recommend a rangefinder

slingshot88

hi all,as the title suggests im in the market for a rangefinder,my budget is not big (250-300).i will be using it at night so would have to be good under the lamp, i have being looking at leupold,redfield and also hawke,has anyone any experience with these makes?what are they like or can anyone suggest any others i should look at? thanks in advance for any replys.

zeissman

You should try and get a 2nd hand leica or zeiss.
The cheaper brands work fine during the day but are poor in low light.
I had a bushnell once and it was terrible, my mate has a leupold and its not great. A lot of the time it just wont give a reading when my leica does.

slingshot88

I would have thought the leupold would have bein fairly a good setup. have a friend who has a bushnell and defo would not get one it only reads when it wants to. iv heard leica do a good rangefinder but even 2nd hand there still bit expensive for me, damn this ressesion!

zeissman

You should be able to get a 2nd hand leica for 250 to 300.
You can get a new leica crf 1000 for 430 euro plus 10 euro postage from
www.alpinhunting.com
You should wait until you have the cash and get a leica.

4200fps

zeissman wrote: »

You should try and get a 2nd hand leica or zeiss.
The cheaper brands work fine during the day but are poor in low light.
I had a bushnell once and it was terrible, my mate has a leupold and its not great. A lot of the time it just wont give a reading when my leica does.

I totally agree about the bushnell, a guy fro ESB lent me his,it was misty, worked when it wanted to,poor range and it was crying for a sledge hammer. Its also the only one i ever used so i don't know nothing about the other brands

poulo6.5

lica

steyrman2

leica +1 great bit of kit with the new models out the older ones second hand are great value buy it once buy leica

Gonzor

Trust me, dont skimp on your rangefinder. If you buy cheap your gonna be stuck with and be kicking yourself for not saving up an extra one or two hundred and bought a good one from the start.

I recently picked up a Zeiss Victory PRF 8x26 and its very nice. It says it works out to 1300 yards, I havent tested it that far just yet, but at 1153 yards there are no issues. Works flawlessly in low light, rain and mist. I would recommend it to anybody.

BTW: the lads are right about the leica its pretty decent.

lefthooker

I can't comment on the expensive stuff but the Nikon Riflehunter 550 that I have suits the range that I shoot with my rimfires. It works fine during daylight and ranges just as well at night under a lamp

De_Tomaso

Save some money and go for Leica, Zeiss or Swarovski.

I have some experience with Bushnell Elite 1500 and would not recomend one for low light use.

slingshot88

thanks for all the replys lads and thank you zeissman for the link,think i will spend the extra few euro and buy a leica

MJMURPHY

BUSHNELL SCOUT 1000ARC this is an awesome rangefinder in my opinion.
It has never let me down yet.

rabbit assassin

Bought one of these 2 years ago and paid nearly £300 now its only £99 :mad:

Never failed me though. I use it about once a week comes in very handy for the air rifle, long range rabbiting and when I want to get an accurate measurement when zeroing.

http://www.opticswarehouse.co.uk/products.asp?cat=Nikko+Stirling+Rangefinders

MJMURPHY

rabbit assassin wrote: »

Bought one of these 2 years ago and paid nearly £300 now its only £99 :mad:

Never failed me though. I use it about once a week comes in very handy for the air rifle, long range rabbiting and when I want to get an accurate measurement when zeroing.

http://www.opticswarehouse.co.uk/products.asp?cat=Nikko+Stirling+Rangefinders

Hey Rabbit Assassin,
Yep that is the very same reasons I use mine. its an awesome piece of kit when used along with the Hawke Chairgun Pro Software. I do agree its a little on the pricey side but it is very compact & the ARC is useful & not to mention the Rifle Mode when set up for Rimfire Rifles etc.

rabbit assassin

MJMURPHY wrote: »

Hey Rabbit Assassin,
Yep that is the very same reasons I use mine. its an awesome piece of kit when used along with the Hawke Chairgun Pro Software. I do agree its a little on the pricey side but it is very compact & the ARC is useful & not to mention the Rifle Mode when set up for Rimfire Rifles etc.

Heya MJMURPHY,
How do you get the Hawke Chairgun Pro software ?? I googled it and it brought me to the hawke website. It says its free yet you still have to put in your credit card details and add to cart it still comes to 0.00.... and even on other sites when trying to download they all lead back to the Hawke site

MJMURPHY

@ Assassin,
Ya I know what you mean as I was having the same probs myself when I was getting it on my Laptop. But the best place is to have it on your phone as I have it on my iPhone so it's perfect when you are at the range or just out in the field hunting!:) do you have an iPhone by any chance??

rabbit assassin

Dont have an iphone. Ah well sure I suppose the best way to get every shot on target is just practice lads have been doin it fairly well up until now without technology

MJMURPHY

Yep I suppose your right there mate!! haha...
All you have to know is your ranges & your aiming points (mill dots) etc & its pretty easy from there. The real advantage of the rangefinder is to get the exact distance & then you just use your mill dot as required.

323

De_Tomaso wrote: »

Save some money and go for Leica, Zeiss or Swarovski.

I have some experience with Bushnell Elite 1500 and would not recomend one for low light use.

Agree, cant go wrong with any these German/Austrian makers.
Very happy with a Swarovski Lasar Guide, says 1500 yards, maybe but does reliably range out to well beyond 1000 yards in field conditions, monocle but clear as most binoculars, find am using it and leaving the binoculars behind now.

Also remember if you ever break them these will repair them for nothing. Worth waiting a while for.

Tom Donnavan

Hello all
Could I ask did any of ye ever order anything off alpinhunting that Zeissman recommended ? They were coming in at a good price. Would I be right to think there would be no duty to pay as we are all in the EU ?

zeissman

I never ordered anything yet but I did email them a few times and they seem sound to deal with.
As they are in the EU you wont have to pay any more duty.

Tom Donnavan

I had got a price of 360 euro for a crf 1000 of them but when I googled their name I got a few people asking the same question as me but no one who had done business with them.

I was about to order it but just held off for the minute, you know what they say - If it seems to good to be true..........

If anyone has any good experence of them or any other good sights please post up the details.

Deise Musashi

How do you get the Hawke Chairgun Pro software ?? I googled it and it brought me to the hawke website. It says its free yet you still have to put in your credit card details and add to cart it still comes to 0.00.... and even on other sites when trying to download they all lead back to the Hawke site

I can put it on cd and send it to you if you PM me your postal address lad.

I just checked the website and it's still free, so I doubt they'd mind me sending it on.