Will be buying my first chronograph, a Christmas present to myself, soon. My desire is to spend what it takes to have a chrony that'll last a long while (provided I don't accidentally shoot it).I have decided on either an Oehler or CED. Anyone have any comments either pro or con? Or does anyone know of a better "good quality" chrony.
Oehler is the standard by which others are judged. The "guts" of most all chronographs, that is the clock and the processer, are all pretty much the same -- cheap to build, reliable, and "dead on the money".
The difference comes in the detector system or screens. Some are better at picking up the shadow of the bullet than others and some work better than others in varying ambient light. As far as I know, Oehler is still ahead of the popular priced competitors with his skyscreens. In fact, Oehler's screens and processor are so dependable that there is really no need at all for their third, or "proof" screen as you'll immediately know if a velocity reading is in error.
As with most electronic products these days, there are a lot of serviceable chronographs. Among them, you can't go wrong with Oehler.
Posts: 13245 | Location: Henly, TX, USA | Registered: 04 April 2001
I have an old Oehler and a Chrony. They read within 20 fps of each other, the Oehler almost never misses a shot, while the Chrony will miss more, but I use it more as its much easier to use and set up.
A shot not taken is always a miss
Posts: 2788 | Location: gallatin, mo usa | Registered: 10 March 2001
I bought a "shooting Crony" for $65 a few years ago...it works for me.
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Posts: 28849 | Location: western Nebraska | Registered: 27 May 2003
I few months ago I was faced with the same question. After much discussion and some research, I went with the Oehler 35.
It is very easy to set up and operate. The numbers are very easy to see. Parts and service are available easily from the manufacturer in Texas. I did not need all the down load and ballistic gizmos that PACT and a few others have. Just a good, easy to use chronograph. I got mine from Midway.
I then picked up a tripod from BEST BUY and have not looked back.
Good Luck.
RCG
Posts: 1132 | Location: Land of Lincoln | Registered: 15 June 2004
I have a PACT, very finicky, missed a lot of readings. I bought a Oehler last year & it's been perfect so far, never miss a reading regardless of light conditions (sunny, cloudy, etc.).
LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT!
Posts: 7752 | Location: kalif.,usa | Registered: 08 March 2001
Dr. Oehler's sky screens are still patent protected. All other chronos will be second rate at detecting ALL your shots until they expire. I decided I could live without the $125 add-on printer...the P in model 35P...cause I record all the info in log book between shots while the barrel cools.
Treat yourself to a 43PBL if you were very, very good this year! Acoustic target is way cool.
Posts: 4799 | Location: Lehigh county, PA | Registered: 17 October 2002
Midway has Chrony's on sale 69.99 for an F1 and 89.99 for an F1 with remote read, I may treat myself to a Merry Christmas beings how they are that cheap, if I don't get another gun first. Ho HO HO!
Posts: 5604 | Location: Eastern plains of Colorado | Registered: 31 October 2005
I will throw the competition electronics digital model into the mix. I have had mine for 3-4 yrs now. I have had really good luck with it. It never misses a shot. I always set up the skyskreens and always put it at least 15 ft from the muzzle. Batteries last for along time. Has been a great product for me! It is a single unit and is a snap to set up. Just a tripod and you are in business. best 100 bucks spent for my reloading ventures.
I,ve owned 3 different chronies and 1 Oehler, Hint, I'm a slow learner which 1 do you think I bought last?
The Texas Oehler people are much more easy to deal with than the India Chrony people and those Texas boys stand behind their product and not with just chit chat. roger
Old age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone..
Posts: 10226 | Location: Temple City CA | Registered: 29 April 2003
Originally posted by Dufur: I will throw the competition electronics digital model into the mix. I have had mine for 3-4 yrs now. I have had really good luck with it. It never misses a shot. I always set up the skyskreens and always put it at least 15 ft from the muzzle. Batteries last for along time. Has been a great product for me! It is a single unit and is a snap to set up. Just a tripod and you are in business. best 100 bucks spent for my reloading ventures.
Ditto, I have had two of the Competition Electronics ProChrono Digital Chronographs ($101.99 at midway) and they work really well. They have about double the effective sky screen area of the Shooters Chronys I have seen, yet cost just a bit more. I gave my first one away to a buddy when I decided to "quit" shooting. Once I came to my senses, I had to get another one. Its' only drawback is that the remote control for it is almost as expensive as the chronograph itself. I wonder why they can't design a wireless remote similar to the remote control for a TV? The LCD numbers are easy to read on the ProChrono, it is just inconvenient to have to go down range to change or review shot strings. On the plus side, if you have the range to yourself, and have the ProChrono mounted on a tripod, it sets up in about a minute.
Bullets are pretty worthless. All they do is hang around waiting to get loaded.
Posts: 515 | Location: kennewick, wa | Registered: 18 May 2004
Have one of the New CED chrono's with the seperate "box of trick". It is the standard for IPSC here in Southern Africa (because the Oliers are not available???). Anyway. Half a dozen of us have bought them since they came out a year or so ago and have had very good results.
Chrony Alot of guys own them - and they are half the price (locally of the CED) and 1/4 of the performance. Don't like too much sun, often miss read a shot...When you are working up loads in a .500NE I really couldn't be bothered with trying three shots to get one reading. Mine died with a bad case of dry joints last year and I donated it to the club for spares to try and get theirs working. Also, We lined up 4 chroies and the first CED that came into the country. Two of the chronies were very close to the CED but the other two were 8% and 9% out! We had chronoed that pistol with that ammo on the official chrono at the world IPSC champs and the CED was within 1% (acceptable given a different day and altitude).
Posts: 3026 | Location: Zimbabwe | Registered: 23 July 2003
a chrony that'll last a long while (provided I don't accidentally shoot it)
True, and funny. As John Barsness said, "If you haven't shot a chrony, you haven't shot much."
I agree with Stonecreek's rundown, though I prefer having the error-checking capability of the proof channel. As Oehler puts it:
quote:
Note: It's easy to claim fantastic accuracy with a chronograph measuring only one velocity. Who checks the claims? You know your accuracy only with the PROOF CHANNEL, or by using two chronographs on each shot. We know our chronographs are more accurate and more reliable, so we invite you to check each shot.
I spend a lot of time at the reloading bench, and I'd prefer to know if a variance is a loading error or a measuring anomaly.
Jaywalker
Posts: 1006 | Location: Texas | Registered: 30 December 2003
Thanks to everyone who responded to my questions. As I suspected, the Oehler seems to be the best. Guess I now know which one to tell St. Nicholas to bring me.
Chrony** 
Oehler 
roger
