First rangefinder - what would you purchase?

Lee_Enfield_Lover

Lee_Enfield_Lover

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Hey all,

I'm looking to get my first rangefinder and won't be doing any actual shooting past 400 yards and most likely at 300 yards max for hunting white tails and mule deer. Can you recommend the most common/best three to pick from for a reasonable price (not at either end of the price spectrum). Something like a Bushnell Legend 1200??

I mostly need it to find an exact range - not do anything else super-fancy. Thoughts? All ears.

- T
 
i have a nikon riflehunter 1000 which is good from 10 to 1000 (yards or meters, can't recall, but close enough either way), accurate to 0.1 and measures angle too. works great. paid around $350 for it, from the USA (optics planet dot com i think)
 
I would get Leica 1000 R and it will be not only first but your last Rangefinder.

Contact Omer from PlainSightSolution and you will get as good deal as from states and better.
I've just got from him Leica 1600 B and I did not like some features of this one ... no problem got my money back.
I've got Swarovski scope from him for lowest price that I could find on EBay and now super priced EL Range.

He can be hard to reach sometimes but I am happy with all dealing with him.
 
Good glass you buy once, so get ... good glass. I have a newcon optik lrb 7x50 1500. Works great, and the service centre is in Toronto. Whatever you get, get a unit rated for maybe double the range you expect to use it, so that it works at your usage range in inclement conditions and/or on poor targets.
 
acrashb said:
Good glass you buy once, so get ... good glass. I have a newcon optik lrb 7x50 1500. Works great, and the service centre is in Toronto. Whatever you get, get a unit rated for maybe double the range you expect to use it, so that it works at your usage range in inclement conditions and/or on poor targets.
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Good advice. I bought a Leica LRF 800 about ten years ago. It wasn't cheap at the time but it's really lasted. I also agree on doubling the distance. The Leica works in all conditions under 500 yards but is sporadic in bad conditions further out.
 
BP7 said:
i have a nikon riflehunter 1000 which is good from 10 to 1000 (yards or meters, can't recall, but close enough either way), accurate to 0.1 and measures angle too. works great. paid around $350 for it, from the USA (optics planet dot com i think)
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TV-PressPass said:
Don't get a black LCD unit. Thats my number one piece of advice:
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the nikon that i have matches your advice. the display IS black in bright/moderate light, but turns orange-ish when againt a dark background.

then again, the laser is always measuring distance to what's in the middle of the round image, so even if you can't see where the dot/lines are, you know they're in the center.
 
I picked up a used Leica 1200. Nothing fancy, manual meter/yards dial inside the battery cover.
Works like a charm.
No regrets.
A bit spendy, but it has performed well.
And a simple 9 volt battery to run it.
I haven't replaced it yet and have played with it constantly while out hunting.
 
kamlooky said:
I picked up a used Leica 1200. Nothing fancy, manual meter/yards dial inside the battery cover.
Works like a charm.
No regrets.
A bit spendy, but it has performed well.
And a simple 9 volt battery to run it.
I haven't replaced it yet and have played with it constantly while out hunting.
Click to expand...

+1 but I picked up a used crf 1200 works great. Had a leupold RX750 prior to this one, leupy worked great inside 200-300 yards. The leica blows it away over that. Another benefit of the Leica is pretty decent optics. I leave my binos at home usually now and use the range finder for glassing out of the truck or checking out game.
 
Just be aware that the effective range on game animals, is actually from 50% to 70% of the units rating for highly reflective targets. If you want to range deer at 400 yards, get a unit with a rating of at least 800 yards.
 
Now if you have the cash a G7 would be awesome. But since i cannot justify that cost yet iI still have a trusty Bushnell Elite 1500 which works very well, especially for archery , and i have a Leica 1600B which is great although a bit more complicated to set up.
 
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I believe that you buy once and buy quality. I bought the Zeiss PRF. 8 power and clear quality glass. Have ranged cows to 1100m, rocks to 1300+m and a deer at almost 900m. I also don't carry my binos anymore as the Zeiss is perfect for double duty.
 
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