I recently obtained the Crush-It timer available through Swanny’s Comp Gear made by 5X5 Precision and it has proven to be one of the best additions to my gear. Ever since I started precision rifle shooting I have valued knowing the remaining time in a stage. However, I have always hated the method of asking the Range Officer (RO) for time as they will try to give you the remaining time, but this method is time consuming and often inaccurate. When using shot timers, the RO can only give you the time of the last shot, not an accurate picture of the allotted time remaining. There is also the difficulty of the RO and shooter hearing each other and there can be confusion when asking for time. All of this eats up precious time on the clock when I could be focusing on my final shots of the stage. I always wished I had some sort of magical device that would display the time remaining in front of my eyes.
Then one day Chad Heckler of 5X5 precision developed the perfect solution to this issue. He developed a countdown timer that mounts to the rifle in a variety of configurations. Some of the current available options for mounting are directly to a 30 or 34mm scope, or to a Picatinny rail, Arca rail, Spuhr mount, or Warne Skyline Mount. Heckler is also continually adding options as the need arises. An optional feature that makes this an easy addition is the data card holder that is available for it as well! This means you don’t need to find another spot to attach it to your rifle, saving precious real estate on the rifle. With my current mount, I simply removed my old dope card holder, and attached the Crush-It Timer. On top of that, the timer combined with the data card holder is cheaper than some data card holders on the market alone.
Ease of use is a very important thing with any match related gear. You never want anything that is going to require you to focus your mind on something other than how you are engaging the targets. With the Crush-It timer, you can pre-set your time, which is useful in most PRS matches as the time is usually a consistent par of 90 to 120 seconds. Once the par time is pre-set, all you have to do on the engage command is press the start button. Throughout the course of fire, at any point that you want to know your time, you can simply open your left eye and peek at the Crush-It Timer. It makes it as easy to see your time as any scope adjustment you make while leaving your face on the gun.
The durability of the Crush-It Timer is exceptional. Team TSM has used the timers for the entire 2020 season. They have been used in the rain, covered in Utah dust, multiple cross country flights, and have still expensed zero issues. I once asked Chad how long the battery would last and his response was “They are kind of like the energizer bunny–they just keep going and going”. In the unlikely event that you do need to replace the batteries, the Crush-It Timer uses LR1130 batteries that are available on Amazon. I do not believe that at this point anyone has found the true battery life yet, so we will just call it extremely good.
My user experience with the Crush-It Timer has been great overall. There are so many different mounting configurations that every user can mount their timer where it works best for them. I personally prefer mine mounted up higher, so I inverted the mount and used the top mounting point closest to the buttstock on my Warne Skyline mount. This way, when I have a proper cheek weld I can see the bubble level perfectly through the gap between the optic and the timer. I thought it would be cumbersome to start the timer at the beginning of each stage, but I have not found this to be the case. Most stages start with the rifle at port arms, so I hold the rifle with my right hand and hit the start button with my left thumb. It only takes a small amount of pressure to start the countdown.
At $100 for the timer, with an extra $15 for the data card mount, and data card, the Crush-It Timer is a great investment. Many of the competitor data card holders are priced over $120. The Crush-It Timers are in stock and available for shipment at http://swannyscompgear.com/
Written by Greg Cannon
Edited by Jennifer Seymour