Bought a chronograph...

[TreyHouston]

Ok, ill bite! Why do you want to know the velocity of your bullets?

[mrvmax]

Ok, ill bite! Why do you want to know the velocity of your bullets?

It helps when reloading plus when using ballistic apps for shooting they require velocity to make their calculations, without velocity the projections would not be accurate.

[TreyHouston]

Sounds like another tool I need to buy when I start doing reloads. I learned so much from this website thank you so much for the information!

[puma guy]

I went to Cabela's this evening to check out the Marlin lever-action rifles and the CZ-USA Teal O/U shotgun, thinking that I *might* take advantage of their Black Friday sale. The rifles were nice as expected and the CZ shotgun was solid, but the wood was plain as milk so I gave that a miss. A nice shotgun but I was expecting a better grade of wood - darnit.

Instead I bought a Caldwell G2 chronograph - comes in a neat carry-case with a decent tripod and connects to your phone/tablet wirelessly by Bluetooth (logs data to their free app). It has a rechargeable battery which is cool and has an unusual upside-down design, so weird lighting conditions don't affect it:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVeqTJwmrsY

Very Cool! Back when I reloaded I always wanted a chronograph, but they were far out of my price range. I would have liked to check the velocities on my loaded round vs the loading estimates. We loaded some 60 grain .243 that I know were honking on, but never knew actual speed.

Which Marlin Lever gun were you interested in? I'm not sure that Remington has solved the quality issues that have plagued them since they moved manufacturing from Marlin's factory. I haven't been active as of late on the Marlin owner's forum, but the last time I checked they were still having some issues, albeit seemingly hit or miss whether you got a good or bad one. If it were me I'd look for a used JM marked lever action.
That's too bad about the CZ O/U. Since the Teal is a CZ exclusive for Cabela's I wonder if they pick the plainer Walnut for the stocks. Maybe they would let you view several to find one to your liking? Remington stocks used to vary from very plain to some of the nicest Walnut I'd ever seen. I would always put the nice ones aside for my good customers. Happy Thanksgiving!

[striker55]

When I shot in IHMSA in the 80's it was a valuable tool for developing loads. When I left shooting and took up bowling I tried laying it on its side to see if I could read my ball speed.

[puma guy]

I was interested in the 336C and W.

Yeah, pity about the wood - nothing wrong with the shotgun at all which was really nice; I just like wood with some character to it. I would have asked to see more, but typical of Cabela's - tons of guns but not enough manpower behind the counter, so I didn't want to tie up the one guy when there were other waiting to be served.

The G2 chrono was $170 - turns out that was the lowest price of anywhere, even online, and wasn't even a Black Friday special

[bulletslap]

Andy I am looking forward to trying it out, especially how resistant it is to projectiles.

I had no idea you had an interest in lever guns

[The Annoyed Man]

Welcome to the club.
There are two types of chronograph owners - those who have shot their box in the face and those who are going to. Dont take it too hard - its a learnin experience.

Not me! I bought a Magnetospeed V3 Chronograph. You can't "shoot the box" with this one. The sensor is mounted like a bayonet below and parallel to the muzzle, and the electronics are in a separate widget located on the bench, behind the muzzle. I got $50 off the $399 MSRP from Brownells. Magnetospeed is a Texas product. I'm sure that it has some shortcomings - almost any chronograph solution being something of a compromise; but I bought this one specifically so that I didn't have to worry about shooting the box accidentally.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZqasSsSoqY

It can be used on suppressors, full autos, airguns, and shotguns; and being magnetic, it is immune to light variations. I would assume that other types of units also have this feature, but the Magnetospeed brain stores its data onto a micro-SD card in comma-delimited spreadsheets which can then be imported into your computer and saved as XLS files. Here's a video of what you can do with the data:
https://youtu.be/pr778hmTIhU

[Eric Lamberson]

I have a Chrony Gamma Master. I shoot a lot of IDPA and have found it very useful for ensuring my loads meet power factor. Failing to do so can result in match disqualification.

So far I have not shot the box (knock on wood). I always use a solid, adjustable rest and ensure I am on target by sighting in with a laser.