Following the demise of my Shooting Chrony, I wanted to buy a replacement. I find chronoscopes invaluable, in conjunction with Chairgun, for plotting the trajectories of different rifle/pellet combinations.
Having seen the price of new F1 Chronys (142.80€ plus shipping) and similar tripod-mounted systems, I decided to go for a Combro, which at £49.50 plus free shipping to France seemed to be a bargain.
I refused to pay £3.95 for the plastic stick called the Alignment Tool, preferring my own low-tech (and free) approach. Masking tape did the job securing the device in place, on first use.
Then forum member sarfarm suggested Velcro as an alternative. Rubber bands are the other option.
I ran 12 pellets through it from the BSA Lightning XL Tactical, which has a fixed Volumetric silencer on board. They were 13.43-grain JSB Exact Jumbo RS (aka Falcon Accuracy Plus), and averaged 541 fps for a muzzle energy of 8.73 fpe. A tad lower than the ideal, but it's my cheap, second-hand barn rifle, used for rats, close-range magpies (25 yards max) and plinking to 33 yards, at which range it will shoot one-inch groups, so it'll do. My "alignment tool" did the job perfectly on this .22 rifle.
I also ran a couple of ten-shot groups through it from my .177 Gamo Coyote. I left the Weihrauch silencer in place, since I normally shoot with it mounted to the rifle. Again, no alignment issues.
The Combro simply slides up and down its barrel bracket to align with the muzzle -- in the photos, you can see the knurled silver knob used to clamp the bracket in place. This plastic-on-plastic mount is very stiff, which is a good thing, since the device didn't move at all during use on either the PCP or the springer, which has a fair bit of recoil. I had been slightly concerned about getting the Combro to align with my various silencers, but this proved to be no problem at all -- there's plenty of adjustment available.
All in all, the Combro seems a well-made bit of kit, at a surprising price compared to the competition. I have had no errors from the unit during use, which compares very favourably with my previous Shooting Chrony. The F1 unit I had was quite twitchy, unless the light levels were just right. The Combro uses infra-red beams inside the two sensor housings, rather than relying on ambient light. This system seems less prone to generating errors than the Shooting Chrony arrangement.
I would highly recommend this product to anyone wanting to stay within the UK power limit, or who wants to plot trajectories accurately for hunting or long-range target shooting. For more information or to order direct from the manufacturer, visit http://www.chronoscopes.com/.
Having seen the price of new F1 Chronys (142.80€ plus shipping) and similar tripod-mounted systems, I decided to go for a Combro, which at £49.50 plus free shipping to France seemed to be a bargain.
I refused to pay £3.95 for the plastic stick called the Alignment Tool, preferring my own low-tech (and free) approach. Masking tape did the job securing the device in place, on first use.
Then forum member sarfarm suggested Velcro as an alternative. Rubber bands are the other option.
I ran 12 pellets through it from the BSA Lightning XL Tactical, which has a fixed Volumetric silencer on board. They were 13.43-grain JSB Exact Jumbo RS (aka Falcon Accuracy Plus), and averaged 541 fps for a muzzle energy of 8.73 fpe. A tad lower than the ideal, but it's my cheap, second-hand barn rifle, used for rats, close-range magpies (25 yards max) and plinking to 33 yards, at which range it will shoot one-inch groups, so it'll do. My "alignment tool" did the job perfectly on this .22 rifle.
I also ran a couple of ten-shot groups through it from my .177 Gamo Coyote. I left the Weihrauch silencer in place, since I normally shoot with it mounted to the rifle. Again, no alignment issues.
The Combro simply slides up and down its barrel bracket to align with the muzzle -- in the photos, you can see the knurled silver knob used to clamp the bracket in place. This plastic-on-plastic mount is very stiff, which is a good thing, since the device didn't move at all during use on either the PCP or the springer, which has a fair bit of recoil. I had been slightly concerned about getting the Combro to align with my various silencers, but this proved to be no problem at all -- there's plenty of adjustment available.
All in all, the Combro seems a well-made bit of kit, at a surprising price compared to the competition. I have had no errors from the unit during use, which compares very favourably with my previous Shooting Chrony. The F1 unit I had was quite twitchy, unless the light levels were just right. The Combro uses infra-red beams inside the two sensor housings, rather than relying on ambient light. This system seems less prone to generating errors than the Shooting Chrony arrangement.
I would highly recommend this product to anyone wanting to stay within the UK power limit, or who wants to plot trajectories accurately for hunting or long-range target shooting. For more information or to order direct from the manufacturer, visit http://www.chronoscopes.com/.
