Sig Kilo8K ABS and Gunwerks BR4 RF Field Review

[prm]

Doesn’t seem like a very good comparison so far when you are leaving out one of the biggest features for the Sig and that is dropping a pin to basemap. That is a huge fail in my opinion for the Revic.

One could argue if it can’t range in cold temps it doesn’t matter. But leaving it out completely really isn’t a fair comparison. It also seems strange that until now nobody has noticed this with the sig. I’m not saying it’s not a real issue but I would have thought complaints would have popped up on forums by now.

Everything I have is left out all night, every night when elk or mule deer hunting. That is 100% relevant. If it doesn't work at 0 deg it has no utility to me.

Plotting a range and bearing is marginally useful. I can do that on any GPS.

 

[SouthPaw]

Mimics my experience with a sig 2400abs. Works perfectly in nice weather on range days all summer, and on an early season backpack hunt where the coldest it got was 32F. Never an issue. The next hunt a month later in Montana the temp never got above 32F, and the RF would not give a range until I physically warmed it up. Right out of the bino harness it would not range. It spent the hunt in my pants pocket where body temp kept it warm enough to work.

 

[Bones]

I have my 2400ABS linked to a kestrel, which is awesome, but I have worked on being able to run without depending on the kestrel and link. The problem is, you still need to get a range to do the math in your head for a shot.

 

[repins05]

well seems the thread is going downhill a bit..........

I appreciate the test and find value with it in regards to the sig failing in cold temperatures. With that being said, my new Sig Kilo8k arrived today. Excited to get my rifle data entered and to test the integration of the wind meter that came with the unit. I decided to go with the Sig because of the wind meter. Overall nice package sitting on my table. Came with two cases, wind meter, and tripod mount. Will see if the unit fails in cold temperature .... but will have to wait a month for spring bear to see these temps for the range finder. Hopefully warranty doesn't come into play but if it does sig optics is 30 minutes away.

I am running RF binos and hope that they will not have to be used as backup.

 

[Seeknelk]

Just want to say , I appreciate the testing! Thanks!

 

[oregonsteelheader]

I appreciate this review as well, it is super helpful. Pretty much solidifies that I’ll go with the BR4, I can’t have a rangefinder that will not perform in those temps. For shits though, I would like to hear some real word accounts on the 8Ks Madonna playboy pin drop feature. Has anyone been able to get a range and test the pin drop accuracy?

 

[eoperator]

I tested the highest rated 1050 mah (vs standard 850 mah) cr2 battery in my sig 8k, temp performance did not seem to change, 10° seems about the lower limit of function.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Any updates?
I'm possibly in the market for the Revic

 

[Pheasanthnter1]

...

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[quaka_wacka]

Great info everyone. Certainly disappointed in what I hear about the SIG.



The Madonna/Playboy pin drop feature was one of the features I was very excited about. I say this as a guy with 25 years SAR and mountain rescue experience. And backpack hunting all over the western US and AK. I also teach navigation classes for our SAR groups. I think the more people learned how efficient it made their navigation, the more they would use it.



Shortly after Garmin added electronic compasses to their GPS, I found out how to project a waypoint by locking a compass heading and manually entering a lasered range. Shooting across canyons at last light, this is a huge time saver finding an animal in the dark. I’ve only had it be off by more than 150ft one time out of dozens. And that involved magnetic interference from high voltage power lines…lesson learned. This also has obvious advantages when putting a hunt on game and trying to get closer. Or picking the best route around cliffs on a tree covered hillside. Sitting and looking at maps and terrain will get you close, but doesn’t have the same level of precision (Especially in micro terrain with less recognizable features). That higher level of precision in navigating, saves time and leads to less backtracking. I believe it’s also safer. More than once I’ve ended up in the wrong slide chute, but went for it anyways, because we were running out of daylight to backtrack. It can make or break a stalk in open rolling sage coutry, when the “hump” you crawl to was one over from where you needed to be.



I was excited about the possibility of being able to project waypoints by pushing a single button, instead of entering them manually. I think I’d use it a lot more. It would also be easier to triangulate those waypoints from different angles to make them even more precise. It would be great if Zeiss, Swaro, Sig or any unit with an eCompass would output a copy/pasetable GPS location into their app. In a perfect world it would go right into the GPS app of your choice, but that’s asking a lot.



This is the only reason I still carry a Garmin, but rely mainly on OnX for navigation while hunting. I’ve been bugging the guys at OnX to add this feature for years. Unfortunately I’ve noticed the Ecompass on my iPhone is less accurate than my Garmin, which would limit its effectiveness.



Rangefinders have always had reduced range in cold weather, but I agree with another poster, that Sig may have tried to ask too much of a CR2 battery. Hopefully they can get the bugs worked out. Otherwise the Madonna/Playboy option is pretty useless.

 

[RyanTrials]

Any updates?

I briefly tried finding the operating temperature range specs of the sig, no luck. Do RF specs usually not list an operating temp range spec?!

 

[dscl]

As a new sig owner this thread has been a bit of a bummer!

 

[SneakyThunderCat]

I'm interested in hearing more too. I'm holding on to my 2400 abs for now, and will do so until the cold weather issue is fixed on the new Sigs.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[mfllood3800]

I have had the Revic for an entire winter and never had issues out to 1650 yards, even in cold high winds with tons of dust in the air. This RF definately has the ability cut thru crap. I will add, I still have my original Gunwerks RF and it to ranged just as well, just not as far. It was only getting me out to 1200-1300 yards. Held from hand, no tripod.

 

[Baron85]

I have had the Revic for an entire winter and never had issues out to 1650 yards, even in cold high winds with tons of dust in the air. This RF definately has the ability cut thru crap. I will add, I still have my original Gunwerks RF and it to ranged just as well, just not as far. It was only getting me out to 1200-1300 yards. Held from hand, no tripod.

Have you used it on steel? Im particularly interested in roughly 2-4 moa steel out to 1400 yards

 

[28bang]

I hit silhouettes at 1600 with the br4 no problem.

 

[mfllood3800]

Have you used it on steel? Im particularly interested in roughly 2-4 moa steel out to 1400 yards

No steel, but I look for MOA size rocks, which are not hard to find. It picks them up easily and is accurate. I am lazy and don't want to put steel up at these distances. lol Rocks are always available.

 

[Baron85]

Perfect info. How have the ballistics done for you? I’m still waiting on my 10k’s. I ordered a maven rf1 to use in the mean time but it wasn’t able to range small steel with a berm behind it past about 500-600 yards. It kept picking up the berm no matter what I did. Bigger steel was no problem and it’s ranging performance overall was amazing. Hit tree lines past 3000. I sent it back since I’m wanting small steel performance.

 

[Milemarker28]

Can anyone share where the BR4 is manufactured?

 

[Baron85]

I called Revic a couple weeks ago and they told me “overseas”

I was able to check one out at scheels yesterday. It was very nice. Fast ranging and seemed easy to navigate. Was smaller than I was expecting based on Pictures I have seen but is bigger than normal range finders. I really liked the reticle they use. I was told that the reticle is the size and shape of the beam.