Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics school me on laser rangefinders

Been 15 years since i looked at getting a set. Back the the Leica Geovids binoculars were the way to go. how about now? use is prairie dogging

I have the Leupold and it works great.

Are you talking about a rangefinder or rangefinding binoculars?

either or what is my best bet nowadays?

Sig Kilo 2000. Ranges a lo-o-o-n-g way for about $425. I bought one for $406 delivered. Also it has the angle info.

The Leica LRF was in fashion when I bought mine. Mine is a 1200...... be advised, as a rule, you have to over-rate them. If you want to reliably range 900 yards, buy a 1200, etc.

After I received the Sig I sold my Leica 1200. It was a faithful companion for many years.

I bought a sig kilo 2000 also and have an older Leica non-scan 1200. The sig looks great so far but I haven't had a chance to stretch it out and see how it really does. The Leica has been good to me but there were times prairie dogging that I wish I had more range. I'd change Jeff O's rule that to get 900 yds you have to buy a 1200, it's more like to get 600 yds you have to buy a 1200. My experience is that on smaller targets any of them only get you about half the rated distance. That meant my leica was good to about 600 and if the Sig matches that then it should go to 1000, a significant upgrade. I'll know more about how the sig works after a spring PD trip, then decide whether to sell the Leica or not.

With regards to the Sig Kilo (it really has my interest), have you guys had a chance to range targets in foggy/overcast/poor light? Obviously that's where rf's struggle.

JGRaider,

Where I get on the freeway there is a hill across the way. Many times I tried to range it with my Leica 1200 scan. Never got a reading. After I got the Kilo 2000 I decided to try it. To my chagrin when I got there there were patches of fog. I still got reading of 1,350 through some light fog. It wouldn't give a reading in the thick fog where I could not see the ground.

I guess the 1,350 is why the 1200 never gave a reading. I did get a reading with the 1200 on a Black Angus at 1,050 though.

Thank you RM.

JG,

Overcast or low-light conditions actually help LRF's work better. One of the biggest problems is actually bright sunlight, because like fog it interferes with the beam.

Also, contrary to what Jeff O reported, these days most LRF's will range what they're rated at, and often beyond. Or at least the better ones will, especially those in binoculars. This is because the laser beam in binocular LRF's is thinner than the beam in smaller, hand-held models, and it's also easier to hold binocular LRF's on target.

Thanks. I guess I should have asked about non reflective targets in poor light. That seems to be where I have the most trouble.

I have the Leica 1200s and they have been great. Terrain around here is short so 500 yards is big time open pasture for ground hogs. Mine have been 100% reliable and easy to use.

Bushnell Pinseeker 1500 has been a keeper for me. 7x, great optics, rainguard and it just performs well. You can pick them up used for $100.
I agree with the guys who have them, if that new Sig is everything it says it is at just over $400 it will be hard to buy anything else.

JG,

I haven't had a chance to use my Sig in the fog yet, I've really only played with it a couple of times since I got it a week and a half ago. My Leica doesn't like the fog, there was the very slightest hint of fog a few weeks ago when I was hunting one morning and it wouldn't range more than 150 yds until the fog burned off, then it was back to normal.

One reason I decided to try the Sig is the scan feature, my Leica is a pre-scan model. I tried the Sig inside the house on a wall and it ranged it at 7 yds so it has a good minimum range. Combined with the angle compensation feature it should work well for bowhunting also. Some RF's, at least the older ones, will only go down to 15-20 yds which doesn't work well for bowhunting, this looks like it will. It's pretty tiny, about half the size of the leica. Like I said, I haven't had a chance to stretch it out yet but so far it looks pretty impressive. The optics aren't quite as good as my Leica, but they're plenty good to do what it's meant to do.

Any updates on the Sig Kilo? Anyone test them further? Thanks.