My first use of a chronograph

Ernie L · #1 03-08-2009, 01:46 PM

I have just received a Chrony model beta master.
I've been loading on and off for about 20 years..I still have the first round I ever loaded..but I am still a novice loader. Many times I had to stop loading for years because of my military service. every time I started up again it seemed I had to learn everything all over again. During that time I have never used a chronograph..

Well I'm retired from the Army now and reloading again on a regular basis..Since I had always wanted a chronograph and the price on the chrony seemed more than reasonable I bought one..

I loaded up some 45 acp cases with 230 Gr. lead round nose bullets and 5.6 grains of Unique.

I'll get to the point in just a moment I promise..

The chrony is very compact device..the whole thing fits in a box the size of a small loaf of bread..After some initial fumbling putting the sky screens into place I took it to the place on my property where I target shoot. I brought along my camera tripod and mounted the chrony on it. I placed it as far away from me as the connecting cord would allow(this is the model with the remote display.)
two magazines of ammo later I was still getting error codes...God %^%*&%#@%%$#* and ()()$%$#&* it...oh wait..maybe it should be turned so that the logo is facing me.....well alright then..it works LOL

Now to the point...as I said 230 Gr. lead round nose bullets and 5.6 grains of Unique. I was expecting around 750 ish FPS ...I got that speed on one of the six rounds I fired the rest were withing 10 FPS of 850.... thankfully the barrel did not lead up. I learned a good lesson today..as has been said many many times ..start at the low end and work up..I'm so glad I started in the middle so to speak..What If I had loaded for 850 FPS or higher ....I think the chrony paid for itself today

Ernie L · #2 03-08-2009, 01:46 PM

I have just received a Chrony model beta master.
I've been loading on and off for about 20 years..I still have the first round I ever loaded..but I am still a novice loader. Many times I had to stop loading for years because of my military service. every time I started up again it seemed I had to learn everything all over again. During that time I have never used a chronograph..

Well I'm retired from the Army now and reloading again on a regular basis..Since I had always wanted a chronograph and the price on the chrony seemed more than reasonable I bought one..

I loaded up some 45 acp cases with 230 Gr. lead round nose bullets and 5.6 grains of Unique.

I'll get to the point in just a moment I promise..

The chrony is very compact device..the whole thing fits in a box the size of a small loaf of bread..After some initial fumbling putting the sky screens into place I took it to the place on my property where I target shoot. I brought along my camera tripod and mounted the chrony on it. I placed it as far away from me as the connecting cord would allow(this is the model with the remote display.)
two magazines of ammo later I was still getting error codes...God %^%*&%#@%%$#* and ()()$%$#&* it...oh wait..maybe it should be turned so that the logo is facing me.....well alright then..it works LOL

Now to the point...as I said 230 Gr. lead round nose bullets and 5.6 grains of Unique. I was expecting around 750 ish FPS ...I got that speed on one of the six rounds I fired the rest were withing 10 FPS of 850.... thankfully the barrel did not lead up. I learned a good lesson today..as has been said many many times ..start at the low end and work up..I'm so glad I started in the middle so to speak..What If I had loaded for 850 FPS or higher ....I think the chrony paid for itself today

Cary · #3 03-08-2009, 03:50 PM

They are great tools to help you in your shooting and reloading. I've had one of the Chrony units for several years now and it performs great.
Cary

OKFC05 · #4 03-08-2009, 08:14 PM

As you have discovered, the choices are
1. chrono your loads in your gun and know what you have, or
2. Read load tables and guess.

Congratulations and welcome to the club!

Gun 4 Fun · #5 03-08-2009, 08:35 PM

I've owned an Oehler 35P since they first came out. I had an early model chrony before that. They are invaluable tools for sure.

By the way, just because your chrono said that you were getting higher speeds than you expected, doesn't necessarily mean anything was over on pressures. You may just have a "fast" barrel. I have chrono'ed around 100,000 rounds of ammo including everything from BB guns, to my .458 Lott. I have owned multiple guns in one caliber at multiple times, and have yet to have two give the same velocities with the exact same load out of the exact same batch of reloads. I have had a few .25-06's for example and the "fastest" would give 3150 FPS with a certain load I used to use, while the next one I owned was almost exactly 200 FPS slower with loads from the same box.

The point is, if you follow the manuals exactly, even if you are getting higher speeds than expected, you aren't necessarily getting into too high pressures. It may just be that you have a "fast" barrel. The more that you load and chronograph those loads, the more that you will experience this. You have to learn to extrapolate data from your readings and the manuals to start getting some idea of what is really going on.

<span class="ev_code_RED">Thank You for your service to our great country!!</span>

Geroge Rodgers · #6 03-09-2009, 02:19 PM

With three single action army pistols, I consistantly see about a 50 ft/sec variation in average velocity between the three with the same load.

This variation correlates with the size of the barrel to cylinder gap.

With a revolver, the only way to know actual velocity is to measure it.

7P's · #7 03-09-2009, 02:41 PM

Shooting subsonic rounds without a baffle half way between the end of your barrel and the 1st skyscreen sometimes causes erratic readings or completely false readings due to the shock wave.

Gun 4 Fun · #8 03-09-2009, 02:45 PM

7P's-
I've never had one problem like that using my Oehler 35P. I clock arrows, bb's and pellets, CB caps etc. no baffle and no problem.

What kind of chrono are you using. Info like that is always good to know. I may run across someone some day who is having that problem, and I'll know what to tell him to try.

Ernie L · #9 03-09-2009, 04:07 PM

Thank you all for your comments. Food for thought indeed. If there was not some learning involved in this sport it would not be half as fun. Since I have a lot to learn I guess I'm going to have a blast

H Richard · #10 03-09-2009, 04:57 PM

I also have the Beta Chrony, a great tool. Be sure to take advantage of getting the "average, Extreme spread, and Standard Deviation" from the summary, and keep a log of your results that you can go back later and compare with new loads. Also, the same load in different guns can be quite different.

Ernie L · #11 03-09-2009, 05:15 PM

Quote:

I also have the Beta Chrony, a great tool. Be sure to take advantage of getting the "average, Extreme spread, and Standard Deviation" from the summary, and keep a log of your results that you can go back later and compare with new loads. Also, the same load in different guns can be quite different.

Yes indeed..I stumbled upon that data when hitting the unfortunately named FU button.

...ya gotta love it..this thing has more computing power than an IBM 360
...I understand what you mean about the record keeping. I'm looking for a note book to keep a sort of bullet diary.

Gun 4 Fun · #12 03-09-2009, 05:51 PM

The MTM Handloaders Log is exactly what you want. I have been using mine for about 22 years. It comes with quite a few log sheets in it, and they are easily copied when you run low.

They have a space for everything you need to keep accurate logs.

7P's · #13 03-09-2009, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gun 4 Fun:
7P's-
I've never had one problem like that using my Oehler 35P. I clock arrows, bb's and pellets, CB caps etc. no baffle and no problem.

What kind of chrono are you using. Info like that is always good to know. I may run across someone some day who is having that problem, and I'll know what to tell him to try.

I'm running the Oehler 33 - I was advised of the shock wave phenomenon by Ken Oehler himself. I was stationed in Austin, Tx way back when and went to his shop where I purchased the Model 33 after talking to the MAN. I’ve had a couple conversations with him over the years and on one occasion Mr. Oehler advised Lee Jurras from Super Vel fame was having fits with his chronograph’s readings with subsonic loads and after he inspected Lee’s set up he found that Lee wasn’t faithfully following his directions and after installing the baffle, Lee’s problems went away and stayed that way. If you shoot the 500S&W 4” you need to have the chrono located well behind the revolver as sometimes that muzzle blast will cause an error reading or completely mess up the previous readings. I called Mr. Oehler last fall, as the 500S&W raised hell with the 33 and I had the unit behind the barrel but moving it back another foot solved the problem. His wife also sold me the new skyscreens (they have been out quite awhile but new to me). I suspect your BB’s and arrows don’t produce the type of shock wave a bullet does.

Gun 4 Fun · #14 03-09-2009, 08:42 PM

I've had the muzzle blast play havoc with my 35P, when firing my .340 Weatherby and larger calibers, as the whole mass of expanding gas is enough to cause faulty readings. That stopped once they changed our range to where I could locate the first screen @ 15' from the muzzle. I have fired a bunch of standard velocity .22 LR across my screens without any trouble, and that stuff barely clears 1,000 FPS from a 6" barrel, which puts it well below sub-sonic levels. Also, if you noticed, I said that I had fired CB caps, some made by CCI, but mostly Remington brand across the screens and not had any trouble there either. These feature a 29 gr. bullet the same as a long or short, and they reach approx. 650-750 FPS depending on barrel length.

This is all interesting reading. Thanks for the imput!