Shot Timer?

Ponzerite

Ponzerite

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Thinking about getting a shot timer after v seeing thus thread, https://carolinafirearmsforum.com/index.php?threads/guns-are-boring.163527/

They are way more expensive than I expected! I saw a few apps for my phone that were free, but was wondering if they were any good.

Just wondering if anyone had an economical idea. This will not be for any competition, just fun at my backyard range.
 
The phone one I used worked ok. Just didn't like the phone laying around in a dirty shooting environment. But, I still use it sometimes. Definitely, helps you determine if you need a dedicated one.
 
georgel said:
The phone one I used worked ok. Just didn't like the phone laying around in a dirty shooting environment. But, I still use it sometimes. Definitely, helps you determine if you need a dedicated one.
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Do you remember the app?
 
I RO a bunch of matches, so I’ve run just about every timer out there. I currently have timers from…

- Competition Electronics - the “standard” works every time. Bulky.

- CED - people who like it seem to love it. Pocket sized, good pick up. I’ve never gotten used to the buttons and feature set.

- Kestrel. By far, the Kestrel is the best timer I’ve used. It’s the bee’s knees.

- and arriving today is a AMG that I ordered OVER A YEAR AGO. I’ll play around with the AMG to see if the practiscore integration works, but will likely move it along.

When I’m not at a match, I use a timer for drills. It REALLY adds to my range days. Instead of just standing there slinging lead, I find ways to build scenarios and time myself against a par. I actually fire fewer rounds, but get better results.
 
I don't like the idea of my phone being exposed on the range.
I do, however, like my PACT club timer 3. It has been dropped, kicked, and stepped on and hasn't missed a beat.
You can typically find them on sale for around 130.00.
 
Tim said:
and arriving today is a AMG that I ordered OVER A YEAR AGO
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Mine took over 6 months. I even tried to contact them several times for a status. Nothing. Thought I may have been scammed.

Then this arrived without any notification. Great product terrible customer service. Just have patience...

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TexasEskimo said:
Mine took over 6 months. I even tried to contact them several times for a status. Nothing. Thought I may have been scammed.

Then this arrived without any notification. Great product terrible customer service. Just have patience...

View attachment 772305
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Yup, their CS is terrible.

I still don’t know if I’m getting the OLED or the standard version. It’ll be like Christmas when the box arrives today.
 
Tim said:
When I’m not at a match, I use a timer for drills. It REALLY adds to my range days. Instead of just standing there slinging lead, I find ways to build scenarios and time myself against a par. I actually fire fewer rounds, but get better results.
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This kinda my plan.
 
beeleafs said:
I don't like the idea of my phone being exposed on the range.
I do, however, like my PACT club timer 3. It has been dropped, kicked, and stepped on and hasn't missed a beat.
You can typically find them on sale for around 130.00.
Click to expand...

I had a PACT, my only issue with it is the limited par time. I think the max is 90 seconds?
 
TexasEskimo said:
Mine took over 6 months. I even tried to contact them several times for a status. Nothing. Thought I may have been scammed.

Then this arrived without any notification. Great product terrible customer service. Just have patience...

View attachment 772305
Click to expand...
Hey they have colored screens now!
I had a Comp Electronics, when clipped on the belt where I could see it, it was so thick I couldn’t bend over to pick up anything on the ground, like brass.
I like the AMD much better. It also picks up Glock dry fire with the sensitivity turned up.

The owner of AMD was on this podcast

Best Shot Timer for the $?

I didn't find this topic via search. Got to shoot with a timer last weekend, now I 'need' one. They seem like '80's technology and bulky plastic. I do like the Pie's larger display (old man eyes). What's your experience? PACT Club III...
carolinafirearmsforum.com
 
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Get Off My Lawn said:
Electronics, when clipped on the belt where I could see it, it was so thick I couldn’t bend over to pick up anything on the ground, like brass.
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A comparison...

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I just clip it to my belt. I can run and gun a it doesn't get in the way. Very lightweight. The OLED is great at night and for bright sunny days.
 
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Get Off My Lawn said:
He still just makes them to order.
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Not to derail the thread but it doesn’t take months to make one. The assembly time is going to be measured in minutes or hours. I understand it’s a small one-man operation, side-gig, and good for him for creating something better than 80% of what’s on the market!
I ordered some customized made to order t-shirts and they took 2 weeks. Taking 6-12mo to make a shot timer means you can’t manage the volume (sales and/or material supply). My $0.02.
 
Jerzsubbie said:
Not to derail the thread but it doesn’t take months to make one. The assembly time is going to be measured in minutes or hours. I understand it’s a small one-man operation, side-gig, and good for him for creating something better than 80% of what’s on the market!
I ordered some customized made to order t-shirts and they took 2 weeks. Taking 6-12mo to make a shot timer means you can’t manage the volume (sales and/or material supply). My $0.02.
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Or he’s that backed up with orders
 
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I like this one. Since I RO so many matches the fact that it keeps track of previous strings has saved some headache when the person putting the score in the tablet makes a mistake. Like me last match.

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Jerzsubbie said:
Taking 6-12mo to make a shot timer means you can’t manage the volume (sales and/or material supply). My $0.02.
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I had an issue with the 'Shop' app they used for the initial order and received this email 2 weeks later. Then, I never heard from them until I received the order on March 14th of this year. So, I guess it was actually 5 months.
IMO...well worth the wait. Wish I had been more patient, seem like good people.

According to the highted section below the OLED lead times are shorter.
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Jerzsubbie said:
I’m also waiting for an AMG and may buy a PACT or CE to hold me over. Kind of annoying that they take months and months to ship but clearly we still buy them.
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I waited several months for mine, with no real communications about the status, and now that I have it I am delighted.
Kind of annoying - and then kind of elated.

That new display is great.

The Kestrel has lots of advantages. Glad I know someone who has one!

But I'm sticking with the AMG. Not that it's up to me, the Mrs. uses it way more and likes it better.
 
For basic drills and tracking progress I really like the Competition Electronics but honestly they all work pretty well.

The phone apps i tried a few years back were all hot garbage.
 
Had (HAVE someWHERE) a PACT I bought somewhere around early 2000s...it survived a CAR FIRE in 2006 (was in its black case, IN a a range bag) and while most stuff was destroyed, I got it out when salvaging the stuff and noted it was just blackened, and the screen was blackened. I powered it up and it still worked (!) Used it several times since then, but can't lay hands in it right now. Just hard to read on the LCD screen but you COULD read it.
 
The plight of the small business owner, not enough business or too much business. Managing the funnel is very difficult.

Remember when Seecamp's were like 1-2 year wait time? But, people still gladly plunked their money down. Because, if you have a good product, people will wait.

However, technology is fickle and the Chinese will make a knockoff in a heartbeat.

I see that the app I used is not on this phone and I can't seem to find it in the play store. One reason I like it was that I reached out to the developer and he did a customization for me. I'll keep looking and see if I can findnit on a previous phone.
 
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Through my internet research, (not hands on experience) the Pact Club Timer 3 is the best bang for the buck. I will buy it when it gets moved further forward from the backburner of purchases. $130 on Amazon
 
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yeeyee said:
Through my internet research, (not hands on experience) the Pact Club Timer 3 is the best bang for the buck. I will buy it when it gets moved further forward from the backburner of purchases. $130 on Amazon
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If you are going to use it for RO'ing matches, it's not a good choice. The max par time (99 seconds) is a significant limiting factor.

Even for 'personal use', I'd say it's a limitation that you can spend $20 more on a CE to eliminate.
 
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Tim said:
If you are going to use it for RO'ing matches, it's not a good choice. The max par time (99 seconds) is a significant limiting factor.

Even for 'personal use', I'd say it's a limitation that you can spend $20 more on a CE to eliminate.
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It will just be for personal range use 😁 and I will look into a CE. I don't believe I need the Bluetooth feature of the ProTimerBT $164 (feel free to convince me otherwise) so it's between the PocketPro $133 and ProTimer $150. Which do you suggest?
 
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yeeyee said:
ProTimer $150. Which do you suggest?
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This one seems to be the de facto standard. I have one that’s been through hundreds of matches without missing a beat.

The only complaint is, they are very bulky
 
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I don't compete. But I do a lot of training and a minimal amount of instruction. Over the last several years, I have experience with PACT2, CE PocketPro2, CE Protimer(Blue update without bluetooth), CE ProTimerBT, CED7000, Shooters Global and the Mrs just gifted me a Kestral KST1000 a week ago.

Rankings in my opinion
Simplicity:
PACT
Features
ProTimerBT
Settings Navigation
Kestral
Neatest Integration:
Shooter Global

Pact: No random delay. Instant start, or Delay is 3 seconds. There is no changing this and it's not discounted enough in comparison to other timers for limited functionality. Only 1 string of fire is recorded/saved

PocketPro/Protimer: Several adjustments available in comparison to PACT. 4 or 6 button interface is a little clunky, but once you get the hang of it adjusting par times and delays aren't an issue

ProtimerBT: Integrated BT to upload to Practiscore, Headphone jack for dryfire, LED for visual stimulation is cool when muting the beep.

Shooters Global: 5 button design makes navigation just as inconvenient as the PACT but is offset by video integration in the app so you can overlay your timer info into videos. Really neat. (Have had one fail within 3 months of use by instructor cadre member)

CED7000: Super small, usb charging, navigation isn't my favorite but its a step up from SG. Integration into RF Panel for competition use is neat.

Kestral: 2 SCREENS!!!! 3 par times, can adjust mic sensitivity for dryfire (and it works!), TONS of strings of fire recorded and easily compared on the big screen. Multiple settings you can select as presets to work different and settings without having to adjust multiple times per class/student. Save them and name them, and I'm sure a lot of other features I haven't tried. My only complaint is it runs on 2x cr123. I am used to 9v. Not a big deal, but one more set of batteries to keep in the range bag and not as easy to grab at the gas station if needed in a pinch as a 9v

If you need a timer, and dont need it to be feature rich, get a PACT. They hold up ok and do their job.

If you need a basic tried and true workhorse that will take a beating go with the Competition Electronics ProTimer

If you do a lot of video for instaface/twittogram Shooters Global makes sense.

If you are willing to pay for feature rich and a ton of convenience the Kestral is the bees knees
 
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A shot timer will definitely up your game. You’d be surprised at how much worse you do under such little pressure. It’s also fun to practice with your friends and instead of hitting the timer, verbalize a “beep” and watch them draw and start shooting. They’re that wound up because of it.
 
Thanks guys. Plenty of good info here. I'm just looking for something for my personal backyard low speed training. Really not wanting to spend $100 plus on something I may never use.

I downloaded an app, couldn't find the one @rdinatal mentioned upstream. I'll play with this before I spend the bucks.

I'm cheap like that.

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I've been using an app called "Splits" on my Galaxy phone. Seems to work pretty well for my simple needs of just having a timer to give a start "beep" and show times to first shot and all subsequent shots. I take a portable table to the range wth me, the phone sits on the table about 2-1/2 feet below the gun. No problem hearing the start beep and it hasn't missed picking up any shots
 
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