Ballistic rangefinders

[MuleyFever]

What are my options for a rangefinder that will give me Mil clicks based on my load ballistics.

 

[skierhs]

Do you have a desired distance you want to reach? Or do you care about having it being in a bino or hand held style? Leica, sig, gunwerks g7 are some off of top of my head.

 

[MuleyFever]

Under 1000yds for sure. Max may reach 700yds. I was looking at the Leica binos and see they have presets to use or the USB for custom. That is probably what I would like but in a dedicated rangefinder. But not sure where to look.

Would like to stay under $1000 or I may as well get the Leica 2200.

 

[skierhs]

Under 1000yds for sure. Max may reach 700yds. I was looking at the Leica binos and see they have presets to use or the USB for custom. That is probably what I would like but in a dedicated rangefinder. But not sure where to look.

Would like to stay under $1000 or I may as well get the Leica 2200.

I love the Leica 2400-r that I run. The glass is great quality as well. The only catch is the new Leica .com LRF can connect with a kestrel and upload your curve via a phone app I think. It’ll go farther then you need but the connectivity of that along with the sig options are very attractive. Just a thought.

 

[Muley Buck]

I gotta say, I really like my G7. I've seen them hovering around $1000 -$1200 for sale used.

 

[ericF]

The Sig Sauer BDX line will do what you want and has a phone interface to input environmental data too. If you get the 2400 bdx, then you can pair with a kestrel elite down the road if you decide to do that. Without the Kestrel it uses Applied Ballistic ultralight and will give you a solution to 800 yards.

 

[MuleyFever]

I love the Leica 2400-r that I run. The glass is great quality as well. The only catch is the new Leica .com LRF can connect with a kestrel and upload your curve via a phone app I think. It’ll go farther then you need but the connectivity of that along with the sig options are very attractive. Just a thought.

Can you enter load data into the 2400-r or do you have to use presets?

Considering my distance will not push that far I just don't think I need to use a kestrel.

 

[skierhs]

Can you enter load data into the 2400-r or do you have to use presets?

Considering my distance will not push that far I just don't think I need to use a kestrel.

So the -r provides me distance as line of sight and as well of the horizontal distance. I use this because I archery hunt with this unit and thus it provides yardage from 10 yards out to 2400 yards plus. The -b versions are the ballistic versions and those use micro sd chips . The units start ballistics a little farther out. This year for rifle I will pick up a sig bdx as I can program it with a phone app or attach it to my foretrex 701 for solutions as far as I can shoot.

 

[catorres1]

Can you enter load data into the 2400-r or do you have to use presets?

Considering my distance will not push that far I just don't think I need to use a kestrel.

If you want to enter ballistics, and keep it under $1k, you want to look at a Leica 2700 or a Sig BDX. I have both, as well as a 2800, but that one will bust your budget just a bit. Any Leica below a 2700 will not allow you to use a custom curve.

Differences:
Leica 2700 has on board environmentals, so measures temp and pressure and applies it to your curve, which you load through a chip. Ballistics use only G1's and take some tweaking to get just right, but it will provide a decent solution out to 1k yards. Past that, it will only give you the range. Keep in mind, that solution will not account for Coriolis or any of the higher order forces. Excellent glass, small beam divergence, very reliable, ballistics solution while workable is the weak point, depending on your bullet. And like all internal temp measuring RF's, will exhibit temp drift, which only really matters way out there, so probably not a consideration for you, but still.

Sig BDX: Here, in your price range, you can choose from the 2400 on down. The 2400 differs from the rest of the BDX RF line in that it has more ranging power, but mainly that it has connectivity to a Kestrel or a Foretrex. No onboard environmentals, this must be loaded from a phone and updated via phone (either automatically with cell service, or manually). Uses AB Ultralite onboard to give you a solution based on the curve loaded to the rf via phone. Solution does not consider higher level forces and is limited to 800 yards. After that, it gives you distance. Glass is not as nice as Leica's, and exhibits some flare, but on the 2200 and 2400, gets the job done. Beam divergence is about twice what it is on Leica hand helds. However, ballistic solution is solid, the RF is very fast, and the BDX system, when paired with one of their scopes is incredibly fast and versatile under hunting conditions. If you ever decide to shoot long, connection to a Kestrel or Foretrex is very useful, especially as these devices handle temps better than the hand held RF's do.

I have extensive reviews on both of these RF's on this forum that have a bunch more info on these two RF's. Also feel free to PM me if I can provide assistance.