Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics What's the verdict on ranging bino's

I picked up the Leica 10x42 Geovid HD-B'd this past summer and they're frickin awesome! I owned the original Bushnell's, the Swaro's, both Leica 1600 and 1600B's, then the Gunwerks G7 and the HD-B's rock! I've got world class glass and a rangefinder/ballistic calculator all-in-one.

I like to spin elevation turrets so I down load my ballistic data to the MicroSD card and drop it into the battery compartment. The printed info says it will give dope to 1000 yds buy mine will go 1008. It uses the internal inclinometer, baro pressure and temperature to properly calculate a precise ballistic solution. It's always been within one 1/4 moa click of my Shooter ballistic app.

My Nightforce scopes all use 1/4 moa "turrets" so I set my HD-B's with 1/4 moa "clicks". At first, the 1/4 Mao clicks were a "No Go" as far as buying the set. Once I figured I'd make up a simply division 4 cheat sheet, that issue was gone.

The issue I had before I bought my set was the online program, which was powered by what I believe to be Gunwerks G7 ballistic program. The end user could only use G1 and not G7 ballistics (G1 = flat base bullets. G7 = more modern spitzer, boat tail ballistics). One day I sat down and compared several of my LR loadings and found it was only a 1"-2" difference at 1000 yds, the max distance the HD-B's are supposed to give dope to. Who cares, I thought!

Well, my pair are the gem of my eye. I've never had an issue ranging at least to 1400 yds on the brightest of days with the remainder of the distances I range going further. I cannot get them to go beyond 2100 yds, but, I don't care because I don't plan on killing anything that far out.

I got mine so I could carry one item and not two (bino and rangefinder). They work very well and even saved my elk hunt last month when I ranged a spike bull at 1020. All I had to do was range a few sage brush until I hit one at 1008, got my dope and added one 1/4 moa click. By the time I got set for the shot, he had moved in 70 yds without my knowing and I shot right over him by 41". I quickly ranged him again at 950, pulled my dope from the HD-B's, quickly dialed down 9 clicks and killed him....with 4 minutes of legal light remaining. Not sure I could have done all that in time with a rangefinder and a hand held ballistic app.

I can't compare my Leica glass to other world class glass because I haven't looked through them other than my 20+ year old Zeiss 10x40B's. The Leica's were better.

Alan

The 4 division cheat sheet, lamented at Kinko's using their luggage tag lamination plastic and two luggage tag keepers.



Oh, yeah. My 257 Roberts has a VX3 with a Boone & Crockett reticle so I set up the HD-B's for EHR (Equivalent Horizontal Range). I drop the MicroSD card into the set and when I range 400 yds, it takes the temp, baro presssure and up/down hill angle into account and adjusts the range I hold for; all in about 1 second.