What should I look for in a Chronograph?

[tjtorborg]

Hi guys,

I am planing on buying a chronograph in the near future and would like your opinions. What features are a must have? Are the ones in the $100 price range any good? Which manufacturers are good and which should I avoid? What about lights and how do you power them? As you can tell I hardly know anything at all about chronographs. I just know that I need one!

Thanks in advance,

Tom

[Parashooter]

A good price, good warranty, and a manufacturer likely to be around should you need repairs or parts. My PACT Model 1 fits those criteria for me, so far.

[Kirk]

The Shooting Chrony has several chronos on the market. I've used two & have found them dependable, consistent & inexpensive. Their basic model is self contained; just unfold it, connect the 9V battery, add the sunshade if needed, mount it on a tripod & go. The readout is on the front. No wires to connect. Of course, you have to record the velocity for each shot & do the math analysis yourself. They also offer more capable models with remote readouts; self computing statistical analysis & printers; buy what you need.

[Hard Dog]

Hi guys,

I am planing on buying a chronograph in the near future and would like your opinions. What features are a must have? Are the ones in the $100 price range any good? Which manufacturers are good and which should I avoid? What about lights and how do you power them? As you can tell I hardly know anything at all about chronographs. I just know that I need one!

Thanks in advance,

Tom

Sir, FWIW I used a PACT PC2 chronograph for many years. When it stopped working I sent it back to PACT for repair and they told me they no longer supported this model with parts and offered me a discount on a Professional XP.

In my humble opinion having the features that will do the math to determine standard deviation, extreme spread, and average muzzle velocity is worth having. A print feature is nice but not mandatory for my purposes. It does help to have a record of your chronograph sessions, so I kept a log book rather than a lap top and printer.

The chronograph has to be able to "see" the bullet to provide a measure of the velocity. On dark or cloudy days there is not alway enough ambient light for the chronograph sky screen sensors to "see" your bullet as it flies over. The infrared sky screens PACT uses as an option are very helpful for this purpose but require a 120v power supply.

Most chronograph owners I know will admit to having shot their chronograph sky screens on occassion. Regardless the piece of the PACT chronograph sky screens that are hit by your bullet they are all cheap and easily replaceable. I keep spares in the bag with the chronograph. It's nice to be able to make on the spot repairs when the need arises instead of having to pack up and go home. HTH, HD.

[limazulu]

I have a Chrony. It's the only one I've ever had. I've had it for years. With one rifle with an especially high sight, I put a bullet thru part of the Chrony. It still works and has for many years. I'm using it to get a certain velocity and then vary loads around it to get the best group. The one I have has all those features of SD, ES, Avg Vel, etc., etc. but I guess I'm just lazy as in the end I just went with best group.

It uses a 9 volt battery.

[Mudcat]

Try the CED M2. I had a Pact, hated it so much I "unintentionally" ran over it with the truck...oops, good excuse to buy a new one! For $200, I am quite happy with the CED and it works WAY better than my Pact did.

John