Advice for Chronographs?

[mrs.potatojudge]

I'm buying a chronograph for my husband's birthday in the next week or so, and I was wondering if you all could help a girl who has virtually no clue about guns. He says he really just wants velocities, extreme spread, and a remote read-out. I'm looking to spend $100-$200 including the remote. I checked out Midway and the Competition Electronics Digital model had great reviews:
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=852429

And I also liked the PACT Model 1 XP, which you guys seem to favor on other threads:
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=369265

How are these? Do y'all have any other suggestions?

 

[taliv]

shooting chrony is cheap and does the job well. they have excellent customer service (e.g. i shot my chrony and they sent me a free replacement) i only paid $69 for mine though. i suppose they'd take an extra $31 if you sent it to them though.

CED makes an even better product, but arguably not worth the extra $ unless it's a present, in which case, go for it. i shot that one too and they charged me about half the total price for a new sensor.

i've no experience with the pact.

 

[ranger335v]

Mrs. Potato, you are a jewel among women, much like the gal who married me some 49 years ago. I have several guns and some nice loading gear I would not have purchased myself but she did. God bless you!

Now, it's all opinion because all of the current chronographs do a pretty good job of the basic things. Some do more and more gets better as we use it, and some are more forgiving of poor lighting, etc. I would hate to go back to a trully basic chronograph after using my PACT for the last several years. The 1 XP and its "Glint Guard" sensors will be a delight to use.

He will also need a "camera" type tripod to mount the detector screens on. I would suggest something inexpensive and used. Pawn shops, flea markets and yard sales are good sources for used tripods.

He can swing a sand bag below the tripod's head if he only finds a light weight one, the extra weight will add stability for little or no cost.

 

[Hutch]

I made that decision last week and bought the CED Millennium. Midway was out, so I bought it directly from CED.

 

[Claude Clay]

shooting chrony with remote read out and sky light; all for under $200. best value for the $. happy b.day
mine is about 10 years old and gets used ay least once a month. fast set up on a camera tripod.

 

[ar10]

I don't own one but I did watch a guy using a "Crony" at the range Sunday. No printouts but he didn't need one, he could see the readout fine from about 10' out. I was pretty impressed and he told me he got his from Midway for 99.00.

 

[Halo]

I have the Shooting Chrony Alpha and it's a great unit. It lacks the remote display you mentioned, but you can get one with some of their higher up versions for not much more. It does all the statistical calculations I've ever wanted.

As the others mentioned, you might want to include a cheap camera tripod along with the unit. Other than that, just tell him to AIM HIGH!

 

[ants]

mrs.potatojudge

I've used both of the units you listed, and also the Shooting Chrony mentioned by the others above. When purchased with the remote unit, you can't go wrong with any of them. They all do the job quite well. Pick the one you think he'll enjoy, and make him the happiest shooter this side of a chronograph. He can't lose with any of them.

[You don't happen to have an unmarried sister, do you? If she's as sweet as you, there's no harm in asking.]

 

[The Bushmaster]

I vote for the Pact mod 1 XP also. I don't have one at the moment, but my Pact mod 1 (not XP) has served me well for the last 20 years...When I have had problems Pact has taken good care of me...

 

[azar]

You truly are a great wife! My awesome wife bought me my chrony for Christmas. It is the Shooting Chrony Beta Master which she purchased from www.midsouthshooterssupply.com, which they currently have for $108.44. I only have personal experience with that chrony and I haven't used it extensively due to normal life getting in the way. But I haven't had any issues with it and, while it is a bit cryptic to use, It has all the features I need and more.

To meet his minimum requirements you'd need to get an Alpha Master chrony, although you could also get the Beta Master, or the Gamma Master as well. Each model adds more and more features, but seeing how he had so few requirements I'm not going to bother to list them here.

Although, if all he really cares about is the remote display, velocities and the extreme spread you could easily get the F1 Master and have him use a spreadsheet to calculate the extreme spread, high, low, average, etc.

The Pact models are also commonly recommended by others. I get the impression that the CED M2 is considered the best commonly available chrony, but you pay for it.

Hope that helps.

 

[Strongbad]

Of all of the ones that I've seen and used, my money is on the Shooting Chrony. Wife picked me up a "Master Gamma" a few years ago. It's got every bell and whistle they offer. Remote display, printer, the works. It was $135 from D&R Sports. Pretty hard to beat that. Plus the Shooting Chrony's can be upgraded. If you buy one of the low end models, you can upgrade it later. They also take trade-in's if I recall, like if you shoot yours accidentally etc.

 

[Furncliff]

I was give the Shooting Chrony Alpha Master Chronograph for Christmas. Does a great job, I'm quite pleased with it.. A camera tripod would be an excellent addition.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=306796&t=11082005

 

[Ridgerunner665]

I have the Competition Electronics ProChrono Digital...I've had it for about 4 or 5 months now.

It works great...even after I shot one of the metal rods that holds the shades on with a 45 acp. It spun the chrono around a few times and bent the rod pretty good...I straightened the rod, put it back in, and continued shooting like nothing ever happened.

Don't laugh dammit...we've all had those days...

 

[mrs.potatojudge]

Thank you all for all your help! I'm going to go with the Shooting Chrony Beta Master, as it sounds like it's a good deal with enough bells and whistles to get some "ooohs" and "aaaahs" from him. As for the tripod, he conveniently just got me a new one for my birthday (I play around with photography a bit). Think he was anticipating his own needs much? Now we just need to make sure he doesn't blow it up!

And finally:

You don't happen to have an unmarried sister, do you? If she's as sweet as you, there's no harm in asking.

Yes, a twin actually. Of course, she was just proposed to this weekend and my husband would assure you that she's not as sweet as me, but why should that stop you?