Oehler 35

[tiny68]

My old Chrony has had it. I saw a older Oehler 35 today at a gun show. Guy said it work fine. No way to test. What is everyone's experience with Oehlers? How durable?

Thanks, Tim

 

[tiny68]

I guess the question I should ask is - would you be afraid to buy a used Oehler with no operational proof? Tim

 

[gary0529]

I have one and love it although it IS a pia to lug out to the range and set up.
Since I live in a rural area I generally use it at home to preclude me from dragging more stuff out to the range.
Very accurate in its measurements and never had an operational problem with it.
That being said, no way I would give the guy cash for a unit that I have no way of knowing if it is functional.

Get his name and # and meet him at the range or somewhere where you can at least fire some known velocity rounds(suggest 22 subsonic or similar) over it.

Gary

 

[alf]

I'd buy it in a heart beat.......

I've got a Oehler Model 33 from the late 80's still going strong.

 

[bheadboy]

+1 with Alf,

no question

Bob

 

[remdriver]

I would check with Oehler. They will take care of any problems. They have the best cs in the business.

 

[rg1]

Depends on price. If it were too high I'd buy a new one from Oehler. I have a 35P with the 3 skyscreens that I bought in the 80's and still works fine.
Dave Berg, I had the same thing with my 35P. Called Oehler and the tech said that over many many years the plugs on the skyscreens could oxidize. I couldn't see anything, no visible evidence of anything on the metal of the plugs. Looked shiny and bright to me but they were not making good contact and would cause errors. Tech said take some course cloth or leather and buff and polish the metal on the plugs. DO NOT use anything abrasive. I buffed the plugs with some scrap sewing cloth and leather and it solved the problem.

 

[Blaster-37]

The 35 has worked well for me for many years. I use it often when tuning. Sometimes I use one at the target also.
Greg

 

[jlow]

A couple of things. One is to check the rod that holds the skyscreen to see how long it is and whether it is bent - a bent rod will give you bad data. The older ones are 2’ in length which works OK but with less precision than the newer 4’ ones. I brought an older one with the 2’ and found that it was slightly bent. This was NOT the fault of the previous owner as the replacement from Oehler was bent to the same degree – it had something to do with the way they were making it. BTW, it is costly to buy the 4’ because of its length which makes mailing it costly. If you are handy then you are in good shape – I made my own and it works great.

For those with oxidation problem on the cable connectors, you can buff it but you can also apply some dielectric grease on them. The auto places sell them for use on sparkplugs. The stuff protect the surface from oxidation and enhance the surface for a good connection – highly recommended.

 

[Leaddog]

I bought a slightly used 35P a couple of years ago. Got it from an older gentleman who was retiring from shooting. Bought it sight unseen. A test drive was not possible as he lived too far away. It was a good decision.

For faster and easier set up and takedown, I taped the 3 cables together with electrical tape every 12 inches or so.

 

[KevinThomas]

I suppose I'm just piling on here, but short of bullet holes in the skyscreens, I'd jump on it in a heartbeat. Oehler sets the standards for chronographs, and has for quite some time now. At any halfway reasonable price here, it's hard to see how you could go wrong.

 

[Steve Blair]

I suppose I'm just piling on here, but short of bullet holes in the skyscreens, I'd jump on it in a heartbeat. Oehler sets the standards for chronographs, and has for quite some time now. At any halfway reasonable price here, it's hard to see how you could go wrong.

[br]
I agree the OP would get a good machine, too. But, it is not the best chronograph or the most accurate and is a dated design. I owned one and do not, now. Price is the problem getting the best and what is reasonable is highly subjective.

 

[Kingfisher]

I had possession of a 35P for a while, Shilen's actually, and it was a PITA to set up. I've had a Shooting Chrony for several years now, and don't understand why or how anyone would use anything else. I can set the whole thing up in about 30 seconds and line it up instantly all by myself. I only used 1 tripod to set up the 35P and it was still a pain with the 4 ft rail. There's a guy I know that brings his out to the range with a 10 foot rail and 3 tripods!!! The whole thing is so wonky I don't know how he ever gets it set up straight lol.

 

[Leaddog]

I agree the OP would get a good machine, too. But, it is not the best chronograph or the most accurate and is a dated design. I owned one and do not, now. Price is the problem getting the best and what is reasonable is highly subjective.

Steve - care to post up your recommendations? Thanks

 

[Steve Blair]

I agree the OP would get a good machine, too. But, it is not the best chronograph or the most accurate and is a dated design. I owned one and do not, now. Price is the problem getting the best and what is reasonable is highly subjective.

Steve - care to post up your recommendations? Thanks

[br]
I use a Kurzzeit PVM-21. It is accurate, reliable, light independent, has a large active area and is fairly expensive. It is by no means perfect, but does exactly what I want. My goal is to get the chrono data into a tab delimited format and import it into a spreadsheet. It does that. Some other folks who have different goals complain about it, particularly the software. I can only speak for my own usage.

 

[tiny68]

Didn't get to turn it on and wouldn't budge on the price. I let with a CZ99 40S&W. Amazing how easy I can lose focus around a wide variety of firearms....... Squirrel!..... (surely someone will get that....)

Tim

 

[jlow]

There is actually a way to test its basic function. What you do is plug the skyscreens in and wave one of the screens at a light and you should get a printout. Obviously you won’t know if it would detect accurately but at least you will know if the detectors are on and talking to the main unit.

In general, without any test and buying some some guy you don't know at a gun show, especially if they are still asking for serious change, I would agree with your decision to not buy.

 

[Lazydays]

I guess the question I should ask is - would you be afraid to buy a used Oehler with no operational proof? Tim

I have a buddy I used to shoot with, and he has an Ohler 35 that was bought around 1997. It has the third screen in it.
gary

 

[jlow]

Bottom line - Regardless of how good the machine is in terms of function and feature, it is still a machine and as such prone to failure and so you can get stuck buying a non function machine especially if you do not know the seller – so not a good idea.