For years we have somewhat struggled with the chronograph. It’s not that available options weren’t effective, it’s more that they weren’t as easy as they should be. Nothing was convenient, although many of us had adapted to and accepted any challenges of use such as excessive size, or awkward configurability and set up. It was my job to use a chronograph on a regular basis. I simply adapted, not knowing just how good it could be. Then Garmin came along with a well thought-out product, addressing the needs of the user, and doing so in style and convenience. That product was the Xero C1 Pro.
The Xero C1 Pro brought us shooters something we’d never had in a chrono before. It was sleek and compact so you could take it with you anywhere. Thanks to its diminutive size you could attach it to your rifle, although Garmin recommended against it, and collect valuable data throughout your entire range session. It was fast. Set up and operation was a cinch. In less than 30 seconds you could have the unit setup, and ready to record velocities, gone were the days of five to ten minute set ups, which may have required strapping a unit to your gun or difficult aiming of the unit to make sure it didn’t drop precious shots.
And on top of that, the data collection was easy. I mean, shoot the shots, then everything downloads to your smartphone in a clean, clear, and concise interface with all the pertinent data you need. Plus the ability to add names, notes and export into Excel. Yes the C1 was, and is an amazing unit that every serious shooter should have in their range bag, especially if you in anyway need to know your velocities.
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Meet The Xero C2
Garmin recently upped the ante by introducing the Xero C2, the follow up and improvement to the C1. Garmin tends to do things right and they added several features that improve functionality and usefulness of the Xero unit, making it even more of a tiny powerhouse.
As I mentioned before, the C1 was not meant to be mounted to the rifle due to the shock introduced into the unit by doing so. Initially I ran my C1 on my rifle but stopped doing so when I learned about the recommendation.
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That is no longer the case with the C2. It is rifle mountable and says so in the literature, rated to take the recoil of your rifle.
The C2 becomes more convenient and capable with smartwatch integration. The Xero C2 links up with compatible Garmin smartwatches. This feature gives you the ability to control the unit from the watch and view shot velocities in real-time. You can also import muzzle velocity directly into Applied Ballistics on your smartwatch taking another step out of the equation.
Upgraded Power
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Processing power has been significantly upgraded in the C2. The previous unit processed velocities fast turning them around quickly to the user, especially in comparison to some other types of chronographs. The C1 processed roughly one shot per second. The C2 on the other hand now tracks up to 10 shots per second due to their Rapid-Fire Support feature, depending on projectile velocity.
Another handy feature in the C2 is the Resume Session feature. This allows you to leave a current shooting session and start a new session with a different rifle, then come back to that previous session to finish up. So you can shoot multiple firearms letting them cool in between sessions. You can even come back days later and resume a session. There are many times I wished I could go back into a session on the C1 because I needed more data. Now, we can! As an added benefit, thanks to multiple device support, you can resume your session on a different device than what you started it on as long as it has the ShotView app.
Other Updates
The ShotView App has undergone changes as well. This app displays your info and data in an intuitive, easy to see, easy to decipher manner. The screen updates now include an easier to read main screen and a velocity chart that gives you visual representation of your velocity changes in graph form. These “small” changes are significant and make the unit that much more fun to work with.
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The C2 measures projectile speeds from 100 fps to 5,000 fps, calculates standard deviation and extreme spread. It works fine with suppressors as well so shooting civilized is encouraged. I haven’t tested it with a suppressed .22 yet though, but I have no reason to doubt Garmin’s claims. The battery is rechargeable with a run time of up to six hours or 2,000 registered shots.
I distinctly remember writing about the C1, that “it changed my life”. It did and spurred competition from other companies. The original Xero is responsible for moving everything forward in this regard. The Xero C2 is no different. I can’t say that it changed my life because it’s predecessor achieved that, but I can say that these updates, improvements and changes sweeten the pot all the more which I thought would be hard to do.
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Extra Touches On The Xero C2
The Resume Session feature is huge and I think the Rapid Fire feature will really change the game depending on the type of shooting you do. It could definitely help speed up data acquisition in some cases when time is of the essence. I can also see the smartwatch connectivity helping quite a bit once I determine how to best utilize it. The workflow of the unit is so good, the last thing I want to do is muck it up.
Looking for the smallest, most powerful, most capable and advanced chronograph on the market? Look no further. The Garmin Xero C2 is it.
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