Well I am still reloading, I don't know if thats a good thing or a bad? I suppose in my wifes eyes its not really a good thing, since I am always buying new and needed things everytime I go to the store. I even tried to get her involved so she could reload while I am out hunting...
Now I am looking for a chronograph, I am uncertain what I am looking for. I have a whole bunch of questions concerning the chronograph, Does the wind effect it? What am I looking for? And what desired effect on my rounds am I looking for?
I received good feedback from this site in the past so any would help.

Been loading 40+ years and never owned a chrono. If they are all going in the same hole with the proper bullet for your shooting discipline, it's just a matter of satisfying your curiosity. Zero at 100, shoot 200 and measure your drop. With todays ballistic charts, ballistic coeffiients, and vast tabled data you can come within 50 fps. Spend your hard earned money on developing your loads.

i'll get some heat from this one too, but i've got one and after i used it for about 2 weeks and found out a few loads it's been useless since. Like 30378 says you shoot, see what your drop is at various ranges. but of course i really don't give a chit what the nth degree of velocity is

I find a chrono assists in working up a load and getting a consistent load. I use a Pro Chrono with good results at about $100. They're not a necessity but I do like having it available.

Ken....

I use a Chrony to add a touch of reality to my life.

Handloading without benefit of a chronograph is about like using a computer without a monitor to look at. You can punch the keys and make it work, but it's largely anybody's guess what the results are.

The electronics of any chronograph on the market are all essentially the same and all very good. The difference comes in the quality of the bullet detector screens. The Chrony brand is said to be the least reliable in this regard (although in the right light it apparently works just fine), while the now unavailable Oehler skyscreens were excellent. There are undoubtedly some improved screens on the market these days, so look around at some reviews to see who's making good ones. The price is going to range from just under a hundred bucks to just over two hundred, so you might as well get the one that appears to work best.

For me and the type of shooting I do the chronograph is an extremely usefull tool. Testing many loads in many rifles useing a plethora of bullets and powder types, It helps emensely to aquire a more complete data package for later reference. roger

I have a chrony.....I use it and recommend one....

I reloaded for thirty years without one.....but wouldn't do without one today.....just don't take it too seriously......it's just a number!

http://www.dillonprecision.com...illenium_Chronograph

Bought it a few weeks ago and am still wondering why I put up with the Chrony for so long.

WS

quote:

Originally posted by Whopper Stopper:
http://www.dillonprecision.com...illenium_Chronograph

Bought it a few weeks ago and am still wondering why I put up with the Chrony for so long.

WS

I have a Chony and I do like it. But this one here, damn!

I have the older CED Millinuem and like it a lot. I should have gotten one a long time ago. It has been replaced by the newer Millineum II.

quote:

Originally posted by Whopper Stopper:
http://www.dillonprecision.com...illenium_Chronograph

Bought it a few weeks ago and am still wondering why I put up with the Chrony for so long WS

roger

I don't wade into the "opinion waters" very often, but I have been reloading for 45 years, and have done it for something over 35 cartridges, so I assume my input has some value. That said, I think that the single most important reloading tool that I own is the chronograph. I learned long ago that every rifle is different, and each one reacts differently to the infinite combination of powders, bullets, primers, bullet seating depths, etc. that I can concoct. Add to that the vagrancies of the human nervous system in the shooting process, plus Mother Nature's vatriables like wind, temp, pressure and humidity, and it is a wonder how we ever determine an optimum load for a given rifle. The chronograph eliminates, or at least helps to quantify, the effects of these variables. I don't believe there are any absolute truths in reloading relative to accuracy, but in general, a load with consistently low exteme velocity spreads and low standard deviations between velocities will be most accurate. Simply shooting a 3 or 5 shot group and noting its size just doesn't cut it, and if ES and SD are high, it is probably not replicable consistently. And if it is a consistently accurate load, I'll bet it has a low ES and SD. Relaoding and exterior ballistics is much more of a science than an art; modern technology has provided us a very useful tool to harness that science, and in doing so produce more consistently accurate loads in each gun we own. My advice: use it! IMO

Gotta agree with Butchloc and 30378 - chronographs tell Velocity but you do not need one to develop excellent Loads. Used them a good bit many years ago and realized it was all a waste of time and effort.

The best thing that will come out of "buying" one is that you will actually Stimulate the Economy - unlike the Porkulus Bologna floating through Washington. So, if you are going to waste money on one - make it an expensive one.

quote:

Originally posted by Hot Core:
Gotta agree with Butchloc and 30378 - chronographs tell Velocity but you do not need one to develop excellent Loads. Used them a good bit many years ago and realized it was all a waste of time and effort.

The best thing that will come out of "buying" one is that you will actually Stimulate the Economy - unlike the Porkulus Bologna floating through Washington. So, if you are going to waste money on one - make it an expensive one.

I've used a chrony and a PACT model for quite a few years. I like em for load development. It's nice to know your actual velocity as opposed to thinking you know what it is. My PACT has a ballistic calculator which I use to plot the trajectory of my handloads. I then test fire to verify the trajectory is accurate which so far always has been and carry it in my wallet for reference.

Having a chronograph is not critical as long as you watch for pressure signs and stay close to the loading book recommendations for powder charge etc. it's just another nice tool to have.

"Don't need no stinking Badges"
If you are happy going through life with blinders on I see no reason to complicate your being with peripheral Knowledge. roger

Chronographs separate the "liers from the bullsh... ers".

Yeah me too, a chronograph is very useful tool. I like knowing what my loads do, not guessing. It is an eye opener to find out that one 4" 357mag is 200fps slower than the other or that you really can't get 3100fps from that particular load in the manual. It just makes bullet drop & longer distance shooting easier. Do you need one? No, but I like using one. The best, Oehler, but they no longer sell to tthe public. The Chronie series leaves me cold as I am shooting at the guts of the machine, not just screens. The PACT I still have, screens were of poor quality. The CEd is supposed to be very good but I haven't tired one. http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...productNumber=773378

I have had my Pact chronograph for 20 years. I often work up loads without it, but when I find the most accurate load for a particular gun, I then verify the "book" velocity with actual.I would equate not having one to tuning a car without a timing light, or in more modern nomenclature an air fuel ratio meter. Sure it might feel right, but is it? The result with too lean amixture is detonation and a blown motor. With a gun, possibly pressure issues and the resulting consequences.

quote:

Originally posted by 33806whelen:
...With a gun, possibly pressure issues and the resulting consequences.

Velocity does not equate to Pressure - too many variables in the chamber, bore, case, primer powder, bullet, seating depth, environmental factors, etc.

Sorry folks, you still can't tell what the Pressure is by looking at the Velocity. Just doesn't work that way. Never has, never will.