out as a .csv that can be pulled into spreadsheets.
I keep thinking about putting all of it together in a database, but just haven't got around to it.
Nice to be able to go back and look at previous chrono data.

From what I understand there are two kinds of chrono users, those who have shot theirs, and those who will sometime in the future.

BTW, take a couple spare chrono batteries to the range with you, mine gets flakey when the battery is weak.
When I am at the range the nearest battery to buy is at least 1/2 an hour away....
(and the closest ones at a gas station are way over priced)
Pain to have it go bad on you......

I listed a NIB CE DLX w/bluetooth, padded case and blast shield on my local GOC site for $125.00 and not a sniff. Since uncle donald bought me a Labradar, the chrno will just sit in the safe unused.

Bill

Mine works great on all pistol rds, 22lr and slower rifle rds like 30-30. But I have had trouble getting 22-250 and 300wm to register. For these I had to get a little further away than the manual said, and the light has to be bright, but not direct. A bright but overcast day is best.

I wasn't able to get the phone cord to work but I'm using an old phone (Galaxy S4) so that's probably the reason. Not a problem for me as the display is big enough for me to see at the 12 ft distance the chrono is set up at, and I don't mind writing the numbers down.

I did modify the sunscreens as it doesn't like bright direct sun on the sensors.

I'm happy with it, I get the info I want from it without a major expenditure.

Mine likes the sun. I took the screens off and put it in the sun and it works as well or better.

I have Caldwell one. I like it very much. I don't use the phone connection feature. When im shooting phone is off. No disturbances that way.

Mr_Flintstone said:

I ordered the Caldwell chronograph today.

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I enjoy mine, and that it came with everything in a nice case. It works very well. I haven’t used it yet with my IPhone, but it worked marvelous on my android device.


And, I too, can vouch for their durability.
Mine took a Varmint bullet from my AR, after it exploded through a bag rest ear.
Evidently, I only winged it. I picked it back up and finished the string.

It rattles now.

BOISE BADWOLF said:

My Caldwell works great, only thing is I cant get the app to work on my droid. That kinda blows but other then that it works well.

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I’ve had the same problem with newer droid phones as well. I bought a new $14 battery for my old LG G3 phone which still functions perfectly with Caldwell. Kind of funny using a phone I “retired” 4 years ago.

On some phones you need to go and manually give it microphone permission so the cord will be operable.

Ru4real said:

I’ve had the same problem with newer droid phones as well. I bought a new $14 battery for my old LG G3 phone which still functions perfectly with Caldwell. Kind of funny using a phone I “retired” 4 years ago.

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No kidding? My last phone was the G3 and I traded it in and now have the LG (40 I think) thin Q. Now I wish I still had the G3. Maybe I should try some of my old droid laying around.

BOISE BADWOLF said:

No kidding? My last phone was the G3 and I traded it in and now have the LG (40 I think) thin Q. Now I wish I still had the G3. Maybe I should try some of my old droid laying around.

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Yes, true. I retired the G3 for a Mi 9 which didn’t work with the chrono. The Mi 9 was retired for a Google Pixel 4a 5g, which also didn’t work with the chrono. It’s so handy exporting shot strings from the chrono app into Xcel, I ponied up the $14 and use the G3 for the chrono and as GPS because it’s such a rugged phone.

I got one for christmas, tested christmas day.....a nerf gun dart is 61 fps I have used it once with my 9mm. It will be very helpful with load development and I like the phone app, Works real well on a Samsun s10.

Mr_Flintstone said:

which would be the best for the money?

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I have both & they both work well.
If the Caldwell is a "kit", then get that one.
The kit has the tripod & light kit.

Otherwise they're about the same.

But I have had trouble getting 22-250 and 300wm to register.

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Sometimes it helps if you take a black sharpie and color the bullets black.
It may or may not work for you but cheap to try to see if it helps.

Mr_Flintstone said:

Are these any good? Midway has them at a birthday discount for $75. Anybody have pros or cons they'd like to share? I still have a couple more days on my discount.

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Yes. I’ve had 2. They are very good especially if you only pay $75. They are not bulletproof however. Hence, I’ve had 2.