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Alright Guys this is is a two part question, looking at getting a chrono, and wondering everybodys thoughts, Performance, price and set up and break down. Second looking for a way to test bullets and penetration, But i need the abitlity to set it up and break it down to go to and from my range. Suggestions... Thanks Matt Simply, Elegant but always approachable | ||
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I know you didn't ask, but I quit spending money chrono's ... I shot two in row on accident ... Nothing more embarrassing than exploding one on the range and having to pick up the pieces during a cease-fire. I sum it up to being a dork... | |||
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Shooting Chrony Model F-1 - $99 - Simple, Accurate, Reliable, Easy set up / down - Uses one 9v battery - Fits inside a 30cal ammo can As for testing, nothing beats the real thing... There is a lot of info on various bullets here at AR & on the net, just use a BS filter. Save the time & money testing bullets yourself on an imitation when they've already been proven in the real world. Buy premium bullets that are accurate in your rifle, practice a lot, and make good shots. | |||
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 Von Gruff. | |||
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I have a Chrony F-1 and an Oehler 35. The Oehler 35 is a pain in the butt to set up. The Chrony is a breeze to put up. I have set them up end-to-end and they register within 25-50 fps of one another. That is close enough for me. 90% of the time when I go to the range I take by Chrony. Mike | |||
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Great info guys, is there any diffrence between the Chrony F1 and the Chrony F1 Master. I completly green to the chronos Matt Simply, Elegant but always approachable | |||
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I've had the F1 Master for several years, great little chrony, difference is it has a remote display that sits on the bench. The only thing I didn't like was the 3-pc diffusers, I superglued them together to make them 1-pc, muchc easier to set up, also use wood dowels instead of the steel supports, less likely to break the chrono if I happen to hit one of em. http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/58267-1.html http://www.midwayusa.com/viewp...productnumber=688064 http://www.realguns.com/Commentary/comar44.htm | |||
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I also use a shooting chrony f1. Love it. Start off with cheap model and upgrade as you go if you want. I got mine for 79. | |||
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I have been using a Pact for many years, closest model now looks like x1. Reliable, simple to use, batteries last a year +. Sensor bar sits on a cheap tripod, setup is a snap. After about 10+ years I replaced the sky screens because the plastic tabs had broken off; the new ones were quite a bit stouter than the old ones. The only caution is to watch the wind, the tripod, if not weighted, can blow over. C.G.B. | |||
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I've had an Oehler and Chrony my buddy a Pact and something else. The Oehler and Chrony gave us the most consistant reading with the Oehler being as close enough to the Chrony to be called the same readings. Like was mentioned I made my Chrony diffuser into one piece. I would pay extra to get the control and readout close. Makes it easier for my old eyes to see and deal with on a public range. As usual just my $.02 Paul K | |||
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Use the best one you can afford. You get what you pay for. I have an Ohler 35 P for 30 years and it has only failed once. Ken Oheler serviced it and fixed it for FREE. Can't beat that. It works every weekend. Good Shooting Tetonka DRSS Big Bore Bolt Trash Band of Bubbas Band of 45-70' ers | |||
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True. But if all you want to buy is a good working chronograph, without a bunch of bells & whistles, then a Chrony is all you have to pay for. I have an Oehler and a Chrony. I bought the Chrony direct from them on their website as one of their "refurbished" ones, and they delivered it to my door for $40. (They are a little more than that these days.) It has been perfectly reliable for 12 years now. My Chrony reads within 10 f.p.s. of my Oehler and is light-years quicker to set up. I carry the Chrony in the back of my little shooting rig ALL the time, 24/7/365, since it takes almost no space. So guess which one I use at the range 99+ % of the time? (Hint: its name doesn't start with an "O".) | |||
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I like my Oehler but the hundred dollar PRO-CHRONY is by far the best for every day use.. I hated that little Red box bitch that some claim to be perfection, That Chrony wasted ammo by not recording because unless you built a sun screen over the top and waited until the 3 day of the second week of the 6th leap year for it to work, you had to use cardboard to keep the sun off it but still keep the light on it, what a deal, or you could wait unti a cloudly day. but in the meantime I stuck a 458 Lott through the little red box, so that ended my F-1 or whatever it was, and my search for another everyday chronograph got me a Pro Chrony and I have been a happy camper ever since..Just my experience. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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I bought a Chrony Gamma Master a while back & it has been 100% reliable. The remote readout & printer have made recording results simple. After reading somewhere about the damage done when a bullet hits the metal skyscreen supports, I did as suggested & replaced them with wooden dowels, which paid off when a mate proved less than stellar in his understanding of what "shoot over the sensors" meant. The Shooting Chrony ballistics program is however a waste of space, as I've never managed to get it to upload onto any of several PC's & laptops. | |||
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Most of the IPSC crowed have switched to CED chrono's. I have one, and it is easy to use and set up, although it comes with many functions ideal for IPSC (like doing the power factor -ME etc built in). I also have an oehler. For both I built a metal stand to hold the sky screens with a piece of 20mm Bennox armour plate in front. I have the illuminated covers for the CED sky screens so leave that set up on my indoor range and use the Oehler outside. with hard recoiling guns from the shooting bench and expensive bullets I don't want missed readings or errors so that I have to fire extra shots. The Chrony's are fine for casual use and some I have seen are very very good...as consistent as my CED and nearly as sensitive, others have been either slightly erratic in their readings or out by as much as 2% in velocity. Also the Chrony's do pack up after a few years.. dry joints or whatever in the cuircuit board. The CED's and Oelhers seem to last much longer. Test media? Wet newspaper or bricks of expired Zimbabwe bank noates are cheap and repeatable. You can buy a new US brand of balistic Gel that doesn't have to be refridgerated and can be melted down and recast several hundred times...but darn is it expensive! | |||
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I've had a couple chronys,shot over I don't know how many, and found them to be a frustrateing piece of crap. When they weren't missing shots they were makeing up numbers. A few of us got CEDs in the last while and have no problems at all. | |||
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Hi Ganyana, do you know who produces this gel? Sounds like a great product. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition” ― Rudyard Kipling | |||
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Dear Matt: I've owned and used an Oehler 35 w/o the printer since 1998. I learned more about reloading in 1/2 hour with the chronographed results then in the prior 21 years of reloading. I think Oehler is back in production after a lag. Sincerely, Chris Bemis | |||
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Been using the F1 Chrony for 12 years, never a problem although I did blow the defusers off with muzzle blast from my 470 when I had it too close. The only failure I have seen was unit that was center punched by a 180gr 308 round.  Jim "Bwana Umfundi" NRA | |||
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Owned a Oehler 35 for years. Maybe it is the most accurate out there as some people claim but it is a royal pain in the ass to sit up. And this caused it to be left home instead of carting it to the range. Smartest thing I ever did was to sell it and bought a CED to replace it. My biggest fear is when I die my wife will sell my guns for what I told her they cost. | |||
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I have had a Shooting Chrony Gamma for over 15 years and is very reliable. Better than my mate's Pro Chrono which was a dud. He went for the Gama model as well. The CED looks very neat & modern. "When the wind stops....start rowing. When the wind starts, get the sail up quick." | |||
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Everybody, This all ahs been great info about the chronos and i think i am going to stick with the pro chrony as I caN always upgrade, and for right now it will not be used as much as i would like too. Ganyana, I know the traditional materals for bullet testing, and i appreciate the input I am sorry for no making that clearer, though i looking to see if anybody has a portable box or method to transport and set up on a universal range. Matt Simply, Elegant but always approachable | |||
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reusable balistic gel - www.perma-gel.com Since I have sacks of it, I still use the original stuff that has to be made up and temperature controlled but gather most folk have gone over to this. I bought one block and was very impressed with how consistent it was. for testing solids Charlie Haley uses an elephant front leg bone with wet paper stacked in a baffel box behind. Trick is to get a bone that is fairly fresh. Once they have dried out they offer less than half the resistance to a bullet that a wet one does. Have no idea how the hell to re-create that in the states? Perhaps the ceramic plates out of a level 4 vest? Elephant leg bone stop FMJ 7,62 NATO just and easily stops 7,62x39 so should be approximately the same at the ceramic plates in terms of total 'stopability' but the leg bone spreads the stopping out over a much greater distance. | |||
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Trying again...Reusable temperature stable balistic gel. WWW.perma-gel.com on a bullet test media- charlie haley uses a (fresh) elephant front leg backed by wet paper in a baffle box. Elephant front leg will stop .7,62 NATO ball so perhaps try the ceramic plates out of a level 4 vest in front of your gel or wet paper ... | |||
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I used the Beta model Chrony and then the Gamma model for years and considered them fine, except for two things. First, on bright sunny days and with slanting sunrays I would sometimes get funny readings. Most times it was exceptionally fast readings or something completely out of the ordinary. Second, the diffusers were prone to breakage after extended use. I use my Chronys three days a week, so I rebuilt many diffusers. ----- I then bought an Oehler 35-P and thought I had gone to heaven. I have used it several years now with no big problems. Once it quit printing and I called the Oehlers and they talked me through the adjustment to restore the printing. For those who have trouble with set up, I have a solution. Leave the electronic eyes set up on the bar, put it back in the box like that. It requires poking three holes through the top of the box to accomodate the screws sticking up. Leave your wires attached to each other with tape in the order you plug them back in. Leave your tripod set up to the correct height and simply fold up the legs for transport. The next time you set the outfit up you simply place the tripod up. Screw the bar, with the eyes attached to it, to the tripod. Put in the diffusers in, attach the wires to the printer and you are ready to shoot. Good luck and good shooting. phurley | |||
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phurley5, I do something similar. I keep the three sensors screwed to the conduit and put it along with the two tripods and diffusers in a rifle case. If using two sensors the short conduit and a single tripod, you could put it all in a bow case. Set up is a snap since it is pretty much pre-set up before arriving at the range. NRA Lifer; DSC Lifer; SCI member; DRSS; AR member since November 9 2003 Don't Save the best for last, the smile for later or the "Thanks" for tomorow | |||
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Thank's for the link. I'll try and see if they will ship to the UK (may be difficult, as importing anything related to firearms, from the US to the UK, is now near-on-impossible)! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition” ― Rudyard Kipling | |||
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Midway UK has it, at the usual inflated price of course: £310.38 for one block, or £496.96 for the kit. That's only THREE TIMES the US price & one reason Midway never sees a penny from me. | |||
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The interesting thing about any chronograph is the accuracy. Who knows how accurate they really are? And who can prove which brand is the most accurate? Yes, we can compare brand against brand and brand against other brands but unless calibration equipment is handy to prove it, we are mostly just guessing in the dark. Accuracy is not as important as consistency reguardless of brand. Just some rambling thoughts to consider. My biggest fear is when I die my wife will sell my guns for what I told her they cost. | |||
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Holy moly; another reason to move to North America! I'll see if I can import it directly, and will post back if successful. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition” ― Rudyard Kipling | |||
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My first Chronograph I believe was called a Ohler 100. Most of you are not old enough to no what that was. It had a knob on the front and after each shot you had turn it back and forth and record the readings based on whether a yes no light came on then you took the readings and matched them up with a book suppied to give the fps. Since then I have been around and owned several and with friends had the oportunity to check the accuracy of quite a few. In my experience they all read close to each other. So you just have to decide which one has the features you need. I have ended up with a Chrony Omega and have used it without any problems for years. I did get some missed readings in the beginning so when the sun is bright and strait overhead I clip a piece of cardboard over the top of the difusers and no problem. If it ever gives up on me I will buy another and still be money ahead. | |||
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Snowwolf...the three screen Oehlers on the 6" spacing are spot on the money with what we use at the factory and CIP. We have three of them and use them when shooting outdoors. They are calibrated once a year...and have not needed fixing. | |||
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