Range days like this dont make thins easier!

[Deerhunter#1]

well I ttok my new 157 30-30 , my new.270 ejector and the 357 max with some new lit gun reloads. weather wasnt the best the temp was 70 but the winds were 15-20. All the issues I thought I had with the older 157 were for not come to find out that they had what is called a rebounding trigger and nothing was actually wrong with it so I go experience takeing my first receiver apart and back together. Needless to say i shot 8 rounds out of it which were reloads that I shoot out of my other 30-30 handi and was getting a little bigger than quarter size 100 yard groups and was real excited so it probobly could have done better but good enough. The new .270 with the same reduced loads I shoot in my other 2 .270 shot quarter at 100 yards. the 357 max performed well with .3 grains above max load with lit gun so i am done working on it and waiting on 1680 to become available. going to load up the 250 new brass and bullets i have and call it a day. should be about 2100 ft second with the 180 ssp bullet so I am happy with that speed and accuracy. Next purchase needs to be a chrongraph. All and all a good day.

[gcrank1]

Just use the money you would spend on the chrony to buy more loading components and SHOOT. That gadget isnt near as important as trigger time and shot placement. Anywhere near your desired velo will be fine if you hit where you want, in spite of the read-out speed.

[petemi]

I'm sorry gcrank1, I've got to disagree with you. The chrony is as important to me in reloading as my caliper.  I pick a load I want to try.  I chrony it first.  Actual velocities can be +/- 100 fps or more from published data depending on the rifle.  Then I run the load through a ballistics calculator and determine a range I want to sight it in for.  After sighting in, I double check the climb and drop the tables gave me at the  various distances on the range.  It's the only way I can be absolutely sure where my bullet is going to be at any given distance.  My chrony gets a lot of use.

Pete

[gcrank1]

No need to be sorry for that, Pete! Different strokes for different folks, and all. There are plenty of approaches to this hobby, as long as we keep it on the safe side first. Im a bit more to the analytical side of things than the average (so Ive been told) and yet the allure of the chrony faded for me, so I dont use it much anymore. I have most recently used it to verify my handload velo reports here, which is a good thing, but ultimately, if it is a hole in the right place, I need more real shootin' time rather than paying more attention to getting the bullet over screens to get a read-out ( and/or the number of other things I need to mess about with making sure it is set up and working right, etc.). Once I have a load that works I generally just recreate it over and over, so not too much development and experimenting going on, and if they hit and thwack the way I want I dont really need to know what the velo (or other read-out data) is. BUT, if its working for you, go for it!
FWIW, the only thing Im the 'last word' in is "it works for me"  .

[petemi]

Until yesterday, I would never have dreamed about sighting in .30-30s at 150 and 200 yards respectively.  The load for the Handi, 168 gr. BT over LVR chronyed at over 2400 fps. giving a 200 yard velocity of over 2000 fps and 1600 ft/lbs.  The climb and drop is less than 3 inches all the way.  The ballistics tables told me this and it proved true on the range.  Without this information, it would have been sighted in at the .30-30s "normal" 100 yards.

Pete

[gcrank1]

My 'handy calculator' is the fact that bullets of similar ballistic coefficient, regardless of caliber,  which travel at a given velocity will have a very, very close trajectory. This can be gleaned off the online calc or out of many reloading books. As long as my velo is 'in the park' I can make my 45-70 have the same traj. as a common 22LR; or any number of other comparisons. Plus, a lot of calibers cross the line of sight at about 13yds. Find where they hit at, say 100yds. and you can estimate the velo pretty close, either with the mid-range traj. or bullet drop figures.
Cool huh? 

[Airsporter]

so i am done working on it and waiting on 1680 to become available.

I see alot of chat about the lack of availability of 1680.  It is available online and you or your dealer can get it if they want to.  Here are a couple sources:
http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/category/categoryId/3512
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/2183347686/accurate-1680-smokeless-powder

[44 Man]

I can see the importance of a Chrony and I always appreciated the bullet drop tables, but there are negative effects also.  When I checked my Topper 30-30 right after I bought it and found it ran 2395 fps with factory Rem flat nose, I was a happy man!  But I have also sold a couple of guns that ran consistantly slow velocities.  Nothing wrong with them and they put the bullets where I wanted them to go, but when I read out the velocities they were giving me, I was dissapointed in them.  So down the road they went.  That's an extreme and I have learned from those errors.  As Gcrank said, if it puts a hole where you want it with a 'good' bullet at any reasonable velocity, it will do a good job.  44 Man
But Pete, I do have a couple of reloads I wish I knew the velocity to...... just out of curiosity you understand.