CJ’s new favorite range toy…

If you know me, you know that I get really excited about anything related to long range shooting. I love my rifles, my optics, my reloading equipment, and my tools. Every shot is a journey to me, that starts with researching a caliber or rifle platform, and ends up (ideally) watching my impact on target. Because of this, and mixed in with the fact that I work in the firearms industry, my pursuits add up into a LOT of time, money, and effort spent. While doing anything about the huge amounts of money I spend is a constant (losing) battle in my life, every once in awhile, a new tool comes along that DRASTICALLY reduces the time and effort I need to spend to get a great result. Such a tool has recently come along on the market, and I had to grab one to see what it was all about, The Garmin Xero C1 Pro chronograph. Let’s take a look at it…

So what is it?

The Garmin Xero C1 Pro is a chronograph, specifically one that uses Doppler radar to track projectiles down range and provide a velocity reading. This is in contrast to the old light sensor or “optical” chronographs that you may be familiar with. Those had to be set up a certain distance from the muzzle of your rifle (far enough to not be damaged by your muzzle blast, but close enough to get a velocity reading fairly close to the muzzle), usually on a separate range table or some sort of tripod, and then your projectile must be fired THROUGH a set of sensors that track the interruptions in the light to give you a relative speed. Many, including myself, have used this system for years with no issue, although every once in awhile, you’d hear that someone had struck their chronograph with a projectile and damaged it (this was even more common in archery).

The Garmin and other Doppler radar chronographs eliminate that problem by being able to be set to the side of your rifle on the bench, well behind the muzzle, and still give an accurate velocity reading as your projectile travels downrange. The Xero C1 certainly isn’t the first Doppler radar geared towards shooters, but it is most definitely the smallest. The Xero C1 weighs in at only 161 grams! That’s roughly the same weigh as a cup of blueberries (odd measurement, but I am hungry)!

Is it for you?

That I cannot answer, but I can tell you that I have decided that it is for me, and I can tell you how I came to that decision in the limited amount of time that I’ve spent with it.

 

• It’s SMALL: I can’t emphasize that enough. The Xero C1 comes in so much smaller than other chronographs that it’s completely eliminated an entire bag of gear that I need to haul to the range with me. I was coming off using an optical chronograph, so packing that in with a tripod every time I needed to get some velocities has turned into having this tossed in a pocket in my bag. With all the other equipment that has become increasingly necessary for my hunting and shooting excursions, that’s almost reason enough for me to choose it.

• It’s EASY: I’m pretty good with technology, but you certainly don’t need to be in order to use the Garmin Xero C1 Pro effectively. My honest experience was that I took it out of the box, screwed it onto it’s included mini-tripod, powered it on (I opted to install the app here for the benefit of simple data tracking on my phone, but even that only took seconds), pointed it roughly in the right direction, and was getting readings in seconds.

• It’s ACCURATE: It was so easy that it was almost difficult for me to trust, however, planning for my own pessimism, I had brought along rifle setups with me that I KNEW the velocities I should be getting over hundreds of total rounds of data I’d already had from my old setup. Those rifles have been tested at range and the data, all validated. The numbers matched, plain and simple.

My final thoughts

The Garmin Xero C1 Pro had me excited as soon as it was announced, and delivered exceptionally well when I actually got ahold of one. This isn’t a comprehensive review by any means (I tend to avoid those), and your milage may very depending on the needs you have as a sportsman, but I really like it. Plainly, it eliminates an amount of gear I have to haul, it gives me accurate information I need from my handguns, bows, and rifles (each as simply as the next), and it tracks it’s own data, right on my phone. Being an enthusiast, it’s a worthwhile tool and toy for me, at it’s $599.99 price tag.

What do you think of the Garmin Xero C1 Pro? What sort of problems could it solve for you? Will you be picking one up? Let me know in the comments below (hey hey!).