Combro cb-625 ‘Chronoscope’
I’ve had a Combro cb-625 ‘Chronoscope’ for several years. It’s a very small, self contained chronograph that literally hangs on the end of the barrel (held on with rubber bands or just your hand for quick checks). It has lights on one side, sensors on the other, of a short tube (3 inches long, half an inch in diameter) you shoot through. MV (in either fps or mps) and energy (in fpe or Joules) is displayed until manually reset. There’s an output jack for computer hookup which makes function automatic.
The unit served me well over the years. I found it very handy to have with the Talon SS. I carried it in the gun case and could check MV quickly and easily any time I wanted. Makes it easy to not only set the MV you want but to check the fill on the gun (see if MV is off before POI changes). However, it had an accident a few weeks ago. We tried to read a full tilt Condor without a shroud. It seems the muzzle blast was strong enough to strip out the lights and sensors along with the plastic channel they mount to and send them downrange. Replacement parts took less than the week from the UK, less than $20 and some soldering put it right.
While I was waiting for parts, I got concerned that it might not work (or I might shoot it….) and I wouldn’t have one for the upcoming ground squirrel safari. Before the two of us managed to wreck it without even shooting it I never was worried about it not working….. So I decided to order a new MK4 to back up my now shot up old MK3, taking advantage of the current exchange rate advantage of the dollar against the pound. It was cheap, forty pounds, shipping included. Robin (the owner) backed out the 15% VAT, it cost me $50…half what I paid for the second hand MK3 I bought from a guy in Canada years ago. IMO an outstanding deal on an excellent product. You should consider getting one for your kit:
http://www.chronoscopes.com/
I’ve always been a bit concerned about the accuracy, but figured it was good enough for the job. However, my new one is rated at 1%, and tested to half that. Yes, each and every ‘chronoscope’ is tested to be within .5% to allow the guarantee of 1%. More over, there’s a pencil number on the back (1906 in my case) that lets you go on line and look up the test results (use ‘Help me calibrate it’ on the left, enter my number to see). Not only were the readings well within range, they averaged .1% low and there’s a correction constant you can enter (in my case 90) to null that out. My meter is now reading closer to .1% of the correct speed. Bragging rights for sure despite it’s small size and low price.
Anyway, IMO a truly useful and nifty gadget you should check out.
Good shooting.
Doug Owen
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keep us posted on it i may order soon also
Helder
Oh, I don’t know about that idiot part…..IIRC I was the guy holding it on the muzzle at the time, right? Who’d thought? For sure neither of us.
As we discussed over lunch, I strongly suspect that a shroud on the barrel would have rendered the balst safe. Hey, live and learn……
Doug Owen
It was doing 64FPE. I was the idiot who blew Dougs combro up hehe. But hey, in my defense I bought him all the replacement parts.
Helder
I made an order last night. Received email this morning saying that it had shipped airmail and he had removed the VAT.
I use the same. Never had any problems with mine untill I shot It and even then a strip of duct tape fixed It untill I finally gave In and sent It back to Robin for a re-cal and repair. What power were the Condors doing to blow the sensors out 😯 I’ve seen one used on nearly 40 FPE and about 1k FPS and It was fine?
The Combro really is a must have.
I forget the Fella’s name, but he is VERY quick to return e-mails, is very personable, and the shipping ws actually quite speedy considering…
I have shot mine simultaneously through my Gamma Master and it was right on the nuts.
My GM is a BITCH about perfect lighting and most of the time it really pisses me off.
The Combro can be shot in horseshit lighting and it just keeps humping along!
Mine works fine through my 31fpe Rapid… It is shrouded however, so that may have something to do with it…
Just make sure the hole is aligned perfectly.
One trick I figured out, was to use the high end, blue 3M masking tape to solidly mount the Combro to the barrel rather than some half-assed rubber band.
Thanks!
Dutch
Absolutely. I’ve done so hundreds of times. Once you have it set for the barrel diameter, it’s fast and easy. In fact, since the barrels on so many springers are the same size you don’t have to reset the height all that much switching around sometimes.
Unlike Chrony and others of that ilk the beam you have to break is really very narrow. Smaller than a toothpick. Which is probably good, since the gap is so narrow. BTW, they sell an alignment fixture (looks like a pencil) that some find useful. I’ve used a bamboo skewer section just fine (actually two, one for .177, one for .22). You can also do a good job ‘by eye’, you can see the lights and sensors in the bore.
Doug Owen
I works fine on mine (with an AF shroud), I was suprised when it flew apart. I’m sure it’s due to the shroud. Without one I guess it gets kinda rude at the muzzle when you’ve got the gas wicked up.
Last year I shot my Talon turned up with a 24 inch ‘Venom shrouded’ barrel from Mac1. I was running JSBs at 950 fps (30 fpe) IIRC. The Venom Shroud is much smaller in size (and therefore less effective).
The printed instruciotns I finally have have a note on this (says not to use it for rimfire), I suspect the Brits aren’t used to such powerful airguns anyway.
In a funny way, this concern is one of the reasons I bought a backup. I intend to keep using it on my Condor (which I don’t shoot as much as the Talon), and while I intend to be careful, if I wreck it again I don’t want to be without. Both units are going North on the Ground Squirrel hunt.
Doug Owen
No, none that I could find. Two in Canada, one now gone, the other never had ’em. You can get them for about $100 on EBay (but some of us refuse to use EBay…..). That’s why I ended up buying a second had one from a Canadian fellow.
Not to worry, I’m not kidding, it got delivered to my house by USPS “Air” from the UK in less than a week for a total of under 35 Pounds. Based on that I can recommend ordering one from the maker on the web (not to mention it’s half the price of unitls on EBay….).
Doug Owen
Great piece of kit and so versatile, i sold my Chrony F-1 and had one of these some years ago, don’t get “error” like i sometimes had with the F-1, as its always perfectly aligned. Down falls they don’t like excessive muzzle blast as we have just read, so shrouds or mufflers are a must , they calculate and read out up to around 50ft.lbs, over that you just punch in about half your pellet weight to read off the FPS but of course the muzzel energys reading will be way out, but thats no big problem as its best to keep any pellet in the sub 1000FPS. B51
They are made and sold in the UK – They ship anywhere, for free.
Should be fine for a springer though????
I wouldn’t use one with a Condor – Have heard other stories about them being blown apart by the uber powerful airguns.
They are made and sold in the UK – They ship anywhere, for free.
So it MAY not work with a Condor because of the air blast?
Anywhere in the US to buy one??
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I got my credit card bill tonight, the new cb-625 ended up costing me $50.54, and it got here in less time than most stuff (to the West coast).
Doug Owen