Pulsar Trail LRF (Laser Range Finder) Field Review

Hey fellas, Pulsar asked me to test out the not-yet-released Pulsar Trail LRF thermal scope and I've been using it for several weeks now. I've had a lot of time in the field with it and I feel like I really have a grasp of how it performs. The unit I tested was an XP50 and that will by far be the most popular LRF model made. Currently the pricing sits at $5,999 which is $1,000 more than a standard XP50.

At the end of the day the question I keep hearing is, "Is it worth it?". My answer, as usual, is "It depends". It's not worth it for the guy who's hunting hogs on a place and he can't see past 100 yards. It's not worth it for a guy hunting his own property and he has visible landmarks that he can range during the day and figure out yardage estimations. But if a person's budget allows it, it's absolutely worth it for someone hunting in very big wide open pastures or fields, coyote hunters or someone who's hunting a lot of new properties all the time and they aren't familiar enough to know the ranges well enough to estimate them.

In all seriousness, there is no question the LRF works amazingly well, better than my average quality daytime range finder. I wasn't really sure what to expect but it's really nice. I do have a few minor complaints and suggestions and I make those very clearly known in the video. Check it out....

Here is a boar I killed this week with the Trail XP50LRF. The video of the kill is in the review video above. He weighed in on the scales at 275lbs on the dot.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when the Apex models came out last summer they had LRF models in both the XQ38 and XQ50 models. They were priced about $500 more than the basic model. I could see $500 for the LRF, but I'm pretty sure they are using the same LRF on the Trail models and I just can't see $1,000, but admittedly that is better than the $1,500 extra which they initially advertised. As you say, everyone will have to decide whether it is worth it for their particular needs. I appreciate your review which is as always very well done. Thanks!

You are 100% correct about that. There was only 1 shipment (to my knowledge) of the Apex LRF's that shipped into the US. They were not at all popular and I could never get anyone to buy one. They were literally sitting on the shelf at Pulsar with no back orders and my rep was begging me to buy some. That first shipment sold and there began to be a slight up tick in interest but not much. Most of my customers didn't want to spend $500 extra on the LRF, which again, is understandable on a $2,500 optic.

Then Pulsar announced the Apex LRF was discontinued and there would be no more of them. I kid you not, within a couple weeks people started asking about them and the more people that I told the LRF's were discontinued, the more people wanted them. No telling how many I could have sold, it was nuts. People want what they can't have and that is just flat out fact.

I also agree about it being curious why the cost is $1,000 more when the Apex LRF was only $500 more. When I asked that same question at SHOT in January I was told this is a totally new and better LRF and the whole integration system had been improved. I know the Apex LRF had a max ranging capability of 1,000 meters and the Trail LRF is 1,800 meters, so that's a huge improvement. That definitely falls in line with the idea that it's a new and improved LRF.

It's a big expense and definitely not for everyone but I think the guys who want and need it are going to like it.

Jason

Great review Jason

Do a video showing the lrf on with pip. The Apex could run both at the same time, I expect the trail can too.

I've already sent the scope to Hans and he's been using it for awhile now, but I asked him to get some video using the LRF and picture-in-picture. Hopefully he'll be able to include that in his video. Thanks for the suggestion.

Jason