Hi fellers, I'm new here. I was over on shooters and I guess their closing on the 1st of january. I have a question and was needing some advice.
Mrs. Woolybooger got me a Shooting Chrony for Christmas and I tried it out this evening. I shot my Super Blackhawk 44 mag, Single six 32 mag, SP101 357 (38s in it) and my Ruger 22 K Hornet. All rounds were reloads but for one turn of WW +p 158 gr lswchp that I use in my SP101.
This is my first use of a chronagraph, and every reload I shot was faster than than my manuals figures. The 44 was 40 fps faster with 2" less barrel. The 38 load was 60 fps faster with 3" less barrel. The K-Hornet was 100 fps fast with 35gr bullet and 200 fps fast with the 45 gr load.Barrel length was the same. I used the K-Hornet data for Lilgun powder from Hodgdon web site. The other loads are from Sierra and Hornady manuals.
The one factory load was right on with an article in Handguns magazine.
So here I am with my brand new chrony and am puzzled!! Is this normal or am I balled up for nothing? Any help is welcome.
Thanks
W.B.

Don't worry about it.I am actually surprised when my velocities match book velocities.Due to variances in chambers,barrels and components, book velocities are at best only rough estimates of what a load will do in your gun.

Can you find someone with a good Oehler cronograph that you could use as a comparison at the same time with the same loads? This will tell you what you have. My Shooting Cronys both gave two different readings when placed in front of one another and varied which one was faster sometime by as much as 200 fps. When I got my Oehler 35P I found reality every time I used it and my frustration and bewilderment completely went away. I have heard good and bad both about the Shooting Cronys and one conclusion I've honestly made is CONSISTANCY from unit to the next is NOT GOOD at all. Oehler does not have this reputation at ALL. My best advice is to use an Oehler to see which side yours falls on. I could have lived with mine if I knew it was always reading a certain amount high or low, but found they BOTH jumped around so far and so much and just weren't consistant in any way and I was sich of $%cking with them to no end and got the Oehler. Life is good now. Good luck with yours.

Anyone with an Oehler will probably be happy to show you how great theirs is by letting you compare yours to theirs, for your sake I hope you have one that shows them the same.

Thanks fellers, I plan to try some of my other rifles this weekend. I'll see how it does with them. Thanks for the help!
W.B.

Rugers have a reputation for tight chambers and bores. This frequently results in Ruger giving higher velocities than many other firearms. I have an old Chrony F1 and it has been very reliable and accurate.

Wooleybooger -- The only thing the books tell you is what they recorded on a particular day with their test rifle or pistol. The individual barrel, chamber, load, conditions, etc. has everything to do with that test. It would be next to impossible for you to duplicate that exact scenerio. The best you can do is get close. One thing for sure, your tests will tell you the best information about your particular load, under your conditions. I have used chronys and Oehlers, they all give good information. I would calibrate a chrony with a Oehler if at all possible, somewhere down the line. I would also average several strings of shots, before drawing final conclusions about loads. Good luck and good shooting.

Stans and phurley are right and their comments explain much of why real chrono numbers seldom match the figures in manuals.

The thing you've gotta realize is that a chrony is a lot like a bathroom scale: Even the most expensive one is really only good for comparing weights measured on THAT scale.

One of the best uses for a chrony is in load development. Assuming you bump the powder up in small, equal increments (0.1 or 0.2 grains per load), record the increases in velocity. Somewhere close to the max listed in your manual, you should see the velocity curve on your recorded numbers flatten out. (Obviously you also watch for other pressure signs at the same time, things such as primer condition and the force needed to opent the bolt.) Wherever your velocity flattens out, you should back off that figure from one-half to a full grain (for rifle loads) and use that as your max.

If you've fired 3- or 5-shot groups with all these powder weights, then you can evaluate those groups to determine the best powder weights/velocities for further investigation. There's more to working up a load than just this, obviously, but this process illustrates one good use for a chrony.

I sure thank all you guys for the help. My concern was that my Chrony was measuring fast because of the readings I was getting. I had nothing to compare them to but the manuals. Everything I shot was faster. I went to the range today with my 25-06,220 Swift and my K-Hornet. The Hornet was within 50 fps of what I had yesterday. The swift was 50 fps slower and the 25 was 30 fps slower than my guesstimation using the manuals. All were the average of 2, 10 shot strings. I'm happy with the Chrony, but I will take your advice and check it with another type as soon as I can.
As I said yesterday, Mrs. Woolybooger gave it to me as a Christmas present and today I came home and carried all my rifles and stuff to the front porch before I parked my truck. When I parked my ride and came in the house she had allready packed it all downstairs to the basement. God I love that women!!
Thanks
W.B.

Woolybooger, if you look in two different manufacturer's loading manuals for the same load, you can find printed velocities of greater than 50fps difference. Like others said, velocities vary greatly from one barrel to the next. Also, when testing consistency, remember that temperature variations can cause major velocity changes depending on which powder you use. I can actually feel the difference in recoil on a hot day.

Again I thank all you guys for the help. I'm having a ball with the Chrony now. I went back to the range this morning, working up a IMR 4064 load in my swift. I have always figured that the smallest extreme spread and standard deviation was the sign of a more consistant load and would give the tightest groups. But so far my most accurate loads are between the two extreems. You all have seen this but it's all new to me! I have been reloading for 26 years and it's my first chronagraph.
Buy the way the swift shot a .35 3 shot group @ 100. I only loaded three rounds each of different weight powder so I don't know for sure but it looks good so far. Thanks
W.B.

[ 12-28-2002, 22:02: Message edited by: Woolybooger ]