Rangefinder Field Test: Swarovski 8x30 Laser Guide Vs. Leica CRF 1600 Rangemaster

[royinidaho]

Originally Posted by Broz

I had a Swaro Laser guide that you needed to hold left of the center of the pole about a foot or two to get a reading. Once I learned the beam and reticle were not aligned the unit worked alot better for me.
Jeff

The 1200 LRF I had was similar. The beam was centered on the bottom edge of the reticle. It was spot on for windage. Ran some drop tests, the beam has zero drop/

[kdvarmint]

Originally Posted by kdvarmint

PINE TREES??? Great info guys. Anyone have any "testing" for us varmint hunters? I'm very interested in the 1600, and would like to know how it does on something like a groundhog in a flat open green field at 1000 yards. Any feed back is greatly appricated.

Thanks, kd.

My question was somewhat extreme I know, but you get the point of what I'm trying to do. Ranging groundhogs in open fields gets very difficult and I just want to know what range finder works the best. They ALL get ranges off LARGE objects. I'm looking for the one that's precise, within reason. Not trying to be a smart#$$. I knew Pd hunters would give good input. Thanks for the help all.

kd.

[SBruce]

Originally Posted by kdvarmint

My question was somewhat extreme I know, but you get the point of what I'm trying to do. Ranging groundhogs in open fields gets very difficult and I just want to know what range finder works the best. They ALL get ranges off LARGE objects. I'm looking for the one that's precise, within reason. Not trying to be a smart#$$. I knew Pd hunters would give good input. Thanks for the help all.

kd.

The Leica has the smaller beam of the two (Swarovski vs Leica) Just because of that, I'd bet it's more likely to get the chuck or dog, or at least grass, brush, rocks or other objects closer to the dog/chuck........did that make sense.? I'll get to compare first hand in October.

I bet the Vectronix will beat the Leica pretty easily though. Just a matter of if you are wanting to spend close to $4K on it.

[kdvarmint]

Originally Posted by SBruce

The Leica has the smaller beam of the two (Swarovski vs Leica) Just because of that, I'd bet it's more likely to get the chuck or dog, or at least grass, brush, rocks or other objects closer to the dog/chuck........did that make sense.? I'll get to compare first hand in October.

I bet the Vectronix will beat the Leica pretty easily though. Just a matter of if you are wanting to spend close to $4K on it.

4k......ouch!.........momma wouldn't want to here that. Smaller beam makes sense.

[phorwath]

Well I talked to Camera Land today and believe it or not, the fella there said he did take the time to test some of their Demo CRF 1600 units for ranging distance. He said most of the units he tested were ranging out to 900 yard on a buildings in the city, but he tested one unit that ranged out to 1600 yards. He said it ranged farther than the others tested, so I told him to ship that one to me and I'd try it out. We shall see...

[phorwath]

I did receive a replacement Leica CRF 1600 Rangemaster laser rangefinder from Camera Land yesterday. I just took a few shots into some distant spruce trees and this one is ranging farther. I ranged spruce trees 1270 yards in one direction pretty reliably and consistently. Then I ranged some spruce trees down a dead-end road in other direction at 1427, 1428, and 1429 yards. I received distances from these ~1430 yard spruce trees on 3 out of 4 attempts. Right off the bat this unit is demonstrating substantially improved ranging capability compared to my original CRF 1600. These were standing, hand held shots (offhand) and the skies were mostly sunny. Looking very promising so far. Even this initial testing is substantiating others' experiences that these LRFs come with widely varying ranging performance.

I stepped out during a break at work, so I wasn't able to do a lot of testing. There are some overcast skies moving in, so maybe in another hour - at the end of my work day - I can take a few more shots under some cloud cover and see how it performs. If so, I'll update this post a bit later today...

[SBruce]

Hey good deal!

Glad you got one that is working better.