Rangefinders... Is paying for a built in inclinometer worth it?

[GABR13L]

Guess the topic says it all... is paying that much extra for the built in inclinometer worth it (e.g. Bushnell's ARC, Leupold's RXII, etc)? Maybe only if you live in mountainous areas? How critical are the calculations that it provides for accurate shooting? I frankly dont understand how shooting at an incline/decline affects range/POI... can someone kinda explain?

Just cant decide if I wanna pay for it or not.

 

[Len Backus]

Ward Brien, builder of the Angle Cosine Indicator, has written an article on this exact subject. I will have it ready for a premier in the next Newsletter in a week.

 

[sambo3006]

I recently was wondering a similar thing myself as I was thinking about getting an angle cosine indicator for my rifle. I used the Pythagorean theorem to do some calculations assuming I was 300 ft above my target and found that the horizontal distance just wasn't enough different than the angle distance to affect bullet impact by more than a couple inches at most. Goodgrouper responded to my post and his very respectable opinion was that if angle were greater than 10 degrees and/or distance were over 1000 yds then a person would need to compensate for angle.
I would say that if terrain were very steep with possible steep up or downhill shots of several hundred yards or more, a rangefinder that gives you true horizontal distance would be worth it. The Leupold RX II offers this feature and only runs $300 new. I don't know how reliable these are, but the small size would make them quite portable.

 

[ss7mm]

This should give you some good reading. There's some good stuff in this thread.
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/up-downhill-corrections-22768/

 

[älg]

I would only get one if it were top quality.- for LR ranging, a Leica or Swarovski will be better than the Leupolds and you can get an angle cosine indicator for the angle estimation.

Vectronix sells good quality RF( so it seems, I dont have one) with integrated clinometrers but are VERY expensive.

 

[Elkkhunter]

My 2 cents - I purchased the Leupold RX IV for an Elk hunt to the Rockies this past fall. Maybe it was just my unit that was bad. But I found them to not to work well at all. Leupold says they will range 1500 yards, farthes I could get during 5 days of hunting was 506 yards. Cost $500 - sold them for $250 junk! I would say they might be very handy if you bow hunt or only plan to shoot less than 300 yards. I purchased a Lecia range finder and a Angle Cosine Indicator - will use them and a Mil Dot Master or ballistics print out to figure correct compensation for up/down slope.

 

[linksmechanic]

Elkhunter: You hit the nail on the head. I had to Rx4's and they were crap. one wouldn't range past 900 yards and the other was so blurry you couldn't see out of it. What a joke. That's what ya get for making crap over seas. I bought a swaro and couldn't be happier. Just get an angle cosine indicator and buy a leica or swaro and save yourself the trouble.

 

[jwp475]

If you read the info in the link posted by ss7mm I believe that it will becaome clear that using the inclinometer is not the way to correct for uphill downhill corrections. A Lieca or Swarovski and Angle Cosine Indicator teamed with a Dell Axiom with exball is by for the best way to go.........

 

[youngtrout]

I had a leupold RX-II , was great for bowhunting, because the thing would not go much past 200, unless I was ranging something reflective,,,, sold it for a loss

Not really suited for what this forum is all about, but, wish I did not sell it to buy my lecia 1200, but because I have a decent shot at a sheep bowhunting tag this year wish I would have held onto it, might just have to buy another one, (most likely a bushnell) they do a great job for short distances, the quality is just not there for distance IMO but if you play with one on cliffs, that 50 yd shot with a bow shrinks to 25 pretty fast!!

 

[true1911]

I also had the RX-IV and returned it. Don't buy it for the inclinometor. I felt lucky when it would range a tree past 500 yds. Also, the only information it gives is the actual distance to the target and the adjusted for angle distance. I don't remember if it gives you the angle or not. Also, if I remember correctly the Bushnell ARC only works out to 8-900 yards and you input a balistic group so that it can calculate bullet drop. I can't imagine that it would be that accurate.

 

[jimbires]

true1911 , you are correct . I have the Bushnell 1500 ARC , and it has the ballistic group just as you said . I have not done enough with it to give you a good opinion . but I'm like you I can't see it being very accurate , it's to general . I had a Nikon 800 . I used it on a caribou hunt in Quebec . it had a hard time ranging a caribou at 380 yards . Jim

 

[teddy12b]

i took my bushnell cheapo to the range and it couldn't hardly even the backstop at 500 yards. I just tossed it back in the truck. I'll probably never shoot at game past 500 yards since I hunt with a 30-06, but I'm probably gonna buy a used Leica on Ebay sometime.

 

[JDY]

On the video How To Shoot Beyond Believe they did a test out to 500 or 600 yards if my memory is correct. In their test shooting at a sharp angle down hill there was very little change. Their suggestion was not to be concerned very much about the angle one is shooting.
JDY

 

[jwp475]

On the video How To Shoot Beyond Believe they did a test out to 500 or 600 yards if my memory is correct. In their test shooting at a sharp angle down hill there was very little change. Their suggestion was not to be concerned very much about the angle one is shooting.
JDY

I would not take that as gospel and do not believe that to be the correct way to shoot long range.
A 600 yard shot with a 300 Win Mag with a .507 BC 180 grain started at 3000 FPS with a 100 yard zero the drop at 600 yard with 0 angle is 11.5 MOA correction (72.8"). The same shot shooting a 30 degree angel requires a correction of 9.5 MOA correction (60.4"). IMHO this certainly too much difference to ignore.....
The above senario is based on 78% humidity at 59 degress at sea level useing standard station pressure...