Range finders in the $200 range, what to buy

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bruchawk

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i finally have a bit of money to spend on myself again and was thinking that this was the perfect time to get a range finder. My question is which one? bushnell 850 sport, redfield 550, nikon prostaff, simmons, spypoint? i know very little and help would be greatly apprecated
 
I use a Simmons and it does the job. Not the best out there but for the price it works. I've compared it to the readings of some higher end bushnells and is dead on within 100 yds past that its +/- 5 yards. Target acquisition is tough past 300 but is possible all the way to max.
 
like stubblejumper said ..... there isn't a range finder that is worth buying in that price range .

you need at the very least to add a extra 0 to that number .

i have a older redfield scope with a built in range finder . ( the new redfield scopes use something very similar )

i find it extreemly finicky to use as advertised .

i find it really is no better than my own educated guess ..... but sometimes having confirmation that your guestimate is in the ballpark is comforting

if a person has time to fiddle with all sorts of gadgets to calculate the range , you also have time to slowly sneek up closer to where a educated guess will work just as well .

this is also not a knock against redfield scopes ... almost all my scoped rifles have a redfield widefield on them
 
The irony, of course, is that a range finder that is only good to 200 yd is useless, because almost any hunting cartridge will have a point blank zero farther beyond that distance. In fact most need little, if any, correction to 300 yd on big game.

Ted
 
I have a Brunton Echo440 that Canadian Tire listed at $199.99 and would put on sale for half-price from time to time, so I bought it on sale.

Testing it at known ranges out to 300, it was accurate to +/- 3 yards as advertised. It claimed to work to, wait for it... 440 yards. I bought it thinking it might be some good for practising range estimation, you know, first have a guess at the range to something, then use the rangefinder. I don't shoot at game at distances for which I really need a rangefinder, as per Why not? in post #7 above.

Something went wrong with it and I sent in for warranty and was given a new replacement.
 
I have the $100 CT Brunton Echo too, it works well enough. If you want to be accurate, you do need to know what the range is, contrary to popular belief.
If you are a +/- 6" minute of moose point blank range suppressive fire guy, you don't need a range finder, no.
 
Juster said:
I have the $100 CT Brunton Echo too, it works well enough. If you want to be accurate, you do need to know what the range is, contrary to popular belief.
If you are a +/- 6" minute of moose point blank range suppressive fire guy, you don't need a range finder, no.
Click to expand...

Juster,

I own and use a Leica 1200, and it is a very precise instrument, however I have never usef it while hunting, and I have killed game well past 400 yd. The reality is that many can hold well enough in the field to take advantage of the vital area on big game animals quite easily to 300 yd.

I personally layed a nice big bull moose down at over 600 yd with a single shot from a 270 Win. Lucky? Somewhat, however I had put over 4000 rounds down the tube of that rifle hunting everything from groundhogs to grizzlies, and knew the trajectory of the rifle well.

The dozens of animals I have put in the freezer at less than 300 yd were not luck. Just hold in the heart/lung area and squeeze the trigger with any popular cartridge, and the work begins. Even a 30-30 can do that out to 200 yd.

Ted
 
I bought a used Leica 1200 and for the money, I could of purchased an upper
Bushnell 1200-1500.
I have used the upper Bushnell and Leupold range finders with all the bells
and whistles.
I wouldn't trade this mine with either.
This Leica is a simple to use and accurate piece of equipment.
It has me trained pretty good with the naked eye judging distances now,
except over water along a shore line.
I can't seem to muster up what 1000 yards looks like.
Double your budget and get something worthy of owning.
Call it an investment in yourself.
 
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