Catman Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 I can't tell you how long I've been after a decent chronograph! It's been a long time I can tell you, this has mainly been down to me being fussy; my critera has been: 1) Measures FPS 2) Meaures RPM 3) Doesn't need to be attached to the gun in some way. 4) Doesn't need a button pressed after every shot Until now no such chronograph existed, there was the X3100 which came close but didn't give FPS readings. Madbull have one in the works but it's still not been released yet. The other day while doing my daily "what's new" look around I spotted the X3200 on WGC (link), it'd completely snuck in under the hype radar. After checking out the manual I decided to take a risk and buy it. It arrived today and I'm pleased to say it's very good, not bad for $90. It takes 4 AAA batteries, the display and menu system are well thoughtout and easy to use. And importantly it works nicely in poor light conditions, I just tried it in the room with the lights off (it's dark outside) and it was giving me readings. There are two display modes, fancy: (don't mind the cats hair ) Simple: There are 6 memory projectile settings, so you can enter almost any weight and calibre into the chrono. The weight ranges from 0.1g to 2.5g and the calibre ranges from 4.5mm to 18mm. So that's quite handy and especially for those with 8mm guns, though I don't think I'll be making a huge amount of use of that feature as I benchmark everything to 0.2g, it's nice to know it there. Now if you read the manual you'll suddenly go "WTF it only reads up to 450fps?!!" Well that's what I thought too. The paper manual I got in the box reads differently, firstly it's all in Japanese or something saying "100-400"; I'm guessing that's a MPS measurement. I checked the previous model's (X3100) manual and saw that it could read 100-400mps, thats 1300 odd FPS. So there's definately some typo in this manual. Just to be sure I got my Tanaka M700 out and opened the PCS system out for maxiumum power, made sure the mag was nice a warm for nice high reading... and well: Definately a typo The internal tube is made of metal so any shots off target aren't going to wreck it, though a split BB hitting one of the sensors possibly could cause some damage. What is really nice to see is the auto-off feature can be set, it ranges are 10, 20, 30, 60 minutes. The backlight option isn't so rich, you can have auto (20secs), on (while the unit is on) or off. On the underneath there's a screw hole for a standard camera bipod and the battery cover which thankfully is hinged to the main unit so it never becomes seperated. It gets a 9 out 10 in my book. It'd have gotten 10/10 if it had a power supply jack, rechargable battery option and specific 'off-mains' menu options (ie never turn off ) but that's just me being fussy again Edit: forgot to mention: The RPM measurement range is 100 to 9999 RPM. The other contender currently on the market is the Guarder 2007 chrono, no idea when Madbull will be releasing theirs. But the X3200 looks to be the only one with a dot matrix screen capable of displaying RPM and FPS at the same time (plus all the Joules, BB weight/size fancy stuff ). Link to post Share on other sites
TwinTurboCH Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 Sweet review, I've been after a decent chrono that can do high power guns AND do rate fo fire, this looks like it fits the bill perfectly. Link to post Share on other sites
L4Isoside Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 I've always wanted a chrono. Thanks for the review, says everything i wanted to know and excluded the parts i didn't want to know Its got all the thing i would want too! Chris Link to post Share on other sites
Fanrish Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 Damn, now I want one of these over my Combro (which is pretty nice and easy for FPS, but has to be attached to the gun so I have to take a hairband around with me ). I wonder if any UK retailers will pick it up? Link to post Share on other sites
Auroris Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 Quality review! I may get one. I am unsure, is this a cheap or more expensive chronograph? It doesn't seem too much to me... Link to post Share on other sites
jonny2400 Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 Thanks for the review, buying one. Whats postage did u pay to get it till the Isle of Man ? Link to post Share on other sites
snorkelman Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 I'm due to stick a WGC bits and bobs order in at the weekend so if anyone in UK mainland wants to pitch in for one just let me know and I'll work out the costs Link to post Share on other sites
Angry Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 Nice, thanks for the heads up. I've been after a chrono for ages now and this looks like it has more features than the Madbull will. Link to post Share on other sites
Rob15 Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 I got one of these two days ago as well, lovely bit of kit. I see you've also got some lovely BB marks on the inside of the alu tube! A tripod is definatly needed with one of these imho, measuring the rof on a maruzen vz61 while holding it is incredibly hard Link to post Share on other sites
snowman Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 I can see the point of a BB weight setting (to work out Joules), but Calibre(er)? Cheers. Link to post Share on other sites
Rob15 Posted November 22, 2007 Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 It has 6mm and 8mm EDIT : That still makes no sense actually, hmmm Link to post Share on other sites
Catman Posted November 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2007 cheers fellas Thanks for the review, buying one. Whats postage did u pay to get it till the Isle of Man ? No different than it costs to get shipped to the UK [...]I see you've also got some lovely BB marks on the inside of the alu tube! [..] Hehe yeah when it arrived I tried it with my assault rifle and held both in each hand, wasn't easy I'll be fixing it to my 'shooty box' later I can see the point of a BB weight setting (to work out Joules), but Calibre(er)? It's to do with the J/cm2 reading - which I personally have no use for but it sure looks pretty Link to post Share on other sites
AustinWolv Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Good info, thanks. A bit cheaper than the Guarder 2007 version, which adds ROF measurement to the existing Guarder platform. Does the screen show up nicely in bright sunlight? That was one problem with the Guarder, as the LEDs wash out. Link to post Share on other sites
Beast06 Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 The 2008 version has ROF measurement. Link to post Share on other sites
Kiki-Jiki Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Nice review! I was waiting for the Madbull chrono to come out, but apparently they decided to fall off the face of the earth... Since I'm putting a WGCshop order together soon, I think I'm going to have to add this to the list of things to blow my hard-earned cash on. Although at least this is better than the Guarder because I've heard the Guarder ones suck, and they are $30 more. Anyways, great review! Link to post Share on other sites
jagfish Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Does anyone know if it can be used in metric mode (meters per second)? Link to post Share on other sites
greg Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Looks like a good bit of kit. But a very decent chrono has been available (& produced) in the uk for over 25 years. Skan make very good chronos. So good in fact they are used exclusively by the uk police (& certain parts of the military). No ROF & they ain't cheap, but they can be run off mains or 12v (car etc), do jule calculation. & they work! This is a genuine quality item, used by many in the airgun industry to verify & bench mark the power of their products. Look it up (skanar.co.uk, skan pro1 series 3, 99.5% accuracy, 5 year warranty), if the price isn't too scary it will be the best thing you by this year. I've had mine a while now & obviously can't recommend it enough. Greg. Link to post Share on other sites
hkssr20det Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 I was looking into them, but I was unhappy to see that FPS is capped rather low at 499 or something like that. I know in the UK there isn't much reason to go higher, but here in the US a few of my revolvers shoot higher. I have had zero problems with my Guarder (who said they sucked?), swapping it out for the newer version soon enough. Link to post Share on other sites
Surreel Big Fish Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 I was looking into them, but I was unhappy to see that FPS is capped rather low at 499 or something like that. I know in the UK there isn't much reason to go higher, but here in the US a few of my revolvers shoot higher. I have had zero problems with my Guarder (who said they sucked?), swapping it out for the newer version soon enough. If you had of read Catman's original review, you will know that there is a printing error on that. He has clocked his sniper rifle at well over that. Link to post Share on other sites
hkssr20det Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Well that's good to know (should have read closer). I just wish it didn't run on batteries, I like the rechargeable batteries in the Guarder. I never seem to be able to plan far enough ahead. Link to post Share on other sites
snowman Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Does look full featured, would love to try one out, just to compare ROF and fps figures. My Chronotar CE-2 runs on a 9V battery and I don't recall ever changing it (maybe once...?), but obviously AAAs hold a lot less charge. Presumably it generates a light source too in the tube to track the BB? That'll suck up a lot more power than an external light source one like the the Shooting Chrono or my Chronotar. Cheers. Link to post Share on other sites
Catman Posted November 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Does anyone know if it can be used in metric mode (meters per second)? Yup, it comes out of the box set for MPS Does look full featured, would love to try one out, just to compare ROF and fps figures. My Chronotar CE-2 runs on a 9V battery and I don't recall ever changing it (maybe once...?), but obviously AAAs hold a lot less charge. Presumably it generates a light source too in the tube to track the BB? That'll suck up a lot more power than an external light source one like the the Shooting Chrono or my Chronotar. Cheers. There's no light source generated in the tub, I'm guessing it works off infrared. I checked the FPS figures last night against a crombo chrony and the figures were dead on Good info, thanks. A bit cheaper than the Guarder 2007 version, which adds ROF measurement to the existing Guarder platform. Does the screen show up nicely in bright sunlight? That was one problem with the Guarder, as the LEDs wash out. Cheers, yeah the screen is nicely visible in the sunlight: Here's the X3200 now attached to my 'shooty box', hmm tasty ROF : Link to post Share on other sites
happy.al Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 I hope that Wisky bottle is emtpy It would explain the RIS rails you attached to the M2. Thanks for the review, looks like a really good product. Link to post Share on other sites
Catman Posted November 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 I hope that Wisky bottle is emtpy It would explain the RIS rails you attached to the M2 No and there's 3 empty tins there. I get a free bottle for every product placement I managed to sneak in. Helps with my aiming Link to post Share on other sites
wideload Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 have your worked out how to mount the chrono permanently to the gun? , i think it would look good with all the risrails and a couple of moscarts Link to post Share on other sites
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