Reviews / Optics & Sights
Athlon Rangecraft Velocity Pro Review — Elite Doppler Radar Chronograph
The Verdict
Half the price of the Garmin, and it shoots way above its price point.
The Rangecraft Velocity Pro does exactly what a doppler chronograph should — instant, consistent velocity readings across rifles and pistols — for about $300, roughly half what the Garmin costs. Athlon keeps putting out great products at price points that undercut the big names, and this one is no different. If you want to actually understand what your loads are doing, this is an easy buy.
/The Rundown
We were out at the ranch filming our Arc Angel build when I decided to give you a closer look at the tool we were using: the Athlon Rangecraft chronograph. This thing shoots way above its price point — it's about half the price of the Garmin chrono — and it makes it genuinely interesting to see the differences in your shots across different guns, positions, and bullet grain weights.
The numbers tell the story. The Arc Angel in 6mm ARC was running right around 2,700 feet per second, with shots at 2647, 2682, and 2683. The PSA JAKL in 5.56 came in around 2,500 — 2514, 2491, 2498 — so the Arc Angel was running roughly 150 feet per second faster and then some depending on the string.
Then I got curious about pistol, because this is the first chronograph I've actually owned — I've used the Garmin before, but never had my own. Setup for pistol is simple: it asks for your grain weight, we punched in 115 for what we were shooting out of the Echelon, and you want the muzzle between 4 and 10 inches directly over the unit. Five shots later we had an average of about 1,198 feet per second, with a minimum of 1166 and a max of 1214, all displayed right at the top of the screen.
That spread is the whole lesson: the 9mm Echelon at under 1,200 feet per second versus the Arc Angel at 2,700 — nearly 1,500 feet per second difference, and about 1,300 versus the 5.56. That's why rifles in calibers like these are so much better at distance; the drop on 9mm at 200 yards is enormous compared to a 6mm ARC that's barely dropping at all.
The unit itself is easy to live with. Power button on top, a middle button that moves between menu numbers, an OK button, a menu selector on the side, a nice stable base, and a phone-connectivity button up top. One quirk: it threw a 'movement detected — chronograph must be still' message at me mid-session, so give it a solid, still perch. At around $300, coming in way under the Garmin while doing the job this well, I think Athlon nailed it — same as they did with the Midas Tac Gen 2 I reviewed a couple weeks back.
Hits
- +About half the price of the Garmin chronograph
- +Fast, consistent doppler readings for both rifle and pistol
- +Clean display with average, min, max, and last shot at a glance
- +Simple pistol setup — enter grain weight and hold the muzzle over the unit
- +Stable base and straightforward button layout
Misses
- –It demands a dead-still perch — I got a 'movement detected' error mid-session
- –You'll re-enter grain weight and settings when you switch between guns
/Gear In This Video(2)
Athlon Rangecraft Velocity Pro Radar Chronograph
The reviewed chronograph — around $300 and it shoots way above that.
PSA JAKL 5.56
One of the test guns — ran right around 2,500 feet per second on the chrono.
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