Review of Leupold RX4

[JD338]

goodgrouper,

Thanks for the report on the Leupold RXIV. Very disappointing read, I have one on order that should be arriving in the next couple of weeks. This makes me want to put on the breaks! Most all of my shooting will be in the 600 yd and under area but still would like to have a 1500 yd range finder that reads 1500 yds (800 yds for deer/game)!

Please keep us updated with your findings and what the Leupold designers are going to do.
One question for Leupold, if there is indeed a design
flaw(s), will Leupold offer an exchange for the people who bought RXIV's?

Thanks again for all your efforts.

Best Regards,

JD338

[Inukshuk]

Woah
Realy glad I was directed to this thread, since I was looking at the:
Bushnell Elite 1500 ARC Rangefinder
Leupold: RX-IV Rangefinder
Looks like the Bushnell is the way to go.
Just wondering if it's realy worth it for all those extras though, or just get a simple range finder.?? I've got other ranging capabilities "IOR scope with MP8, H.R.T. watch, Shooterready CD, Mildot Master".??

[Andy W]

K-I-S-S
The Leica and Swaro are leaps and bounds above the Leupold because they are brilliantly simple, by design and function. More options may be better in a Mercedes Benz, but not a rangefinder. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Flybuster]

GG, your review is very accurate. Why could'nt I have read this before I bought my rx4?

[bth]

I do hope you end up getting another unit and re-testing. I had a unit that I was disappointed with (as did a friend of mine) we tested side by side with bushnell units. The bushnell unit and the leupold were neck and neck out to 400 yards. Both gave the same numbers and were decently quick at getting the results on the screen. The leupold was admittedly slower.

So my buddy sent his in and asked that they check it out and make sure everything was ok. A couple weeks later he got a brand new unit. When he tested this unit all seemed perfect and he was very happy. So I wrote Leupold a letter explaining the full situation and they tested mine and found it to be deficient. Being that I wrote a proper letter and fully explained what I was seeing one of the technicians actually tested several units and shipped me the best performing of the lot.

The unit I now have works fantastically. I have zero complains. First thing I did was set it on a table and checked the zero of the inclinometer. Perfect. 0 is at zero. I checked it at 1 through 5 degrees and every five degrees to 45. error is less than 1% across the spectrum.

I then took the range finder out into the front yard and ranged the very tip of some trees that I could see over a house across the street. 521 yards! Read the same distance 5 or 6 times all read 521 yards except for one (it was 523 yards) Hell that could be just me getting through the leaves and reading the trunk instead of the leaves.

Next I range the store down the road. 212 yards. I turn and range the tree at the other end of the street 135 yards (no big deal).

So I walk down to a through street. I walked down the street and then ranged some traffic lights at the far end of the road. 1027 yards (ok now we're talking) but is that real? So I see a car half way between me and the lights. I read it at a bit over 500 yards. Then I keep tagging him and watch the car get further and further away until he stops at that light. I read 1004 yards to his back bumper. Funny thing is I read 1004 to his bumper 3 times. Then I read 1005 off his back window. I don't see how I could complain with performance like this.

I later took it out to my favorite shooting canyon and easily ranged known distance stumps accurately out to 975 yards. The unit is only rated to do 800 on trees. I also was able to range the 100 yard targets at my range accurately through the window of the range office. My first unit would only range the 25 yard targets through the window and failed to read the 50's.

I wonder if Leupold had a bad batch or bad first run and they've recently reved the boards cause the unit have now I wouldn't let anyone take from me! I know it was made in China but thats what it takes to keep costs down. People are already bitching enough about the price imagine if they had to pay the workers even more. It would be WAY too expensive.

As far as the operation of the unit I didn't find it too hard. I rarely have to dick with the >150 setting or first or last target. The only time I've had to do that is when I'm ranging through brush and I'm having a hard time with it wanting to range the bush at 20 yards instead of the stump at 300. (yes I even tested this and I was perfectly able to do this even with relatively heavy brush). I'm a computer engineer though and I rarely have problems with the operation of electronics. Granted a bit more intelligence could make the unit more "automatic" for many users but that would have upset users like me who appreciate being able to customize how the unit filters the data returned.

I think it would be nice if Leupold shipped the unit with two modes. a simple mode (which it would ship in) and then an advanced mode which takes a strange button combination to enter. That way people who complain about complex menus don't have to see the complex menus but people like me who appreciate the advanced signal filtering don't have to suffer in order to make the unit more "user friendly".

Just my two cents.

[dariuszczyszczon]

I just found this thread and realized that now im going for long range shooting the RX IV that i bought 2 yrs ago is not going past 700 yds any one have any suggestions since its out of warranty? Do the new ones still have problems? will leupold still cover it under warrenty? Or any other ideas