Rangefinders

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warbirdlover

New member
I'm looking for something to spend my next bit of "mad money" on and I've thought about getting a rangefinder.... at least until I saw the typical prices. There's a ...gulp... yuk... "Simmons" one... (there I said it) for only $120 but my experience with Simmons is that everything they make is blurry junk. But I'll ask anyway... :D Anyone know if these will work or not? Or if the object is so blurry you won't even be able to find it? If it won't work I'm not going to plunk out big money for something better. I just won't get it.

http://swfa.com/Simmons-4x20-600-Laser-Rangefinder-P48595.aspx
 
I have a bushnell scout 1000 and its nothing to get excited about. Read the small print on the rangefinder and it tells more of the story. I've never been able to range anything over about 800 yards and that was a large shiny building. Small objects (deer, coyotes, etc) are very hard to range at longer distances. I mostly use mine to get a lay of the land when I'm calling coyotes by ranging static reference points to build a mental "shooting map". I think about any range finder could do that....or should be able to.
 
I see the model numbers on them (like 600) and wonder if that's not the maximum distance they work well at? Is yours rated at 1000 yards? In any case I'm only looking for one that will go 500 yards or so and mostly under 300.
 
I have a Nikon 800 ..... bought several years (like 10 or 12! Yikes, time does fly!) ago for just over $300 .... I think they have come down in price some.....

It works really well when the batteries are fresh on animals out to 500 yards or so.
 
When I went shopping for mine, I looked through the cheap stuff to the expensive stuff. Like any glass (rifle, spotting, or binocs), the more expensive stuff are better. All the ones I checked out, worked indoors at the limited range and bright lighting of the store. As stated, read up on their actual range and what would it reflect on to get an actual measurement.

At the end I settled on a Nikon. Clear glass, easy to use. I mostly use it under 350 yards and it gives me a good reading.
 
Based on couple that I've used the real world effective range is about 1/3 of the advertised range. If you want to effectively range a deer out to 200 yards, get a model that advertises 600 yard range.
 
I have a Leupold rx-1000 i bought for about $300. it ranges hard objects (rocks, trees, building) to 1000 yards but soft objects (coyotes, deer, bear) to about 700 yards. The glass is clear and it's at a fixed 3x i believe and I have ranged a train @ 1090 yards. The trick to ranging a small object such as a deer at a long range is to find something larger than it (ie a rockface) that is nearby and range that object.

The key point here is this: you absolutely get what you pay for in optics.
 
I started out with a Bushnell ARC 600. I use it for golf now. I upgraded to a Leupold 1000 but it will only range animals out to 500 yards accurately. I just bought a Swarovski 1500. I should have bought it first. I haven't tried it on animals at distance, yet but after seeing how quick and accurate it is on hard targets, I think it will be fine.
 
I have 4 Swarovski rifle scopes and 3 pair of Swaro Bino's and I am a big fan of their products but when it came time to get a rangefinder, after much research ,I discovered that the smaller the laser beam the more accurate the rangefinder would be. The Swaro unit has a wide beam at long distances which can cause it to read something off target. I found that the Lieca 1600 was the choice of many who had already owned the Swaro unit and did not get good repeatable readings at the long ranges. I bought the Lieca 1600 and have had great success with it as it gives consistant repeatable readings at even 1600yds +. You can't have your rangefinder lying to you so IMO spend the extra $ and get the Lieca.
 
I bought the Lieca 1600 and have had great success with it as it gives consistant repeatable readings at even 1600yds +. You can't have your rangefinder lying to you so IMO spend the extra $ and get the Lieca.
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That is the one I'm saving my money for, I had a pair of Leupold RB800 rangfinding binoculars. I still feel getting them in one unit is the way to go but I can't afford the better rangefinding binoculars. I used my buddies Leica and can accurately range a long pronghorn at 600 yards something I couldn't do at 200 most of the time with other range finders I've tried.

I'd keep my eye out on the "Sample List", I got a great deal on there for my new Minox binoculars.
 
Some of the higher end Leica's are a tad bulky for field use. :)
Leica.jpg
 
I'm quite satisfied with my Bushnell 800. 3X magnification is plenty-nuff. I've checked it on known surveys and it's good on out to 800 yards or a bit better on the shiny stuff. Works fine on an isolated bush at 500 to 700 yards.
 
I've got an old Bushnell too. Mine is (I think) 8x mag. Works fine. WAY farther than 1/3 it's rated distance. I regularly get readings out to, and I'm pretty sure past, it's maximum rating. Shiny stuff is easy. The only trick is when you don't have a backstop. I regularly range woodchucks and their holes in fields at over 500 yards. It doesn't like low light though. Really low, I mean, like just at break of light when you can barely see the trees. Otherwise it works great.
 
Taylorce1, Try Cameraland, I bought mine for $650, it was a tradeshow display unit and it was as new full waranty packaged with everything not a mark on it.
 
I hate that idea.

get one that's built into the scope!
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This would preclude you from ranging anything you don't want holes in (Rule #2!), which keeps you from using it for one of the best things it is good for: sharpening your own range estimation skills: eyeball a thing, guess it's range and then check it with the rangefinder. You don't even need to get the guns out to do this take it on a walk around town...... while birdwatching, etc.

never have to worry about losing it in the field or carrying a separate piece of equipment.
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The "don't want a separate piece of equipment" idea is what caused one idjit to point his rifle at me and my kids while "jes' tryin' t' see what ya wuz!"


As for "1/3 of advertised range" effectiveness: part of your problem may be the user: you have to hold them pretty steady, escpecially on distant targets, to get a good read.

Mine is dependably accurate to 500 ....... which is farther than I want to shoot at deer, anyhow....
 
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