I need to purchase a chronograph. Would like to hear opinions on which to buy. Not interested in a lot of bells and whistles, just good accuracy and user friendlyness. I will not use it that much.

Since Oehler no longer sells chronographs to the public, being tied up with military contracts, I would recommend you buy a PACT
chronograph.

I have a Pact and it just very well. I also have an old Oehler model 33. I have hooked them up on the same mounting system and shot over them simultaneously. The readings were very close, the Pact averaging about 25 fps faster at speeds of 3000 to 3800.

The Pact will give you all the info you need and then some. Mine has all sorts of programs on it that I never use.

Others will say differently, but I would not have a Chrony for free. I have seen way too many guys at the range getting all sorts of weird answers on one of those things. One guy was claiming 3400 fps out of his 7mm Rem Mag, but when we put it over my Oehler it would not make 3100. He claimed my chronograph was broken, of course.

R Flowers,

Is the Pact Model 1 XP sufficient or is the Pact Professional XP the way to go? I am just interested in accurate velocity measurements.

I have used the same Chrony for 8-10 years. Only issue I have had is the two (or is it 3) piece sun screen is a royal pain. I used clear tape and taped them together. My buddy had a high $$ set up that went back for repairs 3 or 4 times. I'm not sure of the brand. Mine very seldom missed a shot. It read within a few fps of the high $$ when his worked. He trashed his and bought a Chrony.

Major problem with high readings from a Chrony I've seen is not having the unit fully open and flat. Thus giving a shorter distance between screens.

I've owned 3 Chronies. I now own an Oehler. But than I've always been a slow learner. Get the Pact and avoid all those long distance calls to India and some really uncaring people! roger

The first chronograph I had was a ProChrono and it worked great, nothing fancy but just dependable. Another shooter I took as a guest to my private club range took it out with a 270. He bought me another just like the one I had and I used it for a few more years and just recently executed it with my 45Auto (good grief). I have used a Shooting Chrony before and that is what I bought to replace the one I put a slug through. They all worked like they are supposed to and other than not being bullet proof never had a dime's worth of trouble out of any of them. I plan on using a lot more care from now on but just remember they can be shot and killed so don't spend too much on one.

It's all about the screens & Oehler makes the best. I have a PACT & the screens just don't cut it. I've missed many shots over the screens, mine at least, needed perfect lighting conditions. I bought the Oehler & it's been chronograph bliss.
I have heard good things about the CED Millenium & would probably look that way for a new one. My PACT hasn't been reliable & I have had too many friends tell me about their Chronie experiences.

I own the Pact Professional XP and really like it. But, I really do not use all the gadgets it has on it. The Pact Model 1 XP will most likely do all that you want and more.

The Professional model just has more ballistic programs and stuff on it. The Model 1 XP will still give you velocity, average, extreme spread, standard deviation, etc.

Oddly enough, I had more problems with my old Oehler Model 33 not reading bullets in poor light than I ever have with the Pact. Especially when shooting Nosler bullets. A call to Oehler got a response of "try blackening the bullets with a sharpy".

One thing about the Pact that is an aggravation is that when the battery dies, it just dies! I ALWAYS carry extra 9 volt batteries with me. The old Oehler used 6 D battereies, but it would warn you when they were on their way out.

What about the CED chronographs. Anybody got anything good, bad, or otherwise to sy about them?

In my last post, I was really meaning to ask about the Computer Electronics ProChrono. I was under the impression at the time that CED and Computer Electronics was the same company but I think I was wrong on that.

Anyway, as far as basic accuracy, I have heard good things about the little Computer Electronics ProChrono unit. Anybody got any positive or negative things to say about that one? (besides luckyduckers one above)