Range finders?

[supercrossbmx69]

Let's hear everyones opinion on rangefinders. Im looking to buy one for 1000+ yards and cannot make up my mind. I was looking at the G7 but is it really worth the price? What about the swaro. Rangefinder? Im just looking for the best rangefinder for the best price that will work past 1000yrds. Thanks for your input!

 

[COBrad]

I have used a small handful of rangefinders, and only two of those had realistic ranges of over 1K yards. I once read somewhere that most rangefinders will work to about 65% or so of their rating in unfavorable light conditions. I have found that to be pretty accurate.
I used a Leica LRF 1200 for several years. It was a really good unit, but light had to be decent ranging against a good target for a reading. I could count on it for around 800 yards most of the time.
I have been using the G7 for the better part of the year now, and am very happy with it. To me it is well worth the money. I was out ranging cattle looking directly into a bright morning sun on several occasions, and it almost always got me out to 11 or 1200 yards under those conditions. In good light I have got out to 2000.
The really great part is the ballistic solutions. They are fast and accurate. I set my unit to give solutions in MOA. I shoot a Schmidt Bender and Nightforce with MOA reticles and 1/4 MOA turrets.
The system is very fast.
From my limited experience I give my G7 two thumbs up.

 

[supercrossbmx69]

CObrad, can you explain all the features of the g7 please?

 

[bassin93]

The G7 is a great rangefinder if you do not already have a handheld device with a ballistic program on it. It will store your info and give you a comeup out to 1400 yards. Than includes angle, elevation (barometric pressure)and temp. If you already have the device with the program and a weather station then the G7 is a spendy rangefinder at 1600 dollars and I would go with the leica or swarovski for under a grand. I played with one at Shawn Carlocks shooting class last month. I liked my leica better. my .02

 

[COBrad]

I believe you can find the manual on their site. The unit uses the G7 ballistic software, the same as can be found here on LRH. Input your data and when you range a target it measures air density, elevation, and angle and gives you a solution based your data along with the atmospheric conditions. There are a few modes available to express the range. You can get a line of sight range, corrected range, and a MOA correction. My preferences give me LOS followed in just a couple seconds by MOA.
It also has 4 different brightness settings, a quick adjust diopter, and a focus ring. I think I get better clarity and resolution of distant targets than I did with my Leica.
You can also input 5 different sets of data for different rifles or loads.
I was looking at a Vectronix unit along with an electronic weather station and a PDA with ballistic software. More expense and a lot more time and messing around getting corrections. The G7 is rated to give corrections out to 1400 yds, and from there out to 2K it gives LOS.

 

[Augustus]

Vectronics TERRIPIN, those mentioned in the above posts are not in the same class. At 1995.00 the TERRIPIN is not cheap but if you are serious about ranging deer, coyotes, Elk etc at 1000 plus this is the way to go.

 

[COBrad]

No doubt the Terrapin is in another class, but also necessitated the other instruments and a lot more time arriving at corrections. For my intended use, out to 1200 yards, I feel the G7 is superior in it's speedy calculations and lower overall cost involved.

 

[Jordan Smith]

Lowest price that works well past 1000 yards? I'm pretty happy with the Bushnell Fusion 1600, and I understand the Leica CRF 1600 is also very good in that price range.

 

[Augustus]

The beam divergence on the G 7 at 1000 yds is Around 6 ft by 12 ft. It will be very difficult to range game animals accurately at that distance. If the terrain is flat, forget it. The Bushnell 1600 is even worse.

The bean divergence on the TERRIPIN at 1000 yds is 18 inches by 6 feet.

 

[yotehunter243]

I have played with the Leica 1600 several times. I could get lots of readings out to 1,900 yards easily with it. I have one on its way and i believe it will be all i will need.

 

[Len Backus]

I waited 3 years while the G7 BR2 was being developed. When I had a chance to try a prototype an ugly drool formed on the left corner of my mouth and didn't go away until I was able to buy one a year later. I used mine all last hunting season.

Then 8 months later Aaron asked me if I'd like to be a dealer. Silly question.

Now available in the LRH Store.

 

[COBrad]

The beam divergence on the G 7 at 1000 yds is Around 6 ft by 12 ft. It will be very difficult to range game animals accurately at that distance. If the terrain is flat, forget it. The Bushnell 1600 is even worse.

The bean divergence on the TERRIPIN at 1000 yds is 18 inches by 6 feet.

I read this argument before I bought the G7. I called and spoke directly with Aaron about this issue. He explained the technology, but the long and short of it for me is that I have not had this problem. I have ranged prairie dogs at ranges nearing 1K yards, probably getting the mound or grass around him, and admittedly it is sometimes hard to get a range on one depending on the light and terrain, but all in all, it has worked great.

 

[Jordan Smith]

The beam divergence on the G 7 at 1000 yds is Around 6 ft by 12 ft. It will be very difficult to range game animals accurately at that distance. If the terrain is flat, forget it. The Bushnell 1600 is even worse.

The bean divergence on the TERRIPIN at 1000 yds is 18 inches by 6 feet.

I've ranged deer out to a little over 1300 yards on flat terrain with the Bushnell. I haven't had a chance to try it any farther on game, but I'm confident it'll go beyond that. It's pretty easy to aim above the animal, and come down until you get a consistent reading. I've used the Bushnell to get first-round hits on 8-12" rocks at 800 yards, 983 yards, and 1130 yards. It obviously can't be all that terrible if it enables me to hit the small targets that I'm aiming at at those ranges. It's got some features that allow you to select the farthest item within the beam dispersion, or the closest, which helps to mitigate the problem of having a larger dispersion than the more pricey RF's out there.

There is no question that the Bushnell and Leica 1600 are at the low end of the price range when it comes to RF's that will work on game out beyond 1000. The more you're willing to pay, the better a product you get. The guy asked for the cheapest RF's that'll get out to 1000. The Bushnell is around $750, and the Leica is around the same price (although the Bushnell is a RF/bino, while the Leica is just a RF), the G7 is a better unit, but costs twice as much at $1,500, and the Terrapin is even more at $2,000. If you want to get an even better RF, you can look at the Vectronix PLRF10 at ~$3,000, or better yet would be the Vector 21, but you better be prepared to pay $10,000 for that one.

It all just a matter of getting the best RF performance that you can afford.

 

[LazzInc]

best one for me in the field so far is my Swarovski hand held monocular with rangefinder built in ,,,,,, light, easy to use and works in bright sun past 1,000 yards on small targets ,,,,,