Garmin Xero Chronograph - It can't handle this! 

I love the form factor. Unfortunately, with where I'm at in my shooter journey, it's hard to justify the price tag of any chronograph, no matter the brand. That being said, the Garmin sits high on the list when the time comes. Great review, as always. Thanks for all you do!

@@lndependentMind A nerf gun

How does it detect velocity when attached or sitting behind the muzzle. Other brands track the bullet after it leaves the muzzle and to the from what I have seen are always positioned in front of the muzzle.

Have a few questions about power. Can the C1 be powered by the usb-c port and charge at the same time? Are the batteries user/factory replaceable?

Nope you talked me into it, I got it just be for Christmas and LOVE IT!!! THANK YOU for the review. I have only charged it once so far and have ran 50 rounds over multiple days still 3/4 charge.

cool, thanks for watching

ohh I didn't even think about that one. dang it.

Was just about to say the same thing ;-)

Nice. Thanks for the comment.

@@SmallBoreOutdoors sweet 👍 Thanks for the comment.

I agree

😂 Welcome aboard!

Bro, the spoilers!!!

Next they’ll want you to try it with spitballs. Maybe I could measure how fast my dog spits out celery that she gobbles up off the floor.

Slingshot community…most people call it California but, we get what you’re saying.

Me too! Didn't do pellet pistols, rifles and rail guns either...

Good point. I also got an email from Garmin pointing out that it’s not made for nerf or airsoft. lol

Thank you. Exactly.

I've been lucky recently and getting consistent tracking out to 98 yards on the 88 ELD-M bullets using the Labradar. But the SNL (signal to noise) ratio is usually bad so you can't really trust that those numbers are accurate past about 85 yards.

Thanks for sharing that. Glad it’s working.

a week!!! damn. must be nice! I'm going on a month after my purchase on the release day.

I agree

Cool. Thanks for watching.

True

I hear you but you don’t have to give it permission to use your contacts in order for the app to function. Also, just create a fake account. Also, also, I don’t use the app at all. It’s kinda pointless in my opinion.

@PrecisionRifleNetwork I want the data saved on my device, so the app is a requirement for me. I'm not going through the BS, so back it goes. They won't get my business . Thanks though.

I think it’s a very solid choice at this point. I’m pleased with it.

Pairs with your phone by Bluetooth

You bet!

You’re welcome. Hmm I’m just not sure on that.

I wrote them directly to Garmin and they told me that the chrono should measure differentially very accurately at the decimal level, so I guess the only thing left to do is try it.

literally everything I'm seeing so far is positive. There may end up being something it can't handle, but I'm most likely done testing for now. It's better in my opinion than my LabRadar, so I'll just trust it and move on. If I get any issues, you can be sure I'll make a video about it.

Thanks for watching. BC is a must, but you don’t need a chronograph to give you that information. 🤙

Yeah. It's cool that Lab Radar gives you BC but, unless you're developing your own bullets, you can just get it from the manufacturer. I personally think the fact that the Garmin is so compact (meaning you'll actually use it) outweighs that ability to give you BC.

I have a lab radar since they came out. Of course it works but they are very temperamental to say the least and very problematic with suppressors and hassle and to aim them. I would personally, though I have only seen a handful of Garmin reviews , consider the Garmin. Or Wait and get a Lab Radar on a big sale. That’s what LR will most likely have to to do to stay competitive against this Garmin.

@@schoocg are you not using the quad pod and magnetic trigger?

@@ArpexOfficialmore stuff to haul around.

Perfect!

I agree on all that. Thanks for the comment.

Thanks for the info!

😂 dang, I have failed. Should have tried that.

I believe that means it reads just the first 20y. Use it inside that distance. Meaning you wouldn’t setup the Garmin 50y downrange and try to shoot over it. Apologies if I’m misunderstanding what you’re saying.

🤪

Hope you enjoy it!

thanks for watching

I don’t see why not, though I haven’t tried it personally.

@@PrecisionRifleNetwork the big cloud of powder burning is the question. I know it affects the crony but will it effect radar ?

Awesome, thank you! The magnetospeed works well too. 👍

Basically this www.amazon.com/LULACOOL-Vertical-Standard-Magzine-Holder/dp/B0C4L8KTVW/ref=mp_s_a_1_40?crid=1TZ0RHCCC7RUV&keywords=AR+wall+mount&qid=1706676372&sprefix=ar+wall+mount%2Caps%2C223&sr=8-40

It's only clickbait if I don't deliver on the fail claim. Yes, it's borderline, but it's clearly not clickbait. Also, it was a fair and honest test of the Garmin.

I agree with all that.

Cool. Thanks for watching.

I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Not sure though. Haven’t tried it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

?

I hear what you’re saying, but I just don’t think that couple FPS of potential error matters, especially when you should be truing out your data at distance anyway. No matter what the chrono says. The info on the box of ammo, chronographs, etc. are all “try dope”, then you test it in the field and get actual data.

@@PrecisionRifleNetwork Totally agree, my comment was more for the wider audience. It can make a big difference for shooters that do "velocity driven" load development and those searching for super low SD/ES loads thinking they are the holy grail. The if the chronograph is only giving you a "calculated" MV then you could be chasing your tail forever when the problem could be that the chronograph is tracking velocities of each shot at different distances from the muzzle and then displaying a "calculated" MV based on where it began tracking that bullet.

no problem. thanks for watching.

Any time! Ha mine is for sale too.

Cool. I’ve enjoyed my speed tracker. It has worked pretty well overall.

cool. thanks for watching.

Nice. Thanks for the comment.

I have not.

sweet! Thanks for watching.

LOL move along then. It’s only clickbait if I don’t deliver on what was promised in the thumbnail. I obviously did.

"Shit only stinks when people stop to wipe it off after I throw it at them."@@PrecisionRifleNetwork

My pleasure. Thx for the comment.

Yep I agree

Not fussy at all. You don’t have to aim it. It just needs to be pointed in generally the right direction. There are a couple of “rules” to follow though. It has to be a certain number of inches away from the gun.

@@PrecisionRifleNetwork Thanks for your reply.

LabRadar is still a good unit when it works, and it works most of the time. It can just be finicky and it’s big. Either way is good. 👍

The labradar app blows. Looks like Garmin app might be a lot better

Options are coming. Check GrayOps and keep an eye on MK Machining.

thanks for watching

I'm told no issues at all. haven't personally tried it at an indoor range though.

I agree about the battery. Yes you can export a text file.

just do an amazon search for "slide nodal rail" and you'll come up with several options of different lengths. I've had no issues with the Garmin at all.

Thanks. Ordered this yesterday & the little brown truck brought it after dinner. Went out and fired 25 shots and it worked perfectly.

I’m being told it’s good to go but haven’t tested it myself yet.

@PrecisionRifleNetwork I think I'll wait. I'm not sure it would hold up to 338Lapua recoil, at least not for long???

@@grantensrud9185 yeah I don’t know on that. I’ll probably try it at some point. If mine breaks I will definitely be letting people know.

Thanks for watching. It's not clickbait if I actually deliver on the assumed message of the thumbnail, which I did. The Xero failed to pick up the fps of the nerf gun.

Same

it honestly shouldn't matter what distance you're testing it at. It picks up shots from right next to the rifle out to 20 yards. Am I understanding your question correctly?

@@PrecisionRifleNetwork For some reason, my last reply did not post... I was referring to Garmin's comments in their owner's manual under Alignment Considerations, where they state "Always ensure the projectile can travel at least 20 meters or 20 yards in front of the chronograph." I suspect it is due to the nature of the Doppler-based system, but was curious if they were just being over-cautious in their recommendation. From what I've seen from other shooters, they seemed to get decent results at 10 yards. Like you, I did not expect distance to target to matter, but there you go.

@@mobilejonnyoh I gotcha. understood. I'm guessing they are being cautious. Probably something someone should test eventually.

I received mine on Saturday, and went to my club range. Shot outside at 10 yards. It did not miss a single shot out of 100 total. 50 out of a .22lr pistol and another 50 out of a .38 special revolver. This 10 yard range is outdoors but it has wall on both sides and a ceiling.

Nice! Thanks for watching.

😎 except it’s not clickbait. It’s only clickbait if I don’t do or say what the thumbnail suggests…. I think. Man I don’t know, I just want people to watch the stinking videos!

Thanks. Enjoy it.

Thanks for watching

Hmm there may be videos out there, but I think I can explain it simply. We use muzzle velocity (the speed of the bullet out of the end of the barrel) as well as the time of flight of the bullet and gravity to determine how far the bullet will travel. These calculations help us know how far to aim above or “hold over” a target in order to have the bullet hit the target we’re aiming at. Think about shooting a cannon back in the day… they had to aim it way up in the air right. The cannon ball would arc way up and then come back down at a certain distance. This is basically the same thing we are doing with long range shooting. The chronograph just gives us a very important piece of the information we need to be more accurate when we launch a projectile into the air. Please feel free to ask any follow up questions.

​@@PrecisionRifleNetworkThank you! Yes, so far I can understand this, and the physics behind it. What I am not sure about when and how you use that information. My way of thinking is: 1) you can use Xero to measure this velocity for a riffle, ammo combination. If no one has done it before. I would assume, that the same riffle with the same ammo has roughly the same values (or has similar deviation as seen between shots) So if someone already measured it, and put it into a table online, you can just look it up. If not, you can measure it yourself with Xero. (I'd also assume, that temperature and whatnot also plays a role, I'm not sure how significant though) 2) In a competition, if you have several shots, you make a calculation for how much to aim upwards based on these values, the distance, angle (I guees that is what the ballistic models of Garmin watches can help you with). But there are other factors, that influence drag. So if you see, that your first shot was 10 cm below, you can adjust better by knowing the velocity right there. 3) In a "real life scenario", like hunting or mission I'd assume that you only have one shot, after that the target moves, so precision calculations are out of the window at that point. So basically what my "deduction" tells me is, that these chronographs main usage is in "preparation" to have better values for the calculation when it matters. But they do not provide help "during action". Then again, I don't know anything about shooting, so I am probably completely wrong, that's why I'm asking 😀 And thank you very much for your time and explaining it to me, I really appreciate it. 🙂

@@MateHegyhati Sorry to man-splain it, but I do appreciate someone outside the shooting community showing interest. There are at least two applications where a chronograph is necessary: First, as @PrecisionRifleNetwork pointed out, muzzle velocity is a vital data point for ballistic calculators. Every rifle is different so you can't just use the muzzle velocity printed on the box of ammunition (two identical model rifles will behave differently because the tooling that cuts the chambers wears down, and because there is magic in there, besides the ammo manufacturer probably used a different barrel length than you might have). Long range competitors or hunters use a laser rangefinder and enter the distance and other factors (principally the muzzle velocity) into the ballistic solver (on a phone app or a portable weather station like a Kestrel, I'm not aware of any ballistics function on a Garmin watch and I'm on my third one) and it yields the amount of "come up" or hold-over so you can dial the turret of your rifle scope for a specific distance and environmental conditions. In a hunting scenario its still important to know the muzzle velocity of that ammunition load. Some shooters carry a "DOPE" (Data on Previous Engagements) card listing the turret adjustments for each yardage interval, and there are laser rangefinders built into some binoculars. So the "preparation" phase does carry into the field. For more on your musings about "drag," read up on "ballistic coefficient." Second main use is for ammunition reloaders in order to know the performance of a certain combination of primer, brass case, powder type and charge weight, and projectile type and weight. Big bonus of this chronograph is the form factor as much as the reliability.

​@@bobvi5490 Thank you very much for the EXplanation, I really appreciate it. Sorry for the long response time, work have been... busy. So if I understand correctly, two guns with the same model number can have different muzzle velocity with the same ammo, and this difference can be significant compared to the "natural deviation" observed for the same gun with the same type of ammo. (This also implies that the gun used with the same ammo later can be expected to have similar muzzle velocity.) That is clear, and the hold-over calculation as well. So basically, each gun is unique, so these calcualtions has to be done for each gun - ammo type pair, not just for gun type - ammo type pairs. So going back to my original question, the chronograph is really mostly used in preparation, then the data can be used for calculations "in action". But of course, if the data is also measured there, it also adds to the accuracy/consistency of the data used for later calculations. Hope I didn't get anything wrong. (Also thanks for the reloader info, I didn't know that is a thing.) For ballistic calculations on Garmin watches, I know of this one: support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=L0R2b03k7EArLmL5CvJsD6 Thanks again!

lol thanks man

Magnetospeed works well too. The Garmin is definitely smaller and easier to set up.

Thaks for the reply @@PrecisionRifleNetwork

@@wvideoyahoodk you’re welcome 👍

haha dang it, I forgot that one.

Nice. You’ll enjoy it.

Thanks for watching! About the size of a GoPro camera. Pretty tiny.

Glad I could help

👍

That sucks. I’m guessing they didn’t really understand how popular this thing was going to be. Production is probably behind schedule.

I agree with all that. That’s for watching.

It picks up all the things

Thanks for watching

Thanks!

Not really, I did answer the question, or rather the statement that I posed with the thumbnail. It’s only Clickbait if you say one thing and do something completely different.

I agree. The size is a positive. Thanks for watching.

Indeed. You’ll enjoy it.

I entered weights for the real guns. Although that’s only necessary if you care about the energy.

Weird because Area419, who made the first mount for these, consulted directly with Garmin prior to making their mounts.

You bet. Thanks for watching!

I'm personally not worried about it. As long as people aren't abusing the thing, I'm guessing it will run a long time. Garmin generally makes quality durable products. I'm betting on that I guess.

Haha yep

the specific one I bought is no longer available. search amazon for Rail Nodal Slide and you should find many brands.

Cool. Thanks for watching.

Yes 👍 That video is coming asap.

dang, that's unfortunate. so far I've got no complaints about spending $600 on the Garmin.

@@PrecisionRifleNetwork I can't wait to find one in stock.

Pistol. I figured it was going slower. Just fyi, Garmin says it’s not made to detect birdshot of any kind.

@PrecisionRifleNetwork I was working up some loads for coyotes today couldn't get it to read any of the #4s. it acted like it was going to then just went back to zero shots. ill play with it some more in the pistol setting

You have any luck? ​@@holdleftedgeandsendit9351

I haven’t had to charge this one yet, but I’m not sure honestly. I’m only using it about once a week for 10min at a time.

Manual says 6 hours, however you could get a small battery bank with the correct USB cable to give it power for extended sessions.

@@Majeskty thanks

Sure thing. Let’s talk. Joel@precisionriflenetwork.com

😂 it needs to be done. I’m thinking a blow gun too!

Thank you sir!

If I’m not mistaken Garmin and Area419 collaborated on it. I think it’s probably able to handle the recoil. But that’s a guess. I’ll be running mine on rifles. If it breaks, I’ll be letting everyone know in video form.

Do you plan on having it constantly mounted to magnum caliber rifles?

@@oif3vetk9 if you're asking me, my answer is no. I will rarely use it with magnum rifles as I only own one of these.

This seems like a pretty good option to me. Magneto works too tho.

FYI - garmin reached out to me and said the Xero is not designed for birdshot. That being said, I used the other setting and chose the slower fps setting. got lucky i suppose.

I was gonna ask the same question. I just got mine and as part of my testing, I was hoping to get chrono data for 20ga TSS/Steel duplex loads. I only got data on one out of five fired shots. I was messing around with location of the barrel to the Chrono, but not very scientifically. Since you mentioned how you aligned your shot maybe impacting capturing data, could you elaborate more on that? I’m aware that Garmin says it’s not supported, I’ve enough posts that makes me think it’s possible, but not necessarily consistent.

I found out same thing today, I tried 5 rounds and only one gave me reading. Guess I wasted my money on this thing. Does great on rifles however

@@clinte9897 You can even use it to adjust the speed of a pump BB gun to calibrate ballistic gelatin. Maybe someday they will a firmware update that allows it to work with shotshells.

Thanks

Interesting. I’m told that’s not possible because it only picks up shots from the rifle closest to it. It’s been tested extensively by PRS shooters with a lot of people on a firing line and it worked as expected.

@@PrecisionRifleNetwork that’s what i thought as well but i was using a pistol and well as the other person and both of us were same caliber (9mm) we were about 3 feet apart. this wasn’t a big deal just something i experienced in my testing but overall im happy and glad i waited this long to purchase a chronograph. this matches my needs and seems to be fairly accurate.

No problem 👍

No problem 👍

Since airsoft works, I’m guessing paintball would be similar. I sold all my paintball guns years ago so I can’t confirm that for you.

paintball is about 300fps