User Report: CED Millenium Chronograph

Which chronograph do you prefer? That’s the subject of a current thread in our Shooters’ Forum. Forum member Dennis (aka “Flatlander”) had praise for his CED Millenium unit. Dennis explained: “I bought an Oehler M33 back in 1985 and worked around its shortcomings for 20yrs. before buying a CED Millenium. Initially, I set both chronos up and fired some standard velocity 22 LR rimfire ammo over both sets of skyscreens to compare velocities. They were within less than 10fps of each other, and that’s the last time I’ve set the M33 up and used it.

CED Chronograph with Carry Case (sold separately)

While I feel I got good data out of the M33 (most of the time), its skyscreens were pretty sensitive to the lighting, and I got tired of having to check all six D cells before leaving for the range. If even one of the six had dropped below about 1.495 volts, I’d often get really weird readings (like 4200 fps with a 85BTHP out of a 243 Win), and/or a lot of missed shots – that’s kind of a PITA when you’ve loaded only five rounds of a new load you’re testing. The small LED display is also hard to read in direct sunlight.

The CED seldom misses a shot — when the light gets low enough to give problems, I’ve been able to remove the diffusers and get another 20 minutes or so of shooting. The original 9 volt battery is still working just fine after three years of regular use, and I can read the large LCD display without my bifocals.”

I’d like to have one of the newer M2 CEDs, but have gotten used to transcribing data by hand (if nothing else, it gives a rifle barrel a little extra time to cool between strings), and really don’t know what the other improvements CED has made to the M2 would do for me. Meanwhile, I’d like to use the M33 & CED together to get muzzle & downrange data to compute actual BCs of some of the bullets I shoot to compare to the maker’s claims.

[Note: Flatlander uses the First Generation CED Millenium. CED now sells the upgraded “M2″ model. The new M2 has more memory and can clock a wider range of bullet speeds -– from 50 fps all the way to 7000 fps. The upgraded M2 will record velocities at much lower light levels than the previous Millennium chronograph. The M2 also features improved software, and an USB interface. That offers simple “plug and play” compatibility with laptops and home PCs.]

CLICK HERE for more information on CED’s latest M2 Chronograph.

The CED M2 Chronograph is distributed by Competitive Edge Dynamics, (610) 366-9752. It is also sold by major vendors including Brownells, Dillon Precision, and MidwayUSA.