The Chrony F1 is set at the factory to give you fps; there is another model that you can buy if you are into that weird European metric system, and you get centimeters per second or something equally confusing (definitely not American!).
I don't have experience with any other chronographs, and I know that there are some fancy (make that, "pricey") models out there. But I loved the fact that it was tiny, that I could set it up in a couple of minutes, and that all I had to do is five things, despite all of the confusing instructions:
1) Place tape markers on the screen guide wires at 4 and 6 inches above the electric eye to shoot in that plane
2) Move the device to the lee side of my truck due to it being an extremely bright day
3) Turn on the "print" button on the printer after connecting the wire
4) Hit the "Statistics" button on the upper left of the printer to get all of the calculated info onto the tape
5) Turn off the power to the chronograph between strings, then start over with each caliber or gun
The chrony folds up into a palm sized object. The batteries (one AA lasts 48 hours of continuous use) and cable fit into the device. The printer with its roll of paper is about the same size. Both fit into the shooter's bag that was sent to me by the NRA-ILA for a donation, with room to spare for the rods and sectioned glare diffuser devices that fit on the rods. There was also plenty of room for spare AA batteries (one needed for the chronograph) and AAA batteries (four used by the printer).
I had limited resources at hand, since the person who owns the property where I tested the device was not available; so I just used a bucket to mount the actual chronograph, the hood of my truck to hold the integrated printer and control panel, and a chair over which to drape the firearms being tested. You need to be 10 feet away from the Chrony (with a rifle) so that muzzle blast of the more forceful calibers does not interfere with the readings. Instructions are included, of course, with the product - 8 ft. for 30-30, less distance for handguns, etc.
Here is the printout of a light target load (9.3 grains Red Dot, Lyman 311041 in a Marlin 336). The velocity spread is a bit more than I wanted to see, but that was an aid to remind me that I should have used a more careful technique in scooping up the flaky powder with my Lee dipper!
For some reason, the above picture cuts off information, although it displays properly at PhotoBucket. When you press the "Statistics" button after firing the last shot in a string, you get a printout as above.
Minus symbol (-) : Lowest MV in string
Plus symbol (+) : Highest MV
Asterisk (*) : Average MV
Letter "C" : Extreme Spread (ES)
Diamond symbol : Standard Deviation (SD)
Letter "T" : Number of shots in string being calculated
With the chrony, I was pleased to see that the loads that I tested were very close to what I had thought that they would be; but also a bit surprised to find out that the difference in a certain load between a 6.5" Taurus .44 Magnum and a 10.5" Ruger Super Blackhawk was only 100 fps - that's only 25 fps per inch. It is my all-time favorite target and plinking load, one that is deadly accurate:
Magnus 240 gr. SWC Beveled Base, moly coated hard cast bullet (#701M)
9.0 gr. Unique, CCI 300 Lg Pistol primer, COAL 1.609"
6.5" Taurus: 1078 fps avg; 10.5" Super Redhawk: 1171 fps
For less than 200 frogskins, I would encourage any fence-sitters to plop down the money and dive into the world of electronics!
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