Hi Andre, the differencebetween ranging with areticle,in eithera scope, binoculars or spotting scope compared to a lazerrangefinder is like comparing snail mail to email.
the lazeris more accurate and is faster. i wouldn't be without a lazer range finder. Now having said that,it is a good idea to always have a back up, thats where the beauty of a reticle designed for ranging comes into its own, when your batteries run out on the LRF you still have the ability to range with the reticle,thats why you should practice ranginmg with the reticle and verify with the lazer as often as possible. now the ranging reticles are in most cases (certainly that of the mildot) are designed for ranging the human torsoe, which tends to be 1m in length(as most of the height difference in a human is due to the length of thier legs), you misjudge the range slightly and you are still ginna hit centre mass and cripple the enemy, different game altogetherif you are hunting lets say deer or wild hogs,herewe are aiming for the vital zone, some times refered to as boilerroom, its about the size of a small paper plate, maybe 6 to 8 inches across, misjudge the range here and you have a miss, or even worse a wounded animal. Deer tend to vary greatly in length and depth, this can screw up your ranging calculations quite a bit when using a reticle, as you rely on a constant,or x factor, that bieng the size of the target (deer/pig) you are ranging, is this target 25% larger or smaller your calculations areall to pot.
Buy the Leica 1200 Scan. or if you haven't any bino's yet buy the leica geovid, 10x40 or 8x40 combined bino/LRF. The Steiner bino's are of excellent quality, tough as old boots, superb glass, excellent customer service, but the 10 miliradian reticle is more for ranging for artillery and air strikes than it is for deer, the 10 miliradian is to big for ranging deer, you need 1 miliradian (which is what the mildot is based on.
hope i have helped you mate.. Pete
