AusVarmint

Have been thinking about getting one for a while and I reckon I can right one off as a tax deduction. It would really need to have the angle/cosine as well as distance to be any use at work but as far a shooting goes I would love to hit a target at 1000yards/meters eventually but realistically any hunting would be less than 500yards/meters.
I am not too fussed about meters or yards (would be handy to go between the 2 if that was possible).

Don't really want to spend a fortune but what would you choose?

My leica was $399 on sale just before Xmas.

I had a cheapie and wasn't worth what I paid for it
Basically gave it away and now use a zeiss, mainly at night up to 450m.
Not that I shoot that far, but it can tell me the range using a filtered light out to that distance.
Day time will go out around 1k I believe but I haven't tried it that far.
Well worth the bit extra to get something reliable IMO.

I have a zeiss too.
Maxes out at around 1300m.
I find it hard to hold steady enough for ranges past 400m. And it doesn't have a tripod mount, which would help greatly beyond 400m.

I have a Leica CRF 1600B. It can be setup for meters or yards. Has Dist, Temp, Angle, Pressure, at the push of a button.
Small and compact. Have ranged to 1800m, but does 1000m easy standing.

Around $900

I use the old fashioned type of range finder, Eyeball Mk 1, was issued two of them by the big fella upstairs when I signed on to the human race, best of all they didn't cost me bugger all. Pretty good value, only a slight re-focus over the last 55 years.

Camel wrote:I use the old fashioned type of range finder, Eyeball Mk 1, was issued two of them by the big fella upstairs when I signed on to the human race, best of all they didn't cost me bugger all. Pretty good value, only a slight re-focus over the last 55 years.

Trouble is I got issues with a dodgy set and I am getting the run around for a warranty job

I've got the Vortex 1000 Rangefinder, its a good little unit for what I want it for (ranging foxes etc) paid $350 for it 2nd Hand.

Nice and compact too so no drama's to hang around your neck.

The furthest I've ranged anything to was just over 600m (cow from memory) which is more than enough for my needs.

A lifetime no questions asked full replacement warranty (doesn't even matter if it was you that damaged it or not). I could drop it off a cliff and they will replace it for free (so long as it was an accident).

Been looking a bit more into rangefinders lately as I need to do something soon. As much as I would love a Leica 1600B I really can't spring for that kind of $$ and thinking around $500 max would be doable and give me a change to use one for a few years and work out what I need/want etc and if I really feel that it is lacking and I really need the features and accuracy way out yonder then I will look at the options then. Realistically I need to spend plenty of time trying to be consistent at 500yard sort of targets before sending lead down further.

So in that sub $500 range I like the look of the vortex ranger (just over $400 to my door). I have a pair of vortex bions I am very happy with and have heard very good reports about their after sales service/warranty.
What other rangefinders are there that are similar?
Kickinback what model is your leica?

Cheers
James

the most important thing for a range finder after 500y is beam divergence it is the reason i sold my zeiss it was twice as wide and 4X as high as my LEICA 1600B .

have a look here http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-rev ... gefinders/ and you will get the gist of it

and keep away from the leupolds i have had 4 of them but i never had a computer so didn't know any better.


hope this helps.

bimbo wrote:Been looking a bit more into rangefinders lately as I need to do something soon. As much as I would love a Leica 1600B I really can't spring for that kind of $$ and thinking around $500 max would be doable and give me a change to use one for a few years and work out what I need/want etc and if I really feel that it is lacking and I really need the features and accuracy way out yonder then I will look at the options then. Realistically I need to spend plenty of time trying to be consistent at 500yard sort of targets before sending lead down further.

So in that sub $500 range I like the look of the vortex ranger (just over $400 to my door). I have a pair of vortex bions I am very happy with and have heard very good reports about their after sales service/warranty.
What other rangefinders are there that are similar?
Kickinback what model is your leica?

Cheers
James

Glenn

i had a leupold tbr 800 and campared to a mates bushnell 1500 or one of the better zeiss models it was hopeless , i ended up with a bushnell 1600 arc , will range dead tree branches easy to 500 yds trees to 1400 and have ranged emus to 550 pretty consistently ,black cows to 550 and lighter ones to 700 ,they are now made in china though if i had to say there was a differance between the jap and china one it would be in the led read out ,of a night time the chinese one is almost impossible to see through as every thing glows red but of a day time i cant really pick the differance. price was 550 bucks

Glenn wrote:

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Glenn

While that is true there is a point where the more $$ spent isn't in the same proportion as increasing quality.

I guess it comes down to what ranges you want to range too, me I didn't need one that could range 1K type thing I just needed one that could range treelines and other features out to a max of 400m hence why I went with the Vortex - its a really nice little bit of kit for the $$$ and does exactly what I want it too.

I've ranged trees out to 650+m cows out to around 400m, I too was like Bimbo in that I couldn't really afford the more expensive options and to be honest like I said I didn't really need the features that they offered anyway - mines only used to range diff things when out whistling foxes in the event one pops its head up I have an idea of the distance between it and me.

The clarity from the Vortex is pretty bloody good too, for the $350 I paid for it I'm more than happy with it. You can also mount this one on a camera bipod to help with ranging further out if needed, its a compact little unit that can be set for Mtrs or Yards and also has the angle compensator thingy too.

The red LED display is easy to read no matter what light conditions and is uncluttered which is nice for those that just want a point a shoot type RF, it also has the Scan Mode that more expensive RF's have which is also a nice feature and it is very compact and will easily fit in ones top pocket, it also comes with a lanyard, belt clip and also a nice little pouch that also has belt loop built in to put on your belt if thats your thing.

Is it a Leica NO but its not a bad little unit for what it is and will certainly do for those who don't have the need to range things at long long ranges.

Best part for me was the peace of mind the life time replacement G'tee that comes with it regardless of whether I damage it by accident or a failure in the product itself.

i like the fact you can mount it on a pod. with me leica for the money i paid the bums forgot one of the most important things for a long range finder .