Leica 1600B or Swaro Laser Guide 8x30 help

[Speedygoss]

I need a range finder as I am getting into long range shooting. I have found a decent deal on both these model range finders and need to move quickly in my decision before they are sold to someone else. Am I correct in the fact that the Swaro is just a rangefinder with no angle compensation. If this is true would you recommend the Leica 1600B which does? Guess I'm looking for your input on which is better for the application of long range shooting.

Thanks,
Speedy.

 

[Broz]

Having owned 5 Swaro's and several Leica's I much prefer the Leica for it's smaller more precise beam divergence. I have learned through much testing that I can not always trust the units with larger beams.

And yes the 1600B has a choice of trajectories, gives shot angle along with Baro pressure and temp. The Laser Guide only gives distance to the target readings.

Jeff

 

[Speedygoss]

Having owned 5 Swaro's and several Leica's I much prefer the Leica for it's smaller more precise beam divergence. I have learned through much testing that I can not always trust the units with larger beams.

And yes the 1600B has a choice of trajectories, gives shot angle along with Baro pressure and temp. The Laser Guide only gives distance to the target readings.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff,
I went ahead and bought the Leica after some more reaserch and your input.

Eric.

 

[porkchop401]

I have read that the Leica 1600b has the ability to calculate drop. How is ths done is it buy feeding figures about your load and such other pertanent info and if so will it display drop in MOA? I am ok with it not calculating drop but angle compensation is a must !

 

[smoked]

the only thing that I dont like with the leica is its hard to hold steady when your trying to range a milk jug or five gallon bucket at long range, i have ranged cars at 1800 yards and deer at 1730 but it depends on the day, glass is good to, invest in the tripod mount if you shoot alot of long range it can be handy

 

[ColoYooper]

I'm attempting to decide between these (2) rangefinders (among others). I hunt elk in Colorado, and ideally I'd like to leave the binoculars at home. The Leicas have a 7x24 lens, and the Swarovski's an 8x30 lens. I currently have crappy pair of Leupolds with 8x28 lens and they are worthless for any type of glassing. I'm going to Cabela's tomorrow to compare a bunch of rangefinders in person, but does anyone have any experience with the glassing capablities of these. NOTE: I'm certain the new Swarovski EL Range binoculars are EXACTLY what I need, but at $3000 I'd be gaining binoculars and loosing a wife. (for some that would be a win/win, but not in this case

 

[rick523]

Smoked: I have the 1600b that said I could not justify $100. for the adapter I put a rear shooting bag on top of the tri pod and all is good.JMO

ColoYooper: I do not thing a RF no matter the brand will sub for a decent pair of bino's I prefer 10x bino's for glassing and then switch to spotting scope to better study intended target. Again JMO

 

[switchback]

I would tend to agree with Broz on the size. When you are use to the size of the Leica and use a bigger range finder like the Swaro, you may kick yourself, about
trading as I did. I went back to the Leica 1600.

I also agree with Rick, even if you can not stand carrying binos, it is a very valuable tool. (Can't be replaced by glassing with a rangefinder)
Just for your info-- I had a hunter this year who carried the Swaro 10x28 pocket
binos which I thought was kind of a joke, after all they are opera binos right!!!
I use 10x42 Swaros all the time, but when I looked through and used the guys
opera binos, I was shocked at their performance. So much that I bought some. So if you can't stand binos, you might be able to stand these, you can
stuff them in a shirt pocket or wear them around your neck and they are hardly noticeable. They can be bought for around 500 bucks on the used market and are
worth every penny. They are alot better than peeking through a rangefinder when
some definite glassing is to be done.

 

[Kerk30378]

I have the Leica 1600 B It has no trouble ranging deer sized targets out to 1100 yards and a little over. I would highly recomend it.

I wouldnt use it as your only glass with it being only 7x. I would still invest into some nice glass for hunting. gun)

 

[ColoYooper]

Well yesterday I made the pilgramage to Sidney with my wife and compared the Leica 1600B, Swarovsky 8x30, and the Bushnell Fusion 10x42 outside at over 1100+ yards during mid day. The Bushnells truely are as bad as everyone reports. The Leica 1600B was the hands down winner. They also had a Swarovski EL Range behind the counter, but at $3000.00 I refused to even look at it. So I had the salesperson take the Leica 1600B up to the checkout area while my wife and I checkout the rest of Cabelas. We walk into the Bargin Cave and there behind the counter is a Swarovski EL Range 10x42 in new condition for $2600. Still too much. So the sales person lowers it to $2400 and I'm now the owner of the RangeFinder/Binos that I really wanted to begin with. Well the dog house was a bit crowded last night but my German Shorthair will get use to it.

 

[Pdvdh]

I have both the Leica 1600 (not the B model) and the Swaro Laser Guide. The Swaro definitely has the better glass, and I have gone on day hunts using only the Swaro Laser Guide to spot for black bears on spring and fall hunts in the mountains of Alaska. The glass is identical to the Swaro 8x30 SLC binoculars I own, as far as I can tell. Which is good enough for me. I also own 8x20 Swaro binoculars and I generally carry those rather than the large 8x30 SLCs on backpacking hunts. The 8x30s are nicer, but they're much bulkier and heavier to pack around.

My Swaro Laser Guide ranges as well as the Leica 1600 in the mountains where I primarily hunt. But others have confirmed that the Leica may be the better option for ranging in the flat lands where the ground next to the game animal can't be ranged in order to get an accurate distance.

I find myself using the Leica 1600 for most of my hunts because of the angle sensing feature, which is valuable in mountainous terrain. The Leica is also more compact than the Swaro unit, and a little lighter - which are considerations for backpack hunters. The primary advantage the Swaro has over the Leica 1600 is the quality of the glass, which really only comes into play when I decide to leave the binoculars behind and I'm relying on the Swaro Laser Guide to double as my binoculars. The Leica glass is plenty good for rangefinding. Just not the equal to the glass in the Swaro for purposes of glassing the hillsides.

 

[porkchop401]

Can sombody tell me if the angle comp feature on the 1600b works only with the ballistic program and thus is limitted to 880 yards where the program stops. If not what options are avalible for straight ranging and angle compensation with out a ballistic program that is effective to say 1200 yards?

 

[Kerk30378]

You can just shoot the angle without the ballistics. It will shoot angles up to + and - 60 degrees gun)

 

[BrentM]

couple of things. First congrats on the Swaro el with RF. Nice set up.

I have swaro el 10x50 with swarvision and would never ever ever use a RF in place of bino's, even cheaper ones. Looking through a mono glass drives me nuts.

After using a friends Swaro RF I bought the Leica 1600B. It wins in every category except glass.

To answer the question about angle you can use the slope degree or have the RF tell you the horizontal distance. For me, I use the horizontal distance vs the true distance so I don't have to input another number in my ballistics program (shooter). The horizontal range is the number that is meaningful to your bullet flight anyway.

Leica does have absolute baro and temp. Temp is so so. It takes a bit to match outside conditions and needs to be carried away from the body if you want accurate readings.

Last, Leica does have 12 drop charts you can choose from. You match your bullet drop to the chart and select the closest match. That works for the shorter distances. It has MOA, mils, etc.

For me, the Leica gives what I need the most: true range, adjusted range for the angle (horizontal), and absolute barometric pressure. I leave it on horizontal range all the time though. This is the meaningful number. Also, the Leica is crazy fast on returning a result and pretty dang accurate with the smaller beam.