Lab radar or Magnetospeed

[Luke E.]

 I’m thinking about buying one of these 2 and curious if any of you guys have experience with them. Is the Lab radar worth the extra money?

 I like that you can shoot for groups and record velocity at the same time with the Lab Radar since it’s not hanging from the barrel. 

 I’ve looked call over for a used one but it looks like folks hold onto them once they buy one. 

[Hozzie]

Had both. Have a lab radar now. Prefer the lab radar, but they both work. Strapping anything to your barrel will affect it, but if you just want velocity, the magnetospeed is fine.

 

 

[Luke E.]

 I think I’d much rather be able to pull my speed reading while shooting  groups. Would be cheaper and quicker load development. Have you had any issues with it at all?

[Hozzie]

Nope, no issues.

[Luke E.]

I wish I had bought one back in November when they were like $100 off. 

[Dolomite_supafly]

One thing the Lab Radar can do that no other chronograph can do is determine the TRUE ballistic coefficient of any bullet. It can tell you exactly what it is where you are shooting. Weather and elevation changes how a bullet flies. The same bullet fired here in east Tennessee will act completely differently if fired in a drier climate or at a higher elevation. If you only measure velocity you are only getting part of the ballistic picture.

The Lab Radar was used to determine the ballistic coefficient of a bullet I designed, can't do that with any other chronograph.

[Luke E.]

And I like the idea of having something that does record/offer more than just speed reading. I guess I just wasn’t sure if people that bought them actually utilized those functions or if they ended up just using them like any other Chrono. I think I’ll go with the LabRadar but I may give it a lil more time to find a used one or they go back on sale. 

[srszczer]

I recently bought a Lab Radar and I liked it the one time I had it out. I used it on some 223 loads I had and while shooting some 9mm handgun. You have to make sure your muzzle is positioned correctly in relation to the unit so it can pick up the report of the shot, but otherwise it worked well.

Did try it with a 22lr that I had brought but couldn't get it to trigger. I'll probably have to buy the little microphone for airguns if I want to chrono any 22lr.

Edited February 25, 2018 by srszczer