Chronograph: Why? When? How?

[foxx]

Who here uses a chronograph? Why? When? How?

I have one, but haven't been using it. What am I missing out on?

[1983Weatherby]

Basically allows you to dial in the speed. Very useful to dial in your drop compensation of a particular grain bullet. If you know the bullet grain, the muzzle velocity and are zero'd at a certain distance you can compensate for bullet drop. You would also need to know the bullets BC.

Very useful for long range shooting. Not so useful from 400 yards or less IMO.

Check out the application "Bullet Flight". You can play with it and see what I mean.

You punch in the info, then the wind angle, the temp and a few other items and can pretty much guarantee shots every time if you are a decent shot. Especially with a scope that has MOA reticle and exposed turrets so you can adjust on the fly.

[the Ranger]

I only just started using one, mostly because it was given to me as a gift and I just wanted know what a few of my loads where doing. mostly curiosity I guess. I only use it when working up a load.

one exception is when I wanted to develop a high velocity deer load for my 44-40, I wanted to make sure I had at least 1,400ft/lb of energy at the muzzle and data was very limited.

[eddiesindian]

If your a reloader and a long distance shooter, then a chronograph becomes "thee" most important tool in your reloading tool box.
Once youve developed your accurate and consistant loads (if your reloading) then you need to know your speed.
Theres other "exact" inputs (ie: altitude/temp/barometric pressure/type of projectile/distance from center line of scope to center line of barrel etc...)needed in ballistic calculators to give you bullet drop at what ever distance,s but without knowing your "exact speed" is like driving blind.
Theres nothing better than to spend countless hrs behind load development trying to achieve 1/4 moa @ 100 yds, then calculating your bullet drops at different distances via ballistic calculators, going out, setting up steels at exact distance,s , even out to 1K and smacking them 1st shoot because of you knowing your bullet speed for ballistic calculations.
Knowing what your bullet drop is at what ever distance is one thing. Figureing your adjustment on your scope weather it be in mil/moa is another. Its not rocket science. Once youve figured it out?......watch out...its one addictive hobby for sure.

[emtrescue6]

I have one....stopped using it several years ago...was just a general waste of time. I have been reloading for 30+ years and when I started using my chrony I found it really didn't provide any added benefit and was just more crap to carry to the range...and now that I have several ballistic apps on my Ipad....a little math and calculations with my app's does everything i need and is a lot les to carry to the range. Granted...most of my reloading if for hunting loads only out to 500 yards and my current target situation limits me to 600 yards...if I were shooting out to 1000+ there may be some marginal added benefits....

[eddiesindian]

One of the benefits of living in the great southwestern part of Texas.
This is my shooting range. Theres steel targets measuring from 3"x5" up to 16"x16" out to 1200yds. theres permanet steel targets all over the place that we,ve ( shooting buds) placed all over the canyon.
When you have a range like this?.......a chronograph becomes my best friend.
the smaller the target, the longer the range, the more of an addiction. No guess work. the chrono doesnt need to be out all the time. Only when youve established your accurate load. Once thats done, you put it away untill the next venture. (IMHO)

[eddiesindian]

Basically allows you to dial in the speed. Very useful to dial in your drop compensation of a particular grain bullet. If you know the bullet grain, the muzzle velocity and are zero'd at a certain distance you can compensate for bullet drop. You would also need to know the bullets BC.

Very useful for long range shooting. Not so useful from 400 yards or less IMO.

Check out the application "Bullet Flight". You can play with it and see what I mean.

You punch in the info, then the wind angle, the temp and a few other items and can pretty much guarantee shots every time if you are a decent shot. Especially with a scope that has MOA reticle and exposed turrets so you can adjust on the fly.

+1.......

[shagerott]

Also to see where the load might be. I tested 243 100gr medium load. Velocity on chrono matched max load velocity using current Hodgdon web data. Without the chono I would have gone to higher loads. Stopped there.. safe.

[LoneWolf]

How accurate is a Velocity correction caculation compared to a chrono. I have one on my ballistic app (Strelok+) that if based on info I've provided gives me say 10.3 MIL for 100yds, but I really only need 10MIL. I just type in the amount of elevation that it actually took and it corrects my velocity input in the app. Basically I was shooting my loads that were calculated to be about 2650FPS and borrowed a buddies handloads and had to make a correction and it revalidated the velocity of the different ammo to be 2700FPS. Is a Chrono going to be that much more accurate than real data corrections made by a computer?

[earl39]

It is used to check the speed difference in the load. A load that ranges 30fps even if it bugholes at 100yds is most likely to have a large amount of vertical at 1000yds. the lower the spread the better.

[eddiesindian]

Also to see where the load might be. I tested 243 100gr medium load. Velocity on chrono matched max load velocity using current Hodgdon web data. Without the chono I would have gone to higher loads. Stopped there.. safe.

roger that............

[eddiesindian]

How accurate is a Velocity correction caculation compared to a chrono. I have one on my ballistic app (Strelok+) that if based on info I've provided gives me say 10.3 MIL for 100yds, but I really only need 10MIL. I just type in the amount of elevation that it actually took and it corrects my velocity input in the app. Basically I was shooting my loads that were calculated to be about 2650FPS and borrowed a buddies handloads and had to make a correction and it revalidated the velocity of the different ammo to be 2700FPS. Is a Chrono going to be that much more accurate than real data corrections made by a computer?

Yes...without a dought.
different temps/altitude/barometric pressure etc... will give you different speeds.
Reloading is so subjective. Whats works for one may not work for the other. For me?....Id be lost without knowing my actual projectiles speed.
50 fps difference at 1000 yds equates to a miss...i gaurantee it.

[yobuck]

Well you do need to know the velocity in order to produce an elevation chart, or more commonly referred to as a click chart.
A chronagraph would be the way most of us would get the velocity number. So now armed with the number we can go to one of
many sites and produce drop information. Then we can go shoot at say 800 yds and add the ammount of clicks the chart tells us we need.
Problem is we miss the target. So seeing where the bullet hit we change the ammount of clicks so we can hit the target. We can now go
back to the program and lie about the velocity/clicks in order to get a chart that matches what the gun wants and not the chronagraph.
That would be known as actual velocity, not what the chronagraph said. So based on that could we have just guessed the original number
or gotten it from a loading manual for the original chart? The answer is yes we could have since the ACTUAL number wasent discovered
untill we shot at a target. Nobody should be so foolish as to take velocity information from any brand chronagraph as gospel.
It should be looked upon as a ball park figure at best.

[eddiesindian]

I disagree yobuck. Ive been using a chronograph for the past 30 yrs to give me correct speeds. No guess work. if my speeds that were derrived from my chronograph were to be inaccurate, then my hits from 100 out to 1200 would be inaccurate as well.
If my speeds are in question, then i proceed to use alternative chronos from all my shooting partners. 9/10 times, my chrono agrees with theres. (10 shot average)
As I mentioned earlier, shooting/reloading is so subjective. What works for one may not work for another. I can absolutely respect that. Always have..always will.
One of my addictions (that I confess to LOLOL) is that once Ive found my accurate/consistant load, I then proceed to do my diligence on ballistic calculations. (knowing my bullets speed thru "my" chronograph) A little math here and there, measuring temp/altitude/barometric pressure etc..... then go out and smack a 6"x8" plate @ 1K 1st shot. It may sound like Im totting my horn abit and if I am?.. I apologize... Im just trying to be honest and most importantly....factual.

[1983Weatherby]

Your missing out on nothing. Pack it up and ship it to me. :)

[missed]

I use strelok drop calculator also. Works very well, doing the drop calculation can be very accurate. There are more variables involved with drop calculation as in pressure, elevation, wind, weapon movement. My old chronograph died and I am waiting for the lab radar to come out before I make another decision on one. I used to shoot through the chronograph during all the load development and enough of the ammo to find the deviation. The chronograph is very useful to see how different environmental conditions effect your loads for match conditions.

[eddiesindian]

I use strelok drop calculator also. Works very well, doing the drop calculation can be very accurate. There are more variables involved with drop calculation as in pressure, elevation, wind, weapon movement. My old chronograph died and I am waiting for the lab radar to come out before I make another decision on one. I used to shoot through the chronograph during all the load development and enough of the ammo to find the deviation. The chronograph is very useful to see how different environmental conditions effect your loads for match conditions.

couldnt have said it better.....
Im curious..how did yor old chrono die?.....did you accidently shoot it as I have. Ive accidently shot 2 of mine all due to impatience.

[eddiesindian]

Your missing out on nothing. Pack it up and ship it to me. :)

LOLOLOLOLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... Beat me to the punch LMAO!

[missed]

Yeah mine took a round also. That's the other reason I want the lab radar.....

[mtHunter82]

A chronograph is also good for the ladder method of finding an accurate load. Instead of firing multiple 3 round loads, you start at the minimum load data, and reload 1 round for each up to maximum in .5 grain increments. Example; if my load range was from 42-46 grains of powder, I'd load my first round at 42, my second at 42.5, all the way to maximum. Then you chronograph the loads, and two of them will be real close in velocity. That's your sweet spot. Choose a load between the two, then find the sweet spot for case overall length. So instead of firing 25-50 rounds for load development, you're shooting closer to a dozen. Saves a lot of $$ when you're trying to dial in a long range load.

[yobuck]

I disagree yobuck. Ive been using a chronograph for the past 30 yrs to give me correct speeds. No guess work. if my speeds that were derrived from my chronograph were to be inaccurate, then my hits from 100 out to 1200 would be inaccurate as well.
If my speeds are in question, then i proceed to use alternative chronos from all my shooting partners. 9/10 times, my chrono agrees with theres. (10 shot average)
As I mentioned earlier, shooting/reloading is so subjective. What works for one may not work for another. I can absolutely respect that. Always have..always will.
One of my addictions (that I confess to LOLOL) is that once Ive found my accurate/consistant load, I then proceed to do my diligence on ballistic calculations. (knowing my bullets speed thru "my" chronograph) A little math here and there, measuring temp/altitude/barometric pressure etc..... then go out and smack a 6"x8" plate @ 1K 1st shot. It may sound like Im totting my horn abit and if I am?.. I apologize... Im just trying to be honest and most importantly....factual.

Toot all you like it dosent affect me at all. Ill just say this, over many years ive known personaly at least 1/3 of the members of the hall of fame club at williamsport.
Ive spent considerable time hunting with some of them also including 2 of the record group holders. I made a special trip to that range years back to wittness a
special event for a very good friend and his young son. The friends name is lowel Amond and he is the only shooter there to ever win the agregate award twice.
This time however his then 18 year old son was tied going into the last match with the world 10 shot record holder Earl Chronister. I knew Earl very well also and
had hunted with him. Young Greg went on to beat Earl that day and win the agregate award for the year. Meaning, he had the best group in at least 6 of the 10
scheduled matches. Earls group that day was over 20 inches. Another of my good friends and every day deer hunting companion is an old camp perry prone shooter
and first member ever inducted into the hall of fame group. He is one of 2 people i know who has killed an elk beyond 2000 yds. My oldest son was with him and
spotting for him in colorado when he did it. Point im making with all this is there are lots of very good shooters out there. Ive been fortunate in knowing and learning
from quite a few of them. None of them would ever make the claim you did about your ability with first round hits. Simple reason being, they know they cant back it up.
Im affraid id have to wittness it, and i wouldnt hesitate to bring cash. Hey with your earnings you could even buy a good chronagraph. lol

[SERE VG]

You don't need a chrono to do anything mentioned here and IMO it can be a pain. Where you really need it is if you don't have access to a range long enough to get the needed data before you need to shoot at longer distance.

Measuring your actual drop will give you accurate velocity info.

Vertical stringing at distance (+300m), very likely a big ES if you and your rifle don't exhibit that with other loads.

Ladders; ideally shot at +300m 1 shot at a time and individually marked all at the same target. You should end up with two groups out of your ladder. Your high and low accuracy nodes.

Chronos are another tool in the box, not magic.

[1983Weatherby]

Good point serve. If you can shoot long enough, accurate enough and measure your drops then you can get just as good info. All of those have to be on par though

[Cat 64]

One of the benefits of living in the great southwestern part of Texas.
This is my shooting range. Theres steel targets measuring from 3"x5" up to 16"x16" out to 1200yds. theres permanet steel targets all over the place that we,ve ( shooting buds) placed all over the canyon.
When you have a range like this?.......a chronograph becomes my best friend.
the smaller the target, the longer the range, the more of an addiction. No guess work. the chrono doesnt need to be out all the time. Only when youve established your accurate load. Once thats done, you put it away untill the next venture. (IMHO)

Where is this fabulous 'Texas shooting range' located?

[thermaler]

Toot all you like it dosent affect me at all. Ill just say this, over many years ive known personaly at least 1/3 of the members of the hall of fame club at williamsport.
Ive spent considerable time hunting with some of them also including 2 of the record group holders. I made a special trip to that range years back to wittness a
special event for a very good friend and his young son. The friends name is lowel Amond and he is the only shooter there to ever win the agregate award twice.
This time however his then 18 year old son was tied going into the last match with the world 10 shot record holder Earl Chronister. I knew Earl very well also and
had hunted with him. Young Greg went on to beat Earl that day and win the agregate award for the year. Meaning, he had the best group in at least 6 of the 10
scheduled matches. Earls group that day was over 20 inches. Another of my good friends and every day deer hunting companion is an old camp perry prone shooter
and first member ever inducted into the hall of fame group. He is one of 2 people i know who has killed an elk beyond 2000 yds. My oldest son was with him and
spotting for him in colorado when he did it. Point im making with all this is there are lots of very good shooters out there. Ive been fortunate in knowing and learning
from quite a few of them. None of them would ever make the claim you did about your ability with first round hits. Simple reason being, they know they cant back it up.
Im affraid id have to wittness it, and i wouldnt hesitate to bring cash. Hey with your earnings you could even buy a good chronagraph. lol

I don't shoot long range (mostly cause I have no place to do it) but still use a chrono once I get near my final load. First, I like to see what I'm getting relative to "common knowledge" and second when I get a little on the warm side of things a chrono is handy to show when velocity spikes.

As for the 1k clang on first shot, well, without taking a side either way; I've learned in life that just because I can't do something or nobody I know can do it--doesn't mean it can't be done. : )