Question for Labradar Owners

[BigNate]

Have been edging towards buying either a Labradar or Garmin. I've been watching lots of youtube on the topic and they seem to be pretty "apples to apples" but that there are a couple of areas where folks seem to think that the Garmin is pulling away from the Labradar.

That said - I understand that the Labradar measures bullet velocity down range - giving readings at 0, 25, 50, 100, and sometimes further down range, whereas the Garmin only records one value - essentially at the muzzle. I'm a math nerd, and would like to be able to use the downrange values to evaluate actual / observed performance of the bullet in flight.

So - has anyone here used their Labradar this way? Is the data generally useful?

If that feature is not actually useful then I'll be leaning towards the Garmin - but having the ability to calculate observed BC is something that would be hard to pass up on...

 

[Cbvanb]

You can set up to 5 extra ranges for velocity capture. Mine has always read velocity out to 100, and so far I haven’t tried it at further distance. I like the Labradar more than the traditional chronographs. It’s easy to set up and the light conditions don’t matter. You might consider buying a used unit. I did, and saved about $400. There are a couple for sale at Longrangehunting.com, with one being priced at $275.I can’t speak about the Garmin as I haven’t seen or used one, but the Labradar is good kit.

 

[Abbey]

I have a Labradar and have never used the Garmin. If you're a math/data nerd you might like the Labradar. It doesn't just give you the readings at those set points but also provides the full data series for each shot. So if you really want to analyze, you can kind of go crazy with the data, filter out spurious readings (sometimes the sensor picks up an echo that skews data) and basically be a data nerd.

That said, I did some number crunching when I first got a Labradar but for 99% of my load development, just the basic data is all I use. So if I were to buy one NOW, I'd be tempted to go Garmin for the smaller size unit and easier setup and more reliable app integration. (Labradar isn't difficult to setup, but from what I've seen online, the Garmin isn't quite as sensitive to alignment.)

If I have one complaint with the Labradar, it's that the app connection often drops, causing me to have to reconnect. So I usually just use the controls on the unit itself to manage strings of shots.

If I have 2 complaints with the Labradar, it's that I run brakes on all my precision rifles and the pressure can cause the mount to shift and start missing shots. This can be annoying if you only loaded 5 rounds of a specific charge and 2 of them don't get picked up. Not sure if the Garmin suffers from this problem or if you don't need it to be as close to the rifle.

 

[QuietM4]

Garmin. I don’t know why anyone would ever consider a Lab Radar.

Unless you are a ballistician working on a doctoral thesis, the extra data really doesn’t help you in a meaningful way. Knowing the BC with data you gathered out to 100 yards may increase your accuracy, but now by any meaningful number.

For 99.9999% of chronograph users, all you care about is the muzzle velocity. The Garmin is 10x better at this than the LR. I’ve recently watched people setup their LR’s at a match, and by the time they set it up, I’ve already got 20 rounds of data from my Garmin. It takes 20 seconds to setup…literally. Oh, and good luck if you want to shoot suppressed or rimfire with the LR. My Garmin has never missed a shot, over 1,000 rounds so far…flawless. It even picked up only my shots when I was next to other rifle shooters on the line…it captures their shots, but it discarded them because it knows they weren’t mine. Dark magic, I assume.

 

[Cbvanb]

I would ad, if you can wait for a bit longer, Caldwell is coming out with a radar style device similar to the Labradar, but it will calculate your BC for you. As QuietM4 says, muzzle velocity is what most of us focus on, but for us geeks who like additional data the radar style chrono gives it to us in the consumer price range. Suppressed rifles are easily dealt with on the Labradar with a $40 inertia trigger, which also works on my PCP air rifles.

 

[QuietM4]

I would ad, if you can wait for a bit longer, Caldwell is coming out with a radar style device similar to the Labradar, but it will calculate your BC for you. As QuietM4 says, muzzle velocity is what most of us focus on, but for us geeks who like additional data the radar style chrono gives it to us in the consumer price range. Suppressed rifles are easily dealt with on the Labradar with a $40 inertia trigger, which also works on my PCP air rifles.

Why do I have to spend an extra $40 for a device for the device designed to detect and record shots? Shouldn't it know when a bullet crosses it's path? Seems stupid. I've intentionally pointed my Garmin "off center" of my line of fire at 10 degrees...still picked up my shots. Suppressed, muzzle brake, rimfire, pistol...it doesn't care. It just works. That new Caldwell is gigantic, compared to the Garmin....it's like 5 iPads stacked on top of eachother.

My only negative thing to say about the Garmin is that it doesn't come with any type of case. I know it's silly, but if I spend $600 on a nice electronic thing, it better come with a $7 soft case, at least. Not even a little promo sticker in the box...absolute fail, Garmin. But, I did get a super cool 3D printed case for it from a guy on AR-15, so I got that going for me...which is nice.

 

[Abbey]

You don't need the inertia trigger for suppressed on the Labradar - or at least I have never needed it. I've never missed a shot from suppressed, only from when the unit twists on the tripod head from muzzle blast.

But as I said, if I was buying today, I'd probably go Garmin. But I had the Labradar long before Garmin came out and it hasn't been worth switching to me.

Edited to add: maybe you need the device for subsonic suppressed. But not supersonic. And I never chronograph new subsonic loads with the suppressor since I want to make sure they're stable before shooting through the can. So I just never experienced that problem with the Labradar.

 

[Doc]

Garmin>anything else

Why? Because it actually works, doesn’t need extra parts, solved all the Lab Radar complaints, did I mention it works.

 

[Lucafu1]

I dont think anyone buying labradars anymore, they are screwed. I upgraded from my magneto speed setup to garmin. Had to buy a cheap case for it on Amazon.

 

[QuietM4]

I dont think anyone buying labradars anymore, they are screwed. I upgraded from my magneto speed setup to garmin. Had to buy a cheap case for it on Amazon.

Lot's of Magnetospeeds and Lab Radars in the EE section of ARFCOM. I was lucky enough to dump my Magnetospeed quickly so I could grab the Garmin. A friend let me borrow his at the range, and I had my Magnetospeed listed for sale before I left the range.

I did find a guy on ARFCOM that makes 3D printed cases that are pretty sweet.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/186323819914

 

[Lucafu1]

I bought this after reading it was the perfect size.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E70SBB8?starsLeft=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_SC7F45YCJQB6PH44B5YM

 

[QuietM4]

I bought this after reading it was the perfect size.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E70SBB8?starsLeft=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_SC7F45YCJQB6PH44B5YM

I have one of those, too. It's a great case. Don't see why Garmin can't throw one of those in the box...it's $7.84.

 

[Lucafu1]

I bought this after reading it was the perfect size.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E70SBB8?starsLeft=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_SC7F45YCJQB6PH44B5YM

I have one of those, too. It's a great case. Don't see why Garmin can't throw one of those in the box...it's $7.84.

I agree.

 

[YNOTAZ]

I have a lab radar and a couple of Calwell units I bought cheap. I use the caldwells on new load workups to do bench check of velocities and signs of pressure. I use the lab radar for down range ballistics. I found several times where ballistic coefficients listed for projos just do not work out with down range velocity.

I'm not a math nerd so I just adjust by percentage 20% lower vel mean 20% less Ballistics coefficient. The lab radar is not easy to set up in order to track shots out to 100 yds, at least for me, but it has proven worth the time for long range loads. It is enough of a pain however that I use the caldwells often.

For convenience I am thinking of dumping My caldwells and getting a garmin, much more compact and nothing out in front of the muzzle. A friend of mine shot my old PACT sky screens.

 

[338lapua]

I have both. A lot of times the lab radar will not pick up shots from a 9mm pistol but the Garmin does every time.

 

[Harrier]

I bought the Garmin based on all the rave reviews... The unit itself works as advertized... the softwarre UI sux big time... I hate it.

 

[QuietM4]

I bought the Garmin based on all the rave reviews... The unit itself works as advertized... the softwarre UI sux big time... I hate it.

Are you talking about the phone app? Or the on-device menus?

I'm waiting for Applied Ballistics or even Garmin to come out with an integrated ballistics app.

 

[Harrier]

The unit firmware is a bit tedious and a PITA but can be delt with, the phone app which is required to get your data off and into a usable format is crap and need complete rework... sure it looks good but functionally sux,

 

[brandonsmash]

The Garmin Xero seems super attractive but that price point is stout. That being said, it might be worth a shot (ha). My Chrony works great but a smaller solution sounds sexy.

 

[BigNate]

Thanks all.. good info... I think the decision is made... I'm going to defer to the practical side of the brain and look for a Garmin... The challenges with the LabRadar made the call for me (if they had been equally consistant / easy to use / etc. I'd have gone the other way).

I've seen some videos of folks putting the Garmin downrange on a tripod and shooting past it to gather data... if I need that 100y velocity I can do that.