Thread: Which rangefinder?

I use a Yukon Extend LRS for all my ranging, and the longest range that I have managed was 1970 metres on a cool morning (on houses), and 1486 metres on cattle in a paddock. As the day heats up, all rangefinders lose efficiency because the infrared pulse is affected by ambient heat, and humidity can also be a factor. Only side-by-side tests have any relevance.

Longest I have range on an animal was Rushys deer at 900 ish yards. Thats on a bright sunny day. Have ranged pine trees at just over 1000 on sunny days also.

Just had another play with my rangefinder. Mine is actually a Bushnell Yardage Pro 1000, but I couldn't range the cows reliably (in bright sunlight) much passed 650yards and sometimes this took a bit of doing. I got a reading on the neighbours house about 850 yards away, but on flat grass when trying to range the base of fence posts I could only get to a little over 550 yards. Anything under 500 is an instant find, so the theory of taking the max value and dividing it in half seams to stack up. I might try changing the battery and see if that helps?

Up until yesterday 620 yards had been the longest (hunting) shot I'd done, but I think it may be time for a new RF just so I can get the most out of my rifle if I'm going push the range out a little further.

Thanks for all the help.

kj

Originally Posted by kimjon

Just had another play with my rangefinder. Mine is actually a Bushnell Yardage Pro 1000, but I couldn't range the cows reliably (in bright sunlight) much passed 650yards and sometimes this took a bit of doing. I got a reading on the neighbours house about 850 yards away, but on flat grass when trying to range the base of fence posts I could only get to a little over 550 yards. Anything under 500 is an instant find, so the theory of taking the max value and dividing it in half seams to stack up. I might try changing the battery and see if that helps?

Up until yesterday 620 yards had been the longest (hunting) shot I'd done, but I think it may be time for a new RF just so I can get the most out of my rifle if I'm going push the range out a little further.

Thanks for all the help.

kj

The divide it in half theory is only relevant two the cheap finders,
A Leica 1600 will go 1600,
1200 will do 1200,
It may come back two 1000 in bright sunlight, I've owned/played with them all
You won't beat the Leica, and the beam is not massive like some of the cheaper copies.

bushnell fusion range finding binos. watch trade me for some 2nd hand for about half the price.

The only ones I would reccomend are Leica , Swaro & Vectronix , & currently using the Leica & Vectronix as my main range finders .

Later Chris

The only ones I would reccomend are Leica , Swaro & Vectronix , & currently using the Leica & Vectronix as my main range finders .

Later Chris

Don't hold off ... just get saving and buy the Leica 1200/1600 ... you will never regret it. I have the 900 from about 5-7 years ago and just works a treat.

My Bushnell Fusion Bino will reliably range to 1400 yards on trees and the best I have had is 1750 on a cloudy day.

Buy once cry once

Spend a little more then you want to and you should be right.

I have a lica 1600 and have ranged to over 2000y

Anyone checked out the G7 BR2 rangies? Seem to have some pretty advanced features like temp and air pressure.

www.gseven.com/products/G7-BR2

Well I was generously lent a Yukon 1000 rangefinder from a Forum member (I wont name him in case he gets a thousand PM's from others haha). I then did a comparison test with the following range finders that I managed to beg or borrow off a few people:

Bushnell Yardage pro 1000
Yukon 1000
Leica LSR 900
Leica Geovid (tested on a different day - but same location)
Leica LSR1600 (tested on a different day - but same location)
Zeiss bino type (can't remember name - vitory???)

Long story short all of them could range cows out to 600y okay. Then the Bushnell struggled after that. The others all stopped ranging cows at about 920y or there abouts.

So I aimed it at tree's and hedge rows, and the Leica 900 and Geovid (older model) stopped getting results at 950y...the others kept going out to about 1400-1600 ish if you held it super steady.

So the Yukon at $360DNZ (off ebay delivered door to door from Australia) seamed pretty good buying to me, compared to other remaining options that cost thousands of dollars more. So that's what I've done.

To be honest, I would have loved to have brought a Leica...but there was no measureable difference in ranging performance between the cheaper Yukon and the Leica. I wasn't too concerned about optics as I have good bino's already. But the glass in the Yukon was far superior to the glass in the Leica 900 and the Bushnell. But then the other's had better glass than the Yukon did.

Anyway, not sure if that's of any help - but those are the results I've got from actual use.

kj

Nice review kj:thumbup:
Tho it might upset some leica snobs :rolleyes:

I would happily put my hand up and say my geovids are a little disappointing in the ranging department. 950yards absolute maximum for me, usually always get 700 but I really hoped I would be able to get 1200. They are the old model non HD 1300yard model.

I ummed and ahhed about buying a leica rangfinder , but in the end I got a bushnell which was in similar price bracket. They reliably range out to 6-700 metres and ive had them on 1130 on a reflective surface . Im unlikely to shoot that far anyway so it suits my needs and has a few other things like telling you how high to aim for your given trajectory and the shooting angle