A chronograph will be of a lot of value to any handloader. Velocity is proportional to pressure, so if your handload in your rifle reaches the published velocity, it's time to quit adding powder. It's also nice to know the velocity, therefore trajectory, of accurate loads. Standard deviation means nothing unless the sample size is large. The only extreme spread that I care about is the holes in the paper target. I don't bother checking the speed of mild handloads unless I've seated bullets to longer than published overall length, which changes pressures.
The only thing you can use to estimate pressures is velocity. Nothing else is reliable, especially if it's a custom rifle with everything fitting nearly perfectly. For example, the loads published for the STW wildcats by the designing gun writer showed none of the traditional pressure signs. When checked by ammunition factories, they were found to be running near or even over 70,000psi. That's the pressure at which the bolt lugs will suffer metal fatigue.
Not everyone needs a chronograph, but every group of friends needs one.
