I have a LabRadar. Sold a gun to buy it. One Chrono to rule them all!
1. Nothing chintzy about it.
2. I made my own steel base place out of scrap plate I had laying around, works fine. (pictures on request).
3. No, you don't need the sight at least for 100 yards, there is a technique to hold your eyeball back and above the rear bolt and notch, then lower your head to line them up, move the LR as needed and repeat. I rarely miss a shot.
4. If you want a 100% guarantee on the shot, pick up up the aux shock detector. I have not gone there but might.
5. Yes, get the spare rechargeable battery pack. Its good for about three 5-hour sessions. When its down to 25%, charge it. It goes fast after that.
Can you borrow your friends Labradar or go to the range with him? I have one and it sits in the garage 99.99% of the time. They're nice to have but not really something you end up using that often.
I bought mine to use and I use it at each range session. Why was shot 5 wild? I did not pull it. Note, check the velocity of that shot, him, 250 FPS off the rest, yep, it was a weird one.
I nicked a Chrony one time and two years later it died. Ok, I am an electronic tech, I can find the loose wire. Nope, dead, kaput, gone.
The LR is not going to get shot.
The buttons take getting used to, just a push does not do it, needs to be push and short hold. Having to buy the case extra sucks and they should be ashamed of themselves -what the hell else are you going to carry it around in? There should be a package with a steel place base, the case and the LR with a rechargeable battery.
I taped off the cute My LabRadar. Who the hell's LabRadar do they think it is? Offer to monogram my name on it when I order it.
Mostly I could not be happier.