Range finder opinions

[BULLET 05]

I’m looking at a Leupold RX-1400i. Midway has them on sale. Anyone have any experience with them or have another suggestion for 159.00 that would be better?

 

[Richard Jones]

I’m looking at a Leupold RX-1400i. Midway has them on sale. Anyone have any experience with them or have another suggestion for 159.00 that would be better?

Keep in mind that Leupold doesn't have the same warranty on rangefinders as most of their other offerings. I found this out the hard way.

I bought a Vortex Optics Crossfire HD 1400 about 2 years ago and have been very pleased with it. It seems to be much brighter than the Leup that I had, a nice feature for older eyes... Ranging with it has produced very consistent results, although I have not checked it's accuracy other than against things that are a known distance.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

How far are you wanting accurate readings, is the important question.

 

[BULLET 05]

How far are you wanting accurate readings, is the important question.Using for ground hog hunting and paper target hunting. 500 yards and less 85% of the time. May try some stuff out to 1000

 

[Kracken McGraw]

There are some older threads on this subject in the optics forum here.
I don’t think this price range of rangefinder is going to please you.

 

[JSH]

Distance is one thing for sure. What is the target you want to range?
There are range finders, then there ARE range finders.
Don’t let the worthless $1 dictate what you buy (like I did) buy once, cry once.
Buddy has a 12-15 year old Leica, it is out dated some what but is still better than today’s offering at the price point back then.

 

[Doug Beach]

I have no comment on current Leupold RF options, but I bought one of their rangefinders years ago, and it was complete garbage. Nice optics, nice features, wouldn’t give you a range over 300 yards on non reflective targets more than maybe 20% of the time. I sent it back, and they replaced it. No difference. I wasn’t going to sell it to some poor sucker, so it ended up in a landfill.
Got a small Leica. Works. Every. Single. Time.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

My old Leica LRF 1200 is still working like it did the day it came out of the box. No bells, whistles or digital readouts of any kind. It just ranges and ranges very well. Think I paid five bills for it new.

Using my old Bushnell spotter bench tripod with the LRF 1200 for steadiness when ranging small targets over 300 yards like PD or squirrel mounds over almost flat terrain, this has worked very well, and for cheap. Much more accurate/useful compared to hand-held.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

https://www.scheels.com/p/vortex-ra...MIudOgoMSOiAMVRWhHAR30-AkrEAQYAyABEgLr2fD_BwE
This Vortex model does a great job for me.
I had a 600yard Nikon before and it was garbage.

 

[L.Sherm]

I have a Leica 1200 also my only knock is it can be finicky in some snow or foggy conditions.

 

[L.Sherm]

What ever your max range you want it to work understand whatever it says thats perfect conditions so - so its not gonna work at the range it advertised at

 

[long40shot]

This thread just made me remember, I loaned two buddies, two range finders years ago. I never got them back! I have a older Zeiss PRF, I like it really well.

 

[boltfluter]

Whatever range you are looking to range, buy a rangefinder with double what you want and you should be good. Leica has always been the one to beat. My Leica 1600 is still going strong after 15 yrs of very heavy use.
Paul

 

[riverwolf1]

Save your money, buy a Leica, and never look back! I had a Leupold and hated it. Too cluttered with info. My Leica is 18 years old and never a problem with it!

 

[Just Say Moe]

I paid $150 for an RX950 in 2019. I use it for prairie dogs out to 500 and have no complaints.

 

[chuckshooter]

I was using a leica 1600 and a pair of Swarovski binoculars for prairie dog shooting, a few friends had expensive leica range finding binoculars but I just could not justify the money, so I went the cheaper route on the vortex Fury ab And am quite pleased . The 1st year, I still took the swarovsky's just in case I wasn't happy with the glass but, Now I just take the vortex.

 

[bluesako]

ive used a leica 1200 scan for 20 years, never had a problem with it,great bit of kit, but i had this range finder, its over 40 years old it is manual, i think it still works? it was ok in the day, you had to twist knobs on it to find the range, to be honest it would have been quicker to pace the distance out, but in the good ole days it was all done manually, no lasers and digital read outs you young uns are spoilt now , atb bs.

 

[kyotekiller25]

Find a used Swarovski 1500 or Leica 1200 for around $4-500 and call it a day.

Still have my Swarovski 1500 over 15 years and it's still my go to for a rangefinder. The optics are amazing and doubles up for glassing. Plus it easily ranges out to 1K on just any target in any weather/conditions, and I've got 19xx on many different occasions in good conditions on elk, steel, and rocks.

 

[C.E.Smith043]

Another vote for Leica

 

[Gabe22BR]

MAVEN

RF.1 - 7x25 | 5-4500 YD

The Maven RF.1 represents our elite range finder, delivered for a fraction of comparable rangefinders’ costs.

mavenbuilt.com