So I woke up today and figured it is time to pop the Chronograph cherry. I made some purchases last night (Shooter App, reloading supplies, etc.) and thought I had better get some use (and data) from my new CED M2.
This was the first time I had used this as it was a Christmas gift from myself. So I put it all together and it seems solid enough. There is a fair amount of plastic on this thing, but once everything is put together, there is not too much "jiggling" with my setup. It also should be mentioned that this is a very intuitive setup. I managed to put it together and use it without having to read the manual at all.
It was a bright clear day and about 65-70 degrees. I set it all up and planned on using my 10/22 to dial it in. Due to the bright day (and previous experience with a Chrony brand chronograph) I neglected to put the white plastic covers over the stands. I ended up getting error after error with about a 25% reading rate.
After wisening up, I put on the white covers and after that, no errors at all (roughly 100 shots after covers put on). It's almost like CED designed it like that or something... I proceeded to peel off 50rds of 22LR SK Standard Plus, 30rds of Remington UMC 55gr .223, and 20rds of my .308 handloads. No issues or errors after putting on the white covers.
----------RESULTS----------
Ammo:
SK Standard Plus 22LR
40gr
1050fps published
Rifle:
10/22
TacSol 16” Bull Barrel, 1/16 twist
Results:
High- 1041fps
Low- 973.1fps
Average- 997.55fps
Standard Deviation- 22.06fps
This was better than expected. As I was shooting from a 16” barrel, I was anticipating a much lower muzzle velocity average (in the 950 range was what I was thinking).
Ammo:
Remington UMC .223Rem bulk
55gr
3240fps published
Rifle:
RRA Elite Operator 2
16” Chrome Moly, 1/9 twist
Results:
High- 2799fps
Low- 2633fps
Average- 2725.27fps
Standard Deviation- 43.74fps
This was much, much worse than expected. I had no delusions of comparing this to match ammo, but I was expecting something closer to 3000fps rather than the 2725fps average. That was disappointing. It also was incredibly inconsistent. I have been able to get a decent group every now again, but will now invest in a new press so I can load my own.
Ammo:
Handload
168gr SMK
MV Unknown
Rifle:
Remington 700 SPS Tactical
24" bull barrel, 1/12 twist
Robert Gradous’ Accurizing Package
Results:
High- 2579fps
Low- 2532fps
Average- 2554fps
Standard Deviation- 13.67fps
This was about what I was expecting. I know this load is extremely accurate in my 700 (~.5moa consistently with me shooting) as the basic load came from Robert Gradous (gradousrifles.com) and the results confirm why. The standard deviation is extremely low compared to the others and very encouraging.
Anyways, hope this has been helpful for those without access to chronographs who want to use ballistics calculators. While your individual rifle will probably not perform identically to mine, I believe these would be good starting points to get you in the general area. Thanks!
This was the first time I had used this as it was a Christmas gift from myself. So I put it all together and it seems solid enough. There is a fair amount of plastic on this thing, but once everything is put together, there is not too much "jiggling" with my setup. It also should be mentioned that this is a very intuitive setup. I managed to put it together and use it without having to read the manual at all.
It was a bright clear day and about 65-70 degrees. I set it all up and planned on using my 10/22 to dial it in. Due to the bright day (and previous experience with a Chrony brand chronograph) I neglected to put the white plastic covers over the stands. I ended up getting error after error with about a 25% reading rate.
After wisening up, I put on the white covers and after that, no errors at all (roughly 100 shots after covers put on). It's almost like CED designed it like that or something... I proceeded to peel off 50rds of 22LR SK Standard Plus, 30rds of Remington UMC 55gr .223, and 20rds of my .308 handloads. No issues or errors after putting on the white covers.
----------RESULTS----------
Ammo:
SK Standard Plus 22LR
40gr
1050fps published
Rifle:
10/22
TacSol 16” Bull Barrel, 1/16 twist
Results:
High- 1041fps
Low- 973.1fps
Average- 997.55fps
Standard Deviation- 22.06fps
This was better than expected. As I was shooting from a 16” barrel, I was anticipating a much lower muzzle velocity average (in the 950 range was what I was thinking).
Ammo:
Remington UMC .223Rem bulk
55gr
3240fps published
Rifle:
RRA Elite Operator 2
16” Chrome Moly, 1/9 twist
Results:
High- 2799fps
Low- 2633fps
Average- 2725.27fps
Standard Deviation- 43.74fps
This was much, much worse than expected. I had no delusions of comparing this to match ammo, but I was expecting something closer to 3000fps rather than the 2725fps average. That was disappointing. It also was incredibly inconsistent. I have been able to get a decent group every now again, but will now invest in a new press so I can load my own.
Ammo:
Handload
168gr SMK
MV Unknown
Rifle:
Remington 700 SPS Tactical
24" bull barrel, 1/12 twist
Robert Gradous’ Accurizing Package
Results:
High- 2579fps
Low- 2532fps
Average- 2554fps
Standard Deviation- 13.67fps
This was about what I was expecting. I know this load is extremely accurate in my 700 (~.5moa consistently with me shooting) as the basic load came from Robert Gradous (gradousrifles.com) and the results confirm why. The standard deviation is extremely low compared to the others and very encouraging.
Anyways, hope this has been helpful for those without access to chronographs who want to use ballistics calculators. While your individual rifle will probably not perform identically to mine, I believe these would be good starting points to get you in the general area. Thanks!
