CED M2 Chronograph Review By Bryan Chatwell

[yobuck]

well,
i thought i was having problems untill i read all these.
at least my cheap little chrony always works.
i did learn some things by reading this however.
#1 i had never thought or had someone say anything about muzzel brakes.
im going to move my unit further than the 10' ive been using.
#2 is the tripod. im going to try a heavier duty one.
ive been using the one i have been because its easy to crank up and down when setting up the unit.
my biggest complaint has been vastly different readings of the same load on different days.
ive tried putting a cardboard box on top of the unit to protect it from the sun.
i have noticed the box move from the muzzel blast.
that should have tipped me off. ill try that again from a longer spacing.

 

[Geno22]

well,
i thought i was having problems untill i read all these.
at least my cheap little chrony always works.
i did learn some things by reading this however.
#1 i had never thought or had someone say anything about muzzel brakes.
im going to move my unit further than the 10' ive been using.
#2 is the tripod. im going to try a heavier duty one.
ive been using the one i have been because its easy to crank up and down when setting up the unit.
my biggest complaint has been vastly different readings of the same load on different days.
ive tried putting a cardboard box on top of the unit to protect it from the sun.
i have noticed the box move from the muzzel blast.
that should have tipped me off. ill try that again from a longer spacing.

HUUUUUUUUM
Well just as I was getting ready to hit the purchase button, Ding went the bell and said read some reviews. Had a Oehler some time back but sold it when I quit Trap shootin. Know that I am going broke on long range guns and reloading myself a new Oehler gonna get the wife on my back. Gave her my 22-250 cause it don't kick and sweet talking I could maybe possibly hopefully but not for sure be back on her better side. Yall wish me luck cause $575.00 + shipping an she seen it before I could hit the buy it know tab.
Geno22

 

[mustang58]

Watch Gunbroker and yes even ebay. I have seen several Oehlers on there over the years. Many are like new. I picked one up a few years ago for $400, used 3 times and in a hard side case, and had enough difusers for 3 complete sets of screens. Some people say they aren't worth the money but I have to be shown. I would sooner pay a little more and get something that works. I have never had mine refuse to work. Oehler still provides service for them also. If you call Oehler they are most helpful.

 

[Daves762]

Mr Chatwell. Thanks for the write up on this chrony. I need one and am shopping around. I too am a Firefighter//EMT-I in San Diego and just started my long range shooting addiction.....

If your ever in SD, stop by MCRD Station 1-9 MCRD Ill grill you up some steaks if you let me pick your brain for knowledge.....Be safe.

Dave

 

[Gary Kaney]

Wanted some reviews on the CED M2.I see am not the only one having trouble with mine. Two sensors replaced, and main unit will be sent in this coming Monday for the second time. Piece of junk.

 

[mike33]

ine that i swore by just took a crap also. When i bought mine i puchased the extra infrad red thinking thats the word to be able to shoot at low light never did get it to work. Although i thought it was great easy to set up i could never get my drop charts to work with my edge, finding out it was giving me the wrong vel. My buddy also got one and his was still under warranty and they did nothing about taking care of an issue. He would send it back stating problem they would send back saying its okey. I would never buy another one.
Mike

 

[chazmatic]

You know i bought two crony and killed both! I will not buy another.
My dealing with crony was fruitless.
You can get fps on line with input of load (powder and gr. Bullet barrel lenght etc.) this is pretty accurate.

 

[Adolfo]

This is a thread for discussion of the article, CED M2 Chronograph Review By Bryan Chatwell. Here you can ask questions or make comments about the article.

The author will have this thread automatically notify him of posts so that he can join the discussion. Here you can ask questions or make comments about the article.

Hi Bryan,
Nice to read your review.

I bought the CED M2 one month ago, at that time I installed 1 new Energizer Alkaline Battery on it, read the manual and browse trough the control unit functions, may be by 1 hour, and then put it on storage with the battery installed on it.
Now 1 month latter I turn on the main unit and I'm getting the low battery symbol blinking on the display.
Is this normal with the CED M2? Or should I contact tha manufacturer to claim a warranty?
What is your experience regarding batteries duration with different chronos?

Thank's a lot.

Adolfo

 

[shphtr]

What can I say - I have been using my Oehler 35P since 1992 at least 1 - 2 times a week for about 6 to 7 months a year. I have shot thousands and thousands of rounds thru it. I shoot EVEYTHING thru the sky screens and base my loads on the recorded velocities. When working up loads with new powders or bullets or brass I find the chrono'd values invaluable. Probably the only thing I would replace my Oehler with would be another Oehler. In the 22+ years I have had mine, the only thing I have had to replace is one sky screen which was replaced free of charge and arrived within days of talking to Oehler on the phone. Other Oehler owners that I have talked with seem to have had the same experience and satisfaction that I have had. Good Luck.

 

[Engineering101]

I've had the CED M2 for several years. It generally has worked very well and I have great confidence in the accuracy of the numbers it provides. This comes from having shot thousands of rounds over it and getting the expected results. On those occasions where the results were unexpected it was me who screwed up not the chronograph.

I always set the chrono sensors the same distance away as measured by a tape measure (4 yards) and I always align the sensors with a boresight laser so there are no errors from misalignment. If you don't do those two things you will have problems. I have always used a heavy tripod so don't know what would happen if it was more flimsy.

Even though I did all that... there were a few problems along the way. One of the wires in the cable to the sensor broke from repeated handling even though it has a decent strain relief. I went down to Radio Shack and picked up a similar cable and soldered it in place of the broken one which fixed that issue. I'm an Electronic Engineer by trade and while I had the sensor opened up I gave it the once over. The pc board on which they mounted the few components in the unit is OK, not aerospace grade but OK so no real problems there. Workmanship appeared good. The connectors they used on the IR screens for 12V power and the main sensor inputs suck but can be dealt with. While this is disappointing it is not unexpected in consumer electronics as high quality connectors are expensive and could kill the parts budget all by themselves.

A more serious problem, the unit won't read really fast small bullets (think 22-250) with the typical lower light levels here in usually cloudy Seattle. The IR screens ($100) fixed that problem but I rarely use them as I rarely am using that rifle at the range.

Recently I had another unexpected problem. I went to the range with a still working friend on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Being retired, I always go in the mornings so have not had to deal with the sun. After about 3 hours of working great the chrono stopped working. The angle of the sun in the late afternoon was such that it was hitting the lenses down inside the sensor assembly. I have subsequently wrapped a couple pieces of 2 inch wide duct tape around the bottom of the sensors which should prevent that from happening again. I'll report back on that one.

One other thing. Since this unit uses a microprocessor that is just sitting there waiting for you to press the on key, it will suck your battery down even though you thought the unit was turned off. It uses what is called a "soft off" feature so you need to take the battery out and stick it in the reserve compartment when not actually using the unit.

If you are willing to baby this unit (understand and put up with it's limitations) and set it up properly it will give very consistent results which right there makes it one of the better chronos on the market. The Ohler and Pro Chrono Digital are two others that seem to be OK. The rest of them, not so much. The Magnetospeed is great except it will change point of impact and you have to move it from rifle to rifle which is a bit of a pain as I'm always shooting one rifle while the others are cooling. If my trick with the duct tape doesn't work, I may have to get one for those rare sunny afternoons.

 

[powermax]

I have a CED M2 (don't shoot enough to justify upgrading to the latest and greatest) works great overcast days but sunny days it doesn't give a reading, is anyone still using a unit like this and do you experience the same problem? its really frustrating when this happens! with it 12 feet from my 7mm STW muzzle loaded with a 143HH it's about to get pulverized the next time this happens,. grr

 

[mike06]

I have a CED M2 (don't shoot enough to justify upgrading to the latest and greatest) works great overcast days but sunny days it doesn't give a reading, is anyone still using a unit like this and do you experience the same problem? its really frustrating when this happens! with it 12 feet from my 7mm STW muzzle loaded with a 143HH it's about to get pulverized the next time this happens,. grr

I went to lighted screens on mine worked pretty good. Gave up on it because in finally started missing shots and went to a MagnetoSpeed for a few years now I have the new Caldwell and really like it the best.

 

[Gary Kaney]

I went to lighted screens on mine worked pretty good. Gave up on it because in finally started missing shots and went to a MagnetoSpeed for a few years now I have the new Caldwell and really like it the best.

I've probably said it before. To me the CED was designed to be used in a controlled enviorment not out on the shooting range.

 

[powermax]

I've probably said it before. To me the CED was designed to be used in a controlled enviorment not out on the shooting range.

Agree.. I purchased it 20 years ago was great in the day, new technology has superseded, thanks