Best overall Chronograph

I think this is almost a loaded question. I own three. One isn't worth mentioning. The Crony Alpha I have is fine, and works great outdoors, but I can't get it to work reliably inside even with the light kit. 

Last year, I bought a L1000 Listone. It only measure in m/s, and cannot be used downrange. However, it is rechargeable, very small, and works no matter the ambient light. I have used it a whole lot. 

I have a new Oehler, but I've never unpacked it. In any case, I don't think you can argue about Oehler's quality.

I have plans to buy a Labradar, but I'm waiting to see how HAM does with their tests of the unit. So far, they've done okay with theirs, but the one I borrowed was questionable for airgun use. The nice thing about them, if they work as advertised, is they use doppler radar to measure speed downrange at multiple distances. This allows you to compute the real-world BC.

Yep loaded but anyway I've had the good old ProChrono for over 10years and have put thru it Arrows,bullets and pellets and as far as I know all the numbers have been within expectations or what I've looked up for real number readings, I did just order a digital add on for my android phone but haven't run it thru the passes yet, the main thing as we all know is having the correct lighting for any Chrono to work properly.....
I would like to buy a new Chrono someday but this tried and true ProChrono just keeps on going so I haven't had the opportunity to try anything else, maybe I need to accidentally shot it so I have a excuse to buy and try something else...

We have been using the Competition Electronics ProChrono for about two years now and it has worked flawlessly. And our chrono gets used a lot! 

Another happy ProChrono user here.

This is what I still use. From the late 70's, early 80's. It's slow to set up correctly.

I'd dare say, mine's not the best, but it sure works. Best is subjective, so here's what mine does. 

It's the Combro from England. http://www.combro.co.uk/index.html

It's little but so far, proven accurate. Just use a rubber band to attach to the end of your barrel. Drawback is that if you have a suppressor, and it's not long enough to get the bands on, it won't work.

It fits in my range bag, so is available whenever I want it. Because it attaches directly to the gun, I don't need tripods, stands, lights and the rest. Just rubber band it on and go.

Not sure what the price is today, probably around $50, but I've enjoyed mine, even with the limitations. Good bit of kit.

Ok. I can recomend a chronograph from Poland. LMBR company is owned by Radecek - guy that was/is an airgun shooter and made his first chrony as experiment, and now he have 4 versions of his chrony R2 and nevest versions works not only with airguns but with everything from bows and crosbows, airguns, firearms and black powder ones. 
You can buy them in germany, uk and several other countries. 
LMBR official website: http://www.chrono.lmbr.pl/products.html
My review of those chronographs: Chrono R2 by Radecek – polska myśl technologiczna[/QUOTE]http://zwiatremwlufie.pl/recenzja/chrono-r2-by-radecek-cz1/embed/
(google translation of that page: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=pl&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=pl&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fzwiatremwlufie.pl%2Frecenzja%2Fchrono-r2-by-radecek-cz1%2F&edit-text=&act=url )

I've used combro (nice, small but reseting after every shot is not for me), Shooting Chrony - good but I had some issues whit it in different lighting conditions. 
Chrony R2 form LMBR have 255 memory slots, show and record not only every shot but also average, shooting speed and several others. You can transfer your chrony data to your computer or even to tour smartphone or tablet (I've tested that on android and windows machines). 

Another Competition ProChrono user here... ~4yrs without an issue. Had a Shooting Chrony F1 before that, worked fine as well... but I shot it... Oops!!!

I also have have the ProChrono with a LED light system and when I use it indoors, its great. The thing I don't like about it is using it outdoors at the shooting range. Its such a pain to get the chronograph inline with your gun and target. I try to hit two birds with one stone to conserve ammo by shooting for groups and measuring pellet/bullet speed. I have been looking at the Magneospeed Chronograph which doesn't measure the speed with a light source but since the chronograph clamps to the end of the barrel, it could affect the POI.

I fully agree. It's always in the bag. Works perfectly with my.22 pcp, but not so good with my brothers .177 springer. I don't know why. 

Good choice. Only unit I have seen used at the U.S, National and World's Field Target. I have a dozen friend with that unit and never a problem, tho it seems some may be picky ( after seeing so many work so well "I" would be tempted to give em a call if it didn't work well ). 

That unit does have the standard camara mount screw hole on the bottom which makes using a $5.00 thrift store bi-pod an excellent option when sooting target & numbers at the same time. If using a firearms shooting range, likely wont let you use one but at home there's no other way to enjoy shooting 100's of pellets through a chrony.
John

LabRadar. It will give velocity at POi so you can get an exact ballistic coefficient at different ranges.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1016447132/labradar-ballistic-velocity-doppler-radar-chronograph

I'm gonna go with the Caldwell Ballistic Precision Chronograph G-2, but hear me out ;-)


I started out with the el cheapo F-1 Shooting Chrony. It was fine until I shot it. Still works but looks a little worn now days.



Then went with the Combro CB-625 via Ebay. Used it for a year or two before I shot it off the end of the barrel and destroyed it ;-)



Then tried the Labradar for about a year and sold it, because it was just way too much for what I needed, and I found someone interested in buying it before I even realized I wanted to sell it? The Labradar is excellent for someone who is determining ballistic coefficients on different pellets etc. It will do way more than my feeble mind can grasp.



So, after my experience with the first three, my favorite of all the Chronographs that I've owned to date is the Caldwell Ballistic Precision Chronograph G-2 that I found on sale at Midway USA last year.
This one will be a lot harder for me to destroy as compared to other chronys I've tried because of it's inverted shape. I don't use batteries or hook it to my phone. I just plug it in to my extension cord and set it on the end of the picnic table and blast away!




https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/169483/caldwell-ballistic-precision-chronograph-g2?cm_mmc=pf_ci_connexity-_-Shooting+-+Chronographs%2C+Wind+Meters+%26+Timers-_-Caldwell-_-169483

I wouldn't mind trying one of the Edgun Mini Chronographs to replace my Combro CB-625 though?
http://www.edgunwest.com/store/p6/Edgun_Mini_Chronograph.html

I like my Caldwell Deluxe Chronograph kit. It came with a very nice case with shoulder strap, tripod, all the wires, battery pack, wall wort, android phone wire. IR lights too. I found that using the wallwort with an extension chord gives far less " ERROR 2's and ERROR 3's". It cost like $160 online. Plugging it into the android phone gets old to me quickly, but it works well. Just after I bought mine, the Bluetooth version came out, and my computer is all set up for that., Damn. Maybe get the new one eventually? But it is nice to use my Samsung Galaxy J3 to read all the detailed info it gives, including current temp and barometric pressure! You have to input sea level though, among other things. And saving the files from your shot groups is tricky, but handy. I save them to the cloud, which it does, then get it on screen and copy as .jpg file to my pic files for sharing quickly and easily.
So here are some pics for the more visually-oriented;