Chronographs & Spotting Scopes...

[Straight Shooter]

Gents-
Im in the market for both. The chrony being the most important.
What are yall using thats reliable and accurate? Id like to keep the price around say $120 or so.
What features are really needed, and whats just nice to have?
Also..what tripods are you using, and where is a good place to get both chrony & tripod?
As for the spotting scope..lets keep the price around $200 or so.
I do not need a high dollar one. It will be of course used on the range,
but also for moon/star gazing also.
Recommendations for both wlecome.

[Hmac]

My needs are simple since I don't hand load. For a chronograph, I use a simple and reliable Shooting Chrony F1. I got the master version so I could remotely mount the display and I also bought the remote button so it would store strings and calculate average velocity and standard deviation. You can get a printer for it, but I just write the stored numbers down and make ballistics graphs in Word/Excel. I've found it to be completely reliable and works well with anything from a bow/arrow, paintball, BB gun, rimfire, handguns and rifles in a wide variety of lighting conditions. Tripod...any camera tripod with a 1/4-20 mounting screw will do, although it's nice to have one with a lever detachable mounting plate and a center post that cranks up or down.



For a spotting scope, I bought a cheapo Barska. It completely meets my rather simple needs in that it allows good target visualization of bullet holes at 100 yards and is perfectly suited for range work at 50 yards, which is the vast majority of what I shoot. If you have other needs in mind, you may want something better. For star gazing or game spotting, lens objective size, coating and quality can make a difference and generally, the more you pay the better it is for that purpose. IMHO, the point of diminishing returns in lens quality is at about the $200 price point you mention. A $400 spotting scope is generally better than a $200 spotting scope, but not necessarily twice as good.

[DTHN2LGS]

Check out the Konus spotting scopes.

[Snake Plissken]

I have used the Competition Electronics ProChrono Digital for a couple years now and it does: AVG, SD, ES, LOW, and HIGH FPS reports for each string you choose for up to 99 shots per string. It is available for ~$96 dealer through Brownell's. I just use an inexpensive spare camera tripod I had and a camera mount. Can't say anything bad about it personally. I know some people here are stuck in a rut thinking "oh but you must buy the PACT chrono or you must save your money for the Oehler 35P!". Even the folding shooting chronies work just fine. I think some are just irritated that a sub-$100 chronograph is every bit as accurate as their much more expensive model.

[KenpoCop822]

As an aside to this thread, what it's the proper distance from muzzle to chrono for testing loads?

[Nightvisionary]

As an aside to this thread, what it's the proper distance from muzzle to chrono for testing loads?

10 feet for rifles is pretty standard.

[TucsonFX4]

I think some are just irritated that a sub-$100 chronograph is every bit as accurate as their much more expensive model.

I have never owned a chrono. So I am asking out of curiousity, as I will want to purchase one in the near future. Do you have any info to back-up the accuracy of your sub-$100 chrono vs the more expensive ones? IE, side by side comparisons, other forms of testing, etc.

Thanks.