Chronographs and muzzleloaders

[Center_shot]

How far do you set your chronograph from the muzzle of you muzzleloader to get a reading from just the ball and not the patch or other stuff flying in that direction? Is there a way to correct for the loss of speed from he muzzle to the chronograph? Thanks.

 

[Phil Coffins]

15 feet, I’m more interested in consistency then velocity.

 

[hawkeye2]

The only muzzleloaders I have chronoed were firing minies so I wasn't concerned about following patches. I seem to remember the distances as being 8 to 12 feet. I regard any velocity loss in that small distance as being entirely inconsequential.

 

[TFoley]

LabRadar is your friend here.

 

[rchas]

12 to 15 feet away. Loss of velocity at that distance is inconsequential--I don't worry about it. A chronograph is a great tool when developing consistent loads.

 

[waksupi]

The biggest concern, is protecting the chrony screen. I put a sheet of steel in front of mine. Started doing that after the first gas check cracked it. I suspect an errant patch could also damage a screen. You would especially want to do this if shooting over a friends chrony. Wouldn't want to lose a friend. You can check your averages after a string, and toss any anomalies.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

12 to 15 feet away. Loss of velocity at that distance is inconsequential--I don't worry about it. A chronograph is a great tool when developing consistent loads.

This is exactly what I do…speaking from experience, and having to replace a couple chronographs.

 

[Okie Hog]

LabRadar is your friend here.

Works for me.

 

[TFoley]

Works for me.

We have two in our little club. They both get used most weekends for load development. It amazed me to find out that my P-H Whitworth rifle with 70gr was pushing a 535gr bullet out at just under 1300 fps - not even a spiffy hexagon bullet either! That has just GOT to sting.

 

[andy52]

I have a couple of Chronos but I really don't use them for my muzzleloaders, I only use them for load development with rifles that shoots well beyond the range of a front stuffer.

 

[Sparkytfl]

I learned a week ago that yes a patch, even a .010, will take out a ProChrono screen at ten feet, so I recommend getting any optional debris shield, or just covering the screen with something. I had hit it a few other times, but it had always just left greasy spots. Other than that, ten feet seems to work great.
Replaced it myself for $15, but for some reason it's only viewable at an angle. Either wrong specs or my bad soldering skills burned it.

 

[Ranch 13]

20 ft is the distance I use for muzzleloaders and bpcr, to get the most dependable readings and use the light diffusers . But even at that it is possible for a grease cookie sandwiched between two thin fiber wads to be sticking out of the readout screen on a Shooting Chrony like a tiny little ninja frisbee.

 

[Ninering62]

How far do you set your chronograph from the muzzle of you muzzleloader to get a reading from just the ball and not the patch or other stuff flying in that direction? Is there a way to correct for the loss of speed from he muzzle to the chronograph? Thanks.

Good topic;
My Caldwell chrony has a 25' cord that connects to my cell phone as a screen with the ballistics app.
I set the chrony up at 20' from the front of my shooting bench. I shoot mostly inlines with veggie wads or felt wads & a lot of sabots, in my cpl sidelocks I shoot conicals with the same types of wads. I do not have any problems with the chrony malfunctioning or failing to read the bullets speed at that distance. It does not pick up the wads or sabots. Lastly, there is NO NEED to concern yourself with any velocity loss between your muzzle & the 10', 15', or 20' that your chrony. Its absolutely negligible that close.

 

[Erwan]

How far do you set your chronograph from the muzzle of you muzzleloader to get a reading from just the ball and not the patch or other stuff flying in that direction? Is there a way to correct for the loss of speed from he muzzle to the chronograph? Thanks.

With or without patches the distance of the Chrony is ~16.5 feets (or~5 meters) from the muzzle. Just because frequentlyf, here, the mesurements are given for V°+5 in fact...

 

[tomm9903]

About 10’, and yes a shield 🛡 of sorts to guard your screen.

 

[Gordoncourtney]

How far do you set your chronograph from the muzzle of you muzzleloader to get a reading from just the ball and not the patch or other stuff flying in that direction? Is there a way to correct for the loss of speed from he muzzle to the chronograph? Thanks.

Graham Wright volume three had a whole article on the subject. I’ll print it out of course he is shooting double rifles. But no different I recall he shoots through a frame to stop the gasses then the crono is 15ft further from it He’s after very accurate recordings I have used mine at 50 yards at the killing done. Experiment great fun Mind you the bullet could be 15 ft up in the air as it arcs to its destination It’s an interesting subject I wish you well

 

[ohio ramrod]

I set mine about ten yards from the muzzle. They are great for developing consistant loads and testing different powders

 

[The Appalachian]

Mine gets clamped to the barrel and works on just about any firearm. Magnetospeed V3. I used optical chronos for years until I discovered that they never read the same thing twice, thus never producing data that can be trusted. Too many things influence an optical and thus skew your readings. When you're trying to achieve single digit SD and ES, and obtain different temp data, for 1000 yard plus extended range shooting, a V3 or a lab radar is your huckleberry. A Labradar is above my paygrade and the V3 does exactly what I need a chrono to do.
Now that situation doesn't apply to the use of a traditional muzzleloader, but I have chrono'd muzzleloaders with it, and have achieved a good load tune by tightening up the velocity numbers. And, through trial and error learned what affects velocity in a particular muzzleloader. A good trustworthy chrono can be a great tool in the bag of tricks.

 

[Gordoncourtney]

I have Graham wrights book 3 addition and hope he does not Mind me sending a couple of pages. I added some tables on BP loads for double rifles to give more idea of what’s going on. It’s all BP

 

[Gordoncourtney]

I have Graham wrights book 3 addition and hope he does not Mind me sending a couple of pages. I added some tables on BP loads for double rifles to give more idea of what’s going on. It’s all BP

Tables Bp