Leica 1600 Reticle

[gilmillan1]

Hello,

I have been trying my new leica rangefinder. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to range some deer at around 600 yards. However, I was having trouble ranging the deer because the reticle was larger than the deer. I have read that some people use only a certain portion of the reticle to range small objects. So my question is, which portion of the reticle should I focus on when ranging deer? Should I place the deer in the center of the reticle? Should I use the top bar of the reticle to range it or should i use the lower bar of the reticle?

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[kcebcj]

I have a new 1600B and am assuming the box reticle is the size of the beam at whatever distance you are looking at. Could be wrong about that as could find nothing addressing it. The farther out the more it covers. I think dead center is the spot you want the target to be unless there is a tree limb or something encroaching into the box. It will read the closest object as in the deer not the hill side behind it. That's my take on it.

 

[gilmillan1]

Anyone else?

 

[LouBoyd]

A way you can test the beam position shape, and orientation is to aim at a reflective road sign at a long distance (1500 yards ? ) and see where in the area of the reticle area you can and can't get a reading.

The aiming square is about 10 arcminutes (10 moa). (on my CRF 1600, not a B model)
The beam shape is roughly elliptical and is speced at 0.5 x 2.5 milliradians (mils) which is 1.7 x 8.6 moa. At long range the beam should be centered in the square. The laser is mounted 1-3/4" below the telescope so it will appear that low on the target. That shouldn't matter at over 100 yards.

I don't attempt to measure the distance to animals directly at long range. The hair on most animals is a poor reflector in the 800-1000 nm wavelength range. When possible I'll measure to a nearby tree, bush, or rock if I can determine that it's at the same distance as the animal.