Oehler’s instructions are in actual English, instead of computerese, and easy to understand.
under clouds, but seemed to be more accurate, especially after I started using computer ballistic programs to predict long-range trajectory. At fi rst I tried to chronograph only on cloudy days, but my part of Montana gets only about 10" of precipitation a year. Clouds are scarce, especially in late summer and most of fall. I tried taping a piece of target paper above the screens to create an artifi cial cloud, but this caused the Chrony to miss more shots. Now, don’t misunderstand me. Shooting Chronys are
pretty good units, and certainly work well enough for the oc- casional shooter. But I needed something like my old Custom Chronograph, a unit that would work all the time, every time. I started doing some consumer research, both on the Internet and among friends. Several chronographs were suggested, but the Internet search turned up that Oehler Research was once again offering their Model 35P chronograph. Some younger shooters may not recognize the Oehler
name, but for many years Oehler was the leader in chrono- graph technology, and that very success is one reason Dr. Ken Oehler quit making chronographs for home handloaders: His chronographs were so good that Oehler became the standard professional chronograph, used in ballistic laboratories virtu- ally everywhere. Eventually the company didn’t have time to make “personal” chronographs. That changed in 2010, when Ken Oehler decided to start
making the Model 35P again on a limited basis. Orders would be fi lled in the sequence they were received. That very day I placed my order on the Oehler Web site, and my new 35P showed up in late September. At fi rst it seemed like a regression in technology, since
the 35P was slightly more cumbersome to set up than my old Custom Chronograph. Instead of the light screens being set up on a 2x4 and a tripod, Oehler provides a 4' aluminum tube for the screens, plus an adjustable tripod-stand for each end of the tube. And there are three light screens, not just two. Once the unit is assembled, however, it doesn’t take
much time to set up at the range, especially after you’ve done it once or twice. And the results are well worth it. The three light screens provide a major difference between the Oehler 35P and other personal chronographs, a “proof” channel. Each bullet’s speed is measured twice, confi rming the reading. As with my Custom Chronograph, the main unit of
Page 190 July — September 2011
The 35P comes in a hard gun case, and even includes a spare roll of printer paper.
the 35P sits on the shooting bench, but it not only provides a direct LED display of the muzzle velocity, but prints out the results of each shot, plus the proof channel velocity. Once a string of shots is fi nished, a quick summary of the results is computed and printed out at the touch of a button. Some other chronographs also provide a print-out, but no other provides a proof channel. Even Ken Oehler acknowledges that varying light, and
especially strong sunlight, is the enemy of chronograph light screens, but after several months of using the 35P it has never missed a shot. Just as important, the readings of the same loads from the same rifl es have been very consistent, whether the shooting was done on a cloudy or sunny day. (Along the way, the 35P confi rmed my deduction that the Chrony was most ac- curate on cloudy days.) Yes, the Oehler takes some time to set up, but in the long run it has saved much more time, because it always provides accurate results — and doesn’t miss shots. The instructions for the unit are even very good, unusual
in a time when many manuals for electronics are written in jargon-babble understandable only to techno-nerds. A good example: “If the PROOF CHANNEL detects an error, the dis- play fl ashes and an asterisk is printed alongside the velocity.” The instructions are not only in plain English, but often
entertaining. One example is in the instructions for the 9-volt battery. “The battery compartment of the M35 holds two batteries, one active and one spare. Always use the spare to replace a dead battery, and don’t forget to replace the spare with a fresh battery. A spare at home in the smoke detector doesn’t count on the range.” This not only keeps us alert while reading but indicates Oehler regards the people who buy their chronographs as fellow human beings, not just numbers on a quarterly report. The other good news is the demand for 35Ps has been
high enough that Oehler is still taking orders. At $575 they aren’t exactly cheap, but in 2011 dollars that isn’t much more than the price I paid for my fi rst chronograph in 1979, and the 35P is far more sophisticated and easy to use. For anybody who takes their shooting seriously, the Oehler 35P is a real bargain. (Oehler Research, Inc. P.O. Box 9135, Austin, TX 78766, 1-800- 531-6900 or 512-327-6900, www.oehler-research .com)
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