Cutright wrote:How useful/necessary are chronographs. I've been reading a lot of pros and cons on them and while I think they would be fun to have, I'm not sure how important they are if you're not shooting over 300 yards
I would say necessary if you reload; not at all necessary if you don't.
For reloaders, a chrono is one way to measure the consistency of your reloading process, and to confirm your powder, bullet, or primer selection, or the success of your reloading techniques, like the type of crimp.
For non reloaders, a good chrono will set you back the price of at least three or four boxes of ammo for the 450 BM. At the range, it takes time to set up and adjust, usually during the ceasefire period, when others are changing targets and you might want to be, too. Then there is the question of what you do with the data. Basically, you will be checking the factory spec of the ammo your using - over and over again.