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Setup was very straight forward and took less than five minutes. All you need to do is follow the instructions. (I know this will be a problem for many of you but give it a try. You might enjoy the new experience.
) The only thing I needed to supply was a 9-volt battery. I chose to mount mine on a tripod that I have for my camera. This seems to be the easiest method although you can also set the chrony on a table or other support if you prefer. However, this makes adjustment a bit of a challenge. The Chrony Master models have a remote control which incorporates a LCD screen to report the data. This is connected to the sensor unit by a 16-foot long cable which allows you to set the unit aside on the table you are using for a pistol rest and safely out of the danger zone.
I adjusted the height of the tripod so that the upper edge of the unit was 5 inches below that of the table I was resting the pistol on plus the height of the pistol barrel. I did this because the instructions recommend that the bullet pass 4 to 6-inches above the sensors. This arrangement made it much easier as the pistol is then shooting on a flat path parallel to the ground and the chrony’s horizontal axis.
Rather than install the light diffusers, I simply placed an IPSC target with the No Shoot white side down atop the supports. This provides a consistent light background for the sensors to “see.” I had read that this is a better approach than trying to rely upon the diffusers. It was a day of broken clouds alternating between bright sunshine and an overcast sky. However, the use of the No Shoot target seemed to allow the unit to work consistently regardless of the daylight conditions.
I also put a printed target a couple of feet behind the unit with the bull’s-eye at the exact position that I wanted the bullet to take as it passed over the sensors. This helped me to aim the pistol more accurately and minimize the chance that I would shoot the chrono or the supports.
I placed the unit almost exactly ten feet from the muzzle. I had a couple of instances where the rear sensor failed to read the bullet when I did the initial testing. I then found that if I moved it about two feet closer the chrony worked perfectly. The instructions indicated this might be the case.
I only had about 30 minutes to play a bit with the unit. During that time I ran four full ten-round stings using different ammo loads and three different pistols. Of course I was mostly interested in Power Factor. My .45ACP reloads using 4.0 grains of Clays and Zero 230 grain JHP’s in brass casings averaged 169.7 from a cold barrel in my 5” Springer Black Stainless 1911. The same load in Nickel casings and a warm barrel ran a bit hotter at 173.2. Nickel casing rounds from the same batch averaged 172.2 using my S&W 1911Sc. I also ran a string using 9mm WWB 115 grain FMJ through my XD-9 Tactical which resulted in an average PF of 136.5. I did not encounter any wildly varying readings in any of the strings.
The unit provides the following data for each string (normally ten rounds): highest velocity, lowest velocity, average velocity, extreme spread, standard deviation and the velocity of each shot. Each of these requires the press of a single button which allowed me to push the button with my left thumb while writing with my right hand. A printer is also available but I didn’t feel it was worth the investment.
Advanced features can be reached using a combination of two push buttons. This undoubtedly helped to keep the cost of the unit down but it is a PITA to use. The good news is that I’ll likely never use any of them.
Overall, I give the Shooting Chrony Beta Master an A-.
The only drawback is the need to use a combination of buttons as described above. Considering I saved about $80 over a CED Millennium Chrono I think it is a bargain for those who use their chrono only occasionally.
This post has been edited by XD Niner: 16 January 2007 - 07:52 PM
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