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- Thread starter ironspear
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gstprecision
Regular
- Location
- Frankford, On
Leicas are great rangefinders. I haven't checked all of them lately, but I heard good things on most models out there.
If budget permits Vectronix is excellent.
GST
If budget permits Vectronix is excellent.
GST
I have owned several high end units but this year bought the brand new Bushnell CONX 1 mile, and wow, super impressed. You can buy it in a package hooked to a Kestrel or use it with an app on your iPhone and can program in ballistics that show up on your phone for drops etc. Pretty amazing unit and not any more expensive then others.
Was never a Bushnell fan before this but Omer at Plainsight Solutions really talked them up to me and so happy he did. He has good prices on them too, if you decide to go that way. Awesome guy to deal with.
Was never a Bushnell fan before this but Omer at Plainsight Solutions really talked them up to me and so happy he did. He has good prices on them too, if you decide to go that way. Awesome guy to deal with.
My bottom-of-the-barrel 5-year-old Bushnell crapped out on me only a few weeks ago with a hunting trip looming, and I just missed the sale on the Leica 1000-yard unit that I would have purchased as a replacement. I found a BNIB Nikon Prostaff 7i on the EE in the nick of time; previous experience with Nikon customer service has pushed me away from buying their products, but a few good comments about them recently on CGN and other sites prompted me to grab it. I dropped in the battery, held it to my eye, pressed the button, and went hunting. I was pleasantly surprised when playing with it to find that I was able to get readings of up to 1000 yards (992, to be exact) in the field. It's rated for 1300, so I expected it to actually work out to maybe 600-700 yards. It may even become more useful after I read the manual! 
No idea yet of its durability or longevity, obviously. I took hundreds of readings, mostly in good weather, mostly just to confirm my own range estimates. Completely satisfied. Battery is still strong; the old Bushnell would have required a change by now.
I took one shot on game...at a range of 35 yards or so. Ain't technology wonderful?
No idea yet of its durability or longevity, obviously. I took hundreds of readings, mostly in good weather, mostly just to confirm my own range estimates. Completely satisfied. Battery is still strong; the old Bushnell would have required a change by now.
I took one shot on game...at a range of 35 yards or so. Ain't technology wonderful?
I own a Leica 1200LRF, as well as a Leica 1600B. The 1600B wont let you down and will range 1500yds to trees or grass slopes. The 1000, or 1200 models will only do what they say on a full battery or reflective target. I bought the 1200LRF about 14years ago and it still works fine, just a little dusty under the lens from lots of use.
I see they have a 1600R out now that gives ballistic solutions out to 1200yds, not 800yds like the 1600B does. Interesting!
I see they have a 1600R out now that gives ballistic solutions out to 1200yds, not 800yds like the 1600B does. Interesting!
When I purchased my range finder I was lucky enough to be able to try out a few different brands at the same time, side by side under field conditions.
In the end, there was very little difference between the ranges given by each type other than some crapped out far short of the distance specifications on their containers and in advertising.
Lots of things will effect just about any range finder from mirage to snow to rain or fog. The next issue will also effect the reliability of the unit and that is the class level of the laser itself.
There were two things that finally influenced my decision on which RF to purchase. The first was the class of the laser. It needs to be a Class 1 designation if you need accuracy over distances of 300 - 800 meters.
Most range finders are not designed specifically for hunting. They are designed for sports and even checking boundaries in a relatively loose fashion.
OK, I settled for a Swarovski LG model. Why??? First, it was rated out to 1500 meters and if the atmospheric conditions were suitable it did so reliably and it has a Class 1 laser. Secondly, the monocular has a 7X rating with a 32mm objective lens that lets in as much light as a similarly rated binocular/monocular with the same lens. The other thing which was also very important was the diameter of the "Ocular" lens or the exit lens. Science tells us that our eye can only utilize a 5mm Ocular lens and anything larger just isn't needed. OK, fine. What the manufacturers don't tell you is that your eye has to be perfectly centered on a 5mm lens to take full advantage of its capabilities. This situation can be a real pain in the butt and makes it necessary to carry an accompanying set of binoculars to view an area. All of the different types of RFs I checked out had 5-8mm Ocular lenses including the Leica. The only RF that had a larger 15mm lens was the Swarovski.
The Leica and Swarovski had very similar range finding abilities out to 800 meters then the Swarovski just kept going under similar conditions. The Leica/Zeiss were much more difficult to get on target as well. The Burris/Bushnell/Tasco and one other were undependable after 500 meters. All except the Swarovski had IMHO poor light transmission qualities when it came to their optic.
That was about 12 years ago and the Swarovski is still doing its job reliably. Depending on the type of hunting I do, I will often leave the Zeiss Binos in the truck and just use the excellent optic on the Swarovski RF.
I can't comment on the Sig Kilo because I have no personal experience with it. I have however matched my RF against later made offerings and nothing seems to have changed. There are legal limits as to how precise the LRF system can be, or at least that was the case when I purchased mine.
In the end, there was very little difference between the ranges given by each type other than some crapped out far short of the distance specifications on their containers and in advertising.
Lots of things will effect just about any range finder from mirage to snow to rain or fog. The next issue will also effect the reliability of the unit and that is the class level of the laser itself.
There were two things that finally influenced my decision on which RF to purchase. The first was the class of the laser. It needs to be a Class 1 designation if you need accuracy over distances of 300 - 800 meters.
Most range finders are not designed specifically for hunting. They are designed for sports and even checking boundaries in a relatively loose fashion.
OK, I settled for a Swarovski LG model. Why??? First, it was rated out to 1500 meters and if the atmospheric conditions were suitable it did so reliably and it has a Class 1 laser. Secondly, the monocular has a 7X rating with a 32mm objective lens that lets in as much light as a similarly rated binocular/monocular with the same lens. The other thing which was also very important was the diameter of the "Ocular" lens or the exit lens. Science tells us that our eye can only utilize a 5mm Ocular lens and anything larger just isn't needed. OK, fine. What the manufacturers don't tell you is that your eye has to be perfectly centered on a 5mm lens to take full advantage of its capabilities. This situation can be a real pain in the butt and makes it necessary to carry an accompanying set of binoculars to view an area. All of the different types of RFs I checked out had 5-8mm Ocular lenses including the Leica. The only RF that had a larger 15mm lens was the Swarovski.
The Leica and Swarovski had very similar range finding abilities out to 800 meters then the Swarovski just kept going under similar conditions. The Leica/Zeiss were much more difficult to get on target as well. The Burris/Bushnell/Tasco and one other were undependable after 500 meters. All except the Swarovski had IMHO poor light transmission qualities when it came to their optic.
That was about 12 years ago and the Swarovski is still doing its job reliably. Depending on the type of hunting I do, I will often leave the Zeiss Binos in the truck and just use the excellent optic on the Swarovski RF.
I can't comment on the Sig Kilo because I have no personal experience with it. I have however matched my RF against later made offerings and nothing seems to have changed. There are legal limits as to how precise the LRF system can be, or at least that was the case when I purchased mine.
Of course like many things budget plays a part in making this decision. For a detailed analysis of rangefinders Google ( and in particular the Precisionrifleblog ) has some interesting comparisons but to save some time ( and hopefully fit this post into jjohnwm's category of being somewhat useful ) I will say that in the sun-$1000 bracket it is very, very hard to beat the Sig Kilo 2000; a very impressive piece of equipment that will easily range the distances sought by the OP and in a nice, ergonomic package.
I purchased mine from PR thought I understand that they are easily exportable from the USA into Canada for those that seek to shave a few more dollars off of their purchase price.
I purchased mine from PR thought I understand that they are easily exportable from the USA into Canada for those that seek to shave a few more dollars off of their purchase price.
I've confirmed with SWFA that will not export to Canada. Only their SWFA SS line is exportable.
