What is the most accurate range finder? Is there one that can go down to the nearest foot and still reach out past 300 yards?

My Leica (the one in the binoculars) does that easily

FRANKIE

Any of the qyality units will do. I have tested B ushness and Leica side by side and there is no difference...

But I will say having the RangeFinder built into the bino like my Leica 8x42's is the way to go IMHO.

You see the game in the Bino, you range it with the Bino, then you get your rifle and shoot.

Hard to beat a RF in your Bino...

Rangefinders are a lot like chronographs: The "guts" or electronics of all of them are virtually identical and almost flawless in function. It is the "detectors" (screens in chronographs and signal receptor in rangefinders) that vary.

Usually, if a rangefinder gives you a reading, it is a correct reading. The difference in the lower-priced ones and the higher-priced ones is typically that the cheaper ones don't as readily detect the return signal from less reflective targets, therefore you get no reading. As NE 450 says, testing the el cheapos alongside the more pricey units usually results in identical readings, provided the target is sufficiently reflective.

I have found that in a given company's line, the more compact they attempt to make the unit, the poorer its ability to read less reflective targets. In other words, the "full sized" units typically will give you a reading on a more distant target than the "compact" units. But if the compact unit does give you a reading, it will likely match that of the "full size" unit.

Remember, the difference in performance due to size is within a manufacturer's line. An expensive compact from a top manufacturer might very well perform better than a full-sized unit from a low-end maker.

As with nearly all electronic instruments, each generation gets a little better, so buying the latest iteration of anyone's product will usually get you a little better machine (and maybe a little cheaper in terms of constant dollars).

As to "down to one foot", most rangefinders are calibrated in either yards or meters or can be switched between those two units. I'm not aware of any (although they may exist) that are commonly available and calibrated in feet (maybe some made for bowhunting or golf?). Therefore, although they might well be capable of discriminating below 36 inches, the reading is going to be rounded to the nearest yard, so may be as much as a foot and a half in error.

At one time Leica had the tightest beam dispersion, .5 millirad vertical beam dispersion. This reduces the chance of scanning errors. This is critical when you use it for longer ranges. A range finder that says it will range 1500 yards may not give accurate readings depending on the background. That is one reason why you can buy a Bushnell for cheap compared to Leica, Swaro and Zeiss. I know they are all improving their products, but I would check that before you buy if you plan to use it for longer ranges.

I asked Bushnell (this was more than a year ago, if I remember correctly) about the specs for one of their 1500 yard models and the tech got mad and would not answer my question. I will not buy their products. I plan to check on the specs of different models when I go to the NRA convention in April.