Problems getting the Chrony to SEE the bullet. Possible solution?

[stilly]

So I got a Competition Electronics Pro Digital Chrony.

Love it because all the good things I read abotu it. Hating it so far because I have not figured out how to get it to read right.

SO, it seems that someone from Competition Electronics got back to me and mentioned coloring the bullets black.

I was going to get a sharpie or something like that and then I actually TRIED to color one black.

THAT was a no go. It took like a minute or two to try to get it a decent consistent black color.

Then I saw this stuff sitting in my bench

http://www.jigaloo.com/us/e_products_graphite-extreme.php

(I think I got it from Home depot on the end of one of the aisles or something but you can get similar stuff like this from anywhere. Any dry graphite spray should work.)

I hit the completed rounds with a burst of this and INSTANTLY turned them dark gray.

Later on I lined up the bullets on a board and blasted them from two different sides.

I will be testing these all out tomorrow at the Bee Canyon Cleanup. I THINK they are all black, well, dark gray enough to give a decent reading.

It takes all of about 10 seconds to hit about 20 of them and give them a good coating. The coating does not rub off that easily also...

Enjoy... I guess this is more for other noobs...

[Fyathyrio]

Doesn't sound like my understanding of how chronographs operate, they are supposed to see the shadow of the projectile pass over...projectile color shouldn't matter. For example, I tested some .177 shiny gold colored alloy pellets out of my Gamo pellet gun with my CED MII chrony in bright sunlight and got a good reading. These were supposed to be super-sonic, but I wasn't hearing a crack, and confirmed they were a bit below the speed of sound. I've also had great results with lead, plated, and jacketed rounds from various rifles and pistols. In all cases full sunlight with screens, and very few misses.

What kind of lighting conditions are you trying this with? Are you using the screens? So close that muzzle blast may be an issue?

[stilly]

The first time I used the chrony I was in the morning with only the metal guide rods to let me know where to shoot at and the diffusers were left off and I THOUGHT that I had gotten pretty good readings at about 11:00 am in the morning on a sunny day.

Then the second time I went out and shot I had progressively higher readings from 1700 to 2000+ fps. It made no sense that just about EVERY shot was a few FPS faster then the previous ones and I KNOW I was not off by that much when I loaded them. The velocities SHOULD have been around 1200.
I tok the readings at about 3:30 pm about a week or two ago and it was sunny but the sun was behind me and kinda going down. I also used the diffusers at that time.

When I contacted the company they said to try to color the bullets black or dark since the sensors measure the shadow or the dark spot caused by the bullet and sometimes the bullet is shiny enough to reflect the surroundings and give a false reading.

I hate chronies and I did not want to put out the money for the CED M2. I thought that since this one had good write ups that it should be fine...

[Santa Cruz Armory]

My thoughts are the lighting conditions as well....

[ireload]

Stilly when I set up my chrony I have a paper target just a few feet past my chrony so i have a reference point of aim thus consistency on that department. The other thing you can do is find the "sweet spot" of your chrony. Mine is about 5" above the sensors so I marked the frontal rods with red duct tape at the 5" point then I put another red duct tape 5" above the first marker. It's been consistent for me for the most part.

Another thing you can make sure that there is no shadows being cast on the chrony's sensor. Make sure that the senors are clean.

[OldShooter32]

Overcast days are best for use without the screens, but I use them all the time anyway. You should be getting readings without coloring the bullets. I can get readings off a shiny 3,000+ fps .17 bullet, so the rest should be easy. Try varying distance or -- failing there -- have it checked out.

[Fyathyrio]

Perhaps a side by side comparo with another chrony?

[sl4ck3r]

not sure if the info in this video will help or not but i thought i would post it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRds5rDdbUQ&feature=plcp

[stilly]

This is all good info. I did not watch the video in full due to my meat cooking right now but I think that coloring the bullets is prolly overkill. HOWEVER, When I have to drive about 35 minutes or farther to go to an outdoor range and test my load speeds, I do not like to make multiple trips.

I ran them today at the Bee Canyon cleanup and everything was hitting between 1100-1350 FPS (three different loads). It was bright and very sunny and I had the diffusers on, but they were hanging off to the side and not across the sensors. I got what I feel are accurate readings for all of my 44 mag shots with only 1 being in error. I was also about 10 feet from the chrono.

I like the sweet spot idea and will have to explore that some in the future.

[Agustav]

My CED M2 is pretty tempermental as well. Someday it catch all readings. Someday it wouldn't work at all.

I found out after many trial and error that my chrony dislike super sunny day.

However when it's working, the reading is pretty consistant!

[stilly]

Yeah well my first choice would be one of those cool Oehlers but since they are hard to find then I was wanting one of those new CED M2s but since my money is dwindling I had to settle for a Competition Electronics with no printer and no remote or anything, just the bare chrony.