Mad Bull Portable Chronograph

[Styrak]

Just received this today from AirsoftParts.ca for $115 + shipping.
My first three thoughts when I took it out of the packaging were:
1. Geez this is tiny.
2. Ooh this thing is shiny.
3. Holy shit this thing looks solid.





I've included a quarter for scale. Small!
The thing is pretty nice looking. The pictures don't really do it justice. It's constructed entirely of aircraft aluminum, and I feel like I could throw this thing across my yard and it would still work fine. It has FPS, MPS, BBPS, and Joule ratings for 20g, .23g .25g, .30g, .33g, .43g, and .89g. That's pretty sweet. It has that black hood that threads onto the front for more precise aiming of your weapon, or spacing I suppose, either works.

It's powered by a single 9V battery. You unscrew 4 screws from the side plate nearest the display and connect the battery. Easy. The only problem was that it came with a shitty battery, so I had to go out and buy one for it to work correctly. Not Jugglez's fault though.

Now for the tests! At my last game in the spring, my AUG chronied at ~400 FPS.

Shot 1: 402.2
Shot 2: 399.4
Shot 3: 412.6
Shot 4: 409.7
Shot 5: 404.0
Average: 405.58

I'd say that's fairly accurate!

Next up is a stock P90. So it should be close to 270-280 FPS, right?

Shot 1: 264.9
Shot 2: 274.4
Shot 3: 273.1
Shot 4: 269.8
Shot 5: 278.8
Average: 272.2

Seems to be in order.

In conclusion, this looks to be a nice little piece of equipment that will get much use, since I build/repair some guns, and there's 3 other airsoft friends in Saskatoon that will use it as well. If I'm going to a game, I won't hesitate to toss this in my bag and take it along. It's small enough to be really convenient and not take up much space, and sturdy enough to be tossed around.

[Ronan]

You forgot the price

Thx for the review mate

[Styrak]

Look on airsoft parts you lazy bastard! :P

Oh fine there you go!

[Death March]

I just bought this as well,but found the ROF was alittle off! I have a different chrono comming as well (X-3200) and I'm going to compare the two and see what's what between the two.

[Cassius]

Got me convinced

[Karma]

Nice review, I got one too as the wife won it in the prize draw at TAC08. Its as solid as Styrak says. Cool function to see the ROF and the joules of impact with various weights as well as the normal FPS.

[Jayhad]

why not buy a chrony chrono... they have 20+ years experience, are rock solid, smae price and can be used for things other then airsoft, ie anythikng that flys from 30 - 7000 FPS
http://www.shootingchrony.com/

I guess you don't get impact measurements

[Affliction]

Originally Posted by Jayhad

why not buy a chrony chrono... they have 20+ years experience, are rock solid, smae price and can be used for things other then airsoft, ie anythikng that flys from 30 - 7000 FPS
http://www.shootingchrony.com/

I guess you don't get impact measurements

I hear the F1 has had issues failing to measure airsoft speeds accurately. Don't quote me on that but I'm sure I've read it somewhere this morning when looking for a chronograph.

Their slogan bothers me.

If it doesn't unfold, it's not a Chrony®

As if I care if my chronograph can fold. I just want the damn thing to work.
-Fury

[Death March]

Originally Posted by Jayhad

why not buy a chrony chrono... they have 20+ years experience, are rock solid, smae price and can be used for things other then airsoft, ie anythikng that flys from 30 - 7000 FPS
http://www.shootingchrony.com/

I guess you don't get impact measurements

I looked at these and lighting is always an issue.Even at one of the outdoor games,lighting was a problem.It seemed that when the Moon is 1/4 full and the stars turn red then and only then can you get a good reading Lol.Sorry couldn't help it thow.But I'v just seen more problems arise from these than there worth,just my opinion.I think the nice thing with the Madbull's X-3100's and X-3200's is if your using it for fine tuning your unit inthe house,the lighting is not as big of a prob.And there size seems to be a nice + as well!

[Jayhad]

Originally Posted by Fury

I hear the F1 has had issues failing to measure airsoft speeds accurately. Don't quote me on that but I'm sure I've read it somewhere this morning when looking for a chronograph.

I have never found that as a problem

Originally Posted by Death March

I looked at these and lighting is always an issue.Even at one of the outdoor games,lighting was a problem.It seemed that when the Moon is 1/4 full and the stars turn red then and only then can you get a good reading Lol.Sorry couldn't help it thow.But I'v just seen more problems arise from these than there worth,just my opinion.I think the nice thing with the Madbull's X-3100's and X-3200's is if your using it for fine tuning your unit inthe house,the lighting is not as big of a prob.And there size seems to be a nice + as well!

This is truly an issue, I find we play a lot in low light conditions... in the summer outdoors; no problem but any other time it can suck... You can purchase a light kit for cheap, but you shouldn't have to.

Good points boys

[Styrak]

With this Madbull chrony, you don't need a light source. It has it's own, so you can use it indoors or out, no matter the light.

[mcguyver]

And, there's not setup necessary, and a tripod or table is not really required for the self-contained units.

[Styrak]

Hell, I held it in my hand to test a few of my pistols.
And the only "setup" you need is the ON button! Well, and the MODE button if you want to change modes of course, :P.

[Death March]

As I said,I do like the Madbull,but the ROF seemed to be off.Maybe Mcguyver could help with this,it said the PTW ROF was 17.62 a sec. But yet at the local indoor shop said 19 a sec.? And about the same with the G&P M4SO said the same thing?

[mcguyver]

Well, I don't always trust ROF from a chrono, as you noticed, it can vary. When the BB travels down the tube, it passes between an IR transmitter and receiver, breaking the IR beam, This event is used a "start clock" and counts to the next event, which is when the BB meets the second IR beam. The time count between these 2 events is what chrono uses to determine velocity as well as ROF. If the counting misses a BB, for example it fails to break the IR beam, then it can mess up the count cycle and you get differing readings. Those readings may be more accurate with one chrono or another, and I don't use the ROF measurement as a 100% foolproof measurement anyways.

That's the same reason why sometimes a chrono won't pick up single shots either, it's because the BB doesn't brealk the IR beam to be counted, or it broke 1 beam but not the other.