Thoughts on the Magneto Speed V3

[Klem]

Labradar is actually lower middle or middle. There are a lot more expensive chronographs out there.

What chrono's are more expensive?

[centerfire]

What chrono's are more expensive?

PVM21, Oehler 86, etc. They're laboratory chronographs though. There's another field device but it's name is escaping me. Every device discussed in this thread is probably best described as consumer grade. Even the much lauded 35P fits in this category.

[41bear]

From one swabby to another, just my 2 cents, but if your plan is to just use every so often then one of the lower cost old time set ups is what I'd suggest because it will serve your needs very well. Yes it takes more time and effort to set up but if you're only using it once or twice a year ... who cares?. Now if you are into serious load development the V3 or Lab become very attractive and necessary. I would advise, strongly, that you always use a chrono in load development as it's a much better way to get indications of pressure than say eye balling the primer or measuring your brass.

[Bronsonburner]

I love my Magnetospeed. It has been such an upgrade for me over the optical chronos that I am trying to pretend the Labradar doesn't exist LOL. Not having to call the line cold to fuss over lining up is so worth it. I have my main Grendel set up with a rail the right length to use the MS pic rail adapter. That ensures no POI or group problems. For some guns I built a "magic arm" mount that works really well. Some guns can't avoid strapping the bayo to the barrel but it's not a huge deal. You just end up shooting two sets of groups.

As nice as the MS is though I know how I am. Eventually it will get sold to fund a Labradar.

[LTQZ]

Again, thanks for all the input.
I saw both the MSV3 and the Labradar at the range this weekend. Each shooter liked his device and said they both had their issues.
Did not get to discuss much as we were on the firing line.
since I am looking at $$, the V3 will probably get the starting nod.

[grayfox]

Again, thanks for all the input.
I saw both the MSV3 and the Labradar at the range this weekend. Each shooter liked his device and said they both had their issues.
Did not get to discuss much as we were on the firing line.
since I am looking at $$, the V3 will probably get the starting nod.

LT, your load developments will like you better!!

[LTQZ]

Thanks for all the input, I was able to get a Magnetospeed Sporter for a very good price so I went with that for now.
I hope I can get out and use it soon. I have 40 rounds of reloads just waiting to go.

I will be reporting the results when I get out.

Thanks.

[grayfox]

Do mock-ups in the shop and mount on your rifles before going out to the range. use a stiff dowel or a nice cleaning rod and hold it level to the lower inside of the barrel to make sure of your bayonet alignment. anything other than a pretty straight barrel might need a little "configurin' " to make the bayo level to the bullet path (sporter barrels you need to be careful b/c of the outside slope of the barrel surface). I have a couple of tricks I use...

[LTQZ]

I've been busy and then out of town so I apologize for the delay in response, but thanks grayfox, I have done some initial set up and such and you have suggested. The last thing I want to do is shoot the bayo.
I am hoping to get to the range soon and try things out.

Thanks again,
LTQZ (Dale)

[FLshooter]

I was contemplating whether to get a labradar or a V3.I have gun club acquaintances who own both and let me try them out a few times befor making my decision.
I weighed the pros and cons.For me, the V3 wins by a landslide.It would be hard for me to explain why in details.But,for my style of shooting and my preferences,I went with the V3.
My suggestion is try before you buy.I did.Almost 2 yrs later I am still very happy.

[Klem]

I was contemplating whether to get a labradar or a V3.I have gun club acquaintances who own both and let me try them out a few times befor making my decision.
I weighed the pros and cons.For me, the V3 wins by a landslide.It would be hard for me to explain why in details.But,for my style of shooting and my preferences,I went with the V3.
My suggestion is try before you buy.I did.Almost 2 yrs later I am still very happy.

FL,

'Landslide' is a pretty glowing testimonial for one product over another. Give it a go, be specific. Why is it hard to explain?

[grayfox]

Nah. 55-45 in a presidential election is a landslide over here.....

[FRB6.5]

If it was 2 years ago my guess would be the annoyance of the LabRadar's on screen menu. The iOS and Android apps absolutely make it easier to use.

[Kswhitetails]

I've used both. For me, the barrel mount makes it a non starter, as you cannot group your test loads and get speed data at the same time. Why load twice for one range visit? The only circumstance I can see where the MS beats the LR is at an indoor range where the MS will have trouble getting readings if it gets any at all. Otherwise, with a little feature learning and experience, the LR is everything it's advertised to be. It has become my range partner in more ways that I thought it would. I use it to gather good data, track temp sensitivity, track barrel progression, track cold bore, maintain spreadsheets on SD cards for each rifle, print data and catalogue, etc... The more I use mine, the more I'm glad I spent the extra 200 bucks.

I'm in no way demeaning the MS line, just find the idea of mounting a sensor to my barrel UN-appatizing.

They work. Well. As do many other MS products.

To each their own.

[FLshooter]

FL,

'Landslide' is a pretty glowing testimonial for one product over another. Give it a go, be specific. Why is it hard to explain?

What I really meant was I didn’t feel like explaining it in a long drawn out paragraph.But since you want to know.
For me,I don’t need to chronograph every round I shoot.So accuracy with the V3 on the barrel is a non issue.
Once I've got an accurate load worked up for that certain rifle,then I will chronograph 5rds.Once I’ve got the average velocity,I can use my ballistic app and I know what to dial it in at.
Yes,I will run another 5-10 through now and then.I like to have them average within .10FPS.Tells me how well I’m weighing my powder.But I don't feel it necessary to Chronograph every round I shoot.
Also,for me the V3 is compact and easier to transport.Easy set up and put away.I did not find it easy to set the LabRadar on the ground(our club LR area allows only prone).And if the guy next to you is too close,it will pick up His shots.
Those 3 factors were what did it for me.The LabRadar also costs almost twice as much as the V3.And you will need an extra power pack if you l plan on chronographing every shot.
It will boil down to whether you want to chronograph every shot or not.That is the biggest factor for most guys.As far as accuracy,I think they will both do the job well.

[Popeye212]

What I really meant was I didn’t feel like explaining it in a long drawn out paragraph.But since you want to know.
For me,I don’t need to chronograph every round I shoot.So accuracy with the V3 on the barrel is a non issue.
Once I've got an accurate load worked up for that certain rifle,then I will chronograph 5rds.Once I’ve got the average velocity,I can use my ballistic app and I know what to dial it in at.
Yes,I will run another 5-10 through now and then.I like to have them average within .10FPS.Tells me how well I’m weighing my powder.But I don't feel it necessary to Chronograph every round I shoot.
Also,for me the V3 is compact and easier to transport.Easy set up and put away.I did not find it easy to set the LabRadar on the ground(our club LR area allows only prone).And if the guy next to you is too close,it will pick up His shots.
Those 3 factors were what did it for me.The LabRadar also costs almost twice as much as the V3.And you will need an extra power pack if you l plan on chronographing every shot.
It will boil down to whether you want to chronograph every shot or not.That is the biggest factor for most guys.As far as accuracy,I think they will both do the job well.

Actually you can, the V3 does not affect the accuracy on my DMR barrel. One the best groups it ever shot was with the V3 strapped to it. Now the TC Compass a different story. My .270 is not affected by it either.

[FLshooter]

Actually you can, the V3 does not affect the accuracy on my DMR barrel. One the best groups it ever shot was with the V3 strapped to it. Now the TC Compass a different story. My .270 is not affected by it either.

Nice to hear that.I usually only use my V3 chronograph when I shoot at the club’s 200 yrd bench rest range.I aim at the large gong they have hanging between a tire @ 200yrds.
Nothing could could cause me to miss that thing.My buddy once shot 25 rds to fire form them from his target rifle.Looked the other way and still hit that gong every time!
Like I posted,I only chronograph 5 shot groups.Never felt the need to do more.But,I will go ahead and take it the 600 yrd prone range and find out if it affects my accuracy.
I’ll get back to ya’ll on this.

[grayfox]

For me the MS works just fine thanks, and so I don't need to upgrade to the LR. LR is probably an upgrade, but not only do I have an indoor 100 yd range, it is about 10 mins from my home, and I'm retired so I can go every day and twice on Wednesday (or any other day of the week) if I want to. As far as affecting POI, for some of my rifles it does and for others it doesn't. I'm thinking the stiffer ones, maybe not so much impact shift.

And as I've written in the past, such a POI shift does not bother me since my accuracy routine is at least a 2-step process. 1) find the MV node powder loading for your bullet. 2) tune the COAL for best accuracy.
Bottom line for me therefore is the MS does the job. Now for others who follow a different routine or such, they may love or hate it, that's their freedom and I have no issues with that or them. But until I adopt some other methods or until I move far away such that I can't go several times a week, I'm good.

I have pretty much settled on load combo's and bullets, etc for each rifle so I'm about to go more into pure shooting for marksmanship practice with my rifles. I have 3 that I feel confident for (and have shot successfully) up to 300 yds, and 2 out to 600 (target not hunting)... the 1000-yd, well, I've done it once but need to reach out more often. But the 100-300 yd hunting scenario is the one I want to train for the most. In these scenarios, I the shooter am the weakest, most inconsistent link, the rifle and cartridge are much better.

[Klem]

FL,

Thanks for sharing.

I have a LR but have not used the MS so was curious why you thought the MS was so much better. One bugbear I notice the LR has is shooting indoors or with a lot of infrastructure downrange. It can be showing no integrity bars on the left of the screen (meaning any shot fired will not be picked up), then suddenly one or two bars for a period of time. I use that window to shoot and then back to zero bars again. On an open range the LR is fine.

I made my own stand; a rectangular wooden plank for shooting from a bench but agree, for that price you'd think a basic stand would be included.

I made a 2S Li-ion battery pack and use a voltage regulator to keep it at 5V which is the standard for USB ports. The sales rep is not as helpful as you would expect saying the voltage range of the device is confidential info. If he was forthcoming with the range like so many other devices list in their specs I might not need the regulator, but it was only a couple of dollars on eBay. My impression is that he does not have a clue beyond the stated specs and was concealing his ignorance with the Secret-Squirrel routine. The battery is the size of a fist so I have set the radar time-out/sleep range to maximum to avoid having to wake it up each time.

The mobile app is almost a joke. It's a pity data is not saved on your phone to a file you can import into Excel. The phone keeps dropping out when it times-out and goes to sleep. While you can vary the length of time the radar stays on you can't do that with your phone. The radar's controls are so close to you when shooting that you wonder why they even produced a phone ap.

I like how I can set it up within a minute or so of arriving at the bench and it records every shot whether you want to know or not. I do a lot of technical load testing and tinkering so it suits my type of shooting. You can swap guns around using the same shooting spot and not have to change the LR (you might have to slightly adjust where it points if shooting at different targets downrange).

The LR is not without limitations but once you make peace with this and are able to work around them then it's a pretty good bit of kit. I don't know if its better than a MS but it's certainly better than my old folding Chrony.

[grayfox]

Klem, good writeup, the LR seems to be a step above the MS in features, not the least of which is down-range tracking and velocity readouts (so I've read). I have thought about it from time to time, just for now can't justify another such tool at its price.
Since it is a first-gen model perhaps innovations and competition will reduce size and increase features at lower costs... that's always the hope!!