Hey guys, how many of you here have a rangefinder. From what i have been reading lately it is hard to judge distances out on the plains for an easterner. When i go to college out west, most likely i will encounter plains and antelope. I also want a rangefinder out here, becuase i am not all that good at judging distance anyways! I have been looking mainly at the bottom of the line bushnell, because i dont want to pay too much.

NH_Hunter

NH,

    I've got a Lieca so I'm not a good reference, however Lieca is the only range finder with real quality optics in their box, unless something has changed.  Pick up a few of them and see what you can hit in the store.

    Becareful of the "reflective" vs. non-reflective working range.  They all list reflective, but non-reflective ranging is usually shorter distance than advertised.  OF COURSE this is not true with the lieca... Gotta love them Germans.

Spot

NH;

I've got the Bushnell Yardage Pro 800.  It's a monocular type.  The laser is easy to operate, has several different modes that are easy to understand & change among.  The non-reflective, read hairy animal, range is about 450 yards under ideal conditions.  It uses 4 AAA batteries that last about 6 months.  The battery cover is not foolproof & should be taped by the user.

The optics are absolutely second-rate.  The monocular is 8X with a very limited field of view. 

It is useful, & I'm glad I got it, but it's not as useful as I'd hoped it would be.  The price was about $275.00 two years ago. 

900F

i have gone thru several rangefinders.

if you want the best, go w/ a leica 1200.

if you want the best for the money, go bushnell.

i've gone thru one simmons, one tasco, 2 bushnells, and have worked w/ the leica... because you are asking this question, i assume the leica has already been ruled out.

first, the simmons... was rated to 800 yards. would actually range to 150-200 yards on a prairie dog town, and was erratic in doing it. lots of erroneous readings. same goes for the tasco (i suspect they are made by the same people, because they look the same, and neither one works).

the bushnells... really work nice for the money. i think nikons and bushnells are made by the same folks, but different people than tasco/simmons. anyway, had a bushnell 400 first. would consistently ready to around 340 yards on a dog town. occasionally more, if the conditions were favorable.

the bushnell i use now has long been discontinued: compact 600... operates on a 9v battery, and came w/ a nifty neoprene case. simple operation, and quite accurate. have gotten readings from trees and grass out to 800 yards - though it is inconsistent at this range. inside of 600 yards, it works well, and inside of 500 yards, it works extremely well.

optically, the glass sucks on every laser i've peered thru except the leicas.

NH I have a leica 1200 and it will do 1200.I have shot with blokes with all sorts of other types and they seem to want to borrow mind and not use theirs.Save and buy the good one!!!It really is woth it.

Macca

My rangefinder's gotta cover many different purposes.  I guess if I were only using it at typical big game hunting ranges, I'd opt for something that would accurately measure out to 500 yds. or so and cost less.  Varminting extends what I need.

For the past few years, I've been spoiled by a shooting partners Leica 1200.  It is a wonderful piece of equipment.  Made the decision many moons back that that is what I'd be getting when the time came.  Well     ...     the time came.  I've got one of the new Leica 1200 Scan models paid for and on it's way.  Should see it come weeks end.  Very excited.

Didn't really cost anything more then what I'd spend on another new rifle.  Well worth putting off the next rifle purchase for a later date to get the Leica, in my opinion.  >>  klallen