Well, I am very pleased thus far with my new Leica CRF 1600-B and thought I'd share my experiences with it. I recently spent a week out hunting in varying weather conditions and had it on my belt the whole time.
Previously I used a second hand Bushnell Elite 1500ARC and was fairly happy with it, but unless contions were ideal (overcast) or the object being ranged was highly reflective, (i.e. bicycle reflector) you can forget about ranging anything at 1500yd in a hunting situation. Trees at 650-750yd was a practical max. If there was snow on the ground and the sun was shining you might only get 450 yd off trees. Not so with the Leica.
The Leica has given an instant reading off any surface I've aimed it at within 1500 yd in any conditions except heavy rain, snow, or fog. If I was a little more selective about what sort of tree, bush or whatever other surface might provide a little more reflection I was able to get some repeatable readings well beyond the advertised max of 1600 yd. I have read reviews of the CRF 1600 ranging hilsides at 1800yd but this unit performed even better than that. A 12ft diameter clump of red willow twigs gave readings between 1997 and 1999 yards! After repeatedly trying to squeak out a reading over the 2000yd mark I finally decided that the computer must not know how to display a reading beyond 1999 yd. Impressive I thought. Readings between 1600 and 1800 yd off evergreens were the norm. Bright ambient light did not seem to reduce performance as with the Bushnell .
The ballistics calculator seemed to work well, and while I didn't actually fire any rounds at 850 yd on a 21 degree decline in varying meteorological conditions to confirm accuracy, entering the same numbers into the android Shooter app gave a similar firing solution. The calculator gives you the option of having the solution displayed in increments of holdover, 1 MOA, 1/4 MOA, or 1/3 MOA. I chose the 1 MOA setting because I don't count 1/4 MOA clicks, however with this setting the calculator rounds the solution up or down to the nearest MOA. Now, I suppose that may be close enough for most practical purposes but I would have preferred at least one decimal place on the solution. I may switch it to the 1/4 MOA setting to get a finer output, and put up with doing the math in my head. Time will tell.
The optic is bright, tack sharp from edge to edge, and distortion free. The reticle is bright red, easy to focus, and highly visible in any conditions including bright sun shining on snow.
As could be expected with any laser device, entering rain, snow, and fog into the picture significantly reduces performance. Generally, if a green tree looks grey due to the amount of moisture in the air, you probably can't range it with a laser. When thick fog came rolling in and the treeline 200 yards away disappeared, I was still able range out to over 104yd. If I pointed it up into the heavy fog or falling snow, it returned a reading between 38 and 43yd off the snowflakes.
I went to pick up a spare battery for it but when I saw the price of CR2 Duracells at $32 for two, I did some shopping on ebay and bought a 110v/12v car charger with four rechargeable 600mAh batteries for $28 to my door.
At $19 the Maxpedition retractable lanyard is well worth the peace of mind knowing this little gem is here to stay.
Five stars for this rangefinder.
Previously I used a second hand Bushnell Elite 1500ARC and was fairly happy with it, but unless contions were ideal (overcast) or the object being ranged was highly reflective, (i.e. bicycle reflector) you can forget about ranging anything at 1500yd in a hunting situation. Trees at 650-750yd was a practical max. If there was snow on the ground and the sun was shining you might only get 450 yd off trees. Not so with the Leica.
The Leica has given an instant reading off any surface I've aimed it at within 1500 yd in any conditions except heavy rain, snow, or fog. If I was a little more selective about what sort of tree, bush or whatever other surface might provide a little more reflection I was able to get some repeatable readings well beyond the advertised max of 1600 yd. I have read reviews of the CRF 1600 ranging hilsides at 1800yd but this unit performed even better than that. A 12ft diameter clump of red willow twigs gave readings between 1997 and 1999 yards! After repeatedly trying to squeak out a reading over the 2000yd mark I finally decided that the computer must not know how to display a reading beyond 1999 yd. Impressive I thought. Readings between 1600 and 1800 yd off evergreens were the norm. Bright ambient light did not seem to reduce performance as with the Bushnell .
The ballistics calculator seemed to work well, and while I didn't actually fire any rounds at 850 yd on a 21 degree decline in varying meteorological conditions to confirm accuracy, entering the same numbers into the android Shooter app gave a similar firing solution. The calculator gives you the option of having the solution displayed in increments of holdover, 1 MOA, 1/4 MOA, or 1/3 MOA. I chose the 1 MOA setting because I don't count 1/4 MOA clicks, however with this setting the calculator rounds the solution up or down to the nearest MOA. Now, I suppose that may be close enough for most practical purposes but I would have preferred at least one decimal place on the solution. I may switch it to the 1/4 MOA setting to get a finer output, and put up with doing the math in my head. Time will tell.
The optic is bright, tack sharp from edge to edge, and distortion free. The reticle is bright red, easy to focus, and highly visible in any conditions including bright sun shining on snow.
As could be expected with any laser device, entering rain, snow, and fog into the picture significantly reduces performance. Generally, if a green tree looks grey due to the amount of moisture in the air, you probably can't range it with a laser. When thick fog came rolling in and the treeline 200 yards away disappeared, I was still able range out to over 104yd. If I pointed it up into the heavy fog or falling snow, it returned a reading between 38 and 43yd off the snowflakes.
I went to pick up a spare battery for it but when I saw the price of CR2 Duracells at $32 for two, I did some shopping on ebay and bought a 110v/12v car charger with four rechargeable 600mAh batteries for $28 to my door.
At $19 the Maxpedition retractable lanyard is well worth the peace of mind knowing this little gem is here to stay.
Five stars for this rangefinder.
