Ballistics Calculators: Strelok Pro vs. ChairGun: Some Differences
I have been using both for the past year, and both ballistic calculators have their strengths and weaknesses.
ChairGun for Windows is beyond both ChairGun Android/Apple and Strelok Pro, but you can’t carry that into the field. So, this is a comparison for the shooter, not so much for the what-if tinkerer, modder, tester, calculator of ballistics, etc. – because for them ChairGun for Windows, on a computer next to their work bench in their garage is the best that happened to us airgunners since air was invented.
(As many of you know, Hawke has discontinued the program – i.e., it has been left to die. For those interested in giving it a second chance at life, there are several thread that can move us forward, here’s one: https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=152800)
One of the differences between the mobile ChairGun and Strelok, if I understand this correctly, comes into play when you want to use different pellets (also, if you want to use different power settings, if your gun has that feature):
Let’s go through the steps of setting it up, to see where the difference (= the problem) comes in:
ChairGun (Android)
Pellet #1
With ChairGun (Android) you zero your scope for one pellet, #1.
Reset the scope turrets to zero.
Enter the pellet data and present weather conditions into ChairGun.
Store your rifle–pellet combination.
Let ChairGun calculate a shooting solution for pellet #1 at your target’s distance.
Click the turrets to ChairGun’s number or use ChairGun’s dots of holdover. Shoot.
Pellet #2
If you want to use another pellet #2, re-zero the scope to shoot for pellet #2.
Write down in a LIST the offset up/down clicks, left/right clicks in comparison to pellet #1.
Reset the scope turrets to zero (yeah, many scopes require an that allen wrench).
Enter the pellet data and present weather conditions into ChairGun.
Store your rifle–pellet combination.
Let ChairGun calculate a shooting solution for pellet #2 at your target’s distance.
Click the turrets to ChairGun’s number or use ChairGun’s dots of holdover. Shoot.
Now comes the problem when switching between stored pellet-rife combinations:
If you want to go back to pellet #1, or any other pellet you have stored in ChairGun:
Find your written LIST of offsets.
Reset the scope turrets to zero (allen wrench...).
Pull up your stored rifle–pellet combination.
Let ChairGun calculate a shooting solution for pellet #1 at your target’s distance.
Click the turrets to ChairGun’s number or use ChairGun’s dots of holdover. Shoot.
Note: You could get away without resetting the turrets, doing it the following way:
Take ChairGun’s shooting solution of elevation and windage clicks.
Add/subtract to that the number of clicks that you have written down in your LIST of offsets.
Click the turrets to those new numbers. Shoot.
Complicated? Yes.
Strelok Pro (Android)
Pellet #1
With Strelok (Android) you zero your scope for your most common pellet, let’s call it the universal pellet. Pellet, #1.
Reset the scope turrets to zero.
Enter the pellet data and present weather conditions into Strelok.
Store your rifle–pellet combination.
Let Strelok calculate a shooting solution for pellet #1 at your target’s distance.
Click the turrets to Strelok’s number or use Strelok’s dots of holdover. Shoot.
Pellet #2
If you want to use another pellet #2, shoot it without adjusting the scope. Measure the offset (“zero offset” up/down, left/right) from the bulls.
Enter the pellet #2 data and present weather conditions into Strelok. Enter the zero offset of pellet #2 into Strelok.
Store your rifle–pellet combination.
Let Strelok calculate a shooting solution for pellet #2 at your target’s distance.
Click the turrets to Strelok’s number or use Strelok’s dots of holdover. Shoot.
Now comes the good part of Strelok, when switching between stored pellet-rife combinations:
If you want to go back to pellet #1, or any other pellet you have stored in Strelok:
Pull up your stored rifle–pellet combination.
Let Strelok calculate a shooting solution for pellet #1 at your target’s distance.
Click the turrets to ChairGun’s number or use ChairGun’s dots of holdover. Shoot.
XXX No need for a written LIST of offsets. XXX
XXX No need for resetting the scope turrets to zero (no allen wrench...). XXX
XXX No need for recalculating the clicks by adding/ subtracting the clicks from some written LIST of offsets. XXX
What ChairGun (Android) has – and Strelok doesn’t
- Graphs to show wind drift, POI, energy, velocity, drop, time, clicks required.
- Comparisons of those data for up to four different pellets, in graphical format or in table format.
- Calculates kinetic energy FPE when entering pellet weight and velocity.
What Strelok has – and ChairGun doesn’t
- It has a very powerful conversion function to convert just about anything you need into different units of measure.
- If you have certain targets or ranges that you shoot frequently, you can store those in a target list.
- You can set Strelok to accept data of different units (metric, imperial), and you can adjust the unit for each data field.
- Strelok Pro allows you to enter the exact weather conditions when zeroing the scope. And when shooting, you enter the current weather and Strelok adjusts your POI accordingly. This is much more accurate.
- Strelok Pro allows you to connect to various wind meters and weather meters – wirelessly via bluetooth – and adjusts POI accordingly. So, you look at Strelok and it gives you real-time data for your wind corrections required.
- Strelok Pro and "+" allows you to store up to 10 rifles (or rifle set ups, e.g., with moderator, and without moderator, or with high power, mid power, and low power). And for each of these rifles you can have up to 10 pellets. The free version gives you only 7 rifles with 5 pellets each.
I hope this helps to clear up some confusion. If you detect an error, let me know so I can fix it. Thanks!
Happy shooting,
Matthias
