Beautiful, Beautiful Data

I got to try out a new product today: the Competition Electronics Prochrono DLX chronograph. It connects to phones via Bluetooth and creates files of shooting data.

My old chronograph is a Master Chrony F-1, and I probably got it in 2009. Even back then, it was not advanced for its time. Smartphones and PC’s existed, and the F-1 had no real means of connecting to them. It didn’t do much of anything.

When I use the F-1, I have to stop after every shot, put my gun down, and write down the velocity. A lot of the time, the F-1 fails to take a reading. That’s annoying when you only have 5 test rounds.

The people who make the F-1 solicit email orders on their website, but they don’t seem to respond to them. They have no electronic shopping cart, and that’s unbelievable. They sell parts, but getting them is a hassle.

The F-1 has light diffusers cobbled together from three pieces of plastic. It has diffuser supports that telescope into each other so you can separate them and put them in the Chrony’s small box. The Prochrono has one-piece diffusers and one-piece support rods.

I’m making .45 rounds out of the pile of free bullets I got from Hornady when I bought my press. It has been hard to get good information for loading the cartridges. I want a velocity of between 850 and 900 fps, and I want to use Unique or Accurate No.7 powder. I already have both, and I have more Unique than I need. Maybe. Do you ever have more powder than you need?

I found an article from the Handloader Ammunition Reloading Journal, listing a bunch of loads. The author went up to 6.8 grains of Unique with an OAL of 1.205″, which is a lot shorter than Hornady’s recommendation. At 6.8, he got 949 fps. I figured I would try 6.5 to be safe.

I set the Prochrono up in the pasture and fired away. I had the phone app running. It allowed me to set up a special list for the load I had created. I was able to enter the type of bullet, the case, primer, charge weight, OAL, and whatever else I wanted.

When I started firing, I heard a lady telling me how fast the rounds were flying. The app was announcing the velocities! That was wonderful. I didn’t have to stop to write things down or check the screen.

When I was done, I had the following info:

45 ACP XTP 230 6.5 Unique Digital Link
Test rounds for defensive purposes. Goal 875 fps.
Temperature: 93° F
Pressure: 30 in Hg
Bullet Weight: 230.0
Power Factor Average: 218
Power Factor Low: 218
Power Factor High: 219
Number of Shots: 5
Minimum: 948
Maximum: 956
Spread: 8
Average: 951
Standard Deviation: 3
Custom Attributes
OAL 1.205
Brass Starline new
Powder Unique 6.5
Primer WLP
Bullet Hornady XTP
# Velocity Ft/lbs Power Factor Date
5 952 462.82 218 5/23/20 5:07 PM
4 948 458.93 218 5/23/20 5:07 PM
3 951 461.84 218 5/23/20 5:07 PM
2 950 460.87 218 5/23/20 5:06 PM
1 956 466.71 219 5/23/20 5:06 PM

To me, that’s incredible. Writing that up myself would take forever. I was able to email it to myself as a PDF.

The velocities were way higher than I expected, and the cases bulged. I found three of them, and they had creases running across them where the chamber restrained them. Not what I wanted.

I don’t know why my rounds were so much faster than the ones in the magazine.

The rounds were pleasant to shoot, and the gun didn’t seem to mind at all. It’s too bad I can’t use this load.

The velocities were incredibly consistent. I am guessing this has something to do with the way I’ve been cleaning my powder measure. I’m using an RCBS beam scale which is very accurate. Today I set it up using test weights, so not only are my charges consistent, they should be very close to the number I want.

People say charge weight doesn’t affect accuracy much. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I know my .45 handloads have always been more accurate than factory ammo. Is it the Unique, or is it charge consistency? Can’t say, but there is no conceivable reason to want your charges to be inconsistent, so I’m glad mine are not.

I moved to 6.2 grains and started over.

45 ACP XTP 230 6.2 Unique Digital Link
Test rounds for defensive purposes. Goal 875 fps.
Temperature: N/A
Pressure: N/A
Bullet Weight: 230.0
Power Factor Average: 207
Power Factor Low: 202
Power Factor High: 209
Number of Shots: 5
Minimum: 882
Maximum: 910
Spread: 28
Average: 902
Standard Deviation: 10
Custom Attributes
OAL 1.205
Brass Starline new
Powder Unique 6.2
Primer WLP
Bullet Hornady XTP
# Velocity Ft/lbs Power Factor Date
5 882 397.26 202 5/23/20 6:18 PM
4 905 418.25 208 5/23/20 6:17 PM
3 910 422.88 209 5/23/20 6:17 PM
2 906 419.17 208 5/23/20 6:17 PM
1 908 421.02 208 5/23/20 6:17 PM

Again, wonderful consistency. The 882 figure is the least consistent, and it’s right in line with the accuracy of factory ammunition. Maybe that charge was a little short.

I should have bought this chronograph a long time ago. Comparing it to the Chrony is like comparing a Commodore 64 to a modern PC.

I don’t know what’s going on with the Chrony people. Maybe it’s a family business, suddenly overtaken by modern companies with Asian connections. Maybe they did their best. In any case, they haven’t caught up. Someone on a forum recently said they weren’t answering the phone.

I have to decide whether to stay at 6.2 grains or drop a tenth. If I take a tenth off, I won’t be able to make ammunition until tomorrow, because I don’t want to test more rounds tonight. If not, I can get started making cartridges right now.

Very nice. I think I’m finally marginally competent at making pistol ammo.