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Athlon Rangecraft Compact Chrono Tested

wyshadow

Got it this past weekend and played around with it on the range yesterday. After my shooting session, I told myself why I never got a garmin years ago. I always told myself my magneto has always worked for me for years and always resisted the urge. Since I had money burning a hole in my pocket I decided to finally buy the Rangecraft.

The rangecraft read every shot with no problems but I did notice one thing. Comparing the shooting session to my magneto and another shooter's Garmin, the rangecraft was consistently 30 fps higher. The Magneto's and the Garmin's velocities were almost exact. Not sure if that's good or bad thing for the rangecraft but at least it was consistent.

Has anyone ever used the rangecraft in the dark? With the heat here in south NM, day time shooting sessions are only available in the early mornings and I'm not a morning person. I really like going out to the shooting range late at night when there is no one on the range.
 
@Big_Daddy has an Athlon and a Garmin. Last week we compared Athlon vs. Garmin. The informal test was done with a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle placing the Athlon on one side and the Garmin on the other side of the rifle. Symmetrical setup. Despite the Athon showing an average velocity offset, it also had a significantly greater spread in velocities than the Garmin. Which is right? I dunno . . . . But @Big_Daddy will come to the rescue since he also has an Oehler. The plan is to compare all three, then cogitate and ruminate. The test is being delayed by an upcoming archaeological dig. Evidently the Oehler is "buried" in an accumulation of "stuff."

:rolleyes:
 
Krogen said:
@Big_Daddy has an Athlon and a Garmin. Last week we compared Athlon vs. Garmin. The informal test was done with a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle placing the Athlon on one side and the Garmin on the other side of the rifle. Symmetrical setup. Despite the Athon showing an average velocity offset, it also had a significantly greater spread in velocities than the Garmin. Which is right? I dunno . . . . But @Big_Daddy will come to the rescue since he also has an Oehler. The plan is to compare all three, then cogitate and ruminate. The test is being delayed by an upcoming archaeological dig. Evidently the Oehler is "buried" in an accumulation of "stuff."

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
"archaeological dig"..............you're killing me smalls.... :D
 
I shoot factory ammo, which as we know can have all kinds of variations in MV. Never had a chronograph before. For me, a most useful use of my Athlon ( would be applicable for any chronograph, I suppose) has been trueing MV to actual results down range. I have seen differing avg MVs correlating to higher or lower strikes on target at 500 yards, not only from lot to lot but same lot, box to box. A differing avg MV 5 or 6 rounds down range allows me to adjust elevation more accurately .
I don’t have another chronograph with which to compare velocities, but I know that my Athlon is helping me to shoot more accurately at 2,3, and 4” targets at 500 yards ( which can STILL be frustrating often with factory ammo, considering the aforementioned MV variations! ).
 
I’m
Turkeytider said:
I shoot factory ammo, which as we know can have all kinds of variations in MV. Never had a chronograph before. For me, a most useful use of my Athlon ( would be applicable for any chronograph, I suppose) has been trueing MV to actual results down range. I have seen differing avg MVs correlating to higher or lower strikes on target at 500 yards, not only from lot to lot but same lot, box to box. A differing avg MV 5 or 6 rounds down range allows me to adjust elevation more accurately .
I don’t have another chronograph with which to compare velocities, but I know that my Athlon is helping me to shoot more accurately at 2,3, and 4” targets at 500 yards ( which can STILL be frustrating often with factory ammo, considering the aforementioned MV variations! ).
Click to expand...
It would be interesting to see the muzzle velocity difference in the same lots of factory ammo.
 
Krogen said:
@Big_Daddy has an Athlon and a Garmin. Last week we compared Athlon vs. Garmin. The informal test was done with a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle placing the Athlon on one side and the Garmin on the other side of the rifle. Symmetrical setup. Despite the Athon showing an average velocity offset, it also had a significantly greater spread in velocities than the Garmin. Which is right? I dunno . . . . But @Big_Daddy will come to the rescue since he also has an Oehler. The plan is to compare all three, then cogitate and ruminate. The test is being delayed by an upcoming archaeological dig. Evidently the Oehler is "buried" in an accumulation of "stuff."

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

A Chinese knock off of a Chinese product. What could go wrong??
 
LOL! You can’t knock Chinese products as you sit there and type your messages for this forum on Chinese devices. LOL!
You wouldn’t even be able to talk on this forum with your computers and phones if it weren’t for China. China makes equal or better products than the US at the moment. They’ve come a long ways and not always cheap junk like it used to be. Some of their factories are very capable of making high quality products.

So unless you are personally doing something to design and manufacture a new radar chronograph in the United States, maybe just be thankful that someone now makes a good reliable compact radar at about half the cost of the Garmin.

PS: I own an Athlon Rangecraft chrono and it works perfectly ;)
 
When the Labradar first came out they tested it against a military munitions radar testing system
comparing the Labradar's accuracy. The results showed that the Labradar was indeed very accurate.

When the Garmin was introduced and tested against the Labradar the velocities were very close
so the Garmin is definitely accurate.
 
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Id like to know if anyone has tested the Athlon velocity vs any other chronograph velocity, typed that into a ballistic app and seen what one was closer to center impact at 500 yards plus.
 
Lonny in ID said:
Looking forward to the results. Thank you!
Click to expand...

Post in thread 'garmin head to head with my oehler'

My set up time is even longer. I made 2 pieces of plexiglass with 3d printed inserts that go in the sensors slot. I put a cross hair on both, then aim at the target, put in a laser bore sighter and adjust the sensors so the red dot hits both my inserts cross hair. I have never shot my crono doing this.but it takes a painful long time.
  • Like
 
rlporter507 said:

Post in thread 'garmin head to head with my oehler'

My set up time is even longer. I made 2 pieces of plexiglass with 3d printed inserts that go in the sensors slot. I put a cross hair on both, then aim at the target, put in a laser bore sighter and adjust the sensors so the red dot hits both my inserts cross hair. I have never shot my crono doing this.but it takes a painful long time.
  • Like
Click to expand...
I have read your thread and I am impressed with the number comparison.
Since I was curious, I bought an Athlon and was interested how it reads relating to my Garmin.
The head to head comparison was a little bewildering thus the introduction of the old standby....The Oehler 35P.

Just something to do to satisfy my curiosity...
 
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