Hello Ladies and Gents -
I'm torn between the Leica 2000-B (well nigh on 3 year-old-tech) and the 2400-R (recent tech).
So I only have about $500 to play with and am looking to buy my 1st ranger finder. I have an anemometer, but having the temp. in a display would be very helpful.
I'll use it for semi-long range hunting (out to 900 max for now) and a bit of stick-bow hunting.
In advance, thank you
Hey fmajor,
Just seeing this today. I have, or have had, a few RF's from Leica, but don't currently have a 2400r, though in my conversations with Leica, I am pretty familiar with it's performance. In Leica's, I am currently running a 2700 and a 2800, but had a 1600 in the past.
The answer is somewhat complicated for a post, so if you want to PM me to arrange direct contact for more info, please don't hesitate. I'll ping you with my number.
I assume we are talking Leica CRF's only here, no other brands etc.
As a bow hunter, if you want a b model, you want to go 2000 or newer, 1600b's were not setup to run well for bows. 2000's and newer run well.
You mention shooting to 900 yards...not sure you are talking animals or steel here. But either way, in that case, you need a solution that will be fairly accurate, which means, at least in my experience, preset curves are not probably going to cut it. In my experience, you can usually rely on one being close enough out to 600 yards or so, but once you go further, you likely will want to be using a custom curve. Not that it's impossible that you will match up sufficiently for 1k type shots, but none of my rifles did.
So if you go with a 2000b or a 2400, you are going to probably want a separate solver (phone, kestrel with AB, etc.). Though the 2000b has environmentals and ballistics onboard, the ballistics require you to choose from a preset, no custom curves can be utilized, so you still want a solver for the long shots. The 2400 only does distance and angle, so you will need to gather environmentals from another device etc. to enter into the solver.
If you want the RF to do it internally and use a custom curve, a 2700b or 2800.com is what you would need, but those bust your budget substantially.
Between the 2k and the 2400, the 2400 will range a little farther. The 2k does give you ballistics, but I don't trust them past mid range distances anyways. That said, if your hunting shots will be more limited in distance, then the 2k ballistics may work for you....it all depends how close your curve matches up to one of the presets. But I would not personally bank on it working to 900 yards.
Oh, one other thing...the temp readings in the RF's are very susceptible to drift...that is your body heat, the sun, etc...they will drift considerably and take a while to stabilize...up to 30 minutes depending. So step out of a warm truck into cold air, and you will not have a proper temp for a solution for some amount of time.
Hope that helps your decision a bit, like I said, feel free to PM me if I can help further.