Guns & Outdoors Forum

My old Leica range finder is giving up the ghost. It's rated to 1500 yards as I recall. Now it won't range much over 400 yards on a reflective target. I tried changing the batteries and still the same issue. I'm betting it's pushing 10 plus years old. Not a bad run.

I'm not looking to spend $400 or more on one, I'd like to keep it in the $200ish hundred dollar range. What do y'all recommend or what are you using?

Thanks everyone

IMO, pick whichever Sig Kilo fits within your budget and don't look back. Rangefinding seems to be one thing Sig has nailed for the money. I can't remember which model my Kilos are, but they are about 7 years old and can range accurately farther than I'm willing to shoot.

My new rangefinder is a Leica Rangemaster CRF 2400-R. Been using a set of Leupold rangefinding Bino's for the last 14 yrs but they chew through batteries now. Was looking at prices for Leica's and was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a Leica shop tucked into a small alley about 70 yds from one of my LGS's. Prices were 10-20% less than the LGS!!! The shop also stocks all Leica scopes and because of their pricing, brings them into consideration for new purchases......

I have a Leupold 800 yard model that was given to me as a gift about 6-7 years ago. It works great, has great optics, and has worked solid and accurate for a long time.

Besides that, I don’t know crap about rangefinders

https://www.eurooptic.com/Sig-Sauer-KIL ... 28602.aspx

If I were in the market today I would take a gander at this.

Shotgunnershooter3, thanks for the link, that was the cheapest by $100 bucks. I just placed my order.

Sig Kilo by a mile

shotgunshooter3 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 8:27 pm https://www.eurooptic.com/Sig-Sauer-KIL ... 28602.aspx

If I were in the market today I would take a gander at this.

Wouldn’t angle compensation be a desirable feature?

I’ve been looking at this model because of that feature
https://www.eurooptic.com/SIG-Sauer-Kil ... ED-Di.aspx

I have an Sig Kilo that someone gave me. Haven’t used it yet. But, one day.
Currently using a Tarapin that someone else gave me and that thing is wicked nice.

The older Leupolds had a red illuminated display that tended to fade out over time. Annoying, but you saw it coming, so you had time pre-season to get it sorted out. My new one is just a black LCD that will HOPEFULLY avoid that issue. Aside from that, they've worked for me.

I bought a vortex, it’ll read 1000 on reflective surfaces, 4-ish (so far) on critters. Good enough for me.
Kind of wish I would have got an Sig, but I was still bitter about a poop red dot I had of theirs.

Wambli Ska wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 4:03 am

shotgunshooter3 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 8:27 pm https://www.eurooptic.com/Sig-Sauer-KIL ... 28602.aspx

If I were in the market today I would take a gander at this.

Wouldn’t angle compensation be a desirable feature?

I’ve been looking at this model because of that feature
https://www.eurooptic.com/SIG-Sauer-Kil ... ED-Di.aspx

Enzo, great catch, I caught them before they shipped and made the change to the Kilo 1600. Thanks!

I bought an Sig Buckmaster Saturday. It was on sale for $99.99. It claims to range to 1500 on reflective targets. It does give the angle.

12th Man wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 2:55 pm

Wambli Ska wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 4:03 am

shotgunshooter3 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 8:27 pm https://www.eurooptic.com/Sig-Sauer-KIL ... 28602.aspx

If I were in the market today I would take a gander at this.

Wouldn’t angle compensation be a desirable feature?

I’ve been looking at this model because of that feature
https://www.eurooptic.com/SIG-Sauer-Kil ... ED-Di.aspx

Enzo, great catch, I caught them before they shipped and made the change to the Kilo 1600. Thanks!

I’ve been plugging along with a Nikon that doesn’t have it for a long time and I’m tired of guessing. Got to play with a friends unit that does so I started looking into this feature and now find it an essential factor in my next purchase. But again, I was just asking what others thought. Glad the timing worked for you.

Unless you live/hunt/shoot distance in the mountains, it’s really not necessary.
Personal situations dictate, but I’ve rarely needed to use that feature or had it make a difference. It takes a pretty steep angle and/or distance to really make or break a shot that couldn’t just be SWAG’d.

Zee wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 6:30 pm Unless you live/hunt/shoot distance in the mountains, it’s really not necessary.
Personal situations dictate, but I’ve rarely needed to use that feature or had it make a difference. It takes a pretty steep angle and/or distance to really make or break a shot that couldn’t just be SWAG’d.

Makes sense. In my case I expect to spend a fair amount of time in the mountains and get back to bow hunting from stands and that is one activity where it seems to make a difference. I agree to most it won’t be a big deal, but for me it just seems convenient for an extra few $s. In this case $10 I believe.

Zee wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 6:30 pm Unless you live/hunt/shoot distance in the mountains, it’s really not necessary.
Personal situations dictate, but I’ve rarely needed to use that feature or had it make a difference. It takes a pretty steep angle and/or distance to really make or break a shot that couldn’t just be SWAG’d.

This, pretty much. For my use in hunting (my personal limit on game is a solid rest to 400 yards, and my goal is to stretch that comfort to 600), a few more experienced LR shooters showed me their DOPE and the difference at extreme angles was negligible. Like 1" at 1000 negligible. I wouldn't turn down a LRF that does that math, but I'm not ditching my current one that doesn't do any math anytime soon.

shotgunshooter3 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2024 2:57 am

Zee wrote: ↑Tue Jan 16, 2024 6:30 pm Unless you live/hunt/shoot distance in the mountains, it’s really not necessary.
Personal situations dictate, but I’ve rarely needed to use that feature or had it make a difference. It takes a pretty steep angle and/or distance to really make or break a shot that couldn’t just be SWAG’d.

This, pretty much. For my use in hunting (my personal limit on game is a solid rest to 400 yards, and my goal is to stretch that comfort to 600), a few more experienced LR shooters showed me their DOPE and the difference at extreme angles was negligible. Like 1" at 1000 negligible. I wouldn't turn down a LRF that does that math, but I'm not ditching my current one that doesn't do any math anytime soon.