New And Improved G7 BR2 Rangefinder Review
As I became more experienced with the G7 BR2 I found that by carefully observing my target in three dimensions as described previously I could anticipate the mode that was needed. Within a fairly short period of time I began to feel confident in my ability to acquire an accurate range when seemingly difficult interferences were present. If I couldn't acquire a range, I generally couldn't get a clean shot anyway.
A particularly difficult ranging challenge was presented last year in Wyoming while antelope hunting. I spotted a nice buck at about 700 yards in the rolling foothills of the Bighorns. In the foreground about 100 yards in front of the buck was a hill interfering to just below the buck's chest, covering most of his legs. In the background was another hill at what appeared to be a couple of hundred yards distant. My first reading was taken in the Far mode. I had most of the foreground hill in the lower portion of the G7's aiming square and the antelope captured in the top portion of the square. The reading was 727 yards. For the next reading I switched to Near mode. I placed the antelope's body in the lower portion of the aiming square and the background hill in the upper portion of the square. The readout was 727 yards, the same reading. That range proved to be dead on with a good chest shot with the 6.5x284.
I have developed a strong confidence in the use of the TruTargeting capability of the G7 BR2. I think the approach is a viable alternative for the more commonly accepted "small beam" approach, certainly for hunting at ranges to 1000 yards with my original G7 BR2, and I believe further with the improved model. With several animals taken in a wide variety of ranging scenarios, the TruTargeting capability of the G7 BR2 has succeeded in making me a believer in the old adage, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."
Field Testing
Living and working in the Northeast. I was unable to test the unit in my usual hunting habitat on game but felt that I could give it a good workout and use my prior testing experience to determine differences. I compared the original G7 BR2, the improved G7 BR2 and the Terrapin, ranging various target scenarios on a 1500 yard long stretch of power line. This setting provided a wide variety of low reflective targets, many with interferences which could give a good indication of relative performance between the rangefinders.
Additionally, I calculated a drop solution using my 6.5x284 hunting load inputs and compared the three. My targets of choice were sections of 1 foot diameter telephone pole sections oriented horizontally and vertically. This would provide the ability to capture foreground and background interferences. The dull brown low reflective surface, while not exactly the same as an animal's hide, seemed to serve well, particularly since I was comparing performance between the rangefinders. Overall, all three rangefinders performed well, particularly from mid range to 1000 yards. As ranges approach 800 yards, getting a steady rest with the rangefinders is critical in achieving an accurate range. In particular, I would note that keeping the 1Mrad target dot of the smaller beamed Terrapin on target was much more difficult than with either of the G7 BR2's.
When there are interferences, the larger beam of both G7 BR2's gives a bracketed readout indicating an interference. The bracketed readout would dictate a TruTargeting mode change, easily done with a push of the mode button to either Near or Far depending on your visual interpretation of the interference. If the interference is obvious, you can anticipate this before ranging, change the mode and quickly get a good read. Under these same interferences the Terrapin would give a direct reading if the beam was directly on the target. If not, it would produce multiple ranges (3D mode). You would have to determine which range is right, also based on your visual interpretation. In every case an accurate range could be determined with all rangefinders tested.
The improved G7 BR2's new ranging rectangle, combined with a matching, smaller beam size makes ranging deer sized targets at long range seem faster and easier than either the original G7 BR2 or the Terrapin, with its small 1 Mrad aiming point which needs a solid rest to hold on target. The new G7 BR2's 25% smaller beam/aiming rectangle is still large enough to keep on target more easily than the Terrapin, but small enough to improve ranging when compared to the original G7 BR2 past 1000 yards. I think this improvement in the G7 BR2 does a nice job of making ranging easier and more aligned with the 1400 yard calculation limit of the G7.
Here are ranging comparisons with calculated drops showing the BC/drop output of the G7 BR2's compared to the Terrapin.
Any of these three rangefinders will range and provide accurate drop solutions as shown above. The outputs between the three rangefinders are exceptionally close, indicating the use of the same algorithms. Both G7 BR2's provided ballistic solutions within seconds, compared to 15 seconds to 1 minute plus depending on the required inputs into the separate ballistic calculator when using the Terrapin. One of the questions that some are sure to ask concerns spin drift and Coriolis corrections. The G7 BR2 does not accommodate these variables and perhaps it would be a good idea to consider them as a future addition to the product. For hunting under 1000 yards I really don't worry much about Coriolis, and make a simple .5MOA correction in my windage for spin drift. For Coriolis corrections with those rare hunting shots on coyotes and busting rocks past 1000 yards I apply a .5MOA up or down correction if my shooting direction is west/east. This has worked quite well for me. With my ELR shooting I will continue to use my Terrapin/Kestrel/ Shooter BC set up, which is my preferred approach when the shots become much more technical.
For those interested in the ELR capabilities of the G7 BR2 and how the unit performs at the 2000 yard functional (2500 reflective) range spec, I did manage to do a limited amount of testing on some cows in a distant pasture off the highway. I ranged a lone cow with all three rangefinders that registered ranges between 1960 for the improved G7 BR2, 1962 for the original G7, and 1959 for the Terrapin. The maximum ranging spec has not changed with the improved G7 BR2.
Overall, I think the improvements of the G7 BR2 add nicely to what is already an excellent product. Would I like to upgrade from my original unit? Yes, but I wouldn't feel disadvantaged with my original unit given the success I have had over the past few years. I do hope Gunwerks makes the new case available to owners of the original G7. It's quite nice. It certainly seems to me that the designers of the G7 had the practical long range hunter in mind, and have done a nice job achieving this goal.
A particularly difficult ranging challenge was presented last year in Wyoming while antelope hunting. I spotted a nice buck at about 700 yards in the rolling foothills of the Bighorns. In the foreground about 100 yards in front of the buck was a hill interfering to just below the buck's chest, covering most of his legs. In the background was another hill at what appeared to be a couple of hundred yards distant. My first reading was taken in the Far mode. I had most of the foreground hill in the lower portion of the G7's aiming square and the antelope captured in the top portion of the square. The reading was 727 yards. For the next reading I switched to Near mode. I placed the antelope's body in the lower portion of the aiming square and the background hill in the upper portion of the square. The readout was 727 yards, the same reading. That range proved to be dead on with a good chest shot with the 6.5x284.
I have developed a strong confidence in the use of the TruTargeting capability of the G7 BR2. I think the approach is a viable alternative for the more commonly accepted "small beam" approach, certainly for hunting at ranges to 1000 yards with my original G7 BR2, and I believe further with the improved model. With several animals taken in a wide variety of ranging scenarios, the TruTargeting capability of the G7 BR2 has succeeded in making me a believer in the old adage, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."
Field Testing
Living and working in the Northeast. I was unable to test the unit in my usual hunting habitat on game but felt that I could give it a good workout and use my prior testing experience to determine differences. I compared the original G7 BR2, the improved G7 BR2 and the Terrapin, ranging various target scenarios on a 1500 yard long stretch of power line. This setting provided a wide variety of low reflective targets, many with interferences which could give a good indication of relative performance between the rangefinders.
Additionally, I calculated a drop solution using my 6.5x284 hunting load inputs and compared the three. My targets of choice were sections of 1 foot diameter telephone pole sections oriented horizontally and vertically. This would provide the ability to capture foreground and background interferences. The dull brown low reflective surface, while not exactly the same as an animal's hide, seemed to serve well, particularly since I was comparing performance between the rangefinders. Overall, all three rangefinders performed well, particularly from mid range to 1000 yards. As ranges approach 800 yards, getting a steady rest with the rangefinders is critical in achieving an accurate range. In particular, I would note that keeping the 1Mrad target dot of the smaller beamed Terrapin on target was much more difficult than with either of the G7 BR2's.
When there are interferences, the larger beam of both G7 BR2's gives a bracketed readout indicating an interference. The bracketed readout would dictate a TruTargeting mode change, easily done with a push of the mode button to either Near or Far depending on your visual interpretation of the interference. If the interference is obvious, you can anticipate this before ranging, change the mode and quickly get a good read. Under these same interferences the Terrapin would give a direct reading if the beam was directly on the target. If not, it would produce multiple ranges (3D mode). You would have to determine which range is right, also based on your visual interpretation. In every case an accurate range could be determined with all rangefinders tested.
The improved G7 BR2's new ranging rectangle, combined with a matching, smaller beam size makes ranging deer sized targets at long range seem faster and easier than either the original G7 BR2 or the Terrapin, with its small 1 Mrad aiming point which needs a solid rest to hold on target. The new G7 BR2's 25% smaller beam/aiming rectangle is still large enough to keep on target more easily than the Terrapin, but small enough to improve ranging when compared to the original G7 BR2 past 1000 yards. I think this improvement in the G7 BR2 does a nice job of making ranging easier and more aligned with the 1400 yard calculation limit of the G7.
Here are ranging comparisons with calculated drops showing the BC/drop output of the G7 BR2's compared to the Terrapin.
Any of these three rangefinders will range and provide accurate drop solutions as shown above. The outputs between the three rangefinders are exceptionally close, indicating the use of the same algorithms. Both G7 BR2's provided ballistic solutions within seconds, compared to 15 seconds to 1 minute plus depending on the required inputs into the separate ballistic calculator when using the Terrapin. One of the questions that some are sure to ask concerns spin drift and Coriolis corrections. The G7 BR2 does not accommodate these variables and perhaps it would be a good idea to consider them as a future addition to the product. For hunting under 1000 yards I really don't worry much about Coriolis, and make a simple .5MOA correction in my windage for spin drift. For Coriolis corrections with those rare hunting shots on coyotes and busting rocks past 1000 yards I apply a .5MOA up or down correction if my shooting direction is west/east. This has worked quite well for me. With my ELR shooting I will continue to use my Terrapin/Kestrel/ Shooter BC set up, which is my preferred approach when the shots become much more technical.
For those interested in the ELR capabilities of the G7 BR2 and how the unit performs at the 2000 yard functional (2500 reflective) range spec, I did manage to do a limited amount of testing on some cows in a distant pasture off the highway. I ranged a lone cow with all three rangefinders that registered ranges between 1960 for the improved G7 BR2, 1962 for the original G7, and 1959 for the Terrapin. The maximum ranging spec has not changed with the improved G7 BR2.
Overall, I think the improvements of the G7 BR2 add nicely to what is already an excellent product. Would I like to upgrade from my original unit? Yes, but I wouldn't feel disadvantaged with my original unit given the success I have had over the past few years. I do hope Gunwerks makes the new case available to owners of the original G7. It's quite nice. It certainly seems to me that the designers of the G7 had the practical long range hunter in mind, and have done a nice job achieving this goal.
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