Acetech AC6000 Airgun Chronograph

The Acetech AC6000 Chronograph is one of the simplest and best value for money methods of measuring your air rifle's power currently on the market. Instead of spending hundreds on a full-bore chronograph, which also has the disadvantage of being large and awkward to use, the Acetech chronograph is simple to mount, and quick to set up and use.

Testing the Acetech AC series chronographs

On test, the Acetech AC6000 Chronograph performed excellently.

I tested the Acetech AC6000 Chronograph with a couple of different air rifles and air pistols, in both .177 and .22, against a couple of larger (significantly more expensive) chronographs I have available, and the results were accurate to 0.1ft/lbs on each shot. Considering how little set up time is required compared to the larger chronographs (which require calibrating etc), the Acetech series of air rifle chronographs really holds it's own. The AC6000 is easy to use, and certainly accurate enough for any airgun use, and will perform just as good as a chronograph costing several times the price.

The AC6000 Chronograph offers excellent value for money. It's not a full-bore rifle chronographs certainly, but I nonetheless challenge the reader to find a better air rifle/airsoft chronograph for the price.

Technical specifications and features

Acetech AC6000 Chronograph

The premium Acetech chronograph, the AC6000, retails at £79.00. The AC6000 features a large OLED display, which is easy to read, and is operated via the operating buttons to the left of the screen. The AC6000 chronograph has the capacity to measure either metric or imperial, so values can be set in either m/s, ft/s, and the projectile value can be entered to either grams or grains. The power result can also be set to either joules or ft/lbs easily through the units menu. The AC6000 is also capable of measuring rate of fire, though this is more of a feature intended for airsoft.

The AC6000 features an aperture of 36mm. The AC6000 Chronograph is very well shielded around the sensor, and seems very robust and resilient. The AC6000 can be mounted either horizontally or vertically on a table or mounted to a camera tripod via the standard fit 1/4x20 UNC mounting in the base. The A6000 is light, only 290g without batteries, and is small and portable enough to be taken out when required without a great deal of set up hassle. The AC6000 takes 4x AAA alkaline batteries, though can also be powered by the micro USB port at the rear.

For quick set-up to test an air rifle or air pistol for power:

1. To use the device, firstly either insert the required batteries in the compartment on the underside of the chronograph or plug a 5V/0.5a micro USB cable in the back.
2. Switch the device on by the on button located underneath the operational buttons. The first screen will be displayed, with all readings at zero.
3. To change pellet weight, press the right direction button until you reach the menu screen at screen 3, and select UNIT
4. On the unit screen, navigate up the options and press right or left on each to choose the unit of measurement of the speed readout, pellet weight and energy. Once this is set (default is grams and joules), navigate back to the menu screen and select AMMO.
5. On the ammo screen, there is 5 spaces for pellet memory, simply navigate to the first option, and enter the pellet weight by selecting either the hundreds, tens, units (or non-integers), and changing the value with the up and down arrows. Pellet diameter is set likewise under its respective column.
6. Next, you can either change the display options if you wish (I didn't bother, the OLED screen on default seemed fine), or navigate to the first menu, and simply shoot.
7. Once you have fired through the aperture, the results will be displayed on the screen. There is no need to touch the device at all between shots, the chronograph will simply display the new reading on screen.
8. To see previous shots, navigate to the second screen.
9. Once you've finished shooting, the device can simply be powered off, or the user can select their own automatic power off.

Purchase the Acetech AC6000 Chronograph here