New Chrony - on its way

[Werewolf]

My new Beta Chrony Master is scheduled for delivery today. I've got some questions about how best to use it so if you guys don't mind me pickin' your brains:

1) How far should I set it up from the shooting position? Too close could damage the unit, too far and you get some velocity loss.

2) What lighting conditions are best? I'll be using it outside only. Morning, noon, dusk? Direction of sun relative to bullet path?

3) What are the triangle rods for? At one time I thought they were used to block direct sunlight but now I'm not real sure.

4) How accurate can I expect a Beta Master to be? How can I tell if it's reporting the right speed?

Inquiring minds want to know...

 

[dmftoy1]

That's what I use and it seems to work great. I don't claim to be an expert so take these answers with a grain of salt.

Triangle Rods - These hold up the sky screens. My experience has been that you don't need them on a cloudy day (although they do help guide where to shoot). I do use them on a bright sunny day as they seem to improve the ability to pick up a reading. One piece of advice is to replace the metal rods with wooden dowels of the same size. If you inadvertently hit one of them they'll just splinter.

I think the idea is that you don't want direct sunlight shining down into the two eyes, but I'm not sure about that one.

I tend to place mine about 10-15feet off the front of my shooting bench.

The accuracy seems to be about what I'd expect given the loading data I'm using. I was getting wildly erratic readings at first, but it was because my .50 S&W loadings were wildly erratic because I believe that Winchester LP primers were magnum and standard at the same time. When I replaced them with CCI magnum primers it became very consistent.

Have a good one,
Dave

 

[Clark]

It depends, do you shoot a three shot group through the LCD of the chrony or a 5 shot group

 

[Strongbad]

As dmftoy mentioned the rods are mainly there to show you where to shoot and to hold the screens, whose purpose it is to block the sun (if it's bad enough). I've never run mine without the rods or screens, but I also always use it in fairly bright sunlight.

As for how far to put it from the muzzle, well unless you're shooting something through the chrony that starts to seriously bleed off speed in the first 10-15 feet, you need to put it out as far as possible to keep the muzzle blast from affecting your readings. Is it absolutely necessary that you do so? No, especially not with smaller rounds that don't have a lot of blast, but it should make your results more accurate. You're not going to lose enough speed in the first 10-15 feet to have to worry about the readings being low. The only way I'd be worried about actually damaging the unit is if you actually shoot it. Other than that if you've got it a good distance from the bench, you're good to go.

Is it accurate? I know mine has been right on par with my Oehler, which is supposed to be the standard. How do you tell if it's working right? Well if you can't match it up against another chronograph, probably the easiest thing is to take a load with a known velocity and shoot it over the chronograph. Like a .22 rimfire target load. Federal target has a velocity of 1080 fps. When I shoot it out of my 10/22 target over my chrony, it's right at that. Also, you should be able to get a realistic idea of what your loads should be doing based upon published load data and factoring in the barrel length you're using in regards to what the data was generated with. It's not an exact science by any means, especially since most data is generated with test barrels and such but it'll be more than close enough to get you in the ballpark. i.e. You're going to know right away whether or not the Chronograph is telling you the truth.

Anyway, sorry this was so long. I hope you enjoy your Chrony and I commend you for spending the money on getting one. It's one of the most valuable tools of handloading ammunition, and no handloader should be without one. Sadly, many handloaders are.

 

[Ol` Joe]

#1 - set it far enough away the muzzle blast doesn`t trigger the unit. The false readings are appearent when they happen but are a pain. The guy next to you can trigger a reading too if he`s shooting a big enought gun, muzzle brakes real bad anywhere near you as they always seem to trigger mine. I set mine (a Pact) ~10' from the bench.

#2 - I don`t know there is a "best" time. I like to use mine around noon when the sun is high. The low sun seems to effect the readings on occasion.

#3 - The rods are simply to hold the shades for the sensors. They aren`t needed on dark cloudy days but I use them as noted by the other poster as a guide when shooting.

#4 - All cronos are pretty close in accuracy. The units are nothing more then a stop watch and the operating systems are all based on the same technology. The sensors are where the difference comes in as some are better in poor light conditions then oters and of course there is the "proof" channel which is just a extra sensor in the Oehler units.