What is your favorite range finder and why?
I am looking at a Leupold, Nikon and Leica...

Share your experience please...

I have a leica, an older one. Believe its a 900. Works flawlessly. Is clear to look through. I have ranged things beyond 900 yards with it.
There are some that will range farther, but I am not shooting anything past 400 yards or so, so whats the point.
I also use this for bow hunting.
I have had it for 3-4 years and would buy it again.

+1 on the Leica...compact, easy to aim.

Swarvoski- easy to use and accurate.

hundreds of trips to the range to learn how to estimate range & wind

Another Leica user and happy with it.

Leica, only because I have not used anything else other than test them at the store. Excellent glass and instant readings.

I don't know if it is common to all range finders, but I find that mine does not do well (either do I) in really cold temps in northern Mich winters. Also, I sometimes don't get readings when facing the bright sun.

Test them side by side if you can. For me it would be Leica over the other two.

Leica for me. I have a Bushnell that I use for bowhunting because it is generally short range and the "reticle" if you want to call it that is big. I had a Leupold but sold it because it had that zodiac thing when you looked thru it and it seemed it was always on the wrong "mode". Just too much stuff in it. The Leica had one button and when you push it you get the range. Mine is the older/larger 800 I think, 7 power. The power is important too. If there is not enough, the animal is too small and hard to hold on.
Leica for me hands down. I could be talked into a pair of the Leica range finding binoculars though.

I looked at a Leica a few years ago. In glancing through the instruction book, I noticed that it couldn't be used below a certain temperature. Not sure what, but it wasn't much below freezing! Considering it was for a Colorado Elk hunt, I didn't spend anymore time looking at it.

Leica is my choice. Have owned others. Gave one of the old Leica models (the big bulky one) to a PH after a hunt. (He was delighted).

I really like the new compact Leica and have used it for several years. It's not hard on batteries, unlike some others. The red LED readout is easy to see, even in relatively dark situations (unlike those that have black readouts). It's pretty accurate to reasonable ranges (don't count on a 1200 being able to give you readings to 1200 yards).

All in all, the Leica is compact, which means you are likely to have it with you, and is easy to operate, quick and reliable. Others like Swaro may be as good, but Ive never used them.

Leica 1200. Light, compact, long battery life, ranges way farther than I'll ever shoot, clear optics, high resale value if I ever sell it which is highly unlikely. Fits in a shirt pocket or coat breast pocket with the lanyard around my neck.

There's a pattern in the prior threads! Leica!

I have the Leica Model LRF800 and would recommend it to anyone.

The best feature is the red LED readout as mentioned previously.

The optics are so good (and 8x) I have one friend who uses it exclusively instead of carrying it and binoculars. He has only one eye so that may be part of it too.

I have hunted with it in temperatures well below zero with no problems. I usually keep it tucked in my jacket. No fogging problems but it's a dry cold.

quote:

Originally posted by mt Al:
Leica 1200. Light, compact, long battery life, ranges way farther than I'll ever shoot, clear optics, high resale value if I ever sell it which is highly unlikely. Fits in a shirt pocket or coat breast pocket with the lanyard around my neck.

There's a pattern in the prior threads! Leica!

Ditto on the Leica 1200s.
My first one didn't work worth spit out past 200 yards. I e-mailed Leica. They said "send it back". 7 days later I get a "new" one at no charge, that work fantastic. My (new) rangefinder has actually ranged past 1200 yards on a couple of occasions although it was only 20-40 yards or so.

Swarovski Laser Guide 8 x 30

Excellent as a rangefinder. I have used this to range in weather that my friends' rangefinders can't get an accurate reading in. The 8x30 monocular side is superb. So much so that I usually use it instead of my 8x32 Leica binoculars. I still use binoculars for scanning vast areas but if I am on the move or make a quick stop I just use the Swarovski rangefinder around my neck. I have used it in heavy rain, including on an eight day trip to Alaska when it rained nearly the entire time. I have used it in the desert, in the mountains, and in the snow. I have an Ibex on my wall that I located, tracked, and ranged with it before delivering the shot. I bought an extra battery but I have been using the original battery for a few years without replacing it. The rangefinder is rugged, waterproof, and just too handy not to take with me. I really like it.

Put me down for the Swarovski as well. I also have the 8 x 30 and I use it for bowhunting, rifle hunting and also it will reach out for when I am shooting my Barrett. I have gotten accurate reading as far as 1920 yards with it.

quote:

Originally posted by pagosawingnut:
Put me down for the Swarovski as well. I also have the 8 x 30 and I use it for bowhunting, rifle hunting and also it will reach out for when I am shooting my Barrett. I have gotten accurate reading as far as 1920 yards with it.

Not doubting you but how do you know the reading was accurate to 1920 yards...or are you saying it just read to that distance?

Leica Geovid 10 x 42 BRF.

Great glass, as good as my Zeiss FL and Swaro EL 10 x 42s. And one less thing to carry and operation to perform. Glass your game, press the button, get you rifle....thwap.

I've thrown my Leica 1200 in my golf cart and use them on the course- though a great rangefinder in itself.

I have the Nikon 800 and it doesnt always seem to work. So it doesnt build confidence.

Leica LRF 1200; great range finder, near-instant readings and clear glass. I also think they are the best value among higher-end options. It will provide readings off non-reflective targets (i.e. game) out past 1000 yds.

My Nikon 800 has been terrific in every situation over 90 degrees and under 0 and didn't cost an arm and a leg. It is 4 years old and still has the original battery and reads way over 600 yards consistently. But given a choice with no budget restrictions I'd take the Leica. While my first rangefinder a bulky Bushnell worked great in general I avoid their products. From what I have seen personally in my extended hunting group the Leupolds are complex to use and poor performers in general. Just my opinion no statistically significant samples included.

I have a Leica and on big game it works as advertised but on small objects it has problems. We shoot steel prairie dogs (approx. 4"x8") out to 425 yards and beyond about 300 it has trouble even on the small cardboard number boards.
C.G.B.

I was thinking on this too. Mine is an older Nikon 800 from about 2001 that I bought when they first came out and I dont even think there was a Leica then. My Nikon has worked good but I know it is past due. It does work out to 600 pretty well but I have never been past that. I would have to think the Leica is better today, but maybe dogcat will post up after he tests it out if that is the one he goes with.

I too looked at the Leupold online at SWFA. But it seems to have lots of readings in it as they all do now. Inclination, azimuth, tangent, cosine, and holdovers comeups I dont need.... I just want a good reading. I do range the animals, but I will just range spots ahead of time too.

Interestingly I have had deer and antelopes and turkeys turn to look at you when you range them, even at some extended distances. I cant hardly think they can hear it and the amount of movement is so small, but it does happen sometimes. How about with the Lecia?

I have one of the 1,500 yard ones....don't even remember the make, but I leave it home in the vault anyway. It works okay, but I finally realized I was carrying unneeded weight.

I make it a policy to get close enough to the game that sighted in at 225 yards any of my hunting rifles has a point blank range good enough to kill elk (which is mainly what I hunt) or deer DRT at whatever range I need to shoot without holding over or adjusting the scope for elevation.

I do have another range finder but it is a left over from my black powder cannon days. It is a Swiss Wild brand (ponounced "willed") artillery rangefinder that ranges to at least 20,000 meters IIRC. The tube is 1 meter long and it takes two men and their sons to set up and use it in any reasonable amount of time. It's handy for ranging pastures, that sort of thing for future reference...as in "that farthest fence is 1413 yards away", but it sure isn't going stalking with me.

P.S.: The Wild did work well when we used to try long-range deer shooting (1,500-1,600 yards) with long range BR rifles in the high AZ desert country. Well enough anyway to teach me very firmly that such shooting at living creatures is inherently cruel and inhumane if it isn't absolutely needed for food.

I have the Swaro and recommend it as well.
Likes: ranges accurately out to 1600 (reflective), and have gotten returns on animals out to 800 consistently (pigs, coyotes, deer), sometimes farther.
Battery lasted 3 years with moderate use.
Glass quality is excellent, especially in lowlight
Scan mode works well
Have worked in all weather conditions except one failure during a blizzard on an elk hunt (not sure anything would have worked, though)
Have used them for probably 90 days/year for the last 5.5 years and they are still going strong.

Dislikes: ranges slower than the Leica 1200 I compared it to.
Sometimes reticle is too large for ranging distant animals and can be difficult to see if sun or light is behind you.
Narrow field of view compared to my binos, so I usually end up carrying both.

For what its worth, I seriously considered just going with the Geovids, but the weight turned me off and I had a hard time biting the bullet on the price of them.

Good luck, hope this helps.

Ditto what the Swaro guys have said; love mine. Also is about 5 yrs. old.

quote:

Originally posted by FMC:
Leica Geovid 10 x 42 BRF.

Great glass, as good as my Zeiss FL and Swaro EL 10 x 42s. And one less thing to carry and operation to perform. Glass your game, press the button, get you rifle....thwap.

I've thrown my Leica 1200 in my golf cart and use them on the course- though a great rangefinder in itself.

Ditto!! The only problem that i haven't encountered with it yet is the horror stories i hear about service issues--Thk. God mine hasn't needed any yet.

There is actually another little problem with it though, that 1 might not really think of-and that is the fact that i'm always the spotter now, since i'm always the 1st one to get the range to the game...? My buddy's Swaros and Leica RF's never see the light of day anymore since they don't even have to pull theirs out of their pockets.

I guess the most fun RF'ing system though is my backup reticle systems--'cause it's very rewarding to get the range right from calcs.

I don't know about the good ones, but my Bushnel 800 is not good enough on game. It will work fine on a tree or a car, but will not register on a small animal, antelope, deer, etc. at the ranges where I need it. Works fine at 200 yards, I don't need a range finder at 200 yards. I'm also in the market for a new one, but can't justify $2500.00 for a Leica.

quote:

but can't justify $2500.00 for a Leica.

$800.00 will get you a 1200 yard Leica.


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