What is a good and affordable handheld rangefinder that will work well with my bow or rifle.And will fit my coat pocket.I have never owned a rangefinder and dont no what to buy????

My friend has a Nikon, slightly over $300, and it is very nice. I used it on his 3D range and found it to be accurate and easy to use.

On my wish list.

While I don't have any personal experince with one, a lot of varmint hunters swear by the Leica 1200. They say that it's not becouse it will range 1200yds but, becouse it use's a narrower beam and will range things that the others (even the Leica800) will not. Kinda pricey though

I use a Bushnell Compact and it is perfect for bowhunting. Very small and handy. Works fine in the rain as well. I bought mine for less than $200 new.

[ 02-11-2003, 11:27: Message edited by: Finley ]

Nikon 440 is my choice. Workd great at archery ranges and beyond. Low limit is 10 yds. Well worth it.

The Nikon Monarch 800 unit is very nice. I've used mine rifle hunting and am well pleased w/ it thus far.

I use a cheap Bushnell for bow ranges but, it's not good for anything past about 125 yards as far as hunting is concerned. I tried ranging bucks while MLer hunting w/ it until I was blue in the face and it never would give me a reading on the deer itself unless they were pretty close or out in a broad open field. The nikon will give readings w/ ease and the optics are better as well.

I looked thru a Nikon prostaff 440 the other day and it seemed to be a descent little unit.

Good Luck

Reloader

I use a Leica 1200 and flat love it. Had the Bushnell's before, they are ok for short yardage. I trust my Leica.

I have a yardage pro scout, works for me.

My advice for what it is worth. Buy the Leica and don't look back. Spend the money and buy quality. I must have purchased at least 4 of the "other" brand of rangefinders before I bought the Leica.
Like TC1 stated the beam is narrower on the Leica and it will give you a lot less false readings.
Wished I would have bout the Leica first off and I would have saved a lot of money in the long run.
Keith

The Leica 1200 Scan that I have will not work below 10 yards. To me this is a problem for use with the air rifle and if I still used a box with that also.

I find it frustrating to scan something thats close and get no reading. For a bow or air rifle I would not get a rangefinder thats so limited.

quote:

Originally posted by Savage99:
The Leica 1200 Scan that I have will not work below 10 yards. To me this is a problem for use with the air rifle and if I still used a box with that also.

I find it frustrating to scan something thats close and get no reading. For a bow or air rifle I would not get a rangefinder thats so limited.

Since I don't use an air rifle, I guess you could want ranges less than 10 yards... but for my bow, anything that close is about to have the air let out of it regardless of whether it was 8, 9, 10, or 11 yards...

I'd rather have a unit that was ACCURATE from say 15 to 100 yards (bow and rimfire) and could distinguish and pick up a deer sized target at up to 500 yards (rifle).

Just my opinion. Now dont get me started on my rubberband and paperclips.

Just bought a Nikon 800. It is very nice. I like the backlight option for low light. You can range objects in low light to set up your kill zones. It is very accurat and is one of the few that uses a true narrow beam. It works from 11 yards to 800. just like they advertise. It is light and operates easily with one hand. 6X optics are clear.

Will

A couple of years ago I studied and analyzed and bought the Leica 1200 Scan. I love it.

Leica's business IS Electronic Distance Meters or EDM.....every surveying company in America probably has at least 1 Leica instrument - good stuff.