A buddy asked me to post this since i can not help him. He wants a chrono but is torn between these two makes.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=369265

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=306796

Now I have used Chrony (I have an Alpha) with no major problems. Couple of errors here and there when the sun is really bright. Other than that all is ok.
However I do not know anything about the pact, accuracy, sensetivity etc.
So which one should he get and why?


Thanx in advance!

I have used the Pact for many years and have had no problems so far. The advantage to me is that the electronics is separated from the sensors and can be set close to you on the bench

Pop I'd say the are pretty equal. The pact has a little larger (screen defusers) to shoot through and more stable in my opinion. The Pact also has a life time warranty weather you're the first or fifth owner. I think the Pact has a smaller memory. But I never keep track of strings larger than five rounds at time anyway.

Been using my Pact since 1989 its worked great.

I began shooting IPSC in the 80's. Bought a couple of chronos and a timer from PACT as they were cheaper than Competition Electronics They worked for years with very few problems. I did once shoot a set of sky screens with a single shot from an M60 mounted on a tripod though ;>

In the mid 90's my job got very, very busy and the stuff simply got put away.

I dug it out a couple of years ago. Had more trouble than I remembered having with them so called PACT to find out what it would cost to have them refurbished.

I was told quite politely that they were covered by a lifetime warranty and please return them for service.

I did. They came back with no bill. They had been refurbed and the software updated. They even sent new sensors.

I'm a digital electronics guy and I would not expect the electrolytic caps in the device to last that long.

Given their ownership policy ... and the fact that it is hard to shoot the expensive part, the decision is a no brainer for me. PACT all the way!

I have used a Pact chrono for many years. It has been trouble free and I consider it the best money I have ever spent on shooting/reloading equipment.

If an extra $50.00 is doable you might add this to your list.

CED Millennium Chronograph System

I feel that Chrony is the more frangible prefragmented non ricochet chronograph.

This is important to me when I accidentally shoot my chono.

quote:

Originally posted by mstarling:
I was told quite politely that they were covered by a lifetime warranty and please return them for service.

Do you have any idea if the life-time warranty also applies to their electronic scales? I have a Pact scale that the input lead from the transfomer has become loose in. So, when you plug it in you have to monkey with the angle and then brace the inpout cord in just the right position with a piece of wood or some such. Otherwise the scale only stays on abut 3 seconds, then shuts down for lack of power as the weight of the input cord causes the plug to sag in the socket and apparently opens the circuit.

Alberta Canuck

Well you may be in luck.

It says in their ad limited lifetime warranty.

quote:

Originally posted by Jay Johnson:
Alberta Canuck

Well you may be in luck.

It says in their ad limited lifetime warranty.

Jay - Thank you very, very much for the link. I did not know for sure how to reach them, as sometime in the past 11 years I seem to have lost the paperwork for my scale.

I'll call them tomorrow and see what instructions they give me as to shipping, etc.

Thanks again,

AC

You bet bud.

I have used a Pact chronograph and scale for about 12 years. I am very happy, plus they have exellent tech. help.

About 10 years ago, I bought a reconditioned Chrony from the company -- I think it was about $CAD 40 -- that would be about $US 25.

I've used it at the range when friends were using other brands and all were equally accurate. The CED *might* have missed a few less readings, but I am not sure about that. They all seem to miss some shots when it is clear blue skies...

I dropped it once, and it stopped working. I just mailed it back to them (Toronto or Mississauga -- I forget). It came back repaired no charge about 10 days later!

Can't beat service like that -- especially since I effectively bought a used one for peanuts in the first place!

John

Ditto on the Chrony, when you shoot it (yes you will) they will accept the corpse as trade in.
Good Luck!

quote:

Originally posted by hawkins:
Ditto on the Chrony, when you shoot it (yes you will) they will accept the corpse as trade in.
Good Luck!

I think if your careful and give what you're doing some thought that you probably have a low risk of shooting your chronograph. I've been shooting over mine since 1989 and knock on wood it's never been kilt.

quote:

Originally posted by mstarling:
I'm a digital electronics guy and I would not expect the electrolytic caps in the device to last that long.

I wouldn't expect a commercial/consumer electronics vendor to use tantalum electrolytics, but they last a LOT longer than the cheaper, more commonly used aluminum electrolytic capacitors. 30 years is not unreasonable. Or maybe they just got lucky with aluminum...

I'd advise him to look at a Prochrono as well. You can find em' on ebay for 75 at times.

I use to use a chrony that was in about 10 different pieces (You know).

I now have the CHrony and the Prochrono and the pro chrono is much more accurate as well as much easier to set up. I like the buttons on the front as well for changing modes etc.

My chrony gives me erratic readings at times and error readings as well. There has been very few instances when the PC has failed to give a reading and it hardly ever gives an erratic reading.

Good Luck

Reloader

pact, shooting chrony and oelher are all rated at .5% error.

spec is spec.
j

I won a Chrony Beta with remote readout and printer!

Very nice! I like it!

quote:

pact, shooting chrony and oelher are all rated at .5% error.

spec is spec.

Maybe so but, I've seen the chrony brand vary velocities much more than a diff make chrono w/ the same loads, same conditions. I'm talking by substatial amounts of over 200fps, that's alittle more than I'm comfortable with. That Chrony was my first chrono and all the data I had recorded w/ it was useless after I found that it was reading much higher velocities than other chronographs. I believe that particular chrony was just a dud, it was good for nothing but maybe archery equip. You may ask what tipped me to believing that first chrono was a dud? The fact that my 30-30 w/ a 20" tube was shooting like an 06 at safe pressures I checked the loads w/ a different chrono and quickly figured out the problem. It sure had me thinking my 270 was a barn burner at one range session

Good Luck

Reloader