Christmas is coming and I have to think about the shooters in the family.

Who has firsthand experience with chronographs up to $150?

Thanks.

Steve

Roast Chrony with all the trimmings! And it is no turkey! LOL!

You should be able to get a nice wee setup for less than 150 dead presidents.

Cheers

Pete M

Spend the extra bucks and get an Oehler..that way you will only cry once....when you buy it and not when you need to replace something cheaper. When the Oehler gives you a number, you know it's right....about $225 I believe.

Ditto DB Bill.

Like anything on the Planet - you get what you pay for. What good is a chronograph if it is not reliable in all light conditions, or blows the data string from time to time? You can waste a lot of time and ammo attempting to glean useful information from a cheap chrono. Oehler�s are expensive for a reason - they are the most accurate and reliable chrono on the market.

[This message has been edited by Zero Drift (edited 11-27-2001).]

Pact Makes a good one. I have had mine for 10 years and no problems. Look them up on the net.

One of my Oehlers packed up about two weeks ago. It has been in use since 1989 and has traveled thousands of Kms on dirt roads. It spent most of the last five years in the trunk of a car from below zero to 40 degrees C. I have lost count of how many times the skyscreens have been glued together after being hit and I cannot remember it failing to give a reading. It does not like sunset and stops working when the sun goes down. If I cannot fix it, I will buy another.

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Gerard Schultz
GS Custom Bullets

I've used a Chrony for over 10yrs. (same one) It doesn't have all the whistles and bells but it does what I need it to do which is tell me how fast my bullets are going.

OEHLER is the way to go. I bought a used model #33 four years ago and have sent a bunch of lead through the sky screens! I had one of the push-button switches go bad last year! I emailed Oehler about parts availability (This is an OLD,USED 70's model 33)they promptly emailed me back and said, not only are switches on hand but they are covered under a lifetime warranty!!! They gave me the option of sending the unit to them for service or if I felt comfortable changing them myself they would send me the parts also at NO CHARGE!! That's 20+ years & at least 3 owners, NOW THAT'S A WARRANTY. The switches showed up three days later. It took aprox.15 minutes to change both switches & was back at the range!!! You get what you pay for!

Have Fun!!

http://www.oehler-research.com/

[This message has been edited by tsturm (edited 11-27-2001).]

Been using my Chrony for the past 5 years with little/no problems. Put a piece of Scotch tape over the sky screens{makes it work in about any light}. I always take a .22 along just to make sure it's working{ not lieing}. Warranty is good too! You shoot it...they fix it for a small charge. Have not had mine jump in front of a bullet yet, but a friend has killed 2 chrony's.sh*t happens to some people. Dan

The counters on any of the brands are about the same, perhaps even identical, so there's really not much to argue about there. The main difference is in the screens.

The Chrony is handy and compact. For compactness, you give up the accuracy of wider screen spacing. Chrony screens are probably not as reliable as more expensive brands (in terms of discriminating the shadow of the passing bullet). But it's economical, and will do for most casual reloaders. I wouldn't give you a plugged skyscreen for the "features" of the upscale models -- just give me the velocity reliably one shot at a time.

Oehler is the granddaddy of consumer chronographs and is very good. His skyscreens, however, are not infallible, so be prepared to recheck a shot or two when the light is funky. If you experience an aberration, you'll know it, and that makes the proof channel somewhat superfluous. Oehler offers the flexibility to use various screen spacings, and the wider spacings do increase accuracy a tad. Mine is set for 4 feet.

I don't have any experience with Pact, but understand that they're just fine -- but too close in price to an Oehler to justify going with them instead of the original.

I have an Oehler, but may buy a Chrony so I can do some down-range simultaneous chronographing to check velocity loss and real ballistic coefficient. It'll be interesting to compare the two side-by-side.

Seems like they all have something to offer. Pact seems to have the sturdier screens and base. Oehler the better quality and the prof channel capability. Chrony the greater portability. Between Pact and Oehler, seems like Pact has allot I don't need doing my ballistics on both home, and notebook computers. Printing capability is nice, but they both offer this, at around the same price. So seems my purchase is going to come down to the stability of the basses, light considerations, and reliability. So my questions are:

(1) I've heard that in low light conditions, you get more reliable results by removing the top light difuser. I know you can do this with the Pact, but not sure about the Oehler. How many of you have tried this?

(2) With the Oehler all three screens supported from a single 1/2" electrical conduit, is pretty flimsey. While Pact has uses two 1/2" box tubes with welded on brackets. For those of you that have the Oehler, how sturdy is their base?

Phil

I mounted mine on a 2x2 x 3/16x 6' Aluminum angle, & you can leave the top of the sky screens off for low light problems.

Hey, you guy's are the best! Now if you can just tell me where to purchase the Oehler 35P at a more reasonable price than what's posted on their website store. I'll be for-ever gratefull.

Phil

For the money, I'd buy a Shooting Chrony. The Oehler may be a tad more accurate, but what are you, a ballistics lab? Get real, save your $$$ for something more important, and enjoy the easy set-up and compactness of the Chrony.

My shooting partner has the Oehler and it is a pain-in-the-ass to set up and balance, for which you really need 2 tripods, and a big duffle to store everything. The Chrony stores in its own case basically, and a little soft tool bag holds everything else.

I can look in a manual and find as accurate of information as I get from my Crony brand cronys period. I have two, and they both read up to 150fps differant with 80-100 being the norm. One is not always higher and there is no expanation other than I got what I payed for, useless numbers. The Oehler is the way to go here and don't let anybody talk you out of it! I bought another Crony thinking I would verify the first one with it and it made me sick, what I felt all along. I could own an Oelher right now but am dishing out $$ for what I should have in the beginning. I havn't ordered one yet but am checking prices too. I'll let you know where I find a good buy.

Later
Brent

I also want an Ohler. Any options to consider or stay away from?

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"A school of Tuna led by a Shark can beat a school of Sharks led by a Tuna"

Most divorces are based on disagreements over small matters, so are most murders.

I mentioned one of my Oehlers packing up a while back. This is the chronograph we use for field work and it has had a tough life. It is used mostly by staff and when it came back with the advice that it "stopped working", I asumed something bad automatically.

I plugged in the screens and replaced the battery and it remained dead. After some checking with a test meter and finding and apparent short circuit, I e-mailed Oehler with the symptoms.

This morning I received an e-mail from James Bohls at Oehler with the opinion that there is something wrong with the printer and describing some checks that I could do to verify this. I switched off the printer on one of the internal switches and the machine worked perfectly. Closer examination of the printer showed that it simply ran out of paper and the folded end jammed the mechanism thereby preventing it from switching off. I removed the paper and the machine works like a charm.

Thank you to James at Oehler for a detailed reply and I am sorry I hassled them with a problem as trivial as a printer running out of paper. Proof that one must always look at basics before taking the whole thing to pieces and making an ass of yourself.

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Gerard Schultz
GS Custom Bullets

Big 50, your results are one-of-a-kind. Maybe you are giving off some kind of electromagnetic field based on your diet?

I've never had a lick of trouble with my Chrony. Most other users like it just fine. I test the same load on different days with set up and take down - - no difference in results.

A friend who posts here has the Oehler. It's a pain in the ass to set up and take down. On top of which, the mounting of those three huge screens is flimsy and weak and imprecise. The result is inaccurate and inconsistent readings that are so far off from the loading manuals as the machine has to be at fault. The Chrony results on the same day were as predicted and presumably accurate.

I think the Oehler would be better if you set it up permanently and didn't move it.

I have shot my Oehler with two proof (2' rail) channels right next to Kudukings Shooting Chronoy. It is just as accurate from what I have seen and it is much easier to set up at the range.

The Oelher is a good thing but a huge pain in the balls. If I lived in the sticks I would love it because I wouldn't have to hump everything too and from the range, but I don't, it just adds a lot more luggae to the journey.

I would save a few bucks and buy the cheap one, only one cord to worry about, easy to set up and you can afford to blow it up.

True, the shooting area is much smaller, and you may have to tape the sky screens together, but I think it is a good if not better option for MOST shooters.

If you want to look like a player, get the Oelher you will love it, but don't feel like you are missing out on a lot.

___________________

www.rifleshooter.com

[This message has been edited by Bill (edited 12-07-2001).]