Who makes a good Chronograph?

[BullMagnet76]

I am looking for chronograph reviews.  Who makes a good one, I am new to this so I am not sure what to look for.  Any help would be appreciated, Thank you

[lokidog]

Here is one type - Competition Electronics ProChrono Digital Chronograph

I've seen these around more than the one that I owned.

The one I owned was the Shooting Chrony alpha.  It was a decent unit.  I think both are good, for what it is worth.  Chrony has the F-1 as well.  I don't know which can be hooked to a computer for all that stuff.

I sometimes miss not having one.

[actionshooter]

Here is one type - Competition Electronics ProChrono Digital Chronograph

I've seen these around more than the one that I owned.

The one I owned was the Shooting Chrony alpha.  It was a decent unit.  I think both are good, for what it is worth.  Chrony has the F-1 as well.  I don't know which can be hooked to a computer for all that stuff.

I sometimes miss not having one.

I use the Competition Electronics and love it, I started with a Chrony F-1 and replace it after a year, it just stopped working.

[jasnt]

ProChrono Digital Chronograph
this is the one I use. Only issue I have with it is once the sun gets low in the evening it won't read. Not a big deal but has been a pain before.  Pluses are it works bows as well. Even my old pellet gun @540fps     
all in all I like it.

[CoyoteChuck52]

http://www.oehler-research.com/model35.html

[b23]

This is an easy one, Magnetospeed. 

They're accurate, consistent and incredibly easy to set up.  Weather, clouds, light, etc, do not affect the Magnetospeed at all, unlike nearly all other chronographs.

www.magnetospeed.com

[jasnt]

Can you do shotguns with the Magnetospeed?

[Biggerhammer]

Magnetospeed.

[b23]

Can you do shotguns with the Magnetospeed?

Not 100% sure but I'm going to guess probably not.  For obvious reasons, it won't work with arrows, either.

If a more conventional chronograph is what you want, the Oehler 35 is the best choice. 

[Blacklab]

Magnetospeed   

[actionshooter]

This is an easy one, Magnetospeed. 

They're accurate, consistent and incredibly easy to set up.  Weather, clouds, light, etc, do not affect the Magnetospeed at all, unlike nearly all other chronographs.

www.magnetospeed.com

Heard good stuff about these, but haven't tried one.

[Damnimissed]

Magnetospeed.

That doesn't mess with the barrel's harmonics?

[lokidog]

I'd want one for my bow as well if I was going to get another.  I had a Chrony for about eight years and then sold it to a friend.  It still works as far as I know.  I think the ProChrono has a larger opening than the Chrony.

[yorketransport]

I've had an Oehler 35p, a Shooting Chrony Alpha and a Shooting Chrony F1. The Oehler was a pain to set up and pack around. The readouts were good but matched my Shooting Chronys. I sold the Oehler for $500 after the stopped making them a few years ago. (I think they're back in production now) I still have the Shooting Chrony Alpha.

The Magnetospeed is a good option for rifles and checking muzzle velocity. I don't know that I'd use it for a shotgun and there's no way to use it for a bow. My biggest issue with it is that you can't get velocities down range with it.

Andrew

[MP123]

I have the Chrony Alpha and it works just fine on everything I've tried: bb's and arrows to bullets.  I've never tried a shotty.  The sunshield part is kind of flimsy and tends to fly apart sometimes but other than that it's reliable.  It would be nice if it had an auto off though, it's easy to forget and drain a 9v battery.  Hard to beat the price...

[rbros]

Magneto speed. It's the only one I have found that's accurate.

[Biggerhammer]

Magnetospeed.

That doesn't mess with the barrel's harmonics?

Groups shot in the low .2's with it attached.

[Damnimissed]

10-4

[andersonjk4]

I had a Competitions Electronics ProChrono for a couple years and really liked it.  Until one day I put a 110 grain Accubond at about 3300 fps through the back half of the unit  .  If you are setting up on any kind of slope be really careful to make sure you are aligned.  And just because it looks good through the scope doesn't mean you are good.   

For the price its a good buy.  The Oehler chrono's are probably better, but they are quite a bit more $$$ if I remember correctly.

P.S. if anyone needs any spare parts for their CE ProChrono let me know.   

[Wacenturion]

I have one of these...........SuperChrono (Norway)

As an added bonus, the SuperChrono’s supersonic shockwave processing technology offers an optimum shooting area up to 300 times larger than the tiny 2x2 inch area for optical chronographs. This makes it easy to get velocity readings from close to the muzzle to any downrange distance as long as the bullet is supersonic.For the first time it’s easy to get downrange velocity readings and to calculate exact ballistic coefficient.

Merely place SuperChrono below the target at say 200 yards and it measures as well...

[actionshooter]

Magneto speed. It's the only one I have found that's accurate.

Hey Travis,
 How much variance have you found with other chrono's?

[Biggerhammer]

I have one of these...........SuperChrono (Norway)

As an added bonus, the SuperChrono’s supersonic shockwave processing technology offers an optimum shooting area up to 300 times larger than the tiny 2x2 inch area for optical chronographs. This makes it easy to get velocity readings from close to the muzzle to any downrange distance as long as the bullet is supersonic.For the first time it’s easy to get downrange velocity readings and to calculate exact ballistic coefficient.

Merely place SuperChrono below the target at say 200 yards and it measures as well...

Hmmmmm. Interesting, the down range part is attractive.

[Stein]

Unless you have $$$$$ to spend, you will end up with a machine that gets you in the ballpark.  I have a cheap F1 and it does just fine.  For accurate fps for drop charts, you either pony up the big bucks or reverse calculate the actual muzzle velocity by shooting in known conditions (temp, pressure, humidity, altitude and distance).  Most calculators can run the math for you.

The F1 I own is usually within 20-50 fps.