Range Finders
- Thread starter Bad Bob
- Start date
My friend lost my Nikon Prostaff 7i rangefinder, it was rated to 1300, but was more like 600-700max on trees. My only issue with it was the glass was noticeably darker than my binos (which are $300 Leupolds, nothing fancy) at first/last light.
I replaced it with a Bushnell - was supposed to be an Engage 1700, but when I received it in the mail I had to return it due to an exploded battery. Dealer warrantied it, which got me a R5 because the Engage is discontinued. The R5 is rated to 2000, and is quite fancy in comparison to my old one (shows more info on the screen, has more modes, can bluetooth to my phone and connect to a ballistic app). I have not had a chance to really play with it though, so I'll go for a walk after work and report back later about real world rangefinding capability of it.
I replaced it with a Bushnell - was supposed to be an Engage 1700, but when I received it in the mail I had to return it due to an exploded battery. Dealer warrantied it, which got me a R5 because the Engage is discontinued. The R5 is rated to 2000, and is quite fancy in comparison to my old one (shows more info on the screen, has more modes, can bluetooth to my phone and connect to a ballistic app). I have not had a chance to really play with it though, so I'll go for a walk after work and report back later about real world rangefinding capability of it.
I have a Vortex Viper 3000, seems to work well. I had the ranger 1800 before and it would not consistently give readings. I sent it in and vortex sent back a new viper (ranger was discontinued). I am not sure what your price point is on a reasonably priced rangefinder, but the warranty with Vortex is great.
I had a leupold rx 1000 before and it stopped working one day. I looked into warranty and it looked like it would not be covered (2 year electronic warranty). I would not recommend leupold based off the warranty timeline.
My brother has a Leica, it is probably 20 years old and still working flawless. Sends ranges back quick. If I could justify the price, that would be my first choice, followed by Vortex, Leupold is not even considered for me now. I have heard good things about SIG but have no experience.
I had a leupold rx 1000 before and it stopped working one day. I looked into warranty and it looked like it would not be covered (2 year electronic warranty). I would not recommend leupold based off the warranty timeline.
My brother has a Leica, it is probably 20 years old and still working flawless. Sends ranges back quick. If I could justify the price, that would be my first choice, followed by Vortex, Leupold is not even considered for me now. I have heard good things about SIG but have no experience.
Personally I would steer clear of Leupold. I had an rx1000 and it went down on me on a hunt. Leupolds idea of warranty was to sell me a new one at a reduced price. I've been using Vortex ever since and when my Ranger1800 went down It was replaced with no questions.
I would never buy anything Leupold anymore as their prices have increased while quality has decreased IMO.
I would never buy anything Leupold anymore as their prices have increased while quality has decreased IMO.
I have 2 sig sauers, the KILO 2200 BDX which can pair with any of the BDX scopes or just use it as a stand alone, it will give me applied ballistics out to 800 yards, just going by memory but I believe it can hold up to 25 different cartridge / bullet combination's, I have ranged antelope at 1300 yards with it, the other is the KILO 2400 ABS which will give me applied ballistics on my various loads, the farthest I have tried the program is 1410 yards but it's bang on, I only use it for my long range steel banging otherwise I use the 2200 BDX.
Both are 7 x 25 and have never given me any grief
Both are 7 x 25 and have never given me any grief
If your ranging fur, I'd be looking at getting something in the 1800-2000 range of rangefinders for sure. I think theres a Vortex one around the 500 dollar mark that should work for you. I havent used it but I havent really seen anything bad about it.
Id look at one that you'd like to purchase and do a search on here for reviews and even go to youtube and look it up. Pretty much everythings on it there
Id look at one that you'd like to purchase and do a search on here for reviews and even go to youtube and look it up. Pretty much everythings on it there
Last edited:
Back Country Hunter
Member
- Location
- Central Alberta
Visions Electronics has the Nikon Prostaff 1000i Laser Rangefinder on sale for $148 with free shipping if you are looking for a basic rangefinder. Compact, 6x lens, 1000 yard range, 5 year warranty. I bought the camo version for my son for Christmas a year ago and it has worked well for him, he ranged several deer out to 800 yards this past fall.
Coyote Bob, A few years ago, I had the opportunity to test a Swarovski, Leica, Bushnell, Leupold, and a Nikon range finder side by side.
I settled on the Swarovsky, which was, like all the others rated for 1300-1500 meters.
All of them, up to just over 700 meters would easily meet your needs, regardless of price.
All of them were within 3 meters of each other until the ranges got further out.
All of them, except the Bushnell were would give readings out to 900 meters, the Bushnell was either unreliable or just wouldn't read, even on the side of a building.
The next ones to become unrelable, just under 1000 meters were the Nikon and Leupold.
The Leica, was reliable to 1300 meters on Deer sized animals or 40cm diameter trees.
The Swarovski lived up to its claim of reading reliably, on a clear, cool day, without mirage on Coyote size game to 1200 meters and Deer out to 1500 meters.
When it came down to choosing which of the range finders I would choose, I chose the Swarovski because it let in the most light, had a large exit reticle, which made the object easy to find, 7X magnification, long battery life, even when used in -25c weather.
Mist and mirage had an effect on all of their readings and the acquisition of specific objects, even up close.
The biggest issue with these RFs is the sharpness of the optics and the light conditions when you can see the object you want to get a range reading on.
Even at 600 meters, you need glass with excellent clarity and light transmission. So if you get the chance, check out a couple in low light, which is often when you hunt Coyotes, especially in early morning.
If the reasonably priced Vortex or Bushnell will work for you under the above conditions, so be it. There really isn't anything other than snob factor in going for the more expensive product.
The Swarovski and Leica had the best optics, but the Leica had a small exit lens, and made object acquisition difficult at distances beyond 350 meters, unless you had something to steady the unit.
The Leupold had good optics, as did the Bushnell. The Nikon had excellent optics and was good even under low light conditions.
I settled on the Swarovsky, which was, like all the others rated for 1300-1500 meters.
All of them, up to just over 700 meters would easily meet your needs, regardless of price.
All of them were within 3 meters of each other until the ranges got further out.
All of them, except the Bushnell were would give readings out to 900 meters, the Bushnell was either unreliable or just wouldn't read, even on the side of a building.
The next ones to become unrelable, just under 1000 meters were the Nikon and Leupold.
The Leica, was reliable to 1300 meters on Deer sized animals or 40cm diameter trees.
The Swarovski lived up to its claim of reading reliably, on a clear, cool day, without mirage on Coyote size game to 1200 meters and Deer out to 1500 meters.
When it came down to choosing which of the range finders I would choose, I chose the Swarovski because it let in the most light, had a large exit reticle, which made the object easy to find, 7X magnification, long battery life, even when used in -25c weather.
Mist and mirage had an effect on all of their readings and the acquisition of specific objects, even up close.
The biggest issue with these RFs is the sharpness of the optics and the light conditions when you can see the object you want to get a range reading on.
Even at 600 meters, you need glass with excellent clarity and light transmission. So if you get the chance, check out a couple in low light, which is often when you hunt Coyotes, especially in early morning.
If the reasonably priced Vortex or Bushnell will work for you under the above conditions, so be it. There really isn't anything other than snob factor in going for the more expensive product.
The Swarovski and Leica had the best optics, but the Leica had a small exit lens, and made object acquisition difficult at distances beyond 350 meters, unless you had something to steady the unit.
The Leupold had good optics, as did the Bushnell. The Nikon had excellent optics and was good even under low light conditions.
