Why a Chronograph ?

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As others have said, not only is it a indispensable tuning tool, it also is a great troubleshooting tool.

I chrono and record all my new guns out of the box for a baseline. Then its easier to troubleshoot a problem when it arises. If chrono shows speed has changed and/or is not consistent then you have a path to follow to figure out the problem. If speed has not changed you need to look elsewhere for your problem... Just another tool to use in a step by step process of elimination...

jmo
 
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Brandan You do not need to get expensive a decent Chrony is going to set you back somewhere in the range of $130, As others mentioned a chrony is an invaluable tool if your trying to learn what kind of power your gun us producing with the lead your throwing. 

Some things you need to know about Chrony is that they work by "seeing" the projectile pass through two windows and calculating the speed from a and b, I mention this because they are light finicky. They hate Florescent bulbs and or if its too sunny or too dark.

One really nice thing about a chrony is it lets you see where your power curve is this will allow you to know at what air pressure your gun shoots the hardest if your a hunter or after a tune down or up to get your best accuracy. 

I have always preferred Competition Electronics myself 
 
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+1 to what Willie14228 said on the price. I also use the Competition Electronics Chrony. It is good for use with both airgun and powder burners. There is a more expensive type that uses doppler radar but my finances restrict me to window shopping on those (sigh). If you go on YouTube there is a nice informational video by Steve (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQs9FfdyqBI) 
 
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Though it hasn't been mentioned yet the FX Chrony is pretty slick. Froggy kinda eluded to it above. It uses doppler radar to measure the muzzle velocity and connects to a phone app via bluetooth. 

In addition to the above comments using a chronograph for tuning and troubleshooting, another important use is for competition to make sure people are within power limits.
 
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I don't use mine as much as I thought I would but once I fired a bunch of shots through it and listened to the sound and observed the impact, I kind of was able to develop a sense of what my gun was shooting at based on how it felt and sounded. This to me is really valuable. I can tell with a shot or two where I'm shooting in the 20-50 fpe range. Each sounds distinct and i have a better understanding of what the airgun is communication by its bark so to speak. For my TalonP, in the 20's, it's satisfying pneumatic pop. When i cross 30, it really cracks, becomes irritating. At 40 ish it's more of a boom, deeper. 50 and it's just... well I know it when I hear it... this is ear-ringingly loud. So now I don't use it unless I'm checking some fine tuning. 


This is assuming I'm not using a moderator. Since putting a moderator on, its like a stranger. I can't really tell whats going on it all sounds like a misfire. So maybe back to the chronograph and listening carefully to the moderator clunks and hisses. 
 
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A chrony may induce typical OCD if and when abused thinking somethings always wrong with your guns if the shots aren't within one or two feet per second from start to finish and ignore the fact your gun still shoots accurately.

It is a good tool to first check the gun when new to see that it's within factory specs power wise and to diagnose accuracy issues.

Abuse it and become a chronic chrony numbers watcher and pellet waster and you get free stress added to the rest your life every time you buy a new gun. 

Few don't even bother to buy a chrony because they don't want the possible OCD stress.
 
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you want ocd? Get a 3d printer learn basic modeling and start making things... with each thing you make you get a little bit better at making things, which opens up new windows of opportunity, and there's always some little weird problem that you can try to solve based on what could've been better or didn't go right or you just didn't think of the first time. a deep rabbit hole.


Between the 3-D printer and a chrony you could drive yourself (and everyone who lives in the same household as you) crazy. I may or may not have first hand experience. Everyone in my household may or may not have the "3-D printer song" going in their heads 24/7
 
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Besides helping when tuning a rifle, it helps a lot when trying to understand your shot strings. Having the data helps you understand if certain portions of strings are abnormal, maybe the beginning or end. Extra data helps you make more informed decisions when it comes to knowing while your rifle is shooting how it is. 

I didn’t have one when I started, but I can’t imagine not having one now. But that is also because I like trying out new rifles and “testing”. Heck, it has made me want to use them on my other rifles too, in order to better understand those ammos too. 
 
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Well, the most basic benefit of a chrono for me is to know the exact muzzle velocity of different pellets -- and that data I can feed into a ballistic calculator -- which then will tell me how I have to adjust my POA (point of aim) for different ranges, or with different pellets from the same gun.

For short/mid range backyard plinking not really necessary, but if you want to reach out farther, or hunt, or get more precision from your gun, yeah, a worthwhile investment.



I'd get a unit that comes with a tripod and lights kit -- then you're ready for anything and don't have to mess around tyring to set it up -- which is kind of a pain anyhow, as it has to be leveled and alinged just so.

I'm using a Caldwell, a little less than the $130 stated above.

Matthias
 
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I use it for the following reasons but not limited to them. 

* monitoring the health of the gun. I test it when new or when tuning is complete and occasionally monitor after it. 

* I use it to judge the cost benefit of a tune. If I can tighten up a spring to an extent but it reduces velocity by, XY feet per second then I’ll weight that against any twang that was eliminated and/or accuracy changes

* I use it to find which pellets provide optimal FPE. Usually I don’t bother with this as I’m picky as my guns on which pellets I want to use. I do sometimes read up on bench rest shooters -for the day I make that leap- who discuss various pellets and their accuracy given a velocity range. I don’t track my data but it is in my mind if I’m messing with velocity by a good deal while trying to keep the same pellet. An example would be a full power spring that I’ve even spaced with a heavy piston vs the same gun shooting a light spring. Not something I encounter more then once a blue moon though. 

* when I ask for help online I like to give as much data as possible so anyone who provides support has as much of the picture as I can provide. 

* comparing guns. Depending on application I might choose one gun over another, maybe sacrifice a little accuracy for power or visa versa. 

* shot strings. I have a couple guns with PIA seal issues so I occasionally use it to rule the seals out when I’m having long range issues (at close ranges I’ve found velocity spreads to have little to NO effect on POI or accuracy, this has been mentioned by many people I trust as well) 

Thats all I can think of at the moment. 
 
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A chrony may induce typical OCD if and when abused thinking somethings always wrong with your guns if the shots aren't within one or two feet per second from start to finish and ignore the fact your gun still shoots accurately.

It is a good tool to first check the gun when new to see that it's within factory specs power wise and to diagnose accuracy issues.

Abuse it and become a chronic chrony numbers watcher and pellet waster and you get free stress added to the rest your life every time you buy a new gun. 

Few don't even bother to buy a chrony because they don't want the possible OCD stress.
Click to expand...


Agree with Odoyle , If you overuse it will get you in trouble, been there done that.

B
 
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Agreed OCD can creep in but as mentioned you almost have to have one to calculate bullet performance 

In my opinion no big bore (hunter) owner should be without one as many states have FPE minimums 

something I plan on doing very soon is putting a shield on mine 

first because I didn’t learn my lesson the first time and have shot two of my chrony 

2nd these big bores throw a lot of air and that little film sheet plastic faceplate just doesn’t stand up well to it 
 
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I use mine simply to keep tabs on the operating conditions of my HW springers.

For example, a few years ago I installed a Vortek PG2 spring kit in my Beeman R9. After the initial install I chronied the gun and found that the velocity was a much too fast 960fps with a 7.9 grain pellet. I removed the supplied thick and heavy spring kit top hat which brought the velocity down to an acceptable 920 fps and used the kit as modified. After about 2500 shots over a couple months I noticed that my pellet trajectory had changed. I shot a few pellets over the chrony and found that with less than 2500 shots my velocity had dropped down to 880fps. I disassembled the R9, replaced my home made top hat with the thicker/heavier top hat that was supplied with the PG2 kit and the velocity again increased to 920fps. Before I finished one case of boxed Crosman Premiers I again noticed a "trajectory change" and the chrony showed another drop to 880fps. In less than 4 months and 4500 CPLs the CPL velocity had dropped 80fps!

Without a chrony I would have never known why my trajectory was changing but since I knew the spring had sagged quickly in about 4 months I replaced the PG2 kit with a new home made kit based on an ARH spring. I have used ARH components for a few decades without "spring sagging" so I reverted back to "tried and true".

Since I've been using "dotted type scope reticles" that allow multiple "hold over points" I no longer tune my HW springers to shoot CPLs at 920fps, however I still use my chrony to determine the "health" of my springers.........






 
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