Laser Range Finders

[greatdane]

I've decided it's time to go techno, and stop guessing the range of game that i shoot. We all hear of the "claimed" 600m head shot rabbit etc, and with the number of you tube videos i am looking at producing i want some credibility...

So i was looking at getting a laser range finder. This too would also be handy for CPM goat shoots, as well as standard deer hunting, and varminting sessions. Those that have/use what are you opinions...??? I was looking at the Leopold RX750TBR, Magnum sports in NSW have them advertised at $400 delivered... Which i thought seemed reasonable...

A penny for your thoughts gentlemen.............

Cheers

GreatDane

[goswasere']

I've decided it's time to go techno, and stop guessing the range of game that i shoot. We all hear of the "claimed" 600m head shot rabbit etc, and with the number of you tube videos i am looking at producing i want some credibility...

So i was looking at getting a laser range finder. This too would also be handy for CPM goat shoots, as well as standard deer hunting, and varminting sessions. Those that have/use what are you opinions...??? I was looking at the Leopold RX750TBR, Magnum sports in NSW have them advertised at $400 delivered... Which i thought seemed reasonable...

A penny for your thoughts gentlemen.............

Cheers

GreatDane

Gidday mate,

I use one that is combined with a binocular because I do a bit of deer hunting it cuts down on weight and it's less things to carry and muck around with. Also they are better at getting readings in low light, monucular willprob only work during the middle of the day. All the LRF's in binos tend to have really good range on them aswell, But... they are too bloody expensive for what they are Lieca and Zeiss are two really good optics manafacturers but at a starting price of 2 and a bit G's it can really hurt the wallet.

A few years ago I bought the Leupold RXB something it set me back a bit over $1000 at the time but now I'm thinking I might upgade to a set of Geovid HD's. Mainly because the optical quality on the leupold is a bit lacking, but the LRF I reckon is just as good.

Now if all that is way out of the price range and you don't care about binos than there is plenty of choice in the monoculars for alot cheaper. I have really only used a lica one and that was good to about 600 on a big building, but that was fairly old. They would be better now.

Also you know how you would think youd only need one with a max range of say 600. But remembering that is on the best reflective target available. It might really only get a reading on an animal at 400 or a tree at 500.

So buy getting a 1300 meter jobby you'll def get a read out on a decent size animal at 600. Thats the advantage but again you'll pay for it.

I'f you are going to get a monocular I'd reccomend going a manafacturer that makes good binos thats normally a good indication.

Good Luck!

[Jase]

I was on a tight budget, but decided to get one because I had troubles estimating distances. Picked up a Bushnell Legend 1200 off ebay for about $350 delievered from the US. The optical quality might not be that crash hot, but I know if it gives me a yard or meter measure that its spot on. I did a lot of testing with it an one of those distnace wheel thingies to make sure it was spot on.

It's only a 6x magnification, so trying to get the laser dead on a target out at 1000 yards is a little hard, but it does what I need it to do.

Jase

[wayne2]

i have the leupold you mentioned got it in from usa and after using it a bit find the range it will read to be dissapointing about 450 for a animal size target , bushnel are doing a range of them now and the reports have been good so far although never used one my self .

[PaulOS]

I had a look through most of the brands and spoke to a number of people and in the end decided to just part with the fun tokens and get a Swarovski Laser Guide 8x30 Rangefinder, loverly to use and does range out to 1500m

Edited April 9, 2010 by PaulOS

[trophyhunter]

How far are You planning to shoot? If a long shot is 400m, why bother getting one to go out to 1500m. I have a cheap bushnell one that will read game to about 400m. If the light is bright enough to shoot, the range finder has worked. I have compared it to a leupold with the TBR function and a swarovski. Both would read a little further out, but accuracy was no different on closer yardages.

Im my opinion, if You are not going to be shooting super long distances, get a basic rangefinder to do the job and put your saved money towards a set of swarovski EL binos.

If You are going to be using it at longer ranges, or plan to in the future, buy the better one, and you wont have to upgrade later down the track.

You can also use trigonometry to find the tbr by yourself haha

Edited April 9, 2010 by trophyhunter

[Adios]

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.

Edited April 10, 2010 by Happy Jack

[eggman]

me too im keen on a range finder just cuz im sik of trying to guess with me eye's. (out past 150M with a .17hmr lol)

[granite53]

Hmmm - 1500 metres (that's nearly a mile!) 1 mile = 1,609 metres. What are we using - 105mm howitzers?

I've got a Bushnell Sports 600, bought from WA (Telescopes and Binoculars) for $298 + postage. I have used this to range a tree to 737m, cattle to 650m.

I'm shooting a .223 and .308. Remember our code of hunter ethics - humane treatment of animals. The maximum shot I will take to ensure one shot, one kill is 250m with .223 (rabbits, foxes, dogs and cats - body shot) and 200m with .308 (deer, pigs - heart, lung shot). Average shoot in a hunting sitution - deer, pigs is 30m to 90m, average shot for rabbits, foxes is 100m to 150m. Forget the so-called snipers on Youtube, they have their hand firmly wrapped around it, and it an't the stock. I've seen one guy claim a 500m shot on a bunnie with a .223 with 5 kph wind saying he held over 4" and to wind 6" - I know what he really held!!!!

Les

[Adios]

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 .

Edited April 10, 2010 by Happy Jack

[Adios]

Hmmm - 1500 metres (that's nearly a mile!) 1 mile = 1,609 metres. What are we using - 105mm howitzers?

I've got a Bushnell Sports 600, bought from WA (Telescopes and Binoculars) for $298 + postage. I have used this to range a tree to 737m, cattle to 650m.

I'm shooting a .223 and .308. Remember our code of hunter ethics - humane treatment of animals. The maximum shot I will take to ensure one shot, one kill is 250m with .223 (rabbits, foxes, dogs and cats - body shot) and 200m with .308 (deer, pigs - heart, lung shot). Average shoot in a hunting sitution - deer, pigs is 30m to 90m, average shot for rabbits, foxes is 100m to 150m. Forget the so-called snipers on Youtube, they have their hand firmly wrapped around it, and it an't the stock. I've seen one guy claim a 500m shot on a bunnie with a .223 with 5 kph wind saying he held over 4" and to wind 6" - I know what he really held!!!!

Les

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.

Edited April 10, 2010 by Happy Jack

[PaulOS]

Hmmm - 1500 metres (that's nearly a mile!) 1 mile = 1,609 metres. What are we using - 105mm howitzers?

Les, there are a few cal's that will reach out this far (and further) in the right conditions, have I shot this far, nope, do I currently own a cal that can get this far, nope (but working on it, custom build in progress and working on QLD FAR), do I plan on hitting game this far, probably not, unless I put alot of rounds down range on steel first before even trying / considering it.

My point was I have used a number of range finders that claim to be 600m / or more and in the field don't go half that distance (without alfoil and a charged battery), I used a swaro and not only did it range over 1000m without the use of a large reflective surface it did it in poor light and a used battery. You get what you pay for, you can go cheaper and upgrade later if need be or just save a few more fun tokens and be done with it.

Edited April 10, 2010 by PaulOS

[Adios]

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 .

Edited April 10, 2010 by Happy Jack