Jump to content

Recommended Posts

No matter how accurate the condition data we imput at extreme range there are still variables that we either guess or go to a default setting of some kind so to have a chrono that should be able to give you a velocity on a shot that went high or low 'may' take out one of the guess's / assumptions we make .

 

I have no idea if this odd setup will work due to it's position from the rifle or how the recoil may effect it or even if it has an effect on the harmonics etc but if it does work then being able to make shot direction changes without having to keep aligning the chrono seems to make sense to me at the longer distances .

 

Initial thoughts are that the Lab radar needs more support either front & back or just back so recoil doesn't stress the connector at the base but I'll keep you posted .

 

OSOK

 

Lab%20Radar%20Setup_zpseplmpden.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Osok,absolutely agree about accurate data in.MV is one we can actually do quite well now.

 

Their site "mylabradar' says the system is triggered by muzzleblast (and that muzzle-unit set up is critical,especially with brake-hi blast,or mod-lo blast,ditto rf etc).This also makes picking up 'other' shooters' shots much less likely,it says (raised on another post,I think).

And that the unit can give velocity out to about (80-100y) for 308:60y for 223;so presumably depends on bullet diameter.

It does seem an alternate, convenient,accurate way to measure MV.

Good luck with your experimenting.

gbal

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No room on the other side for another as that's where the hook is going for the weekly shop :D

 

Andy , The stand option would still mean that i had to keep aligning it up everytime i adjusted position , hopefully this way i don't .

 

Greg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From my experience as a Labrador owner. That is unlikely to work. Needs to be close to muzzle and an inch or two back. Otherwise it will not pick up blast. Needs to be that insensitive so as not to pick up other muzzle blast from others on firing line. Sensitivity can be increased but enough? I doubt it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well nothing ventured Nothing gained as they say , The ' Firing line ' point won't be an issue to me as Its not been bought for that use so I'm guessing ..... Turn the sensitivity to max and hope for the best .

 

If it picks up a friends blast that wouldn't be an issue for me either as long as it picks up mine .

 

I have the option of putting a Macro style slide on the ball head which would push the Labradar six inches further towards the muzzle but would rather keep the weight over the Rempol leg .

 

OSOK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i was very interested in one of these until a guy at the club got one , apparently we have a 'weak' version over here compared to the states and judging by the results at the club they are a royal PIA to get to register , something like 2 out of every dozen shots registered !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i was very interested in one of these until a guy at the club got one , apparently we have a 'weak' version over here compared to the states and judging by the results at the club they are a royal PIA to get to register , something like 2 out of every dozen shots registered !

I'd be tempted to try to get it set to USA settings with greater power. Of course you might have to live with the guilt of upsetting any nearby radar speed traps...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i was very interested in one of these until a guy at the club got one , apparently we have a 'weak' version over here compared to the states and judging by the results at the club they are a royal PIA to get to register , something like 2 out of every dozen shots registered !

 

You're not doing it right then. I notched up shot series number 134 this asfternoon, mostly five round strings, a few 10 or so - that's 650 plus shots. The number missed have been in single figures, and nearly all through human error, that is me forgetting to double-push the 'arm' button and check it is showing the amber LED indication that the device is armed and ready to transmit, the very odd shot through misalignment with the bullet's path.

 

Despite the EU enforced 'low-power' setting, it reads bullet velocities to 55 yards. (The high-power US models will do so to 100 or so.) Calibres I've shot past mine range from 224 to 7mm. There were early US reports of early production or pre-production examples not picking up some 22-cal FMJs with dished cavity bases, don't know if that still applies as all my bullets have been HPBT types.

 

This is a very easy machine to use and to set up. Getting the position right in relation to the muzzle is important to reliably trigger the machine using muzzle report mode. If you have somebody on the next bench, or otherwise close, with a really noisy job (usually muzzle brake fitted), you will get some false triggering events and subsequent error reports (unable to track bullet) needing the OK button to be pushed to reset it for your own next shot.

 

They also eat batteries if the inbuilt power arrangements are used. An inexpensive rechargeable power pack of the type used to recharge mobile phones (or mains supply on the firing point) is essential for all but the briefest session.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From my experience as a Labrador owner. That is unlikely to work. Needs to be close to muzzle and an inch or two back. Otherwise it will not pick up blast. Needs to be that insensitive so as not to pick up other muzzle blast from others on firing line. Sensitivity can be increased but enough? I doubt it.

 

Yes, I agree completely. If the unit fails to work, it's not the low Euro transmission power, it's a trigger failure. (Arming the unit only prepares it to take a reading, that needs the sound-initiated trigger mechanism to operate. It uses two small internal microphones at the rear of the device casing, one on each side and around mid-height.)

 

My use has been entirely off a bench, and I have used a conventional camera type tripod throughout with it placed immediately in front of the bench and on one side of the barrel. Like Webby, I doubt very much if your set-up will work OSOK as it will be too far behind the muzzle - unless it is a very short barrel rifle. I also wonder about the Labradar optional bench stand with long barrel TR / F-Class barrel rifles where the muzzle will be several inches ahead of the Labradar. I have only seen this type of on-bench stand used once with a shortish barrel 6.5mm Barrett tactical rifle equipped with a moderator. Between the combination of muzzle rather far ahead of the device and the moderator reducing sound/blast, it failed to initiate transmissions / readings no matter what settings were tried.

 

Use prone off an outdoor grass type firing point could also be tricky for the same reason depending on the muzzle height and and the FP dimensions. It can obviously be done as there are pics around from the USA showing multiple Labradars in use in prone matches. (Very handy if you can do it allowing post-match reconciliation of a shot with bum elevation to its MV.) The problem in this scenario is overlapping radar beams, so users have to adopt different frequencies to avoid cross-lane readings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They should have really developed a small muzzle (IR) flash detector to supplement the acoustic and radar signal increase triggering systems. You wouldn't be getting many of the problems seen here. Plus, any small errors in triggering (either early or late) causes muzzle velocity (MV) calculation errors. A slight error in timing for a 120 mm (well 30-20 mm dart) APFSDS-T anti-armour projectile is fine, as they only slow down (retard) by say 50-70 m/s per km (160-230 fps per 1,090 yards. Small arms bullets retard at a phenomenal rate, around 10 times faster, so accurate timing of the muzzle exit is critical.

 

Then again, it's only a small (relatively) cheap commercial system and not the blooming expensive defence industry stuff they also make, or the stuff I used to use when working for the MoD. These being one of the old Terma digital/analogue systems, Terma's later rather good DR5000, plus a few Weibel systems (DR810, etc.).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use mine for prone shooting only 223 & 308. Once properly aligned it picks up every shot. If it picks up blast but then cannot track due to bad alignment it tells you. If it does nothing then the mics did not pick up the blast. With a mod you sometimes need to put it slightly forward of muzzle. All I can say is RTFM!!!!

Alignment is a bit of a pain until you get the hang of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hi All , I spent a good few hours out with the LabRadar yesterday and came to a few early conclusions . I took a Middlestead using 90g 22 cal bullets and a 6.5x47 using 123's , The smaller bullets seemed to need the middle of the chrono being positioned as stated in the setup , level with the barrel while the bigger bullets were fine even when the chrono was four inches or so higher .

 

I found that the 12 inch setting worked better than the 6 inch on the 22 cal bullets and both rifles worked with the chrono fixed on the rempol . The Middlestead was the worst scenario having a 30 inch barrel which meant the LabRadar was 20 inches behind the muzzle when fixed to the bipod .

 

I set the LabRadar to one which is the most sensitive and set the distances to a max of 50 yards ( Not sure that is the best yet ) but it worked and i found it gave readings very similar to my other chrono .

 

The crucial thing i found was to do with alignment as i had hoped it had just to be facing the same way to get the reading and that's not the case as you have to line it up perfectly . Due to the bipod having to be adjusted when you change direction or distance it then moves the LabRadar so any advantage in mounting to the bipod leg is lost .

 

I will use it set on a very low tripod and keeping the middle of the chrono as near to the rifle barrel as possible but keeping the unit well away from the end of the barrel as i found it still worked and was easier to adjust having it closer .

 

I also noticed that the shots took between 5 & 10 seconds to show a reading and overall i was impressed with the LabRadar as I'd picked two rifles that are reliable and it gave me readings that were within 5 to 10 fps of the other chrono that I've been working with for sometime now . Great unit for field use and I'm heading to the tunnel this week so I'll find out if it works there .

 

OSOK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone know the answer to this ;

 

I had the five distance settings as 1 , 10 , 20 , 30 , 50

 

I found the alignment crucial in getting a reading with the above so If I were to change the settings to let's say 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 would the alignment be as crucial ?

 

I understand that certain Information would be lost with only a 5 yard end distance but I'm really only Interested in the muzzle velocity .

 

OSOK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have used mine at the tunnel. It worked but I got 1 reading from 100 shots that was 4000fps+ impossible from a 308win!

I don't think the distances set in the machine will make any difference to the sensitivity. It is just getting the hang of the stupid aiming system that the unit has! People have suggested gluing a straw into the aiming V to help point at target. I have not tried that yet but I seem to be getting better at aiming the thing as time goes by.

I have a labradar flat base with adjustable mount which works good for prone shooting. With my 32 inch barrel I have to place it on the downslope in front of the firing points at bisley. Adjustment for that is no problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Webby / Simon , I tried the straw but it would need to be fairly long to get accurate sighting as you get a pinhole effect when you put your eye to a short length and end up seeing half the field .

 

I saw a review where the guy was using a set square with a flat back to sight the unit in and after a Google discovered it was called a roofers square so £3 off Amazon .

 

I'll try it in the tunnel but LabRadar say it probably won't work there on their website due to bouncing off the sides , nice if it works there but not what I bought it for .

 

Regarding the set distances , I've recently seen that the unit needs 5 to 6 yards to pick up the bullet so my theory of the end distance being 5 yards has little chance .

 

Greg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Regarding the set distances , I've recently seen that the unit needs 5 to 6 yards to pick up the bullet so my theory of the end distance being 5 yards has little chance .

 

Greg

If you know 6,7,8,9,10 yd readings then you could get pretty close with extrapolating backwards...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

OSOK, worth having a look at the Lapua ballistic app ( if your using Lapua bullets) as you can input I think up to four different distances with velocity / temperature readings out to 25m. It might work well using the velocity readings from the lab radarpost-172-0-88710400-1489003279_thumb.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ds1 , Thanks for that as I have the app but not used it with intent as I find the format awkward but this will at least give me a reason to give it another go .

I tried the Labradar in the tunnel and got mixed results , it picked the 123g bullets of the 6.5 cal up without issue but the 180g bullets from the 7mm were unrecognisable to the point that I thought I'd got it set on the archery setting

Due to all the rain we've had , getting on to the fields with the truck of late has been stopping me from using it in the way it was bought for .

 

OSOK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy