Should I buy a chronograph?

[northark147]

I bought one, but haven't gotten to use it enough yet to really see if I needed to or not. I figured It would help me match some factory loads I know shoot exceptionally well in some of my guns, and if nothing else would give me something to put in the velocity blank of my labels just for kicks.

Target barn has really good deals on the CED M2. They sell a package that includes the Chrono, Tripod, and bad to sling it in for $250. That is the one I got, honeslty expecting to get some cheapy tripod i would have to put rocks and stuff under to get up to the right height and level. Surprisingly enough, Its actually a pretty nice tripod. The bag is ok, but for something made by CED for their Chronographs i guess I had my expectations set a little high.

http://www.targetbarn.com/newstore2.asp?CAT=ELECTRONICS&SubCat=CHRONOGRAPHS

 

[cfullgraf]

In recent years, it's come to the attention of many who handload for a living (i.e.- writers such as those who contribute to mags such as Handloader and Rifle) that the chronograph is a wonderful tool for monitoring the pressure of handloads. I've read many times from several writers. As loads are worked up, velocities are watched for sharp ot unexpected increases which indicate rising chamber pressures.

35W

I definitely agree!.

I have never been happy with reading brass for over pressure indications. Some indications, like flattened primers, have been proven to be faulty or inaccurate. With other indications, by the time you see them, the load is frequently is way over pressure.

With velocity information, I have another tool to help me avoid excessive chamber pressures.

You can load without a chronograph but there are sure nice tools to have.

I have had good luck with Chrony's although they do not recover well from "lead poisoning". I currently have a CED M2.

 

[918v]

A chrono is useful if you are pushing the pressure envelope. The problem with pushing the pressure envelope is you have to work up a seperate load for every 10 degrees of changing temperature. And lastly, velocity is not a predictable indicator of pressure. Pressure often goes up and velocity does not follow.

 

[Jdillon]

You will never how good your reloading process is unless you chronograph your loads. Uniformity is an important element in obtaining the most from your rifle and it all starts with case preparation. Data from your chronograph ie spreads and standard deviation will give you feedback that is invaluable. Instead of guessing velocities from loading manuals you will actually know which is necessary when using ballistic calculators. On the other hand, don't think they are that necessary for pistols but to each their own.

BTW my new 35P arrived today

 

[45crittergitter]

You absolutely should get a chronograph, mainly because that's the only way short of a strain gage or pressure barrel to get a decent estimate of your loads' pressures. If it's going faster than the book says it should with that load, then the pressures are higher than the load in the book. How else would you know? It will also let you in on some secrets, like this bullet is 100 fps faster than that bullet with the same powder charge. Again, how else would you know?

velocity is not a predictable indicator of pressure. Pressure often goes up and velocity does not follow.

True, but pressure only goes up for a reason (like more powder). If you load more powder and velocity doesn't go up, how would you know it without a chrono? You can graph your grains vs. fps when working up a load and see where the curve flattens or spikes, but not without a chronograph. The corollary is that velocity doesn't go up without more pressure (all other things being equal). Again, how do you know the velocity?

 

[Trent]

I can't believe people are actually saying that a chrono doesn't help accuracy.... ?

Maybe at pistol ranges, I could see your point. The only useful data I've gleamed from my chrono on pistol reloading is that my 1911 shoots ~50fps faster than my Glock or H&K using the same ammo.

If you are reloading for rifles and shooting at anything over 100 yards, a chrono is an invaluable tool.

Consider this:

As a bullet travels downrange, gravity pulls on it, wind pushes at it, spin drift causes some nifty effects (climbing in to the wind, dropping away from it). Air resistance causes a round to slow down, a function of air density at your particular altitude, and barometric pressure.

All of these factors amount to a series of nonlinear differential equations, compounding based on time and velocity. A bullet travelling slower will have all of the effects above happen faster to it than a bullet travelling at a higher velocity.

A ~50 fps spread on velocity will cause not only cause excessive vertical elevation deflection (function of gravity and bullet slowing down to air resistance), but it will ALSO leave you unable to accurately account for or calculate the effects of cross winds, head winds, or spin drift (and the compounding factors THAT phenomenon places on all of the above). So your shots will *mostly* string out vertically in groups at longer ranges, but if there's any wind involved (and there almost always is), you'll also see you groups widen horizontally as well.

If you're shooting for precision at longer ranges, you MUST have a chronograph to find out if your brass prep and load regimen is reliably giving you the same velocity.

Once you have a solid baseline, it become elementary to plot out accurate trajectories for any range, in any conditions.

 

[918v]

Is he shooting 3" groups at 600 yards? I doubt it. For normal hunting, i.e. 0-300 yards, a chronograph is a waste. He needs to learn how to assemble ammunition correctly before he gets into the minutia associated with stuff like adding powder but not seeing an increase in velocity which is probably due to the inaccuracy of the instrument anyway.

 

[FROGO207]

He he he IMHO you can't be a successful reloader until you have bagged at least one chrony. Bought one and worked on some loads till I shot it, :banghead: then saved up and got another, better one. I was lots more careful next time when using it. Also got the new one with the separate sky screen so when I shot the second one it was fixable. I consider it another part of the reloading puzzle and add the info obtained into my reloading data mix. As stated previously if you see no need for it then you do not need to spend the cash for a frivolous toy.

 

[joed]

I've found the chrony to be an interesting tool to use in reloading. It is helpful in load developement. For instance, I acquired a .22-250 last year and started developing loads. The chrony revealed that what my load manuals say is a 3700 fps load is actually 3400 fps, that's a big difference.

So I kept increasing the charge till I got to 3700 fps. No pressure signs and it is an accurate load. Next, I'll be using it for load development with the .25-06.

 

[cfullgraf]

At the very least, a chronograph is another toy to add to the enjoyment of reloading and shooting.