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Chronograph measures the speed of bullets and other projectiles from 30 to 7000 fps. It can be mounted to a tripod or placed on a table, and it's made of 20 gauge steel but weighs less than 2-1/2 lbs. Uses one 9 volt battery (not included) for 48 hours of continuous use. Features 60-shot memory, forget button to clear individual strings and a jack for optional Ballistic Chrony Printer (sold separately). The Beta also stores data when turned off and moves instantly from string to string. Requires optional Indoor Shooting Light Fixture (sold separately) for use with florescent lights. The Beta Master has a monitor which brings the LCD display to your bench. Covered under a 3 year limited factory warranty.
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Shooting Chrony Beta Master Chronograph
Product #: 244882
| Manufacturer #: 17
Used this Product?Craig Williams of Whiteville, NC
Date posted: 9/19/2008
I have had mine for close to 3 years now and it works just as good as it did the day I got it. I am so satisfied with mine that if any thing happens to it I will buy another one.
Gary Wheeler of Jacksonville, FL
Date posted: 1/23/2005
I recently purchased the Beta Master and I am very happy with the unit. I have fired air rifles, .22's, Various pistol calibers and high powered rifles. I have had no problems with the chronograph. You must read and follow the instructions, I wish I had bought the unit years ago.
Bill Paddison of Gilbert, AZ
Date posted: 12/11/2004
I tried mine at the range today and since it was the first time I have ever used a chronograph I expected to get a lot of errors. I set it up per the manual and after a 130 rounds of 30-06 and .308 out of my M1's I only had one error. I should have bought one of these a long time ago, now I don't have to guess with my reloads. If you want the perfect tripod for this, get the Sunpak platinum plus 5800D. It has a quick release mount that does not interfere with the unit along with bubble levels and every adjustment you need for about $30.
Mike C of CHAMBERSBURG, PA
Date posted: 9/24/2008
I purchased this a few months ago,and have had nothing but good luck with this unit. I've checked the velocity of BB guns, Factory loaded ammo, and handloads. all were within a few feet per second of the published data. I've used it under shade trees, and out in the open, cloudy days, sunny days.I've always used the sky screens when shooting, and have never had an error report. You need to read the manual, and I keep mine with me when using it because there are a lot of functions to remember. Make sure you save your data before you turn off the unit or you will loose it. If you're a hobby reloader this is the ticket.it'll show you exactly what's happening. I would buy this again,and I'm sorry I waited so long to buy this one
RemMax RemMax of Veedersburg, IN
Date posted: 6/10/2008
This is my second Chrony Chronograph and I am quite happy with it, my first unit was the cheapest model and it worked fine though it was hard to see the readout, I blew it up one day by accident with my .50BMG (too close to muzzle) but then I bought this one and now I am so glad I did! It has been a bit tricky for ME to get all the features to work when I want them to BUT I also lost my instruction sheet and haven't bothered looking up another one. Even without the instruction sheet though I am still able to navigate the unit without any problem and since I use a pen and paper it works great for me. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good Chrony at a reasonable price but of good quality. Also if you do goof and shoot it or anything else happens to it Chrony has a excellent warranty on these units! My Thanks to Midway and Chrony!
Pesti DiPingas of Cojon, FL
Date posted: 3/1/2007
If you've been thinking about buying one of these stop thinking and get one. It's not the most sophisticated chronograph out there, but it does work well. I use mine with the infrared adapter and it will literally take readings in pitch black darkness with no errors. The instructions are a little confusing but after you get the hang of it, there's really nothing to it. You also might want to consider getting a piece of software called Robs Reloading Organizer. It completely integrates with the chrony and you can upload the info from the chrony to the program and view all of your ballistics info.
Al Hausburg of Springfield, VA
Date posted: 6/10/2007
I had no difficulties with this product. Worked very well in bright sun and shade.
I shot rubber bands across the photo cells to figure out how it worked before I took it to the range.....
I plan on buying the printer soon.
This item went on sale several days after I recieved it. MIDWAY happily refunded me the difference in price!
david mccall of swansboro, nc
Date posted: 1/26/2005
Have found this item easy to transport to the range and set up. Operating Instructions are detailed and easy to follow.
Shot performance was near flawless and information easy to retrieve. I'm glad to add this product to my shooting inventory.
Nick Gowen of Hartford, CT
Date posted: 5/13/2006
Chrony is great. I have been using it for a month of so and had no issues. Set up is easy, does exactly what it advertises. I would like to warn folks not to substitute their own phone cord for the one that comes with the unit. The 16’ cord that comes with the Chrony was too long and bulky and I substituted my own retractable phone cord and the unit will not work with the standard off the shelf phone cord. Just use the one that comes with the unit and you will be happy
D Underwood of Rockawy Beach, MO
Date posted: 10/6/2009
This is an excellent tool for the reloader or any one that studies ballistics or is trying to learn about them . I use mine at the range almost every time I go, helps me adjust my hand loads for the best consistency and to check those factory load claims and see if they are as advertised. Due to the way our local range is graded and landscaped in conjunction to the bench and tables I end up setting my Chrony a lot closer than is recommended but it performs just as it should even with the big 300 win mags and larger as with all handguns too. is a really good tool for the money . It takes a good beating and keeps on counting.
Harold Sieglinger of Morgantown, WV
Date posted: 9/30/2009
Excellent tool, works reliably. Printer definitely a plus. Would be much tougher to correlate data without it. Not the most user-friendly digital system. Don't lose the instructions, you'll need them.
Dan Blaske of Nenana, Ak
Date posted: 2/10/2003
I have only used the chrony a few times so far, due to it still being winter in Alaska. I am very impressed with the features, and the ease of setup, and it works very well even in the cold ( the warmest day I have used it on so far was still 10 below 0 F.)
Todd Westfall of Chandler, OK
Date posted: 4/8/2003
The Beta Master Chrony sets up quickly and performed quite well for me. Follow the instructions where it says to place chrony approximately 10 feet away from you when shooting subsonic pistol ammo (45 ACP)and it will read accurately every time.
Gives individual shot velocities, high-low, and standard deviation of each string of ten shots. The Remote was handy & being able to save shots for later review was also a nice feature.
When using the Beta Master Chrony for the first time I would recommend practicing with inexpensive ammo (i.e. 22)-- this helped me get used to scrolling through the menu to retrieve the shot data.
Jason M of RIVERSIDE, CA
Date posted: 3/26/2009
This is a great chronograph for the money. Once you learn what it likes and doesn't like (clouds, shadows, sun...) it works very well. It holds 6 strings of 10 which is not much considering the price of memory today; the printer would be a good addition. Everything is contained in a box not much bigger than the unit itself, this makes it very portable. I am using an old camcorder tripod to set it up on and get accurate readings about 98% of the time. The software is hard to learn because of the limitations of the LCD size, but the basics are learned quickly.
Burl Danley of Tracy, CA
Date posted: 9/23/2004
I was a little concerned at first but after a trip to the range I feel its pretty easy. I started with a .22 to get used to the operation and it took less than one full string. I then fired my '06 and my buddies .308 over it with no errors whatsoever. As a bonus there is no need to do any math for average or standard deviation when I'm done. I'm very happy with my Chrony's performance and feel it was money well spent. One trick that helps. Get a tripod that you can angle the chrony with. When you set up at the range you cant the chrony so the shadow is passing directly over the optic. I was shooting at about 9:00 in the morning and had no problems despite the sun's low angle.
Jeff Davis of Holts Summit, MO
Date posted: 1/2/2009
Despite the mixed reviews, I purchased Chrony Beta and was pleasantly surprised. This was my first Chronograph thus I'm not providing my rating based on comparison with other units. However, it did meet or exceed my expecations. I spent 20 minutes reading the manual then took it to the range and started recording data. It was that simple. The menu system (advanced options) is not exactly straight, but for recording strings it doesn't get any easier. I found myself referencing the manual quite a bit, however, I really appreciated Beta's ability to store shot data in the console for review later at your convienience.
Dana Mangham of Saint francisville, LA
Date posted: 11/9/2008
I agree with the earlier reviewer: if you're thinking about buying this, then stop looking and buy it now! This is a great piece of equipment. I fooled around for years using published data to guesstimate velocities, trajectories, and energies with various guns and loads. Of course, the published data always seems to differ from the barrel length or bullet weight I'm using! It's even worse as I try to figure out the wildly varying data in some of the reloading manuals, where 7.2 grains is a start load in one, and a max load in another! Now I can finally check it all out myself and cut out the uncertainty. Although there are many advanced functions, it's easy to stick to the basics and record data from 10-shot strings within minutes of unpacking the unit. Keep the instructions handy, and you won't go far wrong.
Scott Rand of Litchfield, NH
Date posted: 4/21/2003
The Master Beta Chrony has many nice features on it. It is easy to use but I suggest buying the printer for long days of shooting. All chrony's measure by reading shadows so use the skyscreens on sunny days. This will help keep the readings near 100%.
Michael Andress of Oklahoma City, OK
Date posted: 11/23/2005
So much capability packed into such a small package - wow! When you first open the box, read the instructions and review the capabilities of the Beta Master it is easy to be overwhelmed or even intimidated but don't worry operating the unit is a lot easier than it first appears.
Setup, right out of the box the Chrony comes in, takes 5 minutes or less. With the remote display that comes with the Beta Master operation is as simple as pressing a few buttons. AND those few buttons control a myriad of useful features too numerous to list here.
The first time I setup and ran mine it worked flawlessly. The loads I measured fell right onto where my reloading manuals said they would.
Take down takes about 5 minutes and revealed the only problem I have with the mechanical part of the chrony - it is very easy to pinch the cable harness with the case when closing up the unit. Not a big problem if one pays attention.
For reloaders just verifying a load the 6 string 10 shots per string held in memory is probably adequate; seemed like a lot of data to me. Turned out it wasn't. If you are developing a load then get the printer option or a notebook - because , as I discovered the 6 string, 10 shots each just wasn't enough.
The Beta Master is a lot of value packed into an easy to set up and durable package for the average reloader.
Gil Depew of Nicholson, PA
Date posted: 5/28/2002
I have just had some time to try the Master Beta chrony. I must say I have
not got accustomed to all the features but the ones I needed are easy enough. If you get a cheap photo tripod you are in business in no time. I shot 5 3-shot strings with a new 270 WSM and did not have any errors. I found it easy to use.
Rob Blom of Manchester, PA
Date posted: 6/3/2008
This was my first chronograph. I have used it during five full days of range work under various outdoor light conditions from sunny to overcast and did not find it to be finicky at all. I never installed the sun shades and still received consistent readings. Just make sure you have the lettering on the timing unit facing the shooter and it will work fine. Backwards will give you perpetual error codes as I found out. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars was due to the manual. It could use a little help from a good technical writer. The instructions were confusing and a little vague. Once I got the hang of its various functions, I wished I had it years ago. It was helpful to use a semi auto 22 for setup and practice during the learning curve.
Greg Lane of Bakersfield, CA
Date posted: 6/15/2008
Overall a good chrono for the price. I like bringing the LCD readout back to my bench while shooting. I've used it with arrows, air guns, handguns and rifles with no complaints. It gets an occasional error but I think that is possibly just muzzle blast and/or un-burnt powder from some loads interfering. It isn't erratic in the readings. The only real problem was my own fault. I guess I had a "duh" moment. I wanted to extend the length of the cord so it wouldn't be in the way while walking around the bench, allowing it to lay on the ground without becoming a trip wire. I used a regular phone cord which turns out to be 4 wire. This needs a 6 wire data cable with R-12 ends. Needless to say it wouldn't operate so I thought the unit was broken. I was about to send it back and trade up to the gamma master when I actually looked at the ends. I felt pretty lame on that one but learned a valuable lesson. You can't beat the price for what this does. I'm going to get the printer next.
george kasribian of anaheim, ca
Date posted: 2/11/2008
Ihave owned this unit for over 5 years. I think it works great and it is still working after all this time. I have loaded all my own rounds for the last 16 years and this unit allowed me to see my results. Be advised that it is a very crude LED screen and the read out is coarse. I found the programming not to be something I can remember between uses.
Jack Goodwin of Chattanooga, TN
Date posted: 1/31/2010
The chrony is my first Chronograph and I picked it mainly based on price & specs. I have used it several times now with a .22 Mag rifle, and a pellet gun.
It does a great job of consistently recording each shot fired. The problem starts when you let it record the data, and then expect to access it later. The instruction manual is so complex and disorganized that you may as well stop at that point. I read more than one review by users that simply write down the reading on each shot and forget using the recall procedures.
I did contact Chrony by email to ask if there was a basic or more simplified manual available. they did reply but told me they were just starting to develop one.
Anyway, the Chrony is a great device and good quality, but buy a different brand that is more easily used.
Mine was a Chrony Beta Master, but the mystical user manual applies to many Chrony models.
Dwight Larson of Austin, TX
Date posted: 3/25/2008
For value, I'd like to give the Beta Master chronograph five stars - if you are even remotely serous about handloading, you need a chronograph, and this one works.
However, it has a user interface that will make a grown man cry, and the product engineering is just bizarre: the housings are something from a junior-high shop class, the electronics are 15 years out of date, and the manual...argh.
But it does work well enough.
Bob Dobbs of Albuquerque, NM
Date posted: 2/15/2007
Some days, you will get good readings despite less than ideal lighting, but on other days, it will have error messages for no apparent reason. Tends to get a lot of Type 1 & 2 errors in bright light. User interface is not so good. I have to consult the manual almost every time I use it, since they crammed about 40,000 functions into 3 buttons. Performing the most basic functions (clearing memory, clearing a shot string etc.) requires non-intuitive button combinations.
That Said, it is affordable. Works most of the time, and the portability almost makes up for the bad design and mysterious errors.
If you're trying to decide between this and the non-Master version, don't bother with the latter. The remote control/display box is a must. Otherwise you will have to wait until the next cease fire to either change shot strings, or reset after an error message (and you will have errors!).
The basic Beta memory capacity of 60 shots will quickly prove inadequate if you do any amount of reloading, which presumably you do, or you wouldn't be buying one of these. Fortunately, an upgrade to 500-shot Gamma Chrony memory is inexpensive, and cheaper overall than buying the Gamma model to start with (go figure!).
Eric Alderman of Bremerton, WA
Date posted: 1/14/2009
I agree with some of the other reviews that the user interface is terrible. The design is also poor due to the wire connecting the two sensors can get pinched when you close the unit which will render the whole unit useless if those wires get severed. I'm returning mine and getting the CED brand
Duane McCord of South Heights, PA
Date posted: 2/23/2003
I returned this unit due to unacceptable error level. Only about 40% of shots fired gave a velocity. Mostly I received errors. Also, tried bow & arrow which gave about 30% reading 70% error. The unit is confusing to learn needing more buttons, rather than one button doing 90% of the functions. I purchased the ProChrono Digital and am very satisfied finding it easy and user friendly with 100% accuracy & no error readings only minutes after taking out of box.
Cameron Boyce of Cedar city, UT
Date posted: 1/31/2008
I bought it and spent a good deal of time trying to interpret the manual, which appears to be written by an electrical engineer. I took it out just before sunset and there didn't seem to be enough light to get a good reading, so I packed up and went home. The next day there was more light, but I realized I left the unit on and in doing so it apparently malfunctioned. I was unable to get it to do anything. Replaced the battery, still same condition. It would not respond to any inputs from the three buttons it uses to manipulate the many cryptic functions. In short, the workmanship is poor (bent sheet metal that wants to keep bending and a CAT5 jack that is held in place by foam), the design is flawed (flops open and spills its guts whenever I removed it from the car or closet), interface is overly complicated by too few buttons, poor sensitivity, temperamental, archaic display, I could go on.
Gary Anszis of Springfield, PA
Date posted: 8/25/2006
My Chrony Beta Master is the most frustrating and unreliable piece of equipment I have owned in over 50 years of shooting.
It may or may not work, some of the time or all of the time. It may display a number 40 out of 40 shots, 20 out of 40 shots, 6 out of 40 shots or 0 out of 40 shots. I never know what the case will be until I try it and it does not work. I've wasted dozens of range sessions because I could not get numbers, no matter what I did.
I have seen it say a 223 Remington is going 2850 fps or 5735 fps.
The plastic shades are junk that cracked and fell apart before they were a year old, were not covered by warranty and cost me $14 to replace with the same junk, that fell apart. This is what they call "service"; I will not deal with them again.
I read computer manuals for 45 years and can't understand the manual that came with my Chrony. Neither can any of the other guys at my range that have Chronys.
Maybe I have a Lemon of a Chrony, but to me, the company is a lemon.
I plan to replace my Chrony with something from some other company, as soon as possible.
Ed Figarsky of Little Rock, AR
Date posted: 1/9/2009
I bought this based on the many positive reviews and unlike Jeff, I took mine to the range after reading the manual for 20 minutes, experimenting with an air rifle for another 30 minutes, and finally getting some readings using rubber bands. My best Rubber band shot was 65 fps. I don't know what y'all are doing, but this thing must have a very precise operating window. The manual says place your shots inside the triangle, and all I seem to get is an Err code. I'll try it again, but eventually I'm going to have an accident with this thing see how it stands up to hot lead.
Titus Gilliam of Nampa, ID
Date posted: 12/15/2009
I purchased a master chrony, blue, Beta Model some time back. At one time it worked occasionally or enough to not consider it complete junk, but it was so unreliable that I gave up using it because it rarely worked. The functionality is extremely cumbersome. To even do simple functions like clear the memory you need manual push the right combination of buttons. The buttons and LED readout might as well be written in a foreign language because they are not intuitive with any kind of labels that make sense.
In August I was trying to get it to read my arrow speed. I gave it the benefit of the doubt and tried every combination of the time of day, weather, sun or no sun, shade, indoors or out until I gave up. It went from working occasionally that once year when I’d try to now always give nonsense error codes. It was out of the written warranty period even though it appeared to be in like new condition due to lack of use. I contacted the technical department and they said to send it in to New York for repairs. That was over two months ago that I sent it in. They called me back to say that they received it and would need a credit card number to charge $30 for calibration and shipping. A week later they called me back to say my card had been declined, so I checked with my card company to see what the problem was. Upon further investigation I found out that they were trying to charge a higher amount through than what they quoted originally, plus I was getting dinged by fees from them charging it from out of the country in Canadian funds. So I called back to my contact on Shooting Chrony because I surprised by this development. I expressed my concern that this was the first I had heard that it was to be charged in Canadian funds, and I told them I wanted the net charged to me to be exactly what was quoted originally. It was just the principle of the matter that they were going to end up charging an extra seven bucks. Also they could not verify if my chrony had been repaired or guarantee it was fixed. So we were in a stalemate because I told them that I only authorized them to charge my card for what they quoted, and I would not pay all the extra fees and the currency conversion. I shipped the item to a USA address, and did not feel like it was my responsibility to cover hidden fees. A few days later they sent me another option to pay via US Money order. I did not have a convenient way to go buy a money order so I sent in check 6 weeks ago with a clear note saying to ship my chrony back when they were assured it was repaired. They cashed the check over three weeks ago. I have not heard anything from them since they relented to accepting a payment other than the higher amount on the credit card. So now I am out the $33.95 that they took on my check plus I have no chrony. I dread having to try to contact them again because their customer service department was one of the most rude and nasty I have ever encountered. I was completely civilized, but they must have frequently encountered these same problems over and over because they would not respect me as a customer or offer reasonable solutions. I just wanted my chrony repaired in a sensible amount of time at the price they quoted, and so far they have done none of this. I pity anybody else who must deal with Shooting Chrony’s customer service department.
Charles Boettcher of Spokane, WA
Date posted: 3/27/2008
The workmanship is poor, the design is flawed, interface is overly complicated, the sensitivity is poor and temperamental, the display is inscrutable, ... I could go on. I got so frustrated with this unit that I gave it away and went back to my old Oehler Model 33 that has less features but always gets good readings in a very wide range of lighting conditions.
Most frustrating, I found that this unit was terrible in its fussiness about lighting levels, getting mostly errors in many high and low light level situations. I also found I had to read the manual, line by line, every time I wanted to use it because the operation is so counter intuitive I couldn't remember it even for short periods of time. It has to be pretty bad for me to have such problems. I am a retired electrical engineer and believe these problems are due to poor design. I will buy another brand and only wish the Oehler Model 35 was still available new or even used.
Wes Chilton of Altadena, CA
Date posted: 10/3/2008
I purchased this Chrony less than 2 years ago and have used it extensively as I shoot several matches a month and most have min and max velocity requirements.
I too found the device difficult and frustrating to use at first, the combination of buttons to remember was irritating, but I eventually got used to it.
For about a year the unit seemed to function well. However several months ago I started getting bizzarre readings. 44ACP rounds clocking at over 3500 FPS... 308 Win rounds that were more than 500fps too fast. many many errors and a couple of times the display would get all garbled. I checked the battery and the charge was correct. I replaced it anyway and still got the wild readings for several weeks. I called for support and was literally accused of shooting the thing! I have never abused it in anyway. It has never fallen or been dropped or have any water or dirt in it. Its is like new, even now.
lately, it has settled down a bit, but in side-by-side comparisons this device is consistently 150-200fps faster than other chronographs I have tested it against.
Also the skyscreens are a HORRIBLE design and are a serious PIA to use and store. The slightest wind pops them off including muzzle blast--even from 10 to 15 feet away! The chrony is also very sensitive to other firearms shooting nearby. Just the shockwave from a lever-action 30-30 shooting in the lane next to me was throwing off my readings by 1400fps!
I cannot depend on the readings this malfunctioning device gives me, and I'm not going to send it in and pay for it to be repaired after the way I was spoken to on the phone. This thing is going in the trash and I'm buying something else!
James B of Vancouver, WA
Date posted: 2/14/2006
This is absolutely the worst chronograph I have ever used. It was extremely sensitive to light conditions, and when the lighting was right, it would give me errors every couple of rounds or so. I tried a friend's Oehler for a side by side comparison and found that it read every shot perfectly, even in marginal lighting. I ended up returning the Chrony for another one and found the same problems. I took it back, received a refund, and purchase an Oehler. I would recommend you to save your money and buy an Oehler 35. They have a lifetime warranty and always seem to work in less than ideal conditions, including rain.
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