Chronograph setup

G

G.O. West

New member
I have been chronographing various recipes for my 410 brass shotshell loads, but it always takes me a while to align all three items: the shooting bench, a shop workbench holding a steel plate to protect my chronograph, and then the tripod with the chronograph. Recently a friend gave me the remains of an old trailer for the scrap steel in it, so I put an axle on it and came up with the idea to convert it into a stable and pre-aligned platform for my chronograph. The shooting bench lifts on and off three steel pegs projecting up from the triangular frame that it sits on. The pegs insert into the bench's legs. The chronograph stand slides in and out of the main square tubing just like a trailer hitch. The steel protective plate bolts onto the trailer frame. (I'm leaving it in place for now as I have a lot of shooting planned.) So now when I tow the trailer over to the field where I am going to shoot, I just set the bench and chronograph in place, and everything is already aligned and ready to shoot.

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By the way, I anchor the gun rest with a bungee strap so I don't have to pack around a heavy bag of sand. It easily absorbs the recoil from whatever caliber I put on it including 450 Alaskan which is substantial.

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Ecc 11:4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
 
Hey--I think it's great--I especially like the giddy-up go aspect of it. If I had to build the Brooklyn bridge to have a set up that actually had no movement I'd probably do it.:D I have a caldwell stable table because I shoot in rough terrain--but that thing is impossible to keep steady--regardless of it's tempting name.

I waste a lot of time doing things that realistically make no sense. Keeps me sane...
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Quote of the day. :D:D
 
Looks like it can be tipped on it's side for storage once your setup is removed. That would really save some space.
 
My emotions are running about 50% towards thinking this is so far overkill that the guys arguing about wet vs vibratory tumbling should simply quit reloading, and 50% towards thinking this is the COOLEST tool in the history of EVER.

(and the guys arguing about cleaning brass should still quit reloading)
 
I didn't mention it because it's not firearms related, but the next step with this trailer is to also make it a platform form my wood planer with several rollers at each end to feed and catch 16 foot boards.

Spend $500 and a bunch of time to protect a $100 chronograph? Doesn't make sense to me.
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I salvaged the wheels and spindles from the junk trailer and welded up a new axle from an old piece of heavy-wall pipe I had. The whole thing maybe cost me a couple of bucks for welding rod. I like making stuff. Free time is what retirement is all about.
 
I shot a chrono years ago and watched it blow to pieces. It was my first time out with it too. I can't even tell you the laughs I got in reaction. SO much so, in fact, that I laughed my butt off too and ended up not caring about the loss. Anyhow, I say buy a Lab Radar or a MagnetoSpeed. Lab Radar is my go to these days.
 
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