Rangefinders?

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WKR
Joined
May 1, 2013
Messages
381
Location
Glendale, Arizona
I'm interested in getting a rangefinder but have zero experience with them. Blackovis has a nice rebate on the Nikon Prostaff 5.....

I seem to be finding both great and terrible reviews from it. Who has had success or failure with this one? Would my money best be spend elsewhere?
 
Rangefinders are kind of tough to figure out what you like. Ive noticed during my juants with rangefinders im picky about the crosshairs on them. Some have circles some have fine crosshairs some have huge crosshairs. (Ive lost 3 in the past 3 seasons) and being able to use quite a few lately has helped me narrow it down. You may like one in a store but typically in the field if your rangefinder is in your hand your shaking like a dog shittin a peach pit. I would say trade up to your favored " reticle" as in buy one see how you like it. Lose 20-30 bucks and sell it to try a different one.

Add: I would also go the used route on higher end stuff before new on lower end. Monstermuleys.com always has guys selling used leica,vortex,swaro. The clarity and magnification power seem to go hand in hand on the higher end models.
 
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Sound advice Hardstalk thanks. So it sounds like the Nikon Prostaff line wouldn't get your bump to be included in the higher end stuff? I'm a little surprised of the lack of rangefinders for sale in our classifieds here.
 
Are you bow or rifle hunting, or both? Do you hunt from a tree stand, steep country or fairly flat land? These are some things that you might want to consider, the distances you will be ranging and weather or not you want an angle compensator. I have the Ziess range finder, I have ranged objects as far away as 1300 m but it has no angle compensator so when I'm alpine hunting I have to carry an angle finder and small calculator for longer shots.
 
My advice would be to get one with angle comp even if you don't currently hunt steep country, you never know when you will. And why carry more things than you need to if you have a rangefinder that can do it all for you?? Just my opinion, I use a Nikon Archer's Choice max and like it, from what I have seen alot of the Nikon's are similar to each other...
 
I'm a rifle hunter and up until this year have only hunted somewhat steep/hilly country here in CA. I'm guessing angle compensation is something that brings them into a much higher price bracket... I would love to find a good used one like hardstalk recommends.
 
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My buddy has a Nikon rifle hunter 1000 that I think he paid 350 for which isn't bad IMO. What's your price range? And another one that gets good reviews is the Leupold tbr 1000rxi or something like that...
 
If you are completely new to Range Finders it should be noted that the yardage touted is not accurate on an animal. Generally you get less distance. I use a Nikon Rifle Hunter 550 which I really like. I almost exclusively bow hunt but it allows me to rifle hunt if I wanted. My Riflehunter only ranges out to about 400 yards on actual game.
 
I have 2 rangefinders: a Leica LRF 1200 (about 10 years old) that I need to change batteries periodically and a spanking new Leupold 1000i TBR with DNA (all the bells and whistles). I bought the Leica for rifle hunting and it has always worked. Not small or angle-compensating or won't do continuous measuring, but does an excellant job of ranging, especially the non-reflective targets. Was the best one on the market at the time, and frankly, probably better than a lot on the market now.

The Leupold was purchased for archery applications. I looked seriously at both the Leupold and the Vortex. Both would be a quality product and I am a Leupold person before Vortex so that is primarily why I chose the Leupold. I hate having to read instructions and having to make all the adjustments that you need to in order to make the angle compensation work (but is a necessary evil). Once you are set up, just point and press and you get a quick answer. Time will tell on this purchase but it is small and fun to play with.

I had them both out one day (I had one and my son had one) and we both ranged a tree about 800 yards away. One said 800 and the other said 790. I presume that we were pointing in the same general area so I would say that the accuracy was relatively the same.

Angle compensating for rifles are great, but if you use more than one rifle, you will potentially change the setup in the rangefinder for the best accuracy.
 
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