Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting G7 BR2 rangefinder, first impressions

First Impressions

The device itself is a little bigger than my old Leica LRF. The built in tripod mount on the bottom sticks down another 5/8� or so and has a dovetail built into for ??? The eyepiece is comfortable and easy to focus- easiest I have yet used in fact.
There are 4 buttons on top to operate it. The instruction manual is quite a volume and was somewhat confusing and redundant. I tried to set some of the features up using the manual and was totally lost. I found it easier to trial and error the thing.
I input a ballistic profile into it which requires using the 4 buttons in varying sequences. I erased my profile five or six times before I figured it out. I could do it again much faster now. This would certainly be easier with a computer linked to it!
I only had part of a day to play with it today so I drove to the edge of town where I could overlook a desert area. It was 2:00pm and bright sunlight. According to the manual, it can read out to 2500 yards and give you a ballistic solution out to 1400.
I was able to range out to 1616 yard on a white pipe gate. The gate was approximately with the sun at my back. I stood on top of my tool box and used shooting sticks to stabilize it. This proved to be very stable. I was able to get a ballistic solution out to 1229 yards on a horse trailer. I could not get a ballistic solution beyond 1229 yards.
I had no problem ranging a rider on a horse at 318 yards, saguaro cactus out to 700. I ranged a scrubby palo verde tree at 1466 but got no solution.
At one point I was ranging various things and it inexplicably quit giving me ranges. I couldn�t even get a large tree at 150 yards. I figured it was done. I waited a minute for it to time out and started over. I began working again just fine.
I tried several times to get a large while water tank which proved to be 1229 yards away. I had to put it in �Far� mode before I could get this. I was not able to get a large pile of asphalt millings behind it.
I thought that the bright sun was keeping it from working. Up to this point, all my ranging had been with the sun predominantly to my back. I spun around and ranged to within 20 degrees of the afternoon sun. I was able to get street signs out to 1185 and a tin roof at 1065. I was impressed that it could do this in bright sun!
I tried to range a number of items at longer ranges but the 1616 yard gate was the most distant thing I got a reading on. I tried to range a Robinson R22 flying towards me. I would not give me a reading, even when it passed within 200 yards of me. I guess it doesn�t like moving targets.

I haven�t compared the ballistic solutions that I got to my known dope yet but that is next. I would like to get out again next week and use it where I can find more intermediate (1000-1400 yards) targets to see where the ballistic solution part of this rangefinder really cuts out. I was to see how it does in poor light too!
At this point I am reserving judgment but I don�t like how complicated it is and the fact that it just quit working at one point bothered me. It reaches out better than any other range finder I have tested here but I didn�t get anywhere near the 2000 yd readings that Joel did.


I took some photos of the stuff I ranged and will get them added to this a little later.

What power is the glass?

Kinda neat it was working good looking into the sun.

That tripod adapter is a outdoorsmans. I added it. It has a standard thread which I beloved is 1/4 20 thread.

Oh,OK, that makes more sense. I thought maybe it was some proprietary thing that G7 had.

Here are some photos.

This first one is the gate I was able to range at 1600 yards. It is the white metal gate center and toward the top (my version of photoshop has no line tools- sorry)





On the top of this photo is the white tank with the millings pile behind it. I had a hard time getting this range. It was 1229 but took quite a few tries to get it. I was never able to get a range on the millings.





This is looking to the west northwest I ranged those trailers on the right; 914 yard and the tin roof is 1065. This was impressive only from the standpoint that I was not too far from looking towards the sun.






This is just the camera set in normal format with no zoom to show how far this stuff looked to unaided eye. I am guessing the optics are 8X in this thing. This is the same as the top photo with the gate.

Not that it matters but I think the optics are 7x.

You are correct, it is 7X.

Is that Red Mountain I spy in the background of one of those pics?
Just a bit north from Falcon right?

Yep

My cousin lives near there... east side of the mountain.
It seems strange that it wouldn't range the millings. I would have thought a darker target would have helped some with such bright sunlight.

I couldn't get a reading on them in 20 tries.

My best guess is that the black target you are trying to read absorbs the laser instead of bouncing it off. Kinda like any black surface absorbs heat etc. I just dont think that black is a great reflective target. Just a wild guess. Dennis has any of your other rangefinders picked up on the millings. Also will it read them if you get closer to them. Like I said it is just a wild guess.

OK, had to test some Berger hybrids today and took the G7. I was able to range large rocks (3'-4') at 1033 yds in bright sunlight I was able to range bushes out to 1600 yards. I found some dark brown rocky ridges and was able to start ranging them and then drive further. I got my last reading at 1957 yards. This was at high noon!

Just ranging a grassy covered hillside didn't give the best results. It was much better to find a specific target that was darker than the rest of the hill. Almost all our fauna is evergreen so there was always something to range.

When setting up the target, the Leica CRF1200 ranged it at 297-298, the BR2 at 300 even. Not sure which one was right but was surprised that they were as much as 9 feet different at 300 yards. Both claim to be more accurate than this.

As an aside, the new 140 Berger Hybrids were pretty forgiving on seating depth and shot about 10% better than my Amax loads.

Thanks Dennis,
That sounds like pretty good performance really. Maybe just a bit finicky on the target its ranging perhaps.
Its interesting to hear about the difference in measure between the Leica and the G7 though. Really makes me wonder which one had the accurate range there. I would be really interested to see how those two compare at longer ranges i.e. does the difference go from an inconsecquential 9ft at 300yd to a potentially consesquential 18ft at 600yd... or does it remain steady?

I didn't check with the Leica. I got to caught up in shooting and then just used the BR2. Never ranged anything further than 500 yards with the Leica today. This BR2 is about 4 times the size of the Leica but not a lot heavier.

I am going to compare them at longer distances maybe tomorrow night- have to work in the AM.

Wonder how they got away with using the name "BR2" without violating CCI's copy write on the the primers???

1957 in bright sunlight is pretty impressive. Not many many can range that far in those conditions. Thanks for keeping us posted..

So far the BR2 is better than a Swaro LG.......how????

It is better in three ways; it can range further under any condition that I have seen, it can provide a ballistic solution at the press of a button for long range shooting and it actually has a display that you can see without it fading in and out.

The Swarovski has a couple of advantages; smaller, cheaper.

Have you compared or used any the PLRF series at all from Vectronixs ?

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3020962#Post3020962

Have you done any further testing with the ballistic solutions it gives you to see if it is accurate with your trajectory? What is the farthest distance you have tested the 'shoot to' solution so far?

I got a shooting solution at 1260 yesterday. I also shot at 520. I used my Shooter app on my droid which gave me 5.0 MOA elevation. The BR2 told me to put in 4.2 MOA. I needed 4.75. I guess in this case, the Shooter app was more accurate.

I am going to try and shoot further today. Yesterday I couldn't shoot any further.

Also, I was able to range the same rock at 2138 yards that I could only get 1900 and change during brighter sunlight. I could not get any readings beyond this. Maybe a house or something more geometric would yield longer readings.?