Best Rangefinder

I am looking for the best rangefinder for out west hunting. It will also be used for some bow hunting, but mostly out west. I have an older model Leupold but it is kind of complicated to use, so I would like one that is user friendly. All of my scopes are Leupold, but my best binoculars are Zeiss. I would like to keep the price under $500 if possible. What brand and model do most of you recommend. Thanks for the info.

How far do you want to range? That's important info,in answering your question.

Leica

Out to about 400 yards or so. I probably wouldn't shoot that far though. My longest shot ever was 320 yards.

Leica all the way.

I have a Leupold 1000, I'm lucky to get 600 on trees with.

Have a Terrapin that ranges anything I can shoot.

That said reading the specks on the 'new' Bushnell Elite 1600 Arc Rangefinder 7x26 or Elite 1 Mile ARC sound promising and within your budget.

$439 on Amazon (And yes I shop on Amazon way, way too much)

Bushnel Arc Elite 1 Mile

My vortex covers that with ease. As would the luppy 1000

But if you want the best(meaning optics and furtest range)-- Leica

Optics I'll give that to Leica but range? No.

Vectronix has the edge on anything that is available to civilians. If you can find a Terrapin used that is the lowest cost model (since discontinued). Vectronix

The Vectronix and Leica aren't in the same category exactly. In the sub $1000 the Leica is hard to beat.

True, there just was no qualifying statement. Just the blanket statement he made above, and is agreed that it is not accurate.

Still i if had to do it over again I'd give the Bushnell a hard look. That's just me though.

True.

I'll second the Bushnell they are really bringing a lot to the table these days. They also showed a new range finder at shot that has bluetooth for syncing to a Krestel and ballistic app.

How about the Leica 1000R CRF Rangemaster, would this be a good one?? It sells for $599.

Yeah. The 1600b is a bit better for not much more though.

I will definitely take a look at it. Is it worth the extra $200?

I've been using a Bushnell for about 6 years and have ranged out to 600+ yards, accurately.
It is simple to use, just push a button. Smaller targets are sometimes difficult just trying
to hold still on them but I'd think that's the same with all models.

P_102

Terrapin and Leica are fantastic of course.
But Bushnell has really stepped up their game the last few years.

I have been very impressed and am expecting the Arc Elite 1 mile any day.

I dont need a Terrapin but would love to have one!

If you would be so kind, I,d appreciate your impression and post up when you can I'm very interested in how these perform.

I love my Vortex

Gunwerks G7 BR2, no others compare. When you shoot long range this is the only rangerfinder to have here out west. We ranged a deer last year on my mule deer hunt here in New Mexico. I could not get a solid reading with my Leica, I used my friends G7 BR2, locked solid every time.

The functional range of the G7 BR2 is 1500 yards with 2000 max yards.

$1600, but you will simply be amazed. I still haven't bought one yet lol, but sure will here in the future before this falls deer hunt. The deer I ranged was at 844 yards sitting in a draw.

http://www.gseven.com/products/g7-br2

I have been using the zeiss t-prf for years now. It doesn't get much talk, but it is a quality rangefinder for under 700 dollars.
1300 yards is about the usable range, which is more than enough for me. It goes everywhere with me.

As funds allow, I will likely get a leica hd-b or something equivalent. As of right now, carrying my vortex viper hd and t-prf will have to work......and has been for years now.

The BR2 is cool, but has one HUGE downfall. MOA only. That kills it for a ton of us long range shooters running mil/mil optics.

I've played with a BR2 and I've played with some of the 10-$20k Vectronix units, and it is night and day difference. I'll be buying a Vectronix unit when I can afford one.

Good reading right here.


http://precisionrifleblog.com/2013/11/25...rmance-results/

I wish the swarovski El range were included in these series of tests, but apparently swaro wanted no part of it.

Blanket statement? You must of completely missed the OP's $500 question. 1300 yards and under-- lecia

I'm moving to the HF-b this year in 10x. Had no problem ranging out to 1600 yards with geo's but ergonomics is huge step up in the HF-b. I still can figure out why Swaro put the bottom on the left side

Yes. I sat on a ridge in CO and had no issues with 1600 yards. I did get it to 2k a few times.

First time button reading every time I'd say 1300

Nope didn't miss it.

Your statement was simply (a blanket statement) that the Leica ranges the furthest, and it is not a true statement. If you had said: 'Below $500 Leica will provide the best glass and furthest ranging ability', that might be true (I wouldn't know).

But you didn't, so there you are.

My post was relative to what the OP was asking... Which is what this thread was about-best 500 dollar range finder. Apparently your still missing that concept.

So You tossed out $10000plus range finder..... That helped him a lot didn't it.

That's like recommending a $65k ford raptor, when all the OP asked for was the best $1k 4x4 to get to his mail box.

Hopefully all of your 35,000 posts are not as false as the one above. I clearly responded to your other false statement.

As another point of clarification: I pointed out the terrapin was the lowest priced model (since discontinued), that can be purchased on the secondary market. New the terrapin ran around 2k, mine was just over half that, but in either case far from you dramatically exaggerated price of $10,000. What I paid incidentally puts it neck and neck with a new leica 1600b which I believe had been recommended as well, but to be clear I was not recommending a Vectronix only correcting you false statement.

Keep being a drama queen or clown, either seems applicable at this point.

A used terrapin at $1k plus (great deal) is not in the same ballpark as a 1600b that I can buy all day long under a grand. Are the laser as good? No the Lieca falls short but that short coming is saved in price.

Reread what I posted... You are off the mark as well.

Please elaborate then. You are the one throwing around the terrapin name in a sub $1k post. Nobody has stated anything that suggested to be better, just that under a grand the Lieca can't be beat.

I have that is why I asked that you reread my post. If you can't get it from there I don't think you can be helped.

running a swaro tomorrow for the 2nd field test it is discontinued so you might be able to get some deals ---16oo yards reflective

In terms the Lecia CRF 1600-B; $2-300 over the $500 budget, in the grand scheme of
buy once, cry once, is not that bad. JMO, I think bringing up the options is a
good idea. Now a $2000 rangefinder is out of line in a $500 thread. Where do you
draw the line, I don't know.

Anyway, back to the Lecia 1600-B; someone in a review said you cannot customize
the bullet ballistic drop compensation for hand loads and FPS, now that might be a
deal-breaker. Can anyone confirm?

Does anyone know how the Leupold 1200 with TBR compares with the Leicas mentioned above. I am a Leupold fan but if the Leica is a lot better I would go with the Leica. I haven't used either one so would appreciate any info. Thanks again. Still in the $500 to $800 price range.

I've only used the 1000 and I ran it against the vortex 1000. Flip a coin between the two.

Leica is the only one that I have gotten the most first button hits (at the range listed as the model)on game at that price point. I have taken my vortex to 1300 on an f-15 but doesn't do you a lot of good on a non reflective target.

Only bad thing about lecia is they aren known for as good of CS as vortex or luppy

If you have that to spend, I'd go with the LEica. However, I have a Leupold 1000i that I got used for $160 and it's great. If you aren't going past 400 yds, why spend all that extra money?