Rangefinder opinions

[Hammer 35]

New to the area, moved from back east.

I could use a rangefinder for hunting/ banging steel. I've got a bunch of Cabelas gift cards but of course they don't show the Sig Whiskey 3/Kilo1000 combo that everyone else has a screaming deal on. Any opinions or advice on one?

 

[Lobo2087]

I have a 1300 vortex as well as a pair of vortex fury binoculars. They have all but replaced my spotting scope and range finder. The fury was an excellent pickup

 

[Hammer 35]

How far do you think you can range steel targets with the vortex 1300? It's about in my price range.

 

[stomp442]

The Sigs are nice, I have used a couple of them but don't own one. I am currently running the Leupold TBR 2800 and really like it. Has lots of bells and whistles to use if you so choose or not. I keep it on the trig setting and let it tell me the TBR (true ballistic range) dial and shoot. We have used it to take two deer this year, one at 571 yards and one at 877 and the bullet hit right where it was supposed to.

 

[Cbvanb]

It sort of depends on how far you want to be able to range. I used to buy Bushnells that were supposed to range out to 1000 but I could never get them past about 450. I finally bought a Sig Kilo that gets me an honest 1500, and I have Zeiss ranging binos that have gone to 1800 handheld. I have a .338 Lapua that can easily stretch that far so it was worth the expense to me to finally have a couple decent rangefinders. If you think you're going to stay inside 500-800 yards you an get quality rangefinders for a couple hundred dollars that will do those ranges all day long.

 

[Lobo2087]

I have gotten returns on my handheld vortex at just under 1000 on my fury at over 1000... more than far enough for hunting purposes

 

[Hammer 35]

I'd ideally like to be able to range steel plates out to 1,000yrds. I'm not at the point where I'll shoot that far out yet, but buy once, cry once. I'm assuming if it can range a plate out to 1k, it'd be more than fine for deer sized game at any reasonable range I'd imagine taking a shot.

The Vortex's and Sig's get lots of good reviews. I've used plenty of Vortex products in the past and have always been impressed for their price. They really stand behind their product as well, which is nice.

 

[Hammer 35]

It sort of depends on how far you want to be able to range. I used to buy Bushnells that were supposed to range out to 1000 but I could never get them past about 450. I finally bought a Sig Kilo that gets me an honest 1500, and I have Zeiss ranging binos that have gone to 1800 handheld. I have a .338 Lapua that can easily stretch that far so it was worth the expense to me to finally have a couple decent rangefinders. If you think you're going to stay inside 500-800 yards you an get quality rangefinders for a couple hundred dollars that will do those ranges all day long.

Which SigKilo was it? I was playing with a Kilo2000 at BassPro yesterday. It's in my price range and seemed pretty good. 1500yrds would be more than enough range for my purposes (steel out to 1k)

 

[Cbvanb]

It sort of depends on how far you want to be able to range. I used to buy Bushnells that were supposed to range out to 1000 but I could never get them past about 450. I finally bought a Sig Kilo that gets me an honest 1500, and I have Zeiss ranging binos that have gone to 1800 handheld. I have a .338 Lapua that can easily stretch that far so it was worth the expense to me to finally have a couple decent rangefinders. If you think you're going to stay inside 500-800 yards you an get quality rangefinders for a couple hundred dollars that will do those ranges all day long.

Which SigKilo was it? I was playing with a Kilo2000 at BassPro yesterday. It's in my price range and seemed pretty good. 1500yrds would be more than enough range for my purposes (steel out to 1k)

I got the Kilo 2400, when they were first introduced. I paid a ridiculous amount of money for it, but at the time it was the smallest rangefinder available, and had impressive range. I don't think you could go wrong with a Sig.

 

[Hammer 35]

I think the kilo 2000 is probably the direction I'm gonna go. Reviews look good for my purposes and then some. Form factor and price are both right for me as well.

Sigs really been doing some impressive things with their optic line up lately. The BDX stuff looks real impressive. Their red dots are even pretty well feature packed and well thought out.

 

[Delfuego]

Get the Vortex Fury Gen2

 

[Hammer 35]

Get the Vortex Fury Gen2

Those look real good, and it'd be nice to not need to pack a RF and bino's, but those are a good ways above my budget.

 

[Hammer 35]

In case anyone was wondering, I did pick up the Sig Kilo 2000. No BDX, but I didn't buy a BDX scope either, so that saved me a few bucks.

I'll bump this thread next weekend after I get a chance to play with it for a few days.