Break Barrel Chronograph Day, or perhaps more accurately radar day.

[Scriv]

Well, the weather is windy, so I thought that I'd spend the morning getting some numbers from my Weihrauch rifles. Testing has been done in the comfortable, outdoor shooting facility at Redneck acres. Velocities were recorded with a LabRadar unit, and all shots fired by the World's okayest springer shooter. In case you have already fallen asleep there is something happening here that I have never previously seen, so grab your popcorn. I created this post because several members were curious about the performance of my newly acquired rifles. It is important to mention that they have all been professionally tuned with Vortek kits installed. (Edit my chrono ended up being an issue so maybe all of this data is corrupt)

The results
HW97KT .20

JSB Exact 13.73
Ave 694
SD. 2.5
Ext. 9
FPE 14.69

H&N FTT 11.42
Ave 780
SD 2.7
Ext 9
FPE 15.43

HW50S Jubilee edition .177

JSB Exact 8.44
Ave 790
SD 3.5
Ext 11
FPE 11.7

H&N FTT 8.64
Ave 766
SD 5.6
Ext. 13
FPE 11.26

HW30N .20

JSB 13.73 Exact
Ave 488
SD. 3.5
Ext. 12
FPE 7.26

H&N FTT 11.42
Ave. 544
SD. 2.7
Ext. 9
FPE 7.51

HW30S Laminate .177

JSB Exact 8.44 (4.52)
Ave 641
SD. 4.5
Ext 15
FPE 7.77 The rifle loves this pellet, absolute laser with it. Here is where it gets interesting.

H&N FTT 8.64
Ave. 621
SD 44.8
Ext 162
FPE 4.4 What in the hell just broke? So, I decided to do it again. I had several shots not register, and had to re-shoot them.

Ave. 636
SD. 50.7
Ext 166
FPE 4.8. So, even worse than the first time. What is happening? My radar has got to be wonky all of a sudden. Well, let's try another pellet, and see.

QYS Domed 8.48 (4.50)
Ave. 634
SD 3.7
Ext 12
FPE. 5.3
The same pellets were used for the two .177 rifles, and the same two tins used in the .20 rifles. I didn't try the QYS in the 50 because honestly, I was getting tired of cocking the springers, and the QYS didn't seem to group that well in the 50. The H&N in the HW30S still baffles me.

 

[Chief55]

Mic the diameter of the pellets. My bet is the H&N is a smaller diameter and is not sealing in the barrel as well. Or possibly it is a harder lead, again not sealing as well.

 

[Scriv]

Mic the diameter of the pellets. My bet is the H&N is a smaller diameter and is not sealing in the barrel as well. Or possibly it is a harder lead, again not sealing as well.

A logical thought. Worked out ok in the HW50S though. To have an SD ten times greater than the other pellets is just something I've never even heard of.

 

[Scriv]

It is interesting to note that when the same weight pellet is tested as AoA used I get higher velocity, and lower SD. I attribute this to the rifle breaking in.

 

[Chief55]

Every barrel is different, like a snowflake. Sometimes you will get very similar results and sometimes not so much.

 

[Scriv]

Every barrel is different, like a snowflake. Sometimes you will get very similar results and sometimes not so much.

I've considered that as well. To double, or even triple an SD? Sure. Ten times? Causes doubt. Thats why I tested a pellet with a smaller diameter to see if I could make it happen again.

 

[Scriv]

I will, at some point try it again to see what's going on. If anyone has an experience like this I'd be interested in hearing about it.

 

[Danman]

I will, at some point try it again to see what's going on. If anyone has an experience like this I'd be interested in hearing about it.

I was just gonna say, do try this again on a different day! I've had some head scratchers with my chrono readings too at times, usually its one shot thats waaay off from the others. 2 ideas come to mind....
- The hard lead of the H&N combined with the lack of power from the little HW30 powerplant isn't causing the hard lead skirt to seal properly.
-The H&N lead is shinier and the radar is struggling to pick them up vs the other (.177) brands?
How many shots per group did you shoot?

 

[Scriv]

I was just gonna say, do try this again on a different day! I've had some head scratchers with my chrono readings too at times, usually its one shot thats waaay off from the others. 2 ideas come to mind....
- The hard lead of the H&N combined with the lack of power from the little HW30 powerplant isn't causing the hard lead skirt to seal properly.
-The H&N lead is shinier and the radar is struggling to pick them up vs the other (.177) brands?
How many shots per group did you shoot?

Ten shot strings to get the average. To your point, the HW30N (.20) had an SD of 2.7 with the h&n ft, and the radar had no issue picking up the same pellet fired out of the HW50S. I've been scratching my head so hard it looks like a canoe. I may open up another tin just for the hell of it.

 

[Danman]

Ten shot strings to get the average. To your point, the HW30N (.20) had an SD of 2.7 with the h&n ft, and the radar had no issue picking up the same pellet fired out of the HW50S. I've been scratching my head so hard it looks like a canoe. I may open up another tin just for the hell of it.

Yeah, I too am grasping at straws, which is why I threw the question mark on it. Through my extensive reading I've heard of chronos that struggle to pick up .177, or bb's, slow projectiles, or shiny ammo.....
If you reshoot that group with the radar I'd push target out to 25Y+ If its grouping fine than suspect chrono I'd think.
As the 50 shot them well I still believe the low power to be the culprit. What diameter are the .177 FTT?

 

[Grunt64]

Ten shot strings to get the average. To your point, the HW30N (.20) had an SD of 2.7 with the h&n ft, and the radar had no issue picking up the same pellet fired out of the HW50S. I've been scratching my head so hard it looks like a canoe. I may open up another tin just for the hell of it.

You're right in using 10 shots, for small‑bore PCPs, a ten‑shot string is the sweet spot. It gives you a solid, honest average without burning a ton of air or wandering into a different part of the pressure curve. Five shots will tell you if something’s way off, but it’s not enough to trust for ES or SD, and once you go past ten, you’re mostly just charting the tune instead of the true average. Ten shots smooth out the normal little quirks—pellet fit, reg settling, hammer strike—so the numbers you get actually match how the gun behaves when you’re out shooting.

 

[Scriv]

Yeah, I too am grasping at straws, which is why I threw the question mark on it. Through my extensive reading I've heard of chronos that struggle to pick up .177, or bb's, slow projectiles, or shiny ammo.....
If you reshoot that group with the radar I'd push target out to 25Y+ If its grouping fine than suspect chrono I'd think.
As the 50 shot them well I still believe the low power to be the culprit. What diameter are the .177 FTT?

I guess that I should have mentioned that I was testing at 25 yards. I was getting velocity readings every five yards all the way to the target. I was using 4.52 sized pellets, I thought that I documented that. They felt like they were seating well. If I get some time today I'll try again.

 

[Scriv]

You're right in using 10 shots, for small‑bore PCPs, a ten‑shot string is the sweet spot. It gives you a solid, honest average without burning a ton of air or wandering into a different part of the pressure curve. Five shots will tell you if something’s way off, but it’s not enough to trust for ES or SD, and once you go past ten, you’re mostly just charting the tune instead of the true average. Ten shots smooth out the normal little quirks—pellet fit, reg settling, hammer strike—so the numbers you get actually match how the gun behaves when you’re out shooting.

To my knowledge spring piston guns are not affected by pressure curves, reg settling, or hammer strikes.

 

[Scriv]

Ok, additional testing done today, long story short the chrono is toast. Lab Radar, don't get one. Apparently sitting in a pelican case, inside a climate controlled home is too much for it to handle. I paid a lot of money for something that worked for about an hour. You don't always get what you paid for.

 

[Grunt64]

To my knowledge spring piston guns are not affected by pressure curves, reg settling, or hammer strikes.

Right — that part of my comment was referring to PCPs.For springers the 10‑shot string still makes sense, but for different reasons — mainly smoothing out pellet fit variation and shooter input. No reg or pressure curve involved, obviously.

 

[Grunt64]

Ok, additional testing done today, long story short the chrono is toast. Lab Radar, don't get one. Apparently sitting in a pelican case, inside a climate controlled home is too much for it to handle. I paid a lot of money for something that worked for about an hour. You don't always get what you paid for.

For contrast, mine is still running and gives me the important data I need for tuning, so they’re not all going bad. But your experience is still useful for anyone looking at used units — sounds like yours had a specific internal issue.

 

[Scriv]

For contrast, mine is still running and gives me the important data I need for tuning, so they’re not all going bad. But your experience is still useful for anyone looking at used units — sounds like yours had a specific internal issue.

Yeah , the issue is that there is parts rattling around inside of it. Sounds like a bucket of bolts.

 

[Danman]

Yeah , the issue is that there is parts rattling around inside of it. Sounds like a bucket of bolts.

Thats what i was thinking.... 4.52 is the thickest FTT H&N makes, so that rules out poor sealing, lol.
If the warranty is up & its not fixable I say set it up @ 25Y, turn it on....and put it out of its misery
Hopefully its fixable!

 

[Scriv]

Thats what i was thinking.... 4.52 is the thickest FTT H&N makes, so that rules out poor sealing, lol.
If the warranty is up & its not fixable I say set it up @ 25Y, turn it on....and put it out of its misery
Hopefully its fixable!

I probably would have already done that if not for one reason. You may have read elsewhere on these pages where i shot a Chrony with a .357 magnum. Deliberately. A friend partnered with me on this one, and after I get done playing the games with Lab Radar customer service we'll have to decide who gets to shoot our $800 investment. The thing that puzzles me is that it worked after the bad strings. Today I played some tricks on it, and even restarted it, but there was no getting any credible readings with it. First shot out of my HW30S was 1179 fps. Right.

 

[dunz]

I’ve noticed that when the charge on my cheap chinese chronos gets low, they start dropping shots and give suspect readings