How important is the ability to chronograph?

[stillquietvoice]

However, to each his own. The OP originally asked if a chrono is valuable. The answer is... it really depends... on the l

Op asked how important a chronograph was not valuable. It's importance depends on his use. I like many others have been reloading for almost 40 years and have never owned, or even used one. That hasn't stopped me from making accurate loads.

 

[Bat Rastard]

TopRudder, what was the powder that gave you troubles in 45acp ?

 

[Toprudder]

TopRudder, what was the powder that gave you troubles in 45acp ?

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/sport-pistol-powder-in-45acp.860544/

 

[hossfly]

That is a general statement that I am not comfortable with. There may be guns that will never produce book numbers even if you go to 70 gr of powder in THAT rifle and blow it up. It's not velocity that determines max but pressure. Telling someone new to reloading they can just keep adding powder till they get book velocities outta a particular firearm is not something I would advise. But that is me.

Yeah I wouldn't advise velocity being the main parameter. Never exceed book velocities. But Chrony's are honestly inexpensive these days. I when I use them I'm generally either testing groups or sighting in at the same time so it doesn't cost me any more to get the velocity data than to not get it.

I suppose I would say they aren't necessary for everybody, but they are for someone who really want's to know the velocity of their loads. I have, from time to time, had some pretty big differences from what the manuals say. You can generally use them as a good ballpark but every once in a while my reality and the books don't jive. In both directions...high and low.

Once I have 5 or 6 of a load over the Chrony I check the standard deviation, extreme spread, and take the average, and I'm satisfied I know all I need to know about the loads velocity. If it won't group worth a flip I don't go back to it anyway. If it does, it's a keeper.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I use it for load development to measure standard deviations in bullet speed. If I’m getting wide deviations with a certain powder/bullet combinations then I’ll choose a different powder type until I find a combination that works for the specific rifle. Also use it for Blackout sub load development. Not used too much with pistol, but I did use it to push 800X beyond its published limit to see how fast I could get a 200 grain bullet to go out of an aftermarket barreled G20 10MM until I started to see signs of over pressure (not recommended for novice Reloaders).

 

[brutus51]

Got my first chrono while suffering from a bout of magnumitis, wanted to get the maximum velocity out of a Ruger 44 super Blackhawk.
Would load up 185gr. slugs with maximum amounts of 296 and then laugh with glee when they vaporized cinder blocks.
As I got older the thrill of big boomers faded and the quest for maximum accuracy took hold. Now it is, more or less, a big part of my shooting hobby. I love to experiment with different powders and collect data on the results.
On my last outing I brought 3 different .357 Magnums a 4",6" and an 8" along with 5 different handloads, just to see how each performed with each load. Surprisingly the 6" 45 year old Colt Python produced the slowest velocities of all three guns but was still the most accurate.
Think the gun is like me, getting worn out after so many years of abuse.