A Tale Of Two Chronoscopes

 The long, long wait ...

For the last six months I haven't written any blogs because I haven't really done any work on my air rifles, I have used them a little but there is only so much you can write about that. The reason is a little to do with work commitments and a lot to do with my old chronograph dying an untimely death last May. It was the Mk IV Combro chronoscope which attaches to the barrel of your rifle - a brilliant little device but if you're not extremely careful with it, you can shoot out a sensor, which is exactly what I managed to do.

The Mk IV Combro still gave a reading after shooting out this sensor.

Happily, the company which builds them will repair them very cheaply for you and I can highly recommend their service. In the case of my chrono however, the final nail in it's coffin came when it fell, in it's box, onto a hot plate on the cooker and was reduced to ash and melted plastic. Oopsy.

Shortly before it's untimely death.

I needed a new chronoscope, but this time I decided I would wait and save for a larger model, one that not only measures pellets and BB's whatever the barrel shape, but can also measure projectiles from bows, crossbows and slingshots. There are a few makes you can choose from. There is the Skan, which by all accounts is excellent but a bit expensive and doesn't do bolts and arrows. The Shooting Chrony range includes the Alpha, the Beta, and the F1, which are cheaper but a bit of a bugger about lighting conditions. There is also the American made Pro Chrono with the basic and digital models, which is a little more expensive than the Alpha but a lot more forgiving.

Ooh, Yes, that's the one I want.

After a lot of research and some brilliant advice from some of the airgun forums I decided to go for the Pro Chrono Digital. Little did I know it would be nigh on impossible to find anywhere in the UK which actually had them in stock!

Oh happy days.

So I waited and waited and waited some more, but no joy, it would appear I was not destined for a Pro Chrono Digital. A few months before my birthday I notice a very good deal on the Shooting Chrony Beta with lighting unit, not what i'd originally wanted, but a good compromise. So when the Fed Ex lorry dropped off a large birthday present with my name on, I was expecting to unwrap the Beta, but, oh joy, it was actually the Pro Chrono Digital! The wifey had managed to find a store on ebay with a few available, bless her cotton socks.

Out of the box and looking damn fine.

Sadly it doesn't come with batteries included and I didn't have any to hand, so I made do with fondling the box and reading the instructions. Look out for my next post where I will put it to test - can't wait!

TTFN

Best wishes, Wing Commander Sir Nigel Tetlington-Smythe.