el matador
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2008
- Messages
- 647
I went out in the desert today and was able to laze a few objects with my new deer hunting rangefinder, a Vortex Ranger 1000. Compared it side by side with my buddy's Leica CRF-1600B and thought I'd share my experience. At first we tried to find somewhere to set up a 500 yard target so we were ranging a little knob of dirt...The Vortex was coming back with 590 yards while the Leica kept reading 540 time after time. I was a little concerned, until I realized that 590 yards is very close to 540 meters! After checking the Leica we confirmed that it had in fact been ranging in meters. Once it was changed to yards the readings lined up within 1 yard on everything we ranged. So there's one small strike against the Leica I suppose...it's not readily obvious which units you are using. I started clicking all over the place with each rangefinder to get a good feel of each. The Leica ranged reliably out to 1500 yards...I didn't really push it to find it's limits because I already knew it would outdo the Vortex by a ways. I have been told they will range stuff out to 1900+ but have not verified that personally. Most rangefinders I have used will only give reliable readings on rocks, trees, and deer out to about 60% of their rated range. Not so with either of these babies. I got consistent and accurate readings back out to about 900 yards on trees, grass and rocks with the Ranger 1000. It may very well give readings beyond 1000 on a reflective target but we didn't have any. One interesting test we performed was when setting up our target at 800 yards. We drove up the hill and ranged back to our setup, placing the target right at 800. We then drove back and ranged the target from our firing position and got exactly 800! Both rangefinders passed this test with flying colors. The only thing I didn't like about the Vortex was the amount of time it took to return a range. It was several times as long as the Leica, probably a full second or more. But overall I thought both rangefinders were excellent. Great optics, consistent readings, and capable of ranging beyond my expectations. Hopefully this little review helps somebody out who is looking for a new rangefinder.
