Chronograph advice

[SentientHunter]

I currently have a chrony but from my experience I've had to adjust dramatically when verifying drops. I'm looking for a new chronograph but want to know if the magnetospeed v3/sporter or labradar are worth the price. How much adjusting needed to be done while verifying drops?

I had the Magnetospeed which worked reasonably well, but I found to be a pain to use with any tapered barrel. You have to be extremely careful not to shoot the sensor and the strap seemed to loosen all the time. I finally replaced it with a LabRadar and it is a much better system.

 

[mikebob]

When I use mine and get good velocity readings I change the BC to get drops to match.

 

[bigdaddyWSM]

I have a Labradar & use it a lot. My son & my self like to build/ rebarrel rifles & we always use the chronograph as a baseline for ballistic apps. The Labradar we have works great, will need an external battery source as regular batteries die too soon.

 

[JAYgs8163]

will the magnetospeed work if the rifle has a muzzle brake or flash suppressor? Also, the labradar will give you velocity readings at multiple distances out to 100yds. I use mine for veloc with my pistols and revolvers, as well as rifles, with and without brakes.

Yes it works with brakes and both types of suppressors, flash or silencer. I have a V3 and it's extremely accurate. It only gives you MV and can not give you velocity out to 100 yards.

 

[Saracen]

I too have a magnetospeed sporter, in hindsight wish I would have gone with the Labradar. When I was looking at them, read many reviews that claimed the magnetospeed would not affect group size but it would change poi, in my expierence I've found that chrony hanging on the end of the barrel affects group size also especially on my sporter barrels, so now when I find a load with good es & sd I have to go home load it then back to range to shoot for group, where I could have done both simultaneously with the lab, should've bought once cried once.

I found somewhat hilarious regarding group size being unaffected with a foreign object hanging off the barrel.
A ridiculous claim on their part.

 

[Saracen]

will the magnetospeed work if the rifle has a muzzle brake or flash suppressor? Also, the labradar will give you velocity readings at multiple distances out to 100yds. I use mine for veloc with my pistols and revolvers, as well as rifles, with and without brakes.

It won't fit over a centrefire sound suppressor.

 

[SavageHunter11]

I currently have a chrony but from my experience I've had to adjust dramatically when verifying drops. I'm looking for a new chronograph but want to know if the magnetospeed v3/sporter or labradar are worth the price. How much adjusting needed to be done while verifying drops?

I've owned both Magnetospeeds and a LabRadar and currently have the LabRadar and the V3. The one I use the most is overwhelmingly the Magnetospeed V3. The LabRadar is nice but I've had issues getting it tuned in when there are other shooters next to me at the range (which is all the time). The LabRadar is nice and with more practice I am sure I could get it working faster or I could just strap the V3 on and get my data now. The only downside I've seen with the V3 (the Sporter too) so far is that it WILL shift your point of impact even on thicker barrels. So, once you get your velocity data you have to take the Magnetospeed off if you want to zero/confirm zero on your rifle. Also, I had a Sporter and upgraded to the V3. My original plan with the Sporter was to get the phone connection and essentially get the V3 features for the Sporter price but at the time the phone app only worked on a few select phones that were 3+ years old and out of date. Both will serve you well but I think for the extra money and extra hassel the LabRadar just isn't worth it but it might be for you if you need more data then muzzle velocity.

 

[jvr]

I have a v3 and use it often. Labradar was not available at the time. Would have bought labradar if it had been available.

Labradar is more convenient and will do non railed pistol, brakes and suppressors.

No issues with v3. Works great.

Time and convenience are important to me.

Get the labradar.

 

[Bang4theBuck]

I had a friend with a V3 MS, and a friend with a Labradar. After having used both and living the 'experience' of what they both do and don't do, I bought the V3. I could not be happier with my purchase. I do a lot of load development, but even if I didn't it is a huge time saver, and I have found it to be very accurate. I only have access to a public and to a private club range both of which get significant use, and no matter how we set up the radar, we picked up shots that were not ours. We also managed to miss quite a few shots, trying to get the unit placed in a manner where it would trigger...blah, blah, blah......The only (albeit small) inconvenience with the V3, is that after you are finished with your final load validation, you need to have a couple extra rounds to fire to verify/adjust zero. That has become almost a mute point as well now that I have gotten used to it. Small, light, accurate, dependable, not fragile, not complicated, cheaper than the radar. .....Just my speed!

 

[PRCLITE]

When I use mine and get good velocity readings I change the BC to get drops to match.

I never thought of changing the BC to match the drop. Should I be doing that instead of changing the velocity?

 

[mobenzowner]

Buy the labradar and don't look back. It will pay for itself over the magneto speed by being able to shoot groups and log velocities. My groups and poi's were way off with the magneto speed stuck out on end of my barrel. I had to shoot once for data and a second time for groupings with the magneto speed. I will say it's readings were consistent and accurate as best I could tell.

 

[PRCLITE]

Looks like they both have their benefits for sure. I guess I'll have to save up and figure it out.

 

[MtnMagic]

I'm having the same dilemma, MagnetoSpeed or Labradar. I don't want to spend a lot of money and was looking at the MagnetoSpeed Sporter, but I'm concerned that the MagnetoSpeed Sporter will not work well with the rather large muzzle brake I have on the rifle I intend to use it most with.

 

[Hand Skills]

I never thought of changing the BC to match the drop. Should I be doing that instead of changing the velocity?

There are variations on this but personally i true for velocity at ~1/4mi and then BC at
~1/2mi.

I look at Velocity as the coarse adjustment and BC is fine tuning.