Search didn’t come up with much for me besides a thread from 2008,
Will be used for .308, .223 / 5.56, and various handgun calibers .357, 9mm, .40, .45 ACP.
Budget is around $200-250ish
I have been looking at the Caldwell G2 ballistic Precision but wanted other opinions.
Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
A.B.
I’ve used and still have a CED M2 which worked very well and is within your price range. I have since moved on to a Labradar which is far and away a better experience, but is more than double your price range. I would avoid the Magnetospeed models- although they are only a little outside of your price range, IMO, they’re more trouble than they’re worth. After, measuring velocity, you’ll have to reshoot groups for accuracy without the unit hanging from the end of your barrel. The bayonet projectile “reader” will also not work with all firearms types, at least not ideally.
I bought the Caldwell myself a year or so ago and when I have used it it worked fine ! I bought this one: https://www.midwayusa.com/product/628006/caldwell-ballistic-precision-chronograph-premium-kit Its not the same one as your looking at but so far so good ! Mine has LED lights that go over the top for use on bad days or even indoors ! I have used it indoors and it worked great ! That mite not be a feature you need but we have a great indoor range where I shoot so I have used it in there a couple times over the Winter when working up loads,kinda cool ! I also have this one https://www.midwayusa.com/product/531741/shooting-chrony-f1-chronograph that I got cheap in a deal with some other items,it works very good also. A buddy and I put both chronos together and shot over both at the same time and they were very close in there measurements,within a few FPS,so that was good I guess !
Cronos are great tools for sure but ya really don’t use them that much I don’t think,kinda runs in spurts,LOL ya get a new rifle/pistol and you will use it or when changing bullets/powder but they sit probably 95% of the time,just the way it is I guess ! Anyways I’m sure the Caldwell you mentioned will be great but the ones I have listed and used work fine for me. Let us know how ya make out.
Ive used a Competition Electronics chrono for years now. Have checked it against others, andhave found it to be very reliable & easy to use. Gave about $100 for it. The ProChrono model I believe.
I have been very happy with my MagnetoSpeed, and highly recommend it.
I have compared it to many other devices, and it delivers.
I am in the same boat as the OP (no price range though). I have been eyeing the Labradar by have not heard a whole lot about it.
The magnetospeed is nice. But as pointed out, it mounts to the firearm, which isn’t a problem for me. But if you’re testing pistol and SBR, etc., It’s not optimal.
We run the CED too. It’s been really good for the money.
I have a Labradar. It is way more difficult to properly set up, gets a lot of error pickups, and is not easy to navigate menus and such.
I do 90% of my Magnetospeed use with the chronograph attached to the handguard, but have shot it quite a bit attached directly to barrels. Amount of shift is less than that of any suppressor on the market. Can be stuck to pistols with a bottom rail, but the practical application of pistol ammo velocity is almost, but not quite completely, useless.
I have been using a Competition Electronics Pro Chrono for testing rifle and handgun ammunition for years and it works well. Muzzle velocities are very close to published velocities for a lot of factory ammunition.
A shooting buddy has the MagnetoSpeed chronograph, which he uses for testing F Class loads and he recommends it. I’ve seen him use it on bolt action rifles and it is more convenient than a chronograph positioned 15’ from the muzzle. He does not use it for testing handgun loads, so I can’t comment on that.
The Magneto’s which I have used have been very accurate in their readings but the effort needed to use it with a wide variety of firearms make it more trouble than worth (for me and only me). If you’re only using it for certain types of weapons, an AR with a hand guard for example, it would be fine.
My Labradar is very picky in terms of muzzle placement in relation to the unit. Once I figured this out through trial and error, I haven’t had an issue in getting good readings. I can’t remeber getting anything inexplicable, either, that I would consider a false reading.
Exactly. I don’t chrono pistol ammo ever. Just go the the data, load to MAX, and move on with my life.
Started years ago with an Owner 33, then graduated to the 35P model. Was offered a super deal at this past SHOT so I am now in a learning curve with a LabRadar. So far so good including suppressed rounds! Trick is to place the muzzle about 6 inches behind the unit. Little risky so pay attention. Have seen many others of various manufacturers, the magneto speed is remarkable for it’s accuracy. User friendly is very important if you shoot or chronograph on a regular basis.
Thanks for all the replies. After looking at the magnetospeeds I don’t think I would care for it much.
I don’t plan on doing much with pistol just will be testing a few things and loading something close to carry ammo to try to get similar characteristics.
Primary will be load development for different rifles.
I have a ProChrono that has been trouble free, I went with this brand because it’s not made in communist China. I’ll probably get the Bluetooth device for it at some point.
http://www.competitionelectronics.com/product/prochrono-digital/
I’ve always found the little Shooting Chronys to work well. And they’re fairly cheap in case one accidently catches a bullet.
Here lately I’ve been messing with a Caldwell G2 chronograph and have been pretty happy with it. It has a display that can be used stand-alone (you’ll have to write everything down on a notepad) or you can Bluetooth it to your phone and run it that way. The tripod that comes with it is pretty cheap but the unit itself seems to be alright. The phone app isn’t without its quirks, too. It would be nice to be able to save the various load info in separate folders by caliber, date, bullet weight, etc. As it is now they’re all saved chronologically.
Hi everyone, Well after using {and shooting} a shooting chrony, which after getting it going again the wind blew my tripod over and broke one of the plastic holders for the skyscreen rods and “eye” I bought a Lab Radar. I can only say -I wish I had bought this in the first place- No more having to wait for or cause the line to go cold, and the multiple trips from the bench to the chrony to line it up, no more errors from changing light conditions, and more accurate velocity readings { I can get true muzzle velocity readings with mine}. plus you can get velocity readings from chosen distance points as the bullet goes down range, can get kinetic energy data and power factor also. I have only had mine to the range two times and have worked through this much of the functions.
Now just to be honest, as one other poster stated, the menu is a bit of a learning curve and the instructions are somewhat less than concise and thorough, but if this 67 year oldster can figure it out most anyone should be able to, and besides the shooting chrony I have and as did a friend’s Ohler chrony have their steps and procedures to learn also. My biggest negative is it is somewhat sensitive about location to the firearms muzzle [in order for the muzzle blast to trigger the emit/read cycle.] It can store a ton of information on a sd card that you can plug int a laptop at home and print out what information you want, [although a printer on site would be nice] as would a remote control to cycle through the functions, I am a f-class shooter so using it with long barreled rifles is a bit of a challenge. But I really like using the lab radar much more than a skyscreen chronograph.
I have a ProChrono. I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t actually used it much, and I have the Bluetooth device, but I haven’t set it up yet.
That said, I wouldn’t reload without running samples over a chronograph. Checking my .40S&W loads vs. factory loads in various barrel lengths was fascinating. (OK, I’m a geek.)
I have a pro chrono digital that has worked perfectly the few tones I used it. If your looking for one PM me and I’ll sell it. I also have a tripod that goes with it.
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Have labradar, magnetospeed gen 3, and an optical.
Optical works, but is slow, irritating, and occasionally innacurate.
Magnetospeed is easy to use, very portable, but takes time to get set up and won’t work with some rifles without creative rigging. Does not play well with some glocks due to the upward sweep of the light rail.
Labradar is expensive and takes time and patience to learn how to use properly. I hated it at first until I’d messed with it a couple trips and now it’s all I use.
Testing magnetospeed and labradar side-by-side, they were often within 5fps and occasionally identical.
Pretty important to know I won’t slip below the min power factor for my division, but that’s about it.
Good point. I rarely think of the competition side of shooting since that’s not my thing… but yeah. That’s a legit reason.