I'm interested in purchasing a chronograph. Is there a must have brand, or brands to avoid?

Rod

I am getting ready to sell of a few of my chronographs. I have 5 1/2 of them in the loading room

A buddy wants one, but I have a Millenium 2000 from CED that was used for two photo shoots and has been sitting on the shelf since.

The thing I like is the electronics stay behind the firing line so if/when you shoot a skyscreen you do not take out the electronics at the same time

The other great feature is that is announces the velocity. You do not have to look at the display, even though it has a nice large display.

If I had my druthers, I'd like an Oehler, but they are spendy, so I'm fairly happy with my Shooting Chrony Beta Master.
The readout stays on the shooting table, not downrange like some units, stores 6 strings of 10 shots each, reports each shot velocity, summarizes with Hi, Low, Avg, SD and Spread for each string, and it seldom has a failure to read once you learn to read the ambient light and shade it or use the screens accordingly. It folds up into a very compact little package that I can carry in my shooting bag.

The tradeoff for portability is the sticks that hold the sky screens are two-piece and a little wobbly and the sensors are only 12" apart, making for half or one quarter of the resolution of the 2' and 4' (Oehler) units. It is all steel and pretty durable.

The instruction booklet is horrible, and it takes a while, jumping around the booklet, to figure out all the different button pushing sequences, to get the function wanted. After some practice and making my own cheat sheet, I have it down where I get what I want quickly.

I already had a good solid camera tripod, so at about $130, it was good value for the money for me.

Any of them will tell the velocity with enough velocity and consistancy for 99.999% of users. In theory a 3 foot screen spacing is less effected by small errors in calibration than a 8 inch spacing , but not enough to mater for handloaders.

One piece units are easier to transport , but run the risk of sudden death if you pull a shot low.

If you primarily use on your own property or a private range , it doesn't matter , but when using a public or shared range , remote display and controls come in handy.

More expensive ones have big memories , do more calculations , link up with computers , etc. But old school guys just write down Avg , Hi-Lo , ES , and SD in their notebook or logbook.

Personally I'd lean to low cost and compact size , but really no wrong answer.

There are some threads here where this is discussed and if you look back you can get a LOT of info and first hand experience. The problem I've run into in looking for a chrony is that someone can get a buggy unit, swear that brand is terrible and recommend something else. Then somebody with a good experience will say the same model works great for them and they can't understand why people don't like it. It seems like it's love or hate.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I also have the Beta Chrony. I started with an old F1 about 15 years ago, and it was O.K. but when I just barely nicked it with a 240 gr 44 mag load, I found out that they give you value on a trade in in "any" condition, and that's when I got the Beta model. It hsa been a great chrono, and reliable. I did have some problems when a beautiful day and large thick clouds drift over the sun. I have even used it with incandescent lights indoors.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Pretty much my experience, also. I put a 44 Special slug thru my 15 year old F1 and bought another F1. I once had the opportunity to test my Chrony next to an Oehler and the readings were very close. They are a bargain in my book. I place mine on a camera tripod --- works great and easily adjusted. I DO have to use a weight on the tripod on very windy days.

You'll not outgrow or be disappointed with the Oehler.

If you have the money the Oehler is top of the line.

I have the Beta and agree with post #3 on the directions.
I spent a day shooting my sons BB gun across the screen to
learn how to go from feet/meters and save or remove data.

The long 18 foot phone cord lets you see info up front and personal at your shooting table what your fps is.
Best reading starts 3-4" ABOVE the metal front plate to maybe
10" above the metal plate.
It does not break the bank, a good thing for something that gets shot at !!

I have a Oehler 35......I have had one for years and one of my weekly shooting buddies has one also....we would be lost w/o ours.....good gear, you won't be disappointed.

Avoid PACT chronographs like the plague.

I made the mistake of buying one. It is the piece of junk that I measure other junk by.

I am quite pleased with my Competition Electronics...seems to do the job for me.

I just saw one that uses radar or something like that. No wires but I don't know how much it costs. Another uses magnets and attaches to your barrel, I have seen mixed reviews on that one. I have used a PACT since 1990 and it has worked great but I want one without wires or anything down range.

After two junk Chronys I don't want anothr one. I have a Competition
Electronics that works just fine. I've been thinking about buying an
Oehler. Probably the way to go if you can afford one.

I've had a couple Betas (killed the first one when I first got it thinking I needed to shoot as close to the top as possible) and after learning some tips I have good luck with the new one. For one, I mounted mine to an oak board to keep it stable. Since it is made to fold up for storage, muzzle blast can make it move and affects the reading. I found that having it about 8 feet from the muzzle works the best, again any muzzle blast will affect the reading. As stated above, I too had to decipher and rewrite the operating instructions. It is easy to operate with understandable instructions.
Prior to shooting test loads through it, I always shoot some .22s through it using my lever action. I immediately know if the velocity is within range and if the light/shadows are going to cause problems before wasting limited test loads.