What range finder would you suggest?

Rifle scopes, iron sights and optics. Spotting scopes and target acquisition devices.

What range finder would you suggest?

Post by Avalon » 04 Mar 2014, 1:33 am

I'm looking to purchase a good, not too expensive range finder. In this search I've came across this article about three currently best brands. Now that last one is mainly for golf, but that leaves me with Nikon and Simmons. What would you choose and why, if you were in my shoes?
And, one more question, what can you tell me about features I should be looking for in a range finder?
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Re: What range finder would you suggest?

Post by petemacsydney » 04 Mar 2014, 8:04 am

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Re: What range finder would you suggest?

Post by Apollo » 04 Mar 2014, 9:41 am

What distance do you want to use it for...??

I have had a Leupold RX-750 for some years and it performed well, been very reliable BUT it like a few others I have used do not really work at the distance claimed. It is supposed to work out to 750 yards on an ideal surface but I have never found the ideal surface. Out in the paddock or at the range even with a nice big white reflective target frame it struggles to measure 500m (550 yards) but when it does it is consistant.

On different surfaces, animals, trees, grassy paddocks that aren't really reflective I would put the maximum range at around 400m or less for this model which is quite fine for hunting/varminting but not for setting up long range targets.

I quite often take mine to the Range and check the targets when they are set up really just to check it's still showing the same 300m target as 300m and the Rangefinder is working properly. At home my 500m target I can range sometimes depending on the conditions but when it does provide a reading it's the same at 500m. Pretty sure when Chronos was here we checked that target with his new GPS as well.

I had the use of a Bushnell at one time about the same range features but it failed to produce the same reading time after time on exactly the same target.

Consistancy and accuracy of measurement is what's required so when I was checking them out some years ago a lot failed to produce the goods. Mainly the cheaper versions and I would consider those a waste of money.

Basically you get what you pay for.

If I was to buy a new one now I'd probably go for one with more range.
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