Range finder to buy or not?

Will84

Active Member
Thinking of getting a range finder, are they a worth while bit of kit to have??
If I buy it will be a lower budget one, probably a hawke, are they any good?
Cheers for any input
 
well to take a view we'd need to know abit about what the intended purpose is...
if you are stalking over a large amount of ground with varied terrain and taking shots in excess of 150m then probably yes

if you are shooting at shorter ranges i.e 100m or less or from a fixed point e.g high seat then probably not so much use
Depends on your gun's zero too....
 
Depends what kind of shooting are you doing? how experienced a stalker are you? what sort of range do you normally shoot at? if most of your stalking is woodland I would say not as most shots in woodland are taken a fairly short range, could be usefull on the hill as distances are a bit harder to judge there especially if you are inexperienced, if you are an experienced hill stalker you should be able to judge distances quite accurately out 300 yards or so further than what you are going to be shooting.

For deer stalking a range finder should not really be necessary,however if you feel it would give you more confidence go for it.
 
I have one from my air rifle rabbiting days. I find it useful to while away the time guessing ranges and then ranging them with the rf while passing time waiting for deer in an ambush situation.

also useful to know certain ranges from a high seat so you are prepared if a deer pops out and you have to make a quick decision.

One word of caution though, I have a cheapish hawke one and it's useless in anything other than good light.
 
I have had a Bushnell yardage-pro for ten years now and its paid for itself ten times over. I now have a Swaro one. There's so many times when it's handy- not just for longer shots. It's amazing how far out your guesses can be.
 
I would recommend a rangefinder/binocular as it is just one piece of kit to carry and it is always there when you are glassing, I wouldn't be without my rangefinding binos now.
 
I have had a Bushnell yardage-pro for ten years now and its paid for itself ten times over. I now have a Swaro one. There's so many times when it's handy- not just for longer shots. It's amazing how far out your guesses can be.

What you say is true, but its amazing how good you can get with practice, when I started there were no range finders at least none readily available, learning to judge distances was part of learning your kraft.

Even today you won't find many pro stalkers who use a range finder, and certainly not many of the older generation.
 
What you say is true, but its amazing how good you can get with practice, when I started there were no range finders at least none readily available, learning to judge distances was part of learning your kraft.

Even today you won't find many pro stalkers who use a range finder, and certainly not many of the older generation.

What you say may be true, but I have found mine is a very good way to do that practice. I would suggest that using one is the most efficient way to help you learn to judge distance.

Take one when you are walking the dog and you can practice on objects all around and not just those which you can count the paces to ahead of you.

For Air gun and 22lr loopy trajectories on rabbits they are great. While waiting I take readings off a number of tufts in order to be able to allow for my height above zero.

For learning new ground they are useful. I always tend to over estimate distance in dense woods especially below the CF first zero point. And find I am often mistaken across valleys and gulleys.

Mine is a Nikon rifle hunter 1000 which has the option to calculate the horizontal distance so you can allow for drop if you are shooting up or down, and the normally black info turns to red if the light is falling or you are looking into shadow.

Alan
 
Bought one. Used it a couple of times until I got bored with it, sold it. Had it for about a month.
Mark 1 human eye is good enough for me.
 
I would be interested in how accurate owners found their various models to be, and the value of a 1,000 yard model vs a 400 or 600, a Bushnell vs Nikon or Swaro.

And which ranging binoculars? Stadia or laser?
 
I would be interested in how accurate owners found their various models to be, and the value of a 1,000 yard model vs a 400 or 600, a Bushnell vs Nikon or Swaro.

And which ranging binoculars? Stadia or laser?

When I first had mine I thought it badly in need of calibration. However after ten or twenty "pacing outs" to check /confirm the readings I had to admit defeat and try and re calibrate my mk1 human eyes. So I found it accurate.

The longest reading I have been able to take was of some deer on a skyline in Arran at 650 metres horizontal and just over 730 ISTR point to point.

As another real world example I can read off a telephone pole at 259metres which has a tree behind it at 279 / 285 (depending what bit you aim at!) so it is very precise, the pole is thinner than the cross hairs. I did modify it with a rubber cup eye piece which makes it easier to use single handed, I posted that here a year or so ago. At longer range holding it steady against something solid improves things, bit like rifles really!


Most people posting here seems to be happy with the one they own so it would appear to be they all do their job okay. Consider the sort of stalking you do and base your distance choice on that, bearing in mind that the quoted range will be when bounced off a reflective barn door rather than a bush or deer flank!




If you can afford them, the rangefinder binoculars would appear to be the best bet.


Alan
 
well

I have had a few over the years and im thinking of trying the vortex one at some point,

I have the lrf800 from leica and i use it for long range shooting, my eyesight is not what it used to be and even if im an ex mil gunnery instructor (and i should remember all those ranging tips)those days have long gone. lets put it in perspective, my normal shooting is all down to shooting/range estimation over many years so i don't tend to use it, this includes shooting from 30 yards to out past 400,(i am not talking deer stalking by the way) anything further than that is normally ranged and the the scope is adjusted for that purpose/shot.

i also found it handy when learning new ground,(or when you have an invite on a stalk etc) so as you walk around you can from your vantage point ping areas so that you can form a range card type set up in the back of your mind, again once that is done you can normally get used to what and where things are that help you range estimate without the rangefinder.as mentioned above

as for rangefinder bino's again this is most likely used by people that do not want not to have 2 bits of kit to do the same job as one bit can.(i don't think there are any cheap ones on the market ) i have used them from time to time and had a pair on lone a few years back and they where just stunning both in clarity and performance, i found it easyier to long range find with bino's than with my leica as i found the use of binos using 2 hands gave me a more stable platform. this was out past 450 yards as with 1 hand i was shaking like a dog having a poo ;) and could not hit the target correctly

I wish you well on the search and of you can get good quality rather than ok then you will find you need only spend good money just the once.

regards

bob.
 
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I got myself some swaro range finding bins and wouldnt want to be without them now. I can range distances quite well but the confidence you get with a rangefinder is one less element to worry about. Combined with the swaro ballistic turret system its a really good set up. As prvate fraser says why guess?!?
 
Even today you won't find many pro stalkers or golfers who use a range finder, and certainly not many of the older generation.

people seem to forget that golf requires yardage guessing to within 10 yds for club choice
certainly helps get your eye in between 50 and 300yds which covers pretty much all shots for most

they are useful on the open hill but to be honest I have survived 25 years without one so will probably survive another 25
 
I got myself some swaro range finding bins and wouldnt want to be without them now. I can range distances quite well but the confidence you get with a rangefinder is one less element to worry about. Combined with the swaro ballistic turret system its a really good set up. As prvate fraser says why guess?!?

We are talking stalking here are we not , I would need a ballistic turret system less than I need a range finder , most woodland stalking shots are less than 100 yards even on the hill 200 is pretty much the max at least as a client you would not be allowed to shoot further than that, zero your rifle an inch high at 100 yard will do the job from zero to 200 yards

So why would I need a ballistic turret system , long range target shooting now that's a different ball game, can see maybe the advantage of such a scope for long range foxing if you are good enough, but stalking just can't see it I'm afraid.
 
I got myself some swaro range finding bins and wouldnt want to be without them now. I can range distances quite well but the confidence you get with a rangefinder is one less element to worry about. Combined with the swaro ballistic turret system its a really good set up. As prvate fraser says why guess?!?

Ditto...I went down the Swaro route but it's not for the feint hearted financially, even if you can find a good pair of 2nd hand ones. I begged, borrowed and stole but have never regretted it.

My only regret, sometimes, is the balance between a clean, confident, measured shot and the fact that I still shot as well and picked my targets when I had neither the bins nor the scope or turrets.
It can feel a bit like guiding a drone into a buck by the time you've measured the range thru the bins, dialled it in on the scope turret (and even double checked drop etc on an iPhone if you want to).
Much of the purism is removed but being confident in a long shot is (maybe?) a suitable trade-off?

I totally get it's not for everyone but I intend to own the rengefinder bins from Swaro and the scope for much of my lifetime so I feel it was money well spent. Can't recommend them enough.
 
people seem to forget that golf requires yardage guessing to within 10 yds for club choice
certainly helps get your eye in between 50 and 300yds which covers pretty much all shots for most

they are useful on the open hill but to be honest I have survived 25 years without one so will probably survive another 25[/QUOTE

Agree with that managed all my working life with out one, don't need one for stalking distances maybe because its my job and have been doing it for so long ( had lots of practice ) not against them if it gives someone more confidence fine I have no problem with that.

I have spent most of my working life trying to find ways carrying less to the hill not more.
 
Pretty confident accurate + or - 10 yards out to 200 yards slightly less accurate at 300 maybe + - 30 yards near enough for me not going to be shooting further than that.

That is what I would like to be able to say, but I can't at the moment. I need more practice.

I assume, having asked the question that the OP cannot either.

Do you have a better way to acquire the ability to gauge range other than practising by estimating and then checking (with a range finder?) if you have a better/more efficient way, could you share it?

I did buy mine largely with the idea that with it I could learn to do it without....

Alan
 
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