{"id":26713,"date":"2024-09-28T00:01:47","date_gmt":"2024-09-28T07:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=26713"},"modified":"2024-09-27T20:46:08","modified_gmt":"2024-09-28T03:46:08","slug":"product-review-garmin-chronograph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/09\/28\/product-review-garmin-chronograph\/","title":{"rendered":"Product Review: Garmin Chronograph"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

In an earlier blog on my 458 Win Mag No. 1, I mentioned that I used a friend’s Garmin chronograph<\/a> and decided I needed one.\u00a0 I pulled the trigger and I’ve been using my Garmin constantly since I bought it.\u00a0 I’ve shot rifle with jacketed and cast bullets and I’ve shot several handguns to see how it performed.\u00a0 The bottom line?\u00a0 Garmin hit a home run with their new chrono.\u00a0 Is it perfect?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 But it’s so good I can live with the few minor things I think could be improved.<\/p>\n

The Garmin has a bunch of features (and I’ll get into them in a minute), but let my start by saying the most important feature is ease of use.\u00a0 Basically, you turn the thing on, make a few screen inputs, set it on the shooting bench, and you’re good to go.\u00a0 There’s no screwing around with setting up screens in front of the bench, running wires, or any of other stuff you need to do with earlier chronographs.\u00a0 It’s plug and play, but you don’t even have to plug it in.<\/p>\n

Operation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Operating the Garmin is straightforward, but it’s not entirely intuitive.\u00a0 The On-Off button is one of four buttons on top of the device.\u00a0 Garmin labels it “Power.” Touch it once and the device is on; hold it down for two seconds and it turns off.<\/p>\n

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The buttons up top. They are a little confusing at first.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Getting to what you want to shoot involves scrolling through a series of screens and menu options via two of the buttons on top of the Garmin.\u00a0 One points up; the other points down, and that’s how you move from one choice to another on each data screen.\u00a0 Basically, the choices are rifle or handgun (there’s also choices for archery, but I’m not Robin Hood), and their selection is governed by projectile velocity.\u00a0 After navigating up or down on that screen, pressing the OK button gets the next screen up.\u00a0 That asks if you the Garmin to calculate power level (bullet energy).\u00a0 I always tell it no, but getting through that requires pressuring the down button and then the okay button again.\u00a0 \u00a0Then another screen pops up, advising chronograph placement with regard to gun location.\u00a0 \u00a0Then it’s necessary to press the OK button once more.\u00a0 That gun placement screen is unnecessary, and it just necessitates pressing more buttons and scrolling through more screens.\u00a0 Finally, the device is ready to use.\u00a0 It’s a lot of button pushing and scrolling.\u00a0 Granted, it is way, way easier than screwing around placing chronograph screens downrange, aligning them with your bullets’ flight path, and making electrical connections, and it’s easier than placing what used to be the most modern chrono (before the Garmin came along) out in front of the firing line.\u00a0 The Garmin is a major step forward in the chrono game.<\/p>\n

Once the string has been fired (as many as the shooter wants to include in the string), the scrolling and selecting game starts anew (along with pushing the back, up and down, and OK buttons).\u00a0 I thought it would become intuitive for me, but I’m not the brightest bulb in the box and it seems I have to relearn it every time I go to the range (and I’m on the range at least a couple of times each week).<\/p>\n

Charging and Battery Life<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charging is done via a laptop.\u00a0 The chronograph comes with a cord that connects the chrono to your laptop, and that’s how it charges.\u00a0 One charge is good for a couple of range sessions (or more, depending on how much you shoot).\u00a0 Although I didn’t time it, I’m guessing it took maybe an hour to fully recharge.<\/p>\n

Downloading Data<\/strong><\/p>\n

I thought the cord connecting the computer to the Garmin would allow me to download the data from each range “session” (a session is a string of shots for which you wish to record data), but if there’s a way to do that, I couldn’t find it.\u00a0 I could the files for each range session, but they were in a format I couldn’t read.\u00a0 What I can do, though, is Bluetooth connect the Garmin to my cellphone.\u00a0 Then, once the data is in my cellphone, I can send the data (in an Excel spreadsheet) to my laptop via email.\u00a0 That’s more bother than I wanted to mess around with, though.\u00a0 I just look at the results on the Garmin screen.<\/p>\n

Packaging and the Optional Case<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Garmin chrono doesn’t come with a carrying case.\u00a0 It should.\u00a0 I had to spring for an optional $15, cheaply constructed carrying case that probably cost about 25 cents to make in China.\u00a0 But I’m glad it did.\u00a0 It does a decent job protecting the Garmin and storing the charging cable.<\/p>\n

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The extra cost case. It ought to be included with the chronograph.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Few Pistol Examples<\/strong><\/p>\n

I shot three handguns to assess how the Garmin would perform.\u00a0 I thought I could do this at my indoor pistol range (I belong to a couple of gun ranges).\u00a0 The indoor range is usually crowded, and that highlighted one of the Garmin’s weak spots.\u00a0 Even though there are barriers between shooting positions, the Garmin was consistently capturing data from the guy shooting on either side of me.\u00a0 As I had no interest in what they were doing, I picked up my marbles and to the West End Gun Club, an outdoor range.<\/p>\n

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1911s in .45 ACP, 9mm, and .22. The 1911 is one of the best pistol designs in the world. It’s been around for more than a century.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the outdoor range there was more room between shooting positions, and\u00a0 the Garmin picking up another shooter’s bullets was not an issue.\u00a0 I shot and captured data for three different handguns.\u00a0 All were 1911s.\u00a0 I’ve written about them before (a .45 ACP Springfield, a 9mm Springfield, and a .22 GSG), but now I can bring you chrono data.\u00a0\u00a0My plan was to shoot 50 rounds from each pistol and record the data, shooting at the same silhouette target at 25 yards.<\/p>\n

1911 .22 Long Rifle GSG\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The GSG .22 Long Rifle 1911. There’s a lot of plastic in this gun, but wowee, does it ever shoot!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first pistol up was the .22 GSG with Federal Champion ammo.\u00a0 It’s cheap ammo and it’s advertised as having a muzzle velocity of 1260 feet per second, but that’s probably from a much longer rifle barrel.\u00a0 I expected it to be slower from the 1911 and it was.<\/p>\n

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Federal .22 Long Rifle High Velocity Ammo. The GSG needs the high velocity ammo to function reliably.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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I ordered a bunch of ammo when a court found California’s mail order ban unconstitutional. It’s since been overturned, but I brought in a couple thousand rounds when justice prevailed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Federal ammo is advertised at 1260 feet per second, but that’s out of a rifle. The chronograph doesn’t lie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here’s what the Garmin revealed for the 50 .22 Long Rifle shots fired from the 1911.<\/p>\n

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1020 versus 1260 feet per second. My lower velocities were due to shooting this ammo in a handgun rather than a rifle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The velocity was lower than advertised, but as mentioned above, I fired from a 5-inch-barreled handgun and not a rifle.<\/p>\n

1911 9mm Springfield\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I then turned to my Springfield 9mm 1911, which is one of my all time favorite pistols.<\/p>\n

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My 9mm Springfield Armory 1911. This is a great handgun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I fired another 50 rounds through it with my handloaded ammo (the load I used is the 124-grain roundnose plated Xtreme bullet and 5.5 grains of Accurate No. 5 powder.\u00a0 That ammo had about the same average velocity as the .22, but the extreme spread and the standard deviation were lower (a good thing).\u00a0 Accuracy at 25 yards was about the same as the .22 1911.<\/p>\n

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1035 feet per second ain’t too shabby. I could go higher by running a hotter load, but this one is hot enough and it’s accurate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You may have noticed that the Garmin only picked up 49 of the 50 shots I fired.\u00a0 I don’t know why it did that.<\/p>\n

1911 .45 ACP Springfield<\/strong><\/p>\n

For my final quick look handgun trials I used another Springfield 1911, this time chambered in .45 ACP.<\/p>\n

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One of the great ones: A .45 ACP 1911. This is also a Springfield Armory handgun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The load was 4.6 grains of Bullseye under Gardner 185-grain cast semi-wadcutter bullets.\u00a0 This has always been a great target load in any of my 1911s, and it proved that to be the case again.\u00a0 I was not shooting for accuracy; I was simply showing 50 rounds through each of the three 1911s to wring out the Garmin.\u00a0 On the target, the GSG .22 and the Springfield 9mm were grouping at about 10 inches (again, I wasn’t try to put them through the same hole during this test).\u00a0 \u00a0But that .45?\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 It put 50 rounds through one ragged hold about 4 inches in diameter.\u00a0 If I had put any effort into it, that hole would have been smaller.<\/p>\n

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A .45-caliber bullet at 850 feet per second will settle most arguments. It’s accurate, too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You can see the inherent accuracy in the .45 load I used in this portion of the test.\u00a0 Check out the very small standard deviation and extreme spread.\u00a0 Both are much smaller than the corresponding values for the 9mm and .22 handguns.<\/p>\n

Mosin-Nagant Cast Bullets\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I next wanted to try cast bullets in the Mosin-Nagant 91\/30 rifle.\u00a0 I knew the load I was using (a 173-grain cast bullet and SR 4759 powder) to be an accurate load from previous forays.<\/p>\n

\"\"
I love the Mosin-Nagant. There are certainly more elegant milsurp rifles out there. I haven’t found any that shoot better than a Mosin-Nagant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Cast bullets loaded in 7.62x54R cases. This is a fun load.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fast enough, and no leading. This is a great load.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I said above, I knew this to be an accurate load, and the Garmin showed why: It had a l0w standard deviation.<\/p>\n

Mini 14 Jacketed Bullets<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, I wanted to see how the Garmin would do with a small bullet moving at higher speeds, so I ran a few shots through my faithful Mini 14.<\/p>\n

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You don’t see many Mini 14 rifles with wood like this one. It’s stunning, and it can be surprisingly accurate with the right load.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My accuracy loads for the Mini 14 have been a Hornady 55-grain full metal jacket boattail bullet and a max load of either IMR 4320 or ARComp.\u00a0 The results you see below are for the IMR load.\u00a0 You might be wondering why the velocity is a bit less than the expected 3000 feet per second speeds attained with a .223 cartridge.\u00a0 \u00a0My Mini 14 has a 16-inch barrel.<\/p>\n

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The Garmin had no difficulty picking up those little 55-grain bullets flying away at 2800+ feet per second.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The results looked good to me.\u00a0 Those five shots went into less than 2 inches at 100 yards.\u00a0 \u00a0Four of the five went into less than an inch.<\/p>\n

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A Mini 14? Are you kidding me? I never joke about my work, folks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Bottom Line<\/strong><\/p>\n

There’s the good, the bad, and the ugly.\u00a0 The good is the Garmin chronograph has upped the ante by bringing an easily-used chronograph to the masses.\u00a0 There’s no screwing around wires or screens, and you don’t have to get in front of the firing line to set it up.\u00a0 This is a major breakthrough, and it’s what prompted me to finally pull the trigger on a chrono (well, that and my good buddy Walt telling me that any serious shooter and reloader needed a chrono).<\/p>\n

The bad?\u00a0 There’s not much.\u00a0 I mentioned the tendency to pick up rounds fired from an adjacent lane on an indoor handgun range.\u00a0 I think the screen scrolling drill could be simplified a bit.\u00a0 The chrono occasionally failed to pick up a round (but that could be me not positioning it correctly).\u00a0 I think the chrono should allow downloading data sessions directly to a computer (without having to Bluetooth the thing to a cell phone and then email it to myself).\u00a0 These nits wouldn’t stop me from buying one, and they shouldn’t stop you, either.\u00a0 I love my Garmin chronograph.\u00a0 The Garmin engineers did a\u00a0 good job.<\/p>\n

What surprised me (but maybe didn’t surprise me too much) was that the lowest standard deviation did not necessarily result in the tightest group.\u00a0 Barrel harmonics, bullet issues, and the guy behind the trigger also have a huge influence.\u00a0 I suspect the so-called accuracy loads in the Lyman reloading manual are based mostly (perhaps exclusively) on standard deviation.\u00a0 \u00a0 There are a lot of things that go into rifle and handgun accuracy.\u00a0 With a Garmin chronograph, you can get a better understand them.<\/p>\n

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