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That looks to me to be a good choice. It has some interesting features .

The idea of GPS is that you don't have to stick exactly to a course if it is leading you into rough country , you can just decide to walk around that area and avoid the cliff or whatever and the GPS will still keep steering you to your destination waypoint even if you are way off the as the crow flies course. Even if you walk a 360 circle around your destination the GPS will always point inward to your destination.

It is impossible to predict what might happen. You are just going to have to try it. A rimfire should not produce excessive barrel vibrations anyway. However it may drop your POI a small amount due to barrel sag and you will have to resight. After that it could be no problem . Might even act as a barrel weight and improve accuracy or it could make it worse . Try moving it back and forth on the barrel between groups to see if there is a sweet spot.

I have recently found out that " some " Garmin units have SirfStar 111 chip sets that give better reception than the older units . So I would suggest that you find out from Garmin which units have the SirfStart 111 chip set and buy one of those models. Aft er a bit of looking it appears that the Garmin 60map csx has got the SirfStar 111 chip so that could account for it's popularity. Go to this link http://search.garmin...d=1&site=garmin Another thing is that this kind of GPS has a helix type antenna that works better when you hold the GPS vertical and up as high as possible. While other patch type antennas mainly work better holding the GPS flat or facing the available birds . The helix type antenna held vertical will do a better job of receiving birds that are lower towards the horizon and reasonable overhead also.

You are right I read the email wrong. They have been in selected Garmin units for some time but which units I don't know. I just found out that my Tom Tom Gps has the SirfStar 111 chip set . It does seem to hold it's satellites better than my older Garmin unit. I would like to find out which Garmin units have the chip set , I bet it's the more expensive ones.

I got an email from a guy telling me that Garmin will be releasing in future , ( when he did not say ) , new Garmin GPS units with a high sensitivity receiver using Sirfstar 111 chip sets. Apparently these chip sets give the unit better reception and satellite locking in dense overhead cover. http://www8.garmin.com/pressroom/corporate/083005.html I will be interested to see how much better they may be. Just thought I would pass on the info. If you are interested in a new GPS unit it may be worth looking for one that has the SIRF Star 111 chip set .

To be honest taking any shot at more than 500 to 600 meters on a private property or in a state forest is a bit dangerous. Especially if you are a visitor on that property and not a resident that knows the place very well. AT 1500 meters you may be able to spot a deer with a high power scope but you have very little idea of what else is around in between you and the target or behind the target. At that range wind could take a shot off several meters to one side . Shooting at this kind of range is only practical if the terrain is open and the target area has a good backstop that you can see what is going on and the shooter has the right gear and skill level. We hear all the stories about kills at fantastic ranges but they kind of gloss over the fact that very few are one shot kills. They usually have to fire numerous times with their spotter calling the impact and the shooter cranking windage and elevation to correct the fall of shot. This is a luxury that you don't always get with shooting at game. Sometimes you can be lucky and they will hang about unsure of what is going on allowing additional shots. Other times the impact of a missed shot spooks them and thats it. However to correct for those additional shots it is very hard to see your fall of shot when you are the shooter and experiencing the recoil and you are going to have some recoil in a cartridge that is suitable for 1000 plus ranges. So you really need a mate acting as spotter and he needs to be good at it. The spotter needs to have some excellent quality high power optics also as in most cases the fall of shot will be masked by ground foliage . The only indication may well be the shock trail in the air. Good luck spotting that at 1500 meters . That now famous shot pulled off by a Canadian sniper was a lucky situation as the targets were slow to react and the fall of shot could be easily seen on the hard rock surfaces around the targets , they may have used RDX rounds to show up the fall of shot better . Had this area been covered in grass and bushes and soft ground then it would have been much harder to call any shots . None the less it was fantastic shooting to get a hit at that range with any amount of extra shots .

How much he had to hold over depends on what range he is zeroed at . However for a 5K 90 degree crossing wind at 500 with an average 223 you would be looking at windage of roughfly 23 inches. Possibly the wind angle was less than 90 so may have contributed less to the actual wind drift. Possibly he thought the wind speed was 5 K when infact it was far less and his incorrect hold off for a 5 K wind was accidently correct.

The thing with laser ranging at long distance is , as the distance gets longer the need for a good solid rest or tripod becomes greater. More consistant results are possible with a small tripod than hand held at long ranges. The avereage hunting scope sighted in to 100 or 200 meters will not have enough elevation adjustment to even get on target at 1500 meters. For those kind of ranges you have to have a high performance scope with a 15 or 20 MOA rail to get the barrel up enough to be able to get on target .

The thing about laser range finders is that they don't range non reflective targets as well as reflective targets. So if a deer is standing near a big rock or thick tree . Range the rock or tree as it will usually give better reflection than a fury animal . When they quote the ranging capability it is on a highly reflective target . However the ranges given are usually way better than most can guesstimate by eye. I have an older model Bushnell 600 and it is ok to about 550 to 600 meters on a fury dry animal but about 700 on a harder dry surface . It is not a high quality device like some European gear. So you can't expect too much for the price.

Yes I took my old light out on a low tree limb that I did not notice . Not good.

I used a power beam and it was quite good. I set mine up with the wiring to the switch internal in the handle but the main power wires external outside the vehicle straight to the battery. This gives the ability to remove the whole rig off the roof and pack it when traveling. I just made up a cover for the base mount to stop rain coming in. The thing with the roof mounted light is you have to have a fairly solid roof panel or the light will flop about as you move it and it makes spotting things harder also it tends to shudder with a diesel motor at idle . If the roof panel is weak and flexible then go for a power beam handle with a lighter nightforce light ontop. Glueing in an extra support panel can help also if you can . If the roof is strong then a powbeam light is OK. You have to try and fit the light where the handle can fold up against the roof but when its down it don't stop you shooting out the lefthand side if you are on your own. Easier said than done in small 4x4's .

I see what you are saying , but I would not have thought that the voltage and current drain curves would be that much different as to make a big difference . Obviously I was wrong . Has the unit got a seperate power resistor or is the resistance built into the LED package ? Or maybe just the resistance of the battery is the limiting factor and the problem as you indicate. If thats the case what about adding a small resistance value in the power line of the NIMH battery . A small ceramic should take the heat. If its a seperate resistor you may be able to replace it with a higher resistance value . I still feel that this would not be a big issue if it were possible to have a larger heat sink area. However a resistor is not such a good way to power a high output LED but physical restraints don't allow much else . This is why I am sticking with my QH light for now as it is simple to repair , easy to replace globes and light focus is easy to arrange and no PC board to mount some place. However I did like the nature of the light produced by my 5 watt luxeon LED prototype . It was more white and showed up detail in the scope picture better than the QH globe which is a yellow light to my eyes .

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