How important is it to own a chronrograph?

Don't have one, would rather not pay for it if I can avoid it.

Is a chronograph an essential for the hobbyist air gunner?

nt

[ribbonstone]

It's nice...and it saves time....believe Chrony still sells recondtioned units (read that as "rebuilt after someone shot theirs") pretty cheaply.

Generally, we are accuracy oriented...so if it shoots nice tight groups and hits things way out there, the vel. issue isn't very important.  But a 'graph will let you tune your rifle of consistancy, let you know when there is a problem like a seal starting to go or a spring letting down, and can make ammo selection a bit easier.

[nmmike]

As I said over on the China Gate I'm still using my 'ultra sophisticated snap/thwack' chronograph .
Seriously, it would be a nice addition but as I only shoot target & plink I can get by without one for awhile. Maybe someday .
Mike

hmm thanks for the tip. I see they sell reconditioned ones for $49.95 .

maybe I'll pick one up.

Youkilis:

I have a chronograph for work reasons.  You can't do much writing for shooting magazines without access to one, as editors want the kind of data they provide.

But it is useful for my hobby shooting, too.  As previosuly noted, I can use it to determine the overall health of my spring-piston powerplants.  I can also use it in conjuntion with an airgun ballistics program such as Chairgun 2 to get accurate trajectory plots and calcualtions for sighting in to maximize point blank range.  And, I can use it to calcuate ballistic coeffecient of pellets.

So I would say that it is useful to me.

But I enjoyed shooting for many years before the chronograph came into my life, too, so I wouldn't say that it is essential, in every case.

It could be, though, if you shoot a lot, because of it's utility as a baramoeter for gauging powerplant health.

Plus, they're so cheap now that it is really more of a question of "why not have one?" than "why do I need one."

Then again, you seem to be getting along just fine without one.........

-JP
http://www.uplandhunter.net

[CharlieDaTuna]

Just to touch on the subject.

A chrony can be a valuable tool for some people and  for others, a total waste of money. For those that own several guns and want to compare them to one another or perhaps if you do a bit of tuning you can compare the before and after of course it can be useful and in some cases an important tool.

It can also help you some times diagnose problems like if there is a problem with your gun such as a drop in velocity because of a weak spring or a damaged seal. It can also show you the deviation in velocity between shots as well as your velocity averages velocity and average deviation.

But…with that being said, almost all of those thing can also be determined without a Chrony. The crony can help determine if you have a problem but won't tell you what the problem is. That’s a matter of interpretation.

 Also if you have shot your gun for awhile, you know the feel of your gun and how hard it hits and it’s accuracy and will know if something is wrong.


Just a couple of examples: Take for example the velocity drop. If your gun shoots fairly consistently, and if for some reason when you shoot and the pellet poi starts dropping, it’s usually an indication that the power is dropping either because of spring fatigue or a leaking seal or maybe both.
 
Another… if the poi of impact is rising and falling, (maybe also some smoke) it could be quite possible that the seal is leaking lube past it and getting in front of the seal causing excessive dieseling causing higher and lower velocities between shot.  

Most people that buy a Chrony will use it a few times cuz it’s a new toy and then it will just set just like a lot of other things we buy and for most but not all people, a waste of money. Most people can shoot their guns for years and not have a need for a chrony and then really not even need it then.

Bottom line…most people really have no need for a chrony for the most part, and unless you are an avid and/or precision shooter or a perfectionist, or someone that does a considerable amount of tuning or rebuilding or just testing theories and applying them…save your money. For the others, a few questions asked on the forums will usually give you the answers you need to solve your problem.

Just my opinion for what it’s worth..

[-=ed]

Where can you buy a reconditioned chrony

I did a net search and got nothing

http://www.shootingchrony.com/products_SCMMCM.htm

scroll down to the bottom