I don't know why I've resisted buying a chronograph, especially as much as I love to shoot. Anyhoo, I've got one on the way. It is a Shooting Chrony Beta Master Chronograph. Not a high dollar affair, (remember: I'm on a fixed income), but it does have many folks that seem to love it.

Anyone here had any experiences - hopefully positive - with this company's machines?

Thanks!

Had both the F-1 and the Gamma Master Chrony units. For the price and occassional usage, they can't be beat.

Are a little sensitive to excessive light and also, dim light. There are microwave towers in the vicinity of our range and sometimes I'd get some extraneous weird readings. In addition, adjacent muzzleblasts from other shooters will play hob with them.

Most folks set their units up too close to the muzzle and get a lot of blast on the unit's face. Best to set them out at least 13' - 15' from the muzzle for best results. There's usually about a 2 or 3 fps loss when setting out this far. Not enough to make any difference.

Have used one of the bottom line units for years...nearly as cheap as it's possible to get, but it's always worked.

Firend bought one of the recondtioned units they once sold (and still may)...are the rebuilt units once someone shoots his....cheaper, worked just as well.

A couple of things drive them nuts: setting up to close (the muzzle blast), sun from oblique angles, and setting them up too close to big high voltage power lines. Why exactly that last one does it, I haven't a clue, but will get error readings all day.

Can make wider/larger diffuser screns from translucent plastic that helps with some sunlight problems. Had some error readons on some ammo no matter what I did, until I colored the bullets sticking out of the case with a black marks-a-lot befor shooting...evidently the "glint" of light was giving me an error reading.

I have the cheap unit and on my first outing with it a gas check came loose and took out the display. Your unit may not have the problem, but its pretty easy to make a deflector. I also use wooden dowells instead of the metal rods to support the diffusers. (It's amazing how many different ways there are to shoot a chrony)

Kdub is right about the distance, big boomers like my 8 mag and those in that catagory can distroy a chrono up close.

Like milkman's experience I had a gas check from a 44 mag revolver take out the display. Since then I've always put the chrono at five to seven feet for shooting the revolver.

Mine is from Competition Electronics, Inc, 3469 Precision Drive, Rockford, IL 61109, It is a great tool for building loads.

One thing is certain, anything that goes downrange is sooner or later going to get tagged by something moving fast. I try to minimalize that by setting a target stand up next to the 'graph...doesn't have to be a real profesionaly stable set up, just enough to spot where the bullets strike at close range. A couple of sighter shots on the target just to be sure that nothing real drastic is going on before moving to the chronograph two feet over.

Probably is better to replace the steel rods that hold the diffuser with small wooden dowel. Tag the steel rod and it busts the plastic housing it fits into, small dowel will just break.

As with Kdub's and ribbonstone's experience, I found my F1 to be sensitive to bright sunlight and I got a lot of error readings. This darn clear Idaho air doesn't diffuse the light enough! It worked better on cloudy days. They are a good value though, when they're working. I'll have to try the black marker on the bullet scheme.