I have been reloading for about 2 years and am well overdue for a chrony. What do you think would be the best chronograph for the beginner, as far as easy to use and dependable.
Any recommendations are appreciated.
Thanks,
Mark.

I bought a CED from Dillon. Nice large readout, easy to use and set up. Also has an infrared option which comes in handy in bad light situations when you just have to have a velocity reading. Also, all the electronics sit with you on the bench so when you shoot a sensor (and you will eventually!) you only need to replace a $25 sensor unit.

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RC

I also bucked the Oehler trend and bought a CED. It comes with a cable to download a whole range session of results to your PC. It has separate buttons for all functions (no scrolling and double button pushing like with my old PACT1). Also, not to be overlooked is the low battery indicator. When I would get weird readings on my PACT I always worried it was the battery, and probably wasted a bunch of 9V batteries just to eliminate that varialbe.

I bought mine at:

http://www.shootingsoftware.com/chronographs.htm

Roger

Thanks for your replies. I have looked around a bit, but have never seen one of these. It looks like a really nice set up for the price.
Mark

I have a Pact. It works well. Before that I had a Accuchron from 1960's and before that I made my own ballistic pendulum.

Shooting Chrony will sell you a refurb F1 for $44.95. You'll find units with more bells and whistles, but none that offer a practical advantage in accuracy.

Yes, you will someday drill it. Just try to make that as far in the future as possible.

I just got received a new F1 Chrony and, to be honest, I am less than thrilled with it.

It seems rather sensitive to lighting conditions and I get questionable readings on days with cloud cover coming and going.

Additionally, the muzzle blast of a .375 seems to affect it even when 15 feet away with the remote. I got readings that varied by 90 fps. Same ammo was checked with an Oehler and showed much more consistent readings under the same conditions.

To be fair, this is my first chronograph and I may not be using or setting it up properly. The process seems rather simple but perhaps I am doing something wrong. I get quite a few error displays with it.

Time will tell.

~Holmes

Holmes...

I only use my Chrony when it is sunny, or when the clouds are thin enough that I can see the shadow of my tripod. Under those circumstances, mine works fine. I also don't get good results when clouds are rolling in and out. So your resultsa are consistent with mine.

I haven't had problems with the muzzle blast thing. The largest thing I shoot is an '06, and I put it 10 feet out.

Hey Denton,

From your observations the cloud cover may well have been my problem. From now on I'll use the "shadow" rule and see how it goes.

The muzzle blast theory was simply an assumption on my part when my spotter noticed the skyscreen rods buzzing. Afterward, I waited long enough in between shots for it to settle down. I really didn't think a .375 had that much blast, but then, I never stand in front of them!

Do you use your Chrony primarily with the screens in place then?

Most of my erratic readings were with the screens off with the clouds overhead.

Thanks.

~Holmes