Question about MagnetoSpeed V3 Ballistic Chronograoh
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Not for a shotgun. Otherwise mine worked fine. The weak link is the device that attaches the "bayonet" to the barrel, particularly if the barrel is tapered, which many are. It tends to work itself off the end of the barrel, where it can be shot by the bullet. Don't ask how I know.
I like it, no doubt the lab radar is a better unit. It sure doesn't have the weird or no readings you get in varying light conditions with a traditional chronograph. As someone said tapered barrels can cause it to move, I just take a couple of wraps with duct tape so it can't move. I bought my first chrono in the 70's I still have the old Oehler that requires looking up the numbers in a book to translate to velocity.
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1,298 Posts
I have one. It does everything I need it to do . I don't think it can be beat for the money.
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2,713 Posts
We have a Magneto speed V3 I think. It's a little cumbersome to set up at first but once you get the hang of it it's not too bad. I do not believe you can use on a shotgun, I think @timb99 blew his up trying to chronograph his shotgun.
On several other forums I did some research and the common consensus is if money's no option, buy the Labradar. But if you want the best chronograph for the money, buy the Magnetospeed.
On several other forums I did some research and the common consensus is if money's no option, buy the Labradar. But if you want the best chronograph for the money, buy the Magnetospeed.
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1,678 Posts
I have one and used it quite a bit testing loads for a few rifles I got a couple years ago. Was happy with the ease of use and the way it stored information on shot strings. What I liked most was convenience using it at a public ranges. Not needing to wait for cease fires to set up or take down. Setting up the old Oehler 35 was a pain, connecting tubes, three sky screens, tripods and running all the cables to the printer.
As a matter of fact I had just listed mine for sale on a different firearms site. Some shot gunners here did not like it for shot shells. If there is interest I could list it on this site.
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As a matter of fact I had just listed mine for sale on a different firearms site. Some shot gunners here did not like it for shot shells. If there is interest I could list it on this site.
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1,277 Posts
I bought one from Cabelas and the mount didn't fit well on any of my guns. I sent it back for a refund before I ever used it. It may work great but the 49 cents they put into the mounting hardware scared me away. I ended up spending a lot more and can totally recommend a Lab Radar unit.
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Had a chance to see the LabRadar unit today. Pretty slick unit.
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I have tried it several times with shot and never received a reading. So, I can speak from my experience and say it has no accuracy at all.
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My understanding of what I was told today about LabRadar is it is for single projectiles and is limited in small calibers such as 22.
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I don't know why the 'small caliber' limit comment came from the Labradar folks. I've not had any issues with mine and have used it from .22 through .50, plus 12, 16, and 20 gauge slugs. No issues. Nice to be able to get speed data as the projectile travels downrange as opposed to a single point of speed data with other solutions.
Agree on single projectiles vs. shot string. I think the Doppler dispersion from the various parts of the string separating causes the unit to fail to lock. Fair enough - it's a complex target from a RADAR perspective. A shot string from the perspective of a more traditional chronograph is far easier to deal with - 1st optical interruption over the start and stop gates is all it cares about, with a dwell time before it is ready to take the next measurement that's longer than the remainder of the stream will persist over the gates. Easy from an instrument implementation perspective.
For rifle and pistol, the Labradar is great. For target shotshells, I purchased a Prochrono DLX. Was under $110 on-sale and has BT connection to your phone to take string data. Works great for an inexpensive solution.
I've had two friends with Magnetospeed units. One had an attachment issue which caused the sensor to get impacted by the projectile. The other said the speed data he received appeared accurate for the rifle rounds he was testing, but the POI @ 200 yards changed when the unit was attached, likely because of the deflection caused to the pressure wave at the muzzle. He was trying to get both speed and grouping data from the same test rounds and it didn't work out.
Agree on single projectiles vs. shot string. I think the Doppler dispersion from the various parts of the string separating causes the unit to fail to lock. Fair enough - it's a complex target from a RADAR perspective. A shot string from the perspective of a more traditional chronograph is far easier to deal with - 1st optical interruption over the start and stop gates is all it cares about, with a dwell time before it is ready to take the next measurement that's longer than the remainder of the stream will persist over the gates. Easy from an instrument implementation perspective.
For rifle and pistol, the Labradar is great. For target shotshells, I purchased a Prochrono DLX. Was under $110 on-sale and has BT connection to your phone to take string data. Works great for an inexpensive solution.
I've had two friends with Magnetospeed units. One had an attachment issue which caused the sensor to get impacted by the projectile. The other said the speed data he received appeared accurate for the rifle rounds he was testing, but the POI @ 200 yards changed when the unit was attached, likely because of the deflection caused to the pressure wave at the muzzle. He was trying to get both speed and grouping data from the same test rounds and it didn't work out.
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I was repeating what I was told by a person who owns one. He has various caliber rifles, from 17HMR to 30-06. He said the device measures velocity of 17 or 22 but not at the distances he wants.
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Yes - definitely agree on that. Smaller the target, the weaker the signal reflected and therefore the distance to track it is reduced. Sorry for not understanding the intent.
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