The LRF Wars. Is it really that bad?

most rangefinders will range a hard (reflective) surface at extended ranges. Try ranging animals and see which one registers, you'll be surprised. I had a chance to test two units on a farm. Both registered the silo at 900ish yards but only the Leica got a reading on the cow that was in the field at 800ish yards. The cheeper brand range finder would not register.

Good luck

Jerry

WildBillG said:

If it were my choice and for a mere 100 dollars more I'd get the Leica. I have a friend who has the 1600b and he uses it as his binos pretty much to a half hour after sunset. You will not likely be able to that with the Sig or Leupold models.

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This is spot on advice. I have used Leupold, Bushnell, Vortex Swaro, Leica but no Sig. I own 3 Leica, two CRF, 1200 and 2000, and a Geovid 10x42 HD. Nothing is in their league for a hunting RF let alone the quality of the glass. I never carry Binos when walking, only the CRF in my shirt pocket, unless I am in the mountains glassing all day. I use the CRF as a monocular 95% of the time. For the little price difference definitely go Leica.

Dean2 said:

This is spot on advice. I have used Leupold, Bushnell, Vortex Swaro, Leica but no Sig. I own 3 Leica, two CRF, 1200 and 2000, and a Geovid 10x42 HD. Nothing is in their league for a hunting RF let alone the quality of the glass. I never carry Binos when walking, only the CRF in my shirt pocket, unless I am in the mountains glassing all day. I use the CRF as a monocular 95% of the time. For the little price difference definitely go Leica.

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Think I'm just going to go Leica. Seems despite what is advertised by others it's the one brand that will consistently get me deer/elk at a 1000 yards. Seems reflective targets are rarely the problem with most LRF. What can you tell me about the 2000b? Info on it is really limited. Seems like people swear by their 1600B but of the little information there is on the 2000b there's been a few disappointed people who in the end went back to the 1600b. What's been your experience with the 2000? They both are the same price from euro optic, and if in theory the 2000 is the same as the 1600 reliability wise then it's a no brainer which one I'll buy for the money. 400 more yards of range is always a plus!

Midgetsniper said:

Think I'm just going to go Leica. Seems despite what is advertised by others it's the one brand that will consistently get me deer/elk at a 1000 yards. Seems reflective targets are rarely the problem with most LRF. What can you tell me about the 2000b? Info on it is really limited. Seems like people swear by their 1600B but of the little information there is on the 2000b there's been a few disappointed people who in the end went back to the 1600b. What's been your experience with the 2000? They both are the same price from euro optic, and if in theory the 2000 is the same as the 1600 reliability wise then it's a no brainer which one I'll buy for the money. 400 more yards of range is always a plus!

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I have had zero problems with the 2000 but I have only had it six months. My CRF 1200 is almost ten years old, has ranged thousands of reading and still works perfect. If you have a problem send it back to Leica but I have never talked to anyone that had to do that. Must be some failures but sure isn't common.

Realistically 1600 or 2000 makes no difference, I am not shooting game past 6 or 700 yards anyhow, most of the time we stalk well within 400 yards because to me the stalk is a big part of hunting. Even the 1200 will range Springbock (A very small animal) at 900 yards on a real sunny day. Only advantage to the 2000 is it has the ballistics function, which except for the angle reading I never actually use. I have a drop card on the stock of my gun, all I need to know is the actual range.

I don't have any experience with any other Ballistic LRF but with the
G7-BR2 because when I bought it it came highly recommended buy a friend that has one and uses it all the time. He inputs all the required load data and when he uses it, it gives him a firing solution in MOA for that load. so far it has been spot on for every shot. He has exceeded 725 yard shots on white tails many times and hit within 2 or3 inches of the POA every time.

I use mine as a monocular and a range finder and it is very accurate with the ballistic solutions. There are newer versions of the G7-BR2 that hold more ballistic solutions. the one I have will accurately and consistently read out beyond 1800 yards in all weather and on soft targets.

I bought mine through Len on this site and have been very happy with the LRF and the LRH stores service.

It is a very nice unit and I highly recommend it because it has never disappointing me and exceeds all of my needs (Except reading the wind and that's on me).

J E CUSTOM

I have a Leica 1600 (original). Works good and I'm happy with it. Very basic. Range, angle, temp. I'd get something rated well beyond of what your max shot range will be. The biggie though is "range" and if your range finder did nothing more than that, you still have a very powerful tool and the other data can be had other ways.

Well...i broke down and bought a Leupold 2800...after comparing at cabelas the return time on targets is part of what sold me....
Compared swaro rf bino, Nikon rf bino, Leupold 1600 and 2800...
Like the swaro but not the price...nikon was nice but heavy(and i like my switchpower Leupold binos, and the 1600 didn't pick up some easy targets...
The 2800 measured the house at same exact distance as the swaro and Nikon.....took a few pushes to get the 1600 to pick up the house at 1550yds...
Three more days of deer season local.....will get to play with them a few times and decide if i like them or not....who knows...may swap up to the swaro and sell everything else....

I ended up going with the Leica 2000-B. Even though info was limited on the 2000 and there were things that really drew me to the Sig 2200 BDX and Leu RX2800.(Ballistics,slightly better price point, "supposed" longer ranging distance than the Leica) I Just couldn't bring myself to take the risk of it not working in a hunting situation. Given the 1600-B had rave reviews I chose the 2000-B in hopes of the same performance, but guess time will tell. I always seem to get unlucky with stuff. My friends always tease that if something can fail or break I will be the person to make it happen. I Just got it yesterday so I'm not going to say a whole lot yet but things look promising. I was ranging on coming traffic to 1750 yards last night and bounced the neighborhood horses at 300. Biggest chore is holding the thing steady. I'll keep you posted after it's three day elk excursion later this week. Thanks for your input!

Glad you found something. Look forward to hearing your evaluation after the hunt. Tip for holding them steady, use two hands and brace your elbows against your chest.

I will be REALLY surprised if you are not 100% satisfied with them. Just the quality of the optics, compared to your two other choices you mentioned, will make all the difference. The Leica's ability to range in adverse conditions is also a big plus over so many of the other RFs I have used.

I've looked (and looked) at the newer LRFs and agree, it's amazing the wealth of choices we have.

To me the very best LRF is the Leica HD B 3000. It has superb optics with a programmable ballistics Micro SD card and many built in sensors. All you need is a wind sensor input (say via Bluetooth) to give a final firing solution.

Eric B.

I have the rx-2800.
It's awesome, has changeable reticle with a tiny cross being an option so you can pinpoint.
I ranged an antelope on the weekend at 1292 yds no problem, quick as can be too. I've ranged bales out to 2400yds and it seems to do any hillside out to 2100 yds easy
I like it and won't be getting a new rf for a long time

So I had my Leupold 2800 for the last three days of season...first day was limited hiking area...but able to shoot the laser on several rocks and trees..rightly don't remember if i maxed it out....but all readings have been so fast, and returns from shadowy area(where my Leupold 1200 had troubles) that i was very impressed...
Second day a much bigger canyon hike....ranging moose at 600 and another at 1400....each and every push of the button with a return distance....sweet...
Last day of season...bigger hike into a canyon that was supposed to be nonmotorized....NOT...I think every quad, side-by-side and truck hqd been in there...hiked to top of ridge and quad tracks there.....disappointed....and no deer in the valley...big surprise....but i did see a doe across into the next valley....ranged her at 1000 yards no problem....this day I played with the
Leupold 2800 quite a bit......furtherest I saw registered was over 2900 yards......and still only took a second or so to read that distance...
As for clarity to the 7 power eyepiece..it is adjustable for focusing...and is fine for viewing...it isn't a top end bino of course...by .m.more than adequate for the job at hand....
All my registered hits were of natural surrounding..bushes trees rocks...havent tried and long distance on more reflective objects like houses...
I am absolutely satisfied with the Leupold 2800 rangefinder...and the price point of sales....at cabelas it was $500....but with saved points...$400...

I've had the Bushnell 1 Mile ARC 10 x 42 binocular for about 6 years. At the time they were the best bang for the buck. Now they are merely "OK". They have an angle compensator only for the shot range "bow mode", not for rifle. Why, I don't know.

I got them for about $400. on a warranty deal B/C my Yardage Pro 1000 LRF went tits up even after Bushnell fixed them. So I did not have much choice in what I got, just monocular or binocular from Bushnell. They are always good for 800 yards/meters on semi-reflective stuff like rock faces.

But when I hit the lottery it will be Leica HD B 3000 or its update.
And by that time maybe all I'll need is a greatly enhanced Eliminator III type scope and a wind meter. Fingers crossed...

Eric B.

Midgetsniper said:

After pouring over pages until my head has started to hurt and eyes have started to bleed I must say, I'm at a total loss. My girlfriend offered to buy me a rangefinder for my birthday and I happily skipped to here,SH, LRonly etc. to do some research. Immediately I noticed a gap and a huge one at that. Seemed like the only real solid choices were expensive rangefinders. Being that I am a realistic person and not an ******* the obvious choices are out Terrapin, Leica 2700 etc(I'm not making her fork out 800+ for a LRF).. a friend offered me a great deal(Sub $300) on a Sig 2200 BDX and Leupold RX-2800. But after a ton of research the Leu has almost no reviews and the sig 2200 is a bloody ****ed off war zone of FU Sig vs I love Sig. The only others I feel confident about considering is the older Leica 1600R or 2000B from Euro optic. The Leica 2400 is a possibility but I'm kinda hoping to get a LRF with ballistics... So is the Sig 2200 really that bad quality and CS wise? If I go Leica which one? I've heard some negative stuff about the 2000 which makes me consider the 1600 more. Any input over this fiasco would be great. Need the capability to range steel to 1500yd and elk/deer to 1k . I'll be posting this a few other places to diversify my input data. Thanks Again!

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Midgetsniper said:

After pouring over pages until my head has started to hurt and eyes have started to bleed I must say, I'm at a total loss. My girlfriend offered to buy me a rangefinder for my birthday and I happily skipped to here,SH, LRonly etc. to do some research. Immediately I noticed a gap and a huge one at that. Seemed like the only real solid choices were expensive rangefinders. Being that I am a realistic person and not an ******* the obvious choices are out Terrapin, Leica 2700 etc(I'm not making her fork out 800+ for a LRF).. a friend offered me a great deal(Sub $300) on a Sig 2200 BDX and Leupold RX-2800. But after a ton of research the Leu has almost no reviews and the sig 2200 is a bloody ****ed off war zone of FU Sig vs I love Sig. The only others I feel confident about considering is the older Leica 1600R or 2000B from Euro optic. The Leica 2400 is a possibility but I'm kinda hoping to get a LRF with ballistics... So is the Sig 2200 really that bad quality and CS wise? If I go Leica which one? I've heard some negative stuff about the 2000 which makes me consider the 1600 more. Any input over this fiasco would be great. Need the capability to range steel to 1500yd and elk/deer to 1k . I'll be posting this a few other places to diversify my input data. Thanks Again!

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If ur goal is accuracy at 1000 yds, get ready to spend some money