shooting chrony beta master chronograph

I've got an old F-1 Chrony, works. It's not an Oehler, but it's price competive. I won't mind having a Master with the remote readout. Usually I set up 10 ft. from the muzzle and I can read it from there, but some fireball powders and black powder will trigger the sensors at 10 ft if it's getting dark. So sometimes I set up at 20 ft., eyestain distance. One time the Chrony quit when I was shooting the flinter. Found a patch sitting on the rear sensor.

Whether you buy a Chrony or an Oehler, first thing you do is round up 3-5 .22 rifles & a box of Long Rifle and put 10 rounds from each over your unit. Very educational. When you set up, run a few .22s over your unit before you start popping Noslers. Sometimes you have a bad battery or a bad setup. If possible, set up so the sun's at a right angle to your line of fire so your sensors aren't getting direct sunlight on them.

I had one problem that drove me up the wall last year. The Chrony worked with subsonic and full snort .30-06 loads, but gave me goofy readings in the 1200-1400 fps range. The female side of the 9V battery connector was loose, and I think the shock wave from the bullet was jiggling it enough to make the Chrony lose count. The `06 bullets were over the second sensor before the shock wave hit the battery.

Bye
Jack

Hi, 1bad:
Number One! No chronograph works under fluorescent lights.

My old Chrony needs a fair amount of light. The new ones might be better, don't know. If you're using artifical light, be sure the sensors are evenly lit. I tried hanging a couple of trouble lights over the Chrony and the standard deviation went way up. If you plan on shooting indoors, get the indoor light fixture.
http://chrony.ca/

Here's a review of the Master Gamma Chrony.
http://www.realguns.com/Commentary/comar44.htm

Wish I could find powder at that price.

Bye
Jack

In addition to light angles and other nuisances, I think a lot of people just set up too close to these machines. Everything from false readings to adjacent shooter muzzle blast effects are mitigated if you get them out at least 5 yards. For some magnum rifles 6 yards seems necessary.

I think people get discouraged by the amount of fiddling they have to do to get the screens lined up at the greater distances. I find a good way to set the chronograph up promptly and with the least fuss is to set a rifle up on bags so the sight stays on the target. Put a laser bore sighter in. Check that the sight is still on the target with your hands off the gun. Then go out and adjust the chronograph position until the laser appears on your palm at the center of both screens areas.

I also have a yellow plastic ECI (empty chamber indicator) flag that I stick in the chamber when I am doing this. With a Sharpie I have written on it "Take The Laser Out". I've seen a couple pictures of muzzles blown by people who didn't remember to do that.