Chronograph Dilema

[jmorris]

What I have NOT tried yet - could a guy shoot PAST a lab radar and pick up down range velocities beyond 100yrds?

You might be able to, with its need to bet pretty close to the bullets path to start the tracking, you could be the first guy to shoot one too.

 

[Bart B.]

When dealing with an event that last less than 470 micro seconds in an 18 inch barrel, it doesn't matter who or what is holding it, the velocity and standard deviation will not change enough to be able to measure.

That's less than half a millisecond. How did you arrive at that number?

Whatever the source, I disagree with your claim that it doesn't matter who or what is holding it, the velocity and standard deviation will not change enough to be able to measure. While it will be less than that of a .308 Winchester cartridge, it's still measurable.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

How does the LabRadar unit do on a firing line with several shooters? If there's another guy 6 or 8 feet down the line, am I going to pick up his bullets too?

 

[Doublehelix]

Lots of great discussion here, thanks for all of the responses.

I was hoping *not* to make this a discussion of whether or a not a chronograph is a worthwhile purchase, but rather how best to spend my money. I understand that this question can be answered as "Don't spend it at all", but less assume that I have decided that I want a chronograph because it makes me look tacticool and leave it at that!!!

The benefits of going with the Labradar are great, that is a given. I just can't see dropping $600 on something like this when there are $100 units that would work just fine for my needs *data-wise*. The accuracy and amount of data I can get off of a $100 chrono is fine for my needs, it is the other PITA things that keep me from just buying one and shutting up!

I have this crazy sneaking suspicion however that early in 2017, I will have one in my arsenal, even though I am going to whine and complain to no end between now and then!

 

[Qball16]

If you go with the pro-chrono, get a heavy photo tripod made of metal, not plastic. The unit is light so you need something heavy in the mix. Again I also highly recommend the "digital link" Bluetooth adaptor, assuming you have an iPhone, Android or tablet. You can even do round robin type groups with stats for load development.

 

[cfullgraf]

How does the LabRadar unit do on a firing line with several shooters? If there's another guy 6 or 8 feet down the line, am I going to pick up his bullets too?

The LabRadar is triggered to begin accepting data as you shoot. The are a couple of trigger option choices that are available, mostly acoustical. The distance from the unit that the internal trigger function are pretty short, a foot or two and you have to select the distance from the unit your gun will be when fired. I do not remember the ranges the external triggers operate at.

I assume it would be possible that if a shooter at the next position fired at the same time as you did, the LabRadar might get confused and measure off both bullets.

 

[cfullgraf]

If you go with the pro-chrono, get a heavy photo tripod made of metal, not plastic. The unit is light so you need something heavy in the mix. Again I also highly recommend the "digital link" Bluetooth adaptor, assuming you have an iPhone, Android or tablet. You can even do round robin type groups with stats for load development.

A heavier tripod is a good thing. Many tripods, even the light weight ones, will have a hook on the bottom of the center post. Or a 1/4-20 stud on the bottom of the post that a hook could be screwed to. A weight can be hung off that which will have the same steadying effect of a heavier tripod.

I use the infrared lights on my CED M2. I have the battery pack for the lights in a bag that I hang from this hook on my tripod. Since I'm lugging the batteries around anyway, might as well get some other benefit from the effort.

 

[Bart B.]

To address a couple of questions and view points. Yes, many people have developed their personal loads never having and or using a chronograph. The truth is it can be done without one. However, if you know how to use one it can provide data that greatly improves getting to that perfect recipe faster.

I never used a chrono for my perfect recipe. It really wasn't mine because it was someone else's. It shot as good in my rifles as it did in theirs.

I never developed any load for existing bullets in my rifles. Used the same recipe for different component lots. It was easy to reverse calculate actual muzzle velocities by bracket and halving velocities in Sierra's software until its trajectories matched sight settings. Sight changes per click were calculated to 4 decimal places so results were very precise. Didn't matter if my average velocity was a few dozen fps different than someone else got with that load.

 

[Varminterror]

You might be able to, with its need to bet pretty close to the bullets path to start the tracking, you could be the first guy to shoot one too.

Nah - there's a reason I've never shot one of my chrony's, it's not been luck, it's because I can't. There's a half inch of AR500 between my muzzle and my chrony body. I have all kinds of steel targets, hang a 2/3 scale ipsc in front of the lab radar at range and we're golden.

 

[jmorris]

but rather how best to spend my money.

That's the problem, you are asking others how to best spend your money for you. There are a bunch of us that spent the last 8 years trying to get away from that idea. In any case we don't know what's best for you. If your going to go blow that amount on booze and women, I would say get all of the chronographs you can and write a review of them to better spend your time and money. If you need new tires on your truck and money is tight, you might not need a chronograph at all.

I have a number of chronographs and will have more before I die with any luck, the one I use the most though is a shooting chrony I bought when Sportsmans warehouse had $50 coupons in the paper. Having only $20 in it, it is the cheapest chronograph, so it's pretty much always there when I need it. Out in the shop normally mounted on a tripod or in a little plastic tackle box in my truck if I am going somewhere else to shoot.

There are others that will do other neat things, my Pact XP has the most "extras" of any chronograph I have messed with, it will even print out tables to any distance, by any incremental change, with or with out "maximum point blank range" of any given target diameter and includes wind drift.

If you just want to know how fast a bullet is going for the least amount of money, day or night, rain or shine, indoors or out, this is the cheapest I have.

For full disclosure, I was on Labradar's list after they had it at the SHOT show. After passing release dates for a year and a half and spotty reviews, I decided to hold off for a little while. Will likely buy a subsequent version some day myself.

 

[cfullgraf]

The benefits of going with the Labradar are great, that is a given. I just can't see dropping $600 on something like this when there are $100 units that would work just fine for my needs *data-wise*. The accuracy and amount of data I can get off of a $100 chrono is fine for my needs, it is the other PITA things that keep me from just buying one and shutting up!

As many have said, all the chronographs give velocity data, it's the special features that differentiate between them.

Buying a bargain priced chronograph gets you started and you learn the value and idiosyncrasies of them. Depending on how you then value a chronograph, you can upgrade in the future.

Also, should the chronograph expire from "lead poisoning", you are not out too much capital.

In my experience with the optical sensor chronographs, having the sensors "see" the bullet can be frustrating at times. There should be lots of suggested work arounds available on the internet. There is no one panacea that solves all issues, but you can learn a battery of things to try to get your chronograph to read the bullets at the times it does not.

 

[jmorris]

Nah - there's a reason I've never shot one of my chrony's, it's not been luck, it's because I can't.

I have never shot one either but I also don't chronograph loads that would be so inaccurate as to impact one either. All of the ones I have will pick up a bullet a foot over the sensors and I don't have any reason to chronograph a load that wouldn't shoot inside 6", 10 ft from the muzzle.

The steel plate isn't a bad idea for down range use but I think I would rather impact a chronograph a few feet from the muzzle than a steel plate.

 

[Dudedog]

Happy with my Competition Electronics ProCrono.

 

[hdwhit]

I have a 1990's vintage Shooting Chrony. I have never shot the unit itself, but I have hit the support rods on occasion. I now use wooden skewers that I can buy in bulk.

 

[cfullgraf]

I have never shot one either but I also don't chronograph loads that would be so inaccurate as to impact one either.

Accuracy of the load is not always an issue on whether a chronograph gets shot out. Both of mine were a result of rushing to complete a string to beat a rain storm.

As they say, "Haste makes waste."

Good excuse to upgrade though.

 

[Lost Sheep]

How I prevent lead poisoning my chronograph:

My chronograph wears armor. Two pieces of channel iron heavy enough to withstand a glancing impact from a 500 S&W without any discernable damage (other than a slight skid mark from the jacket). The two pieces cost almost as much as the chronograph, cheap insurance.

One piece goes in front of the instrument and tilts downward, so no bullet from the firing line can get under it. The other piece fits between the two sensors. The rear end of the front piece is slightly higher than the front end of the rear piece, so any material skimmed from a bullet will not enter the sensor opening.

No ordinary camera tripod will support the weight, though, so I put it on a short table or sawhorse.

This will not work for any instrument with the readout on the sensor instrument, so I use a Chrony Master unit with the remote readout. This is also handy for saving battery power, as the readout unit has the on/off switch, too.

Lost Sheep