Rangefinder recommendation

[Car Doc]

I have an older Bushnell 850 and its been great. I have my doubts about how accurate it is on a prairie dog patch at over 600 yds but anything out to 400 yds has been pretty much spot on and repeatable, the reflectivity of whats being ranged is a huge factor ymmv.

I know how tricky it is even with a good scope to judge distance as is but other than that its something I would buy again and recommend the brand to others.

 

[mojoinco]

I had good pricing at cameraland. Bought a Leica being discontinued. Good folks to deal with. I waited so long I decided to get a one time machine versus my usual upgrade path (start small and cheap). Long distance is usually measured on best conditions, so not so perfect conditions should still give you a good response.

Leica supposedly has a different shape to the beam/target input.

 

[radman1]

I have a Leupold RX-1000 TBR. Used it for 2 seasons. It has performed as advertised. It is amazing how compact rangefinders have become over the years and more feature laden. Leica is top notch but I am just a casual, seasonal, weekend hunter. I have Leupold scopes on my hunting rifles and just hard not to go with Leupold. The Leupold is still nearly $400 and few shots are easily made that far or should be made that far. If shooting under 200 yards, don't need a range finder and the vast majority of shots are under that. Didn't think I needed to buy one. However, had a weak moment with some discounts in my hand and bought one. I did a 430 yard shot this year that I would not have done without the rangefinder. 0 wind. My gun was really on at 200 yards where I sight it in. You need to know your ballistics for those longer shots and I write them down on paper under my flip up scope lense cap for reference if I need them. Nice 5x5 buck. I would have definitely passed on that shot in prior years. Get a rangefinder that has more range than you will shoot. A 1000 yards on my Leupold is under ideal conditions with a big reflective target. It picks up small trees easily at 500 yards. I would get a finder rated for at least 750 yards, knowing the practical range on a small target will be half that.
Range finders are also nice for target practice. Set up target, walk back until you find the right distance and set up the table.

 

[forgeblast]

Before you buy one from a catalog, go to a store and see and try to use them. I would take a pair of gloves too to see how easy it is to use/fumble with.
Also look at the modes, point and shoot is the easiest, there was one i looked at that you had to take three reading to compensate for the arrow drop, big pain.
for the rifle ones, i would look at the all inone scope combos.

 

[zaynkarim]

I have a Halo XRT62 Rangefinder. It's 105 on Amazon. It grabs ranges fast, and so far has been accurate at known ranges.

 

[skipperbrown]

I have a Leica 1200 I bought around 2005. Works great and fits nicely in my front shirt pocket. It sometimes doesn't range well in a fog but I don't think any of them do. There is a new 1600 model that all the long range precision shooters think is the bees knees. You can get one from Cameraland in NY which is a reputable company. I have bought several optics from them. Ask for Doug and see if you can get a discount on a new demo.