good timer

[ridgerunner70]

what is some of the good timer's out there to look at for getting started on practicing drills?

[jamaicanj]

Good question. I'd like to find a shot timer that can register when I'm doing dry fire drills.

[Fried Chicken Blowout]

I have several Pocket Pro 2 timers that all work great. They look totally stupid and are too big but they work. The screens get really slow when it's below freezing but they are still accurate. All these things are stupid expensive and look like they fell out of the 70's... I've heard nothing but bad things about the PACT timers and seen two break at matches. The CED7000 seems to be the new hot shit since they actually look like they are from our decade. I've never used one. A lot of people will wear them around their neck, but at a match you have to be careful with that since banging it on a clip board will register as a shot and you might not notice the time change that it causes which will screw up the shooter you're scoring. I would get them from Midway and wait for a coupon. But if you get from Brownell's you'll be able to return them if they ever break.

[ridgerunner70]

I have several Pocket Pro 2 timers that all work great. They look totally stupid and are too big but they work. The screens get really slow when it's below freezing but they are still accurate. All these things are stupid expensive and look like they fell out of the 70's... I've heard nothing but bad things about the PACT timers and seen two break at matches. The CED7000 seems to be the new hot shit since they actually look like they are from our decade. I've never used one. A lot of people will wear them around their neck, but at a match you have to be careful with that since banging it on a clip board will register as a shot and you might not notice the time change that it causes which will screw up the shooter you're scoring. I would get them from Midway and wait for a coupon. But if you get from Brownell's you'll be able to return them if they ever break.

Thank you.

[M4Fundi]

So far the Surefire Timer App on my iPhone does everything I want it to do including DryFire if kept within 2ft of the gun. I wouldn't trust it for match use, but for training it is good to go for basics.

[rob_s]

FWIW, I have had zero luck using the iPhone app timer in actual firing. Haven't tried it dry-firing.

IMO a timer is critical to building skill, and anyone serious about becoming a better all-around shooter should have at least one. I have two.

CED7000. I like the size and weight, and it comes with a neck strap which is nice for solo use on static drills. Good bit of programming ability for various things (delay, par, etc.). The fact that it's rechargeable is good and bad as you need to have the cord to charge it and if it goes dead while you're at the range you're SOL.

Pocket Pro II. Larger, heavier, etc. but takes a 9 volt battery which can be helpful if it dies at the range AND I've remembered to bring a spare. I hate the "buzz" tone though for whatever reason. The screen is easier to read and the programming I find more intuitive than the CED, and has pretty much all of the options of the CED in terms of programming.

So, CED if you want small/light and can remember to charge it, PP2 if you don't care about size/weight and can remember to bring a spare battery, and don't mind the buzz vs the beep.

[JSGlock34]

I've had the basic PACT Club Timer III for years. It is one of the more basic timers, but I've never had a problem. Perfect for practice.

[Ty_B]

I have a Pocket Pro II, and basically agree with Rob. I'd only like to add that after dropping it once on cement, the battery doesn't fit anymore. Unfortunately I wasn't able to determine what broke, but now I have to jam some cardboard behind the battery to keep it pressed against the contacts.

Judging from the weight of it without a battery, the overall size could be reduced by at least 1/2. You really are paying a lot for a little. This thing should cost $30.

With that said, I also agree with Rob that you really need a timer if you want to seriously practice. Your 'feel' of how fast or slow something was is pretty useless and you have no real way of quanitying improvement.

As far as dry fires, I just set the par time to whatever my goal is and then use that to judge my success or failure. It also adds a bit of stress because you're trying to beat the beep. To use an example from draw to fire times, you could set it for a target time (let's say 1.5s) and then work to beat it. Once you can consistently beat it, change the par to 1.4, etc.

[hwaya]

I use a PACT club timer III and it's been perfect so far. I like being able to see more than one thing on the screen (splits and times). It has a very loud beep so you can hear it with plugs in. The loud beep may be a problem if you are practicing dry at home, there might be a way to adjust it I just haven't figured out how.

[M4Fundi]

Surefire App is Free If it doesn't work for you nothing lost.

I will eventually buy the CED 8000, but until I really need it the SF App works fine.