My wife bought me a chrony a few years ago and I used it a few times. I would place it on a camera tripod and bore sight through the bolt to be sure the projectile would pass throgh the "V" shaped rods. One day I shot the damn thing - hit a rod.
Can the projectile pass above the sun shade? Just tell me what the hell I did wrong.

I have been using a Shooting Chrony for many years. It sounds like there is no problem with your setup, just watch your aiming point carefully. I set my Chrony on a tripod about fifteen feet from the muzzle, twenty five feet for my 7mm STW, and always shoot from a bench with a forend rest to keep the muzzle aligned well. I have a 100 yd range and bench on my property, so am able to often chrono the load at the same time I shoot for group size.
I doubt that your chrony is sensitive enough to "see" the bullet through the light diffusion screens. On an overcast day the Chrony works very well with out the "sun shades" in place. I use the wire V uprights as an aiming reference though.
If I place a bullet above the top of the wires the sensors will often not detect it.

Idaho Shooter

Koerther,
You are not alone! There was a thread on this forum a year or two ago asking people to 'fess up on how they shot their chrony. The replies rose well into the triple digits as I remember!

I am sure that the only reason that I have not shot a chrony is that I have never used a chrony. I have seen a couple of bullet riddled units in gunsmiths shops next to the barrel bursts and other relics of interest.

Chuck Graber

A friend of mine set up his Chrony with the "V" rods and told his wife to shoot through it. She did. She didn't know he meant through the "V", and she centered the chronograph.

The sun screens on a chrono are intended to block sunlight from glaring on the photo-electic sensors. They block the sun. They'll also block the shadow of the bullet passing over the sensor.

I use an Oehler with three screens. The screens are mounted 2' apart . . . 4' total distance from the first screen to the last.

I set the screens on a camera tripod and steady the pod with a 20 lb sandbag -- just to hold it steady. This setup sits about a yard in front of the muzzle -- the first screen a yard from the muzzle, the last screen about 7' from it.

Oehler provides a screen system that is pretty generously sized compared to what I see on other systems. I aim through the screens and shoot off a bench using a bench rest and sandbags. Typically I'm shooting 100 yd groups, scoped and the target is a one-inch circle -- six of these laid out on a 8 1/2" X 11" of standard printer paper off the computer printer.

I've used this system for unscoped rifles and handguns too. Semi-auto pistols, revolvers, black powder rifles, AK-47 (SAR1), Garand, Mausers.

Oehler screens and supports are high-tech polymer and designed to withstand muzzle blast. The sandbag weighted tripod is stable and the whole system does not move . . . although it flutters from the muzzle blast.

Oehler states precisely in their warranty that they'll replace a screen if it somehow gets damaged from "normal wear/tear" -- "but if you shoot it, you need to replace it." I think a sensor and screens runs about $40.

So . . . not to get on anyone's case here, but . . .

I have some $350.00 in hardware out in front of the muzzle. Accordingly, I'm damn careful about where the muzzle is pointing. I don't want to shoot my chrono any more than I'd want accidently to shoot someone on the range.

But I think the sensors that get shot are the smaller setups. And 15' distance from the muzzle sounds like way too far away to position the sensor. A couple feet from the muzzle. The machine is intended to manage the muzzle blast.

I've got a Chrony also and it helps to keep your scope on low power then you can see the screen rods on the edge of the sight picture. You can mark the rods for the correct distance above the sensors.

I have placed the chrony 8' in front of the muzzle with good results, even with my 338 w/muzzle brake. Haven't shot it yet, been worried about it with each set up though.

Whenever I use my Chrony I set A target stand right behind the Chrony. I shoot the target before I set up on a tripod. This way I set the Chrony so my shots are in a safe area over top of the Chrony.
eveready

My procedure is pretty simple, if you setup your target downrange first and set the rifle or pistol in the rest aimed at the bull, move your head back and to the side and sight down the side of the barrel to see if the tripod(s) need to move up or down to be about 4-6" above the screens.

I do this first then move the screen(s) left or right to center them up with the crosshairs/sights still on the bull.

The diffusers and rods really help get things in line but are only really needed on clear blue sky days or other times with low light. Most of the time I don't use them.

Personally, I set them up at least 8 feet out. If only 2 feet out the muzzle blast just blows them around somethin fierce, my old Crony models would mostly only get errors if subjected to the blast like that. The Oehlers are never that close with mine so don't know about them. The extra movement it causes can't be good anyway.

I wish I could say I never blew a hole through a Crony, but It aint so. After I did, twice, I wised up a bit and never have since. It's not hard to keep from it if you think about it a little first.

One suggestion, someone asks to use it, say no, or ya sure but I'll be doing the shooting though.

If shooting pistols through them especially, you better not be a flincher!!! You'll find out the hard way if you are! My father and my brother are the only ones I let use my Oehler, period.

When I first got my Chrony Beta Master a few years ago I was at the range and had it working just fine with my 700ADL 30-06. So after firing a few strings, I decided to switch to my AR-15. You know, most of the time it doesn't matter that the scope center to bore distance is 1.5 inches on a bolt gun and more like 2.5 inches on an AR with carrying handle. But if you set the Chrony up with the bolt gun, have the bullet whizzing only an inch above the sensors, and then switch to the AR, using the same target to aim at ... BLAM! I put the 55 grainer right through the thing. The good news was that Chrony only charges something like $25-$30 to replace "shot out" units.

What I do now is the same thing someone else suggested, set up the Chrony with the scope on its lowest power so I can see the rods on either side. Then I make sure the crosshairs strike about halfway up on the skyscreen rods (where the rod connector is).

[ 12-31-2002, 23:27: Message edited by: Kentucky Fisherman ]

I've shot my PACT's detectors a number of times. Mostly it has been on days with unfavorable light, and I've been trying to shoot as low over the detectors as possible. The holes are usually easy to repair with masking tape.

I have thought up a pretty good solution. At 8 feet, what the bullet hits is about 1.5" below what my crosshairs are on. If I put a strip of masking tape across the legs of the sky screen 1.5" above the front detector and make sure I aim above the tape, the bullet passes below the tape but (low) over the detector. You might hit the tape on the first try, but that's easily repaired with more tape.

H. C.