Many people live on the periphery of the world of chronographs, as did I for many years. But this all changed when I drew a muzzleloader elk tag in my home state, somewhere in the Great Basin. I won’t go into the entire hunt story (at least not here), but with that setup, there was no way of determining my actual velocity, and therefore elevation at distance, with such varied powder charges. It was crucial that I knew approximately what velocities the .45 caliber PowerBelt ELR was achieving so I could calculate my drop at distances beyond point-blank range.
These days, the Garmin Xero C1 doppler-effect chronograph is all the rage—and don’t get me wrong, it is certainly awesome. However, I was already out over $2,000 for a new muzzleloader and some fancy and very much required upgraded iron sights, so I wanted to keep things on the more affordable side. A friend of mine — one who actually got me into reloading in the first place — suggested the Competition Electronics ProChrono DLX, and I gave it a purchase.
After two or three years of regularly using it, both at the county range and out in the desert, here’s what I found.
While the build quality is certainly not the most inspiring thing, being made out of a hard plastic shell, the ProChrono DLX has held up admirably in the extreme heat and cold of many Mojave Desert shooting sessions. Battery life is good, and there’s even space for a spare 9V battery within the battery door on the unit. I keep a couple more in my range bag, too.
Generally, I run the included plastic diffusers over the sensors, which work well in the harsh, direct sun that I can never seem to escape from — and when shooting large-caliber rifles (or guns with serious brakes), I simply give myself a bit more space between me and the machine to take away some of the concussive effects of shooting a big magnum.
I use a common 1/4″-20 Arca-Swiss plate to attach the ProChrono to my tripod, and this works very well.
The App
A boon to the usability of this chrono is the Digital Link app. In this app, you can control the hardware (reviewing strings, deleting shot strings, etc), as well as import them to your phone. It automatically calculates average velocities, extreme spreads, and standard deviations for a given shot string. It also allows you to export the data as .csv files for archiving or further analysis in a spreadsheet program. Functionality is good — I’ve been disconnected from the chronograph once or twice during range sessions, but it’s never held up the day’s events for more than a few minutes.
The Last Word on the ProChrono DLX
Occasionally, the ProChrono DLX will miss a shot here and there. My anecdotal analysis suggests that this may be because the chronograph body is slightly skewed compared to the path of travel of the bullet. This is a little annoying when shooting muzzleloaders, for example, where every shot counts; that said, this error is an exception rather than the norm.
Other than that caveat, the ProChrono DLX has been an absolute champ, especially outside in the harsh environments I usually shoot in. I use it for testing everything from .22 LR through .300 Weatherby Mag, as well as super-magnum powder charges out of my muzzleloader. When paired with an MTM folding shooting table and a Caldwell Stinger shooting rest, I can get all of my load development done on public land, at my whim.
I’ve never had any weird velocity misreadings, or experienced anything else that would make me doubt the quality of the data I’m getting from the chronograph.
If you don’t necessarily want to pay a premium for the boundless convenience of the Garmin doppler unit (or other ones like it), and you’re focused on that perfect intersection of price, value, and quality to enable you to spend more money on ammo to shoot with — then the Competition Electronics ProChrono DLX will be a great choice for most shooters.
Also — if you were wondering how the hunt went, I ended up shooting a bull at five yards, so it turns out I didn’t need any of the data from the chronograph, anyway. I’m certainly not going to complain about that.
Ed. Note: we have no relationship with Competition Electronics at the time of publication, but if you choose to purchase a chrono through our affiliate link, we’ll earn a small amount from qualifying purchases.
