Out of curiosity, what order would you put them in? I'm getting ready to buy a new one too and looking for about the same as the OP.
Bob
Hi Bob, I have owned a few of the Swaro's (5) and Leica's (4) and tested the Zeiss. Here is how I rate them.
For distance on any rock bluff or tree in low light.
Leica and Swaro are about the same averaging in the 1800 yard range. Again this is in perfect condiions and large objects. Owning 5 of them I can tell you the swaros are not all the same and a good one will go 1900 plus a little. Again in low evening light and a huge flat surface.
The Zeiss will follow them in the absolute distance test coming in about 1500 tops.
For precision, pertaining to hitting small precise objects, on flat ground and in ground clutter like sage brush or going into the edge of a timber on a standing bull and not grabbing a closer object or trees behind resulting in a mis range.
Leica ( bay far)
Followed by Swaro and then Zeiss.
This is directly related to the beam divergence ( beam size) of these units. Large beams will return reading easier and this will fool many users. The smaller beam units like the Leica require a solid rest but will be most likely to be hitting the object you are trying to range. The farther the distance the more this prevails and also the more a mis-range will screw you up.
Reticle size for a precision hold on the target.
Leica , hands down.
Ease in seeing the reticle, Leica again.
Shape , the Zeiss and Swaro are flat bottom units and easier to rest solid, so I will give them this one.
Size and weight. Leica is smallest and easily fits in a pocket.
Glass, all 3 are very good. plenty good for their magnification.
Magnification. The Swaro wins by 1x. But I don't see this as a deciding factor for me.
Adding all this up. It is the Leica 1600 for me in the under $1000 arena. and the Leica is a bargin at $750.
I recently got my hands on a G7-BR2 and am testing it now. When done I will report on it. So far the ballisics program in running right on with shooter and my proven drops. But I haven't yet set it up to fail due to its large beam, so that remains to be seen. So far I reall like it for ease and speed under 1000 yards. But I want to look at every aspect before I make a final evaluation. Also, I rate this unit in the next class up due to the over $1500 price tag. So it falls into the competition of the Vectronix Terripin. I am testing it against my Vectronix PLRF10 for accuacy, along with provind data on targets I am sure I know the exact distance of. These tests also include actual game animals in all conditions and terrain.
So the short answer of the 3 under 1K.
Leica 1600 CRF
Swaro Laserguide
Zeiss
Jeff