Range Finders

[gelhaargerald]

Starting to go down the rabbit hole with long range stuff. I have a lower version sig range finder. Its been great for what I have needed it for over the years.

Yesterday shooting at 420 yards it was really difficult to pick up the target with the 4 power optics on it. I ended up shooting the tree from the target and then we shot the tree from where we were going to shot from and just did the simple math.

I have never used a high end range finder. What are people using? How great are they are actually picking up the object you are shooting?

 

[First_Focal_Plane]

I have the Gunwerks BR4 and have used it at distances well beyond a mile. Built in weather station and ballistic solver.

Works well. I have a basic Vortex as well.

Both work well. I favor the BR4 for hunting applications as I’m not having to juggle rangefinder and ballistic apps for a solution.

Gunwerks BR4

 

[Ron Dan]

@Terry Houin you might want to jump in on this one.

 

[Rjohnson.307]

Sig Kilo5K is pretty hard to beat.

 

[Chiro1989]

I have used a Bushnell Scout ARC 1000 for at least 10 years, have not had a reason to replace it.

 

[jkrispies]

Methinks that you'll need to define your version of "long range" to get a proper answer to this question.

 

[gelhaargerald]

Methinks that you'll need to define your version of "long range" to get a proper answer to this question.

Sure but even at 420 yards I was having trouble picking up the target.

Another question would be how accurate does it really need to be? If you are shooting 20-30 yards off is that going to make a difference?

 

[First_Focal_Plane]

Sure but even at 420 yards I was having trouble picking up the target.

Another question would be how accurate does it really need to be? If you are shooting 20-30 yards off is that going to make a difference?

Depends greatly on the distance and the rifle / bullet / velocity - and your intended target size.

The drop for my MRAD in 6.5CM varies by 7.21 inches between 400 and 430yds.

Between 400 and 500 yds, the change in drop is 26.70 inches.

At distance, you also deal with shot dispersion.

 

[Al "Shifty" Schultz]

My personal preference is the REVIC BLR 10B optical clarity and ranging even in inclement weather has been amazing. I also have a LEICA Geovid, it's an older version... the glass is incredible, but the laser really struggles in inclement weather and even on bright sunny days, on non-reflective targets such as deer, elk, etc. it's challenging getting reads out beyond 600 yards.

 

[First_Focal_Plane]

Depends greatly on the distance and the rifle / bullet / velocity - and your intended target size.

The drop for my MRAD in 6.5CM varies by 7.21 inches between 400 and 430yds.

Between 400 and 500 yds, the change in drop is 26.70 inches.

At distance, you also deal with shot dispersion.

View attachment 2351

Worth adding to this discussion.

Quality ammo matters. In this case, I was shooting Hornady Match 6.5CM 140gr.

With an extreme spread of 68fps and STD Deviation of 17.5, shooting the same come up can easily translate to a miss.

I’m working through the back stock of Hornady ammo I’ve got, but since I’ve had my Garmin, I’ve noticed it doesn’t perform as well as I’d like it to.

STD Deviation closer to 10-12 for box ammo would be ideal. And boutique manufacturers can dial in closer to 7-9 consistently.

More consistent data with your ammo translates to fewer misses (at distance) all things being equal.

 

[robmcleod82]

Ive had a few over the years my current rf is a leica crf pro (they just released a new version thats even better, cunts) i had also bought a sig 5k a month before the crf pro was released. I used both of them for over a year and kept the leica and gave the sig to my best friend. The glass on the leica is lightyears ahead of anything sig ive ever had to my eyes. The actual rangefinding part i think id give the edge slightly to sig. The other big thing for me leica had over the sig was the available option to upgrade to applied ballistics elite where the sig 5k is only AB ultralite. Ultralite is probably fine for most hunters and will give corrections out to 850 yards. The leica with elite will spit it out as far as you can get a return on the laser. There are some interesting rangfinding bino options around these days but i dont have enough firsthand experience with them to offer much insight.
Also forgot to mention the sig 5k seemed to eat batteries.

 

[Milo'sSyndicate]

Starting to go down the rabbit hole with long range stuff. I have a lower version sig range finder. Its been great for what I have needed it for over the years.

Yesterday shooting at 420 yards it was really difficult to pick up the target with the 4 power optics on it. I ended up shooting the tree from the target and then we shot the tree from where we were going to shot from and just did the simple math.

I have never used a high end range finder. What are people using? How great are they are actually picking up the object you are shooting?

Split the difference; keep the "old" Sig range finder and get a new .300WinMag! Psssstttt....there's a beaut in the Classifieds now!

Cabela's has some interesting laser ranging binos. What's your budget?

 

[YETI]

I'm currently running a Sig Kilo 5K in my bino harness (FHF). I like that I can range something and the RF integrates with OnX to drop a pin where I ranged. I spotted a mule deer at about 600 yards. Marked his location with the Sig and then used OnX to get in range. If the wind hadn't changed I would have had a nice 3x3.

 

[gelhaargerald]

Split the difference; keep the "old" Sig range finder and get a new .300WinMag! Psssstttt....there's a beaut in the Classifieds now!

Cabela's has some interesting laser ranging binos. What's your budget?

I just bought the sig image stabilization binos last year.

 

[Matthew Moore]

I have the Maven RF.1 7x25 5-4500yd Rangefinder. I’ve liked it so far. Was able to range Dall Sheep from 150yards to 1,000yards. Got some readings of rocks/snow/grass patches out to 1,600yards. It was my first time ranging something out that far.

There is a field/forest toggle depending on conditions. Along with Line of Sight and Angle Compensation.

However I do not know how this rangefinder compares to any of the others mentioned. Also I hardly hear of anyone mentioning this Rangefinder when talking about other good rangefinders so maybe it’s not all that? Not sure.

 

[YETI]

I have the Maven RF.1 7x25 5-4500yd Rangefinder. I’ve liked it so far. Was able to range Dall Sheep from 150yards to 1,000yards. Got some readings of rocks/snow/grass patches out to 1,600yards. It was my first time ranging something out that far.

There is a field/forest toggle depending on conditions. Along with Line of Sight and Angle Compensation.

However I do not know how this rangefinder compares to any of the others mentioned. Also I hardly hear of anyone mentioning this Rangefinder when talking about other good rangefinders so maybe it’s not all that? Not sure.

Maven makes great stuff. I have a pair of their binos and a couple of their scopes.