I used a Leica 1500 this fall on an elk hunt.....darn thing worked like magic!!!

My problem....I want one but the price is prohibitive.

From what I can see, one wants a 1500 yard rangefinder to return a signal from a 500 yard soft target. Maybe some have different experiences.

What do you recommend.....I want to get data to 500+ yards and from a soft target.

Yeah, I feel your pain. The wife saw me looking at Swarovski rangefinders on the internet one day. She casually asked how much they cost. I told her. (What was I thinking?) She said something about how I'd better not be buying one of those before I did some things around the house---like a new dishwasher, oven, and washer and dryer set. The tone in her voice seemed to indicate a certain level of seriousness....

But to answer your question. I seem to recall a Gun Tests from a couple of years ago that tested several on reflective and non-reflective targets (a Nilgai hide I think?) The Bushnell 1500 ARC did better than any of them on distances. A friend has a Leupold RX600. Wow. Really compact and worked really well. Definitely something to look at.

LWD

LWD

I would recommend taking a Leica CRF 800 but this one is dicontinuid - so the CRF 1600 is the way to go.

Leupold RX 750 TBR is hands down the best value for the money IMHO after comparing it to the Leica at twice the money. http://www.leupold.com/hunting...oducts/rangefinders/

I have a Bushnell Elite 1500 and am very happy with it.
7X, sharp and accurate. I've not ranged anything over 850 yds. but that is enough for me.

jamese

Check prices on the Leica 900 or 1200. They would do what you want and may be in your price range. I have had occasional issues in bright sun light and very cold temperatures. However I don't hunt in very cold temps any more. I am now a fair weather hunter.

quote:

Originally posted by jamese2841:
I have a Bushnell Elite 1500 and am very happy with it.
7X, sharp and accurate. I've not ranged anything over 850 yds. but that is enough for me.

jamese

850 is a great deal more than I need.....my biggest concern is soft targets.

Most rangefinders can find a house at a long ways off.....I want one that can find a grassy area or an elk.....and so far it seems that the added power of the longer ranges are what is needed to get the job done.

I have looked at the Bushnell 1500 and possibly this is the least cost candidate today. It's about half the cost of the Leica

I've had the Leica 1200 for a number of years and they work great. The biggest problem I have with them is getting them back from my son or best friend after they "borrow" them for a weekend! May have to get the new 1600s for varminting and let my son have the 1200s for Christmas. If I do, best friend can borrow from him.
Max

I have the Leupold RX-IV B&C Edition. It ranges deer out to 700 yds & hard targets out to 1500. Fartherest deer I have had the opportunity to range with it was 529 yds so far. It is 8x & you really need to use some sort of a rest out past 500.

I have the Nikon 800 and can recommend it. It operates on a 6x magnification, which is the highest I would like to keep it still for quicker target acquisition. To measure everything beyond 500 yds in a hunting scenario is a non event for me, as I would shoot no longer than 300 yds as a general rule, and it is at that point that you would really like to log on to a reading if you just cannot get closer. It has a FOV of 6 degrees. Going to 7x and 8 x magnification is not ideal for my hunting application and is destined for measuring at longer ranges. I found mine easy to operate, an uncluttered view without the fancy bells and whistles that I do not need, with fast readings.

The model 800 has been superseded. You can now get a Nikon Riflehunter 1000 laser rangefinder for around $349. There is also a Nikon 1200 model, whish is based on a 7 power magnification, whereas the Nikon 1000 is still based on 6x magnification. I cannot speak for the model 1000, but is sure to be even better than the model 800 with its enhancements. It is claimed to be accurate, to have a comfortable eyepiece (18 mm wide) and giving fast performance by offering a larger ocular for easy viewing, a wider field of view @ 7.5 degrees, and the new Active Brightness Control Viewfinder for enhanced readability.

http://www.nikonhunting.com/pr...lehunter_1000/_/8377

Based on the excellent cameras and lenses Nikon makes, I feel one can be comfortable with a choice of a Nikon rangefinder.

Warrior

Take a small monopod and attach it to your rangefinder (be sure it has a 1/4 20 screw hole in the bottom before you buy) because you can't hold still enough to range accuratly at long range...I can't...but my pod helps a ton.

Mine is a Nikon Monarch 800 and it can range farther than I will ever shoot.

Vapo,
I recently replaced my Leica Pinmaster 900
(I think) with a Leica Rangemaster 1200. I haven't had the chance to use it in the field yet, but just messing around here in the country, the Pinmaster seemed more accurate and could hit a smaller target easier when comparing the two. It seems like the Rangemaster 1200 needs a larger target which would make sense since the pinmaster was designed for golf "hole" pins.

The square LED sight is larger on the Rangemaster also. I seem to get several different measurements on occasions when shooting at the same target with the Rangemanster, BUT that was trying to hold on a target at a pretty fair distance - 700 yards or better. (I was wobbling too much) The difference in measurements was only 3 to 4 yards or so. I will tell you more when I use it in S. Texas in a couple of weeks.

It seems to do pretty well on "soft targets" ie. trees, brush, etc. out to the 500 yard mark, but will find out more later.

I do like the smaller compact design of the Rangemaster over the Pinmaster.
Got it from Doug at Cameraland.

Hope this helps.