Rangefinding Binocular Search

[toxophilist]

I am planning to buy a rangefinding binocular and have kind of boiled my choices down to three,
1- Nikon Lazerforce 10 x 42
2- Sig Sauer 10 x 42, and
3- Vortex Fury 10 x 42
I am not going to pay $3000+ for a swarovski of a zeiss so what I am looking for is advice from some of you who may have trod this path before me and learned something. can you help?

 

[gr8fuldoug]

We have sold a ton of the Sig BDX 3000 10x42's and they seem to be very well received. Glad to discuss this with you

 

[nathank]

the Sig BDX 3000 seems awesome, i wish it had the full version of the balistic app though. hard to sell my BR2500 and buy one of those when my BR2500 gives me drops out to 1400

 

[snox801]

I have the lieca 3000's and love them. But like you stated the are expensive. At some point you hit diminishing returns. I really liked the sigs. Glass is not as good as the high end but it is very functional. It will outlast the scope in low light.

 

[LDHunter]

Can someone please discuss the quality and clarity of the glass in the Sig3000? I can't seem to find anyone actually comparing them to say Zeiss Binoculars or some other brand. I don't want just a rangefinding binocular I want one that I can use for glassing for game and then to range the game.

I don't expect the Sig at that price point to match the Zeiss or Swarovski but how close are they?

I'm very picky about my glass so I'm really interested in this...

I'd really hate to spring for $3K for a pair of rangefinding binoculars but if the Sig isn't in the same ball park as the Zeiss or Swaro... Well.... <sigh>

 

[26Reload]

Guy on here has 10x42 leicas for sale....1775....

 

[LDHunter]

Guy on here has 10x42 leicas for sale....1775....

I really appreciate the head's up but I've never liked the look and feel of Leica optics and although I KNOW that's a great deal I'd never like them every time I picked them up. Zeiss is the brand on all my binoculars and to me all Swarovski optics have a strange color cast that annoys me.

Yeah.... I know. I'm super picky about optics and really favor Nightforce for most of my scopes as an example. That's an expensive habit.... LOL

 

[LDHunter]

I just re-read my previous post and I guess I'm probably asking too much. Expecting the Sig300 to cost a third the cost of the Zeiss and Swarovski but having glass clarity that compares simply doesn't happen in the real world but I'm still hoping to be swayed.

The ability to range as well as the Sig does seems to be pretty hard to pass up for the price. I've never talked to even one person with a Sig rangefinder that wasn't completely pleased.

 

[LDHunter]

the Sig BDX 3000 seems awesome, i wish it had the full version of the balistic app though. hard to sell my BR2500 and buy one of those when my BR2500 gives me drops out to 1400

Please excuse my ignorance but I've been using the same Bushnell rangefinder for over 10 years and am just now deciding to upgrade.

What do you mean "full version of the balistic app"? Doesn't the BDX3000 have the same ballistic app? Is it less capable than the BR2500?

 

[LDHunter]

Here's the problem when you go high tech for long range hunting.

You're glassing with your binoculars and suddenly you spot a great looking game animal. So you switch to your high powered spotting scope to evaluate the antlers or whatever the trophy indicator is on the animal. Then if you decide you might want to shoot that animal you go to the rangefinder to find the range and if it's one of the new high tech rangefinders you go to your iPhone app to find out exact hold over.
Now it's time to adjust the reticle on your scope but while you were fiddling with all your gadgets the animal got tired of waiting on you and moved on... LOL

This morning I killed a very nice whitetail who was chasing a doe all over my food plot and the surrounding woods. He finally paused at about 200 yards out to gaze suspiciously at me in my box stand. I'll never know why unless he had previously seen another hunter entering or leaving that stand another day.

Anyway... I got my scope on him quickly knowing he would get back to the doe soon and he was standing in dappled shade which made evaluating his antlers very difficult especially because he was staring directly at me. I cranked up the power on the scope and got him centered and just as I did he turned broadside to me and I got a flash of good antlers and decided he was a shooter. BUT!!!

Even if I didn't have to fiddle with rangefinders etc. I was really pressed for time to evaluate and get a bullet launched at him. I ended up hurrying my shot and he was rapidly disappearing stage right. I got a shot off as he was moving and picking up speed and although I had pretty good confidence in my aim and hold he disappeared. <sigh>

20 minutes later I found him in some fairly thick brush. He had gone about 30-40 yards with a heart turned to jello. That was some tough buck.

My point is if he'd been 300 yards or further (I zero at 200) I'd have never been able to evaluate, range, get ready and shoot before he got back to the business of breeding that cute little doe.

I know that true long range hunting often is done in more open conditions and often you have more time but sometimes not.

I guess all this is why it's called hunting and not shooting? I also guess that sometimes you have to ignore the technology and go "old school". LOL

 

[RogerPA]

Let me start by saying I'm a "good glass nerd"! I've used the Leica 10x42 rangefinder binoculars for the last 5 years, but just recently replaced them with the Sig KILO3000ABS. Not because of any shortcomings in the Leica's optics's, but because of the Sig ballistic application that's included in the Sig3000's. (I've been using the Sig KILO2400ABS rangefinder and incorporated ballistic app, in coordination with the Leica's for a couple of years.). So now I'm only carrying one item! Flat out, the Sig glass is not Leica, Swarovski, or Zeiss. But it's totally functional! I do feel I can see the difference during the very first minutes of shooting light and the last few minutes before nightfall, but quite honestly, even that may only be in my head(?). I do know I love spotting the game, seeing the range, and then instantly the MOA correct for that given distance! I also find it easy to set up the custom profiles for each rifle/load combination I'm using. I guess if there's one word of caution, it's simply making sure you have the proper profile activated in the binocular. I have a tendency to switch rifles from one day to the next, which means I also need to activate the correct profile. It's simple to change (or verify) as long as you have your cellphone along side your rangefinder.... Good luck & good shooting!

 

[snox801]

Correct me if I'm wrong but won't the liecas do the same? I haven't set mine up yet but I've heard they are spot on when done right.
I'm gonna set mine up this year for shots and double check against my ab app

 

[RogerPA]

My Leica's are about 6 years old and do not include the ABS option. At least some of their newer models do, but because I was totally familiar with the Sig ABS system, and had verified/adjusted all the data for all my loads & rifles, I chose the Sig3000's.

 

[catamountsierra]

I just went from pairing a set of Vortex Viper HD 10x42s and an older Leupold rangefinder to the Sig BDX3000s. The Sig glass is easily on par with the Vipers, and I have no trouble ranging the hill next to the deer, if not the deer itself, out to 1400m (it might go farther, but I haven't yet tried). I'm sold on it, and I still haven't gotten the ballistics part figured out. I need to get them talking to my Kestrel, or the Applied Ballistics app on my phone...