Do I really need a chronograph?

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Col. Harrumph

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I'm about ready to take my newish Tikka to the 600 yard range. But my club requires me to know the come-ups for 300 & 600 already. Is there a reliable way to know these without investing in a chronograph I may only use once?
 
I have one and have used it a lot but with Gordon's Reloading Tool being a free download, and I've found it dead on on several of my load and gun combos, I will probably use it less. That said I've seen it very off on some too.
 
Do you know what your setting is for 200 yards? If so, you will be pretty close if you come up an additional 3-4 minutes for 300, and 12-13 minutes (from the 200 yard setting) for 600. In all likelihood this will at least get you on paper, which I suspect is all your club is worried about.

Tim
 
I'm about ready to take my newish Tikka to the 600 yard range. But my club requires me to know the come-ups for 300 & 600 already. Is there a reliable way to know these without investing in a chronograph I may only use once?

If you get into reloading, you'll definitely want one, and if you're getting into competition, you'll definitely want to reload. Even semi-serious competitors are reloading. I rarely take mine to the range and not have someone wanting to use it, interested in it, etc. etc.
 
To answer your question yes, it is the only reason I use one so that I know what my drop is beyond my 200 yard zero, without knowing the average muzzle velocity of your rounds, your Kentucky windage is out in the wind.
 
A manual for your bullet/charge will get you within 200fps velocity, and a generic ballistics table for your bullet's BC should tell you to drops at each range.

To verify, you need to shoot at 100, and 200 or 300 (prefer 300). Adjust your velocity input until the drop matches, and voila.
 
Guess I'm lucky. Where I shoot there is no requirements for anything. No permits, no permission, nuthin'.
If you got a tank and can get it to the range then....make some noise!!!!
And scare the crap out of everybody there!!:neener:
 
As soon as I bought my chrono the world became clearer. The loading manuals were incorrect on some pistol loads. Buy one.
 
You only need one if you care how your reloads perform. If you just need them to go bang you don't really need a chrono?
What kind of shooting do you do?
 
There only two people that own a chroni: People who have a new one in the box and people who have blown them up by shooting them, lol
I've seen that happen!lol! Poor guy! One of the reasons I retired my old Oehler and bought a new LabRadar. Set it on the bench, aim and go. I do use a remote trigger though...but it's a nice unit. A bit pricey but works very well. It really will change how you load or think about loading when you see REAL world numbers as opposed to those in a manual which may or may not be in the ballpark.
 
Didn't realize how valuable a chrono was until I got one. The results surprised me, and put a whole new twist on what I thought I knew... the twist being a thing called reality.
Very valuable tool to a handloader
 
Took my Chrono out and tested velocity on 300 PRC factory Hornady 225s. I'm disappointed to see 2885 fps out of the 28" barrel. But it's good to see actual speeds and be able to build a load.
Yes, you need one.
 
I always found wind flags and wheels to be more informative than any chronograph. Frankly I didn’t really care what my loads were doing, so long as they grouped tightly. I could figure out the basics with a ballistic program if need be. Your manual gives you an “idea” of the load velocity. Disclaimer- my experiences have been exclusively 300 yards and less.
 
Figuring out drops isn't that hard and can be close enough without a chronograph. You should be to get on paper at 300 out to 600 by just using advertised velocity and the bullets known BC by plugging it into a ballistics program. You can tweak things after you start shooting.

That said I think they are worth the investment for hand loaders for other reasons. Lots of guys try to judge over pressure loads by looking for pressure signs. The problem with that is none of them show up until you are already WAY over pressure. When working up a load I like to use a chronograph to check my speeds to keep from going over pressure. You can't go by the manuals.

For example the load manual may say 48 gr of powder is a max load and will yield 2800 fps with that load. If I'm working up a load, then when I get close to 2800 fps I'm approaching a max load regardless of the powder charge. And I may hit 2800 fps at 46.5 or 47 gr of powder. Without a chronograph I could be loading 48 gr of powder and getting 2900 fps and have an overloaded cartridge without knowing. And it may not be over enough to show traditional pressure signs. That is all I use mine for. Once I find a load I like I rarely use mine.
 
I would immagine this rule is because people at that range have shot very long and caused some kind of issue. The rule is probably to prevent the club or range from being shut down. You may be able to fake it, but understand in almost every situation that trending in the dirt is a way better start than lobbing them off into Neverland
 
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