AusVarmint

A dealer friend of mine brought a $500 Bushnell Legend rangefinder with him on a shooting trip last weekend . Had a chance to compare side by side with a $1500 Swarovski .
Bushnell is rated to 930 yards on reflective targets and 450 on deer . Tried it on a rocky breakaway at 780 metres . No worries .
Ranged a few goats at 330 yards . All above in bright sunlight which is apparently more difficult . Worked OK at night with the spotlight too . It would easily range tree foliage and small saltbushes out to 600 yards plus . Interesting that I couldn't get a reading on a small shed at 600 where the Swaro could . I could however get a reading on the tree next to the shed but the Swaro couldn't ! More trees in the field than sheds in my hunting grounds .
Optics were surprisingly crisp for a cheap Chinese unit but didn't test in poor light . Has 6 x magnification .
Readout and aiming was easier with the Bushnell than with the Swarovski . Swaro does have a lit readout which should be easier to read in low light . Eye must be in EXACTLY the right position though or you can't read the Swaro at all .
I liked the vertical orientation of the Bushnell vs the horizontal of the Swaro too . Easier to aim with one hand .
The Bushnell seemed pretty user friendly overall with a choice of readout in yards or metres . Had a feature that cut out readings under 150 yards for use in brush . Also has scan mode for moving targets .
I'm tempted to buy one as I think it would do 95% of what I would want to do just as well as the Swaro .

sounds good, and with a $1000 saving as well. If your in the market for one go for it.

thanks for that report, was looking into getting that range finder soon(bushnell)

I have used a Bushnell rangefinder too and I thought it was great. From memory it was worth around $750. If I was thinking of buying one then Bushnell would be up there.

I think Ive just decided on my next bit of retail therapy. The Optic Zone has a special on Bushnell range finders at the moment.
Cheers Jethro

i wonder how the bushnell1500 goes

I have used both Bushnell and Nikon and find that I prefer the Nikon - Much longer battery life for a start.

Have ordered a bushnell scout 1000 camo with ARC from opticzone, should be here this week. Will try it out & let you know what its like, will be interesting to see how useful the bullet drop setting is, that is you select a code from a chart that suits your caliber, bullet & speed, it then tells you the bullet drop at that particuler range, allowing for angle of terrian.

Legend scopes are also excellent value

I have one of the new Leupold range. It is about 3rd up on the tree.

Only reason I purchased it , and not based model , was that it has an
"inclometer" , ajdusts holdover for shooting up and down hills.

As some of where I shoot is very hill, well to me at least, this was a real +.

However, it is such a complicated, though no doubt capable device, that it is very difficult to use.

Think will give to my sons to work out in their usual ten mins.

Do any of the Bushnells come with the ability to measure drop off etc and are they pretty easy to use.

Others have said how overly complex the Leupold rangefinder I have is.

I just picked up a 500yard Bushnell job from cashies. They thought they were binoculars. Got it for 130 bux. Pretty happy with that. Only started looking after a mate on here picked a 400yard bushnell set from cashies for I think 150bux.

300RUM wrote:I just picked up a 500yard Bushnell job from cashies. They thought they were binoculars. Got it for 130 bux. Pretty happy with that. Only started looking after a mate on here picked a 400yard bushnell set from cashies for I think 150bux.

Great stuff. Cashies are the biggest bunch of shonky bastards its nice to hear about them stuffing up for a change.

I hope the poor bugger that had them stolen was insured though.

Yeah I thought the same thing about them being stolen. Both mine and my mates suprisingly still have their serials No.s attached though.
Not that that means too much. But in QLD the serial No.s are run through the coppers data base of stolen crap.

Ended up buying the Legend Yardage Pro that I reviewed above .
Took it out yesterday and at about 7.30 P.M. (WDST) I ranged a few trees out to 1044 yards (read 044 yards as display only has 3 digits) and a crow sitting in an otherwise open stubble paddock at 370 yards . A few rabbits in the open at 230 yards . No support for the rangefinder , just offhand .
Not bad for a cheapie I reckon . Really bright sunlight knocks around the performance but I guess we hunt mainly in low light .