What Do You Use Laser Rangefinders For?

[Halo]

Just curious if you have a laser rangefinder and what you use it for?  Golf?  Hunting?  Target practice?  What?

I've been looking at a couple with the idea of improving my distance sense in sporting clays and golf.  In my mind I always envision yardage in terms of 10 yard lines on a football field, but my estimates are often off the mark.    

After online research and some in stores, so far I'm most impressed with the Leupold RXII.  Some Bushnells and Nikons also look good.

All of them seem like a lot of money for rather limited usage.   How has a laser rangefinder made your life better?

[Arlo]

To find the range of my laser.

[SteveBailey]

Originally posted by Arlo
To find the range of my laser.

Ya. I'm confused.   I use mine to find my laser range.

I mean.. that's what it does..  it's a laser range finder.  It finds laser ranges.

What's the question?

[Halo]

Why does every thread start out as a straight line?  What the heck, another round, bartender!

[Wolfala]

I lase my neighbors to make them think they are targeted for assassination.

Also drives their cats nuts.

[DREDIOCK]

Originally posted by Arlo
To find the range of my laser.

Is that like putting your seat back forward?

[cpxxx]

I was working on a TV series as an extra last week when I looked down and saw a red spot on my chest. Looked up and it was the 'focus puller' was using a laser range finder to get the range for the camera operator.  Never seen that before. They usually use the mark 1 measuring tape.

Had a look at it and it seemed to be one that could be fitted to a rifle. That's a new use to me.

[SIG220]

Originally posted by Halo
Just curious if you have a laser rangefinder and what you use it for?  Golf?  Hunting?  Target practice?  What?

I've been looking at a couple with the idea of improving my distance sense in sporting clays and golf.  In my mind I always envision yardage in terms of 10 yard lines on a football field, but my estimates are often off the mark.    

After online research and some in stores, so far I'm most impressed with the Leupold RXII.  Some Bushnells and Nikons also look good.

All of them seem like a lot of money for rather limited usage.   How has a laser rangefinder made your life better?

The Leupolds are junk.  Many dealers will tell you this.

The better Bushnell models and the Leicas are the best products on the market.   The Swarovski is really outstanding, but extremely expensive, starting at $900

The best buy in my opinion is the top Bushnell model:  the Elite 1500 ARC, which costs $440   It will even calculate your bullet drop/holdover data for you, and even compensate if you are shooting uphill or downhill, to keep the range value correct.

I have never shot or killed game beyond 400 yards, though.   That is usually the range that I limit myself to when out hunting in the field.   I generally like to be real sure of my shot when I take it.

Probably my most difficult kill on an animal, though, was this tiny fly, that I shot at 100 yards.   It was on a target on our local range, so I knew the range was exactly 100 yards.   Still, it's tiny size made for a challenge.

Here is a photo of what was left of the fly:





You can see some of what was left of him at the top of the photo.   The bullet sort of liquefied him, though.

SIG 220[/SIZE]

[eagl]

I used to borrow one at work on occasion.  I used it to help me find my way around when travelling and sometimes I used it to help me throw up to 2000lb of concrete or high explosive at things that needed to be broken or blown up.

It was a pretty smart laser rangefinder, and it was attached to a nifty camera too.

[FBplmmr]

The older I get, the farther the mailbox gets from the front door.  I use the LRF to verify this effect.

[cpxxx]

Originally posted by SIG220

Probably my most difficult kill on an animal, though, was this tiny fly, that I shot at 100 yards.   It was on a target on our local range, so I knew the range was exactly 100 yards.   Still, it's tiny size made for a challenge.

You can see some of what was left of him at the top of the photo.   The bullet sort of liquefied him, though.

SIG 220[/SIZE]

You cruel man  The poor fly. Reminds of when I was last at a range with a .22 rifle. I got bored hitting the target and started shooting the heads off grass stalks. It usually took about three shots. Great fun.

[Halo]

(quote) The Leupolds are junk. Many dealers will tell you this.

The better Bushnell models and the Leicas are the best products on the market.  (unquote)

Yep, you are absolutely right, at least about Leupold and Bushnell from my limited experience.  Bought a Leupold RX-II.  Gorgeous design and dazzling features.

Except when they wouldn't work.  Most difficult menu I've ever fought with, probably because trying to make the Power key double as a Set key which it didn't have.

Incredibly fickle.  Would do an impressive measurement one time and the next be so inept it was unbelievable.  Definitely preferred large flat sided reflective metal signs.  Couldn't read dark rounded objects like my dark gray Camry (!), dark brown 55-gallon metal drums (!), and once even a large two-story wooden building (!).  

So I returned the RX-II and bought a Bushnell Yardage Pro Sport 450 at Wal-Mart.  A little over half the price of the RX-II.  Just one button.  A little larger and much plainer.  Flawless performance, reads targets the Leupold didn't.  Go figure.

Once again, user reviews on the internet are terrific.  They warned me.  The RX-II was mostly either one star or five stars, the latter I think from people who hadn't yet used it much.  Bushnells usually are nice steady four or five stars from most users.

[Halo]

Have to add a P.S. here about a few principles that apply to all optical aids.  In a good shakedown at a state park and a sporting clays range,
the Bushnell Yardage Pro 450 reminded me once again of the following:

1.  Use the smallest telephoto length you need to avoid excess weight and view shake.  The Leupold laser rangefinder had a 6x view.  Hard to hold it steady enough for a vibrationless view.  The Bushnell has a 4x view.  Quick and easy to find the target and comparatively little view shake.

2.  Start with the most simple setup you might need instead of buying a bunch of bells and whistles you might never use.  The Leupold menu was aggravating enough to take hours to set up.  It had more options than many users would ever need after satisfying their curiosity, e.g., measuring angles with an inclinometer.  Needed to set it differently for views <150 yards and >150 yards.  The Bushnell has ONE button.  It provides a 4x and measurement view a long way, e.g., at the range the other day it easily went 287 yards, which is farther than anything I have in mind, including a golf drive.

3.  Smallest size is not necessarily the most ergonomically comfortable.  The Bushnell is small enough and light enough to carry and use as needed without worry about setup and reliability.

4.  Cheapest price does not mean something might not be more useful for  particular needs than items costing twice as much, e.g., this particular Bushnell model is 60% of the cost of the Leupold RX-II.

The Bushnell Yardage Pro 450 has now joined my kit for all shooting and golfing excursions.  For example, it allowed me to precisely determine various launch machine ranges in sporting clays.  As I suspected, many were farther than many shooters think they are.

A particularly difficult rising teal is launched from 55 yards away!  Many shooters flail away with Improved Cylinder chokes ineffective at that distance.  

The Bushnell showed that most sporting clays at this particular range are shot between 25 and 40 yards, but a good number are shot 45 to 55 yards and sometimes ever farther, which is getting extreme for reliable shotgun work.  

Convinced me to change my basic choke from IC to Modified, a fundamental improvement.  Just one example of the value of laser rangefinders in many activities.

[SIG220]

Originally posted by cpxxx
You cruel man  The poor fly. Reminds of when I was last at a range with a .22 rifle. I got bored hitting the target and started shooting the heads off grass stalks. It usually took about three shots. Great fun.

I am most confident that the fly suffered a quick and painless death.   So actually, I was quite merciful to him.  

I do get upset if an animal that I shoot suffers a long and agonizing death.  I have sometimes overcompensated when shooting to help insure that such a result will not happen.

I shot a crow at about 200 yards 4 years ago with my Colt AR-15 Model 6724, and literally only managed to wing him.   His entire left wing was blown off by the bullet.

This made the crow quite upset, and he started squawking very loudly, as he rapidly hopped about.   Having only one wing left, made it impossible for him to fly away.  I had to wait until he finally came to a stop, to be able to get off another shot.  Both my 2nd and 3rd shots, though, landed right next to him, and the crow then continued on with his wild hopping and squawking each time.

However, he finally came to a rest again, and my 4th bullet finally hit him dead center.  The air around him filled with black feathers, and I thus knew he had been well hit.   There was no more squawking or moving after that.

SIG 220

[SIG220]

One more thing about the Leupold rangefinders:  They are made in CHINA.  Here they cost so very much money, and they are being made in the cheapest country to manufacturer products in.  

I have myself been finding that many products made in China are substandard in quality.   And often are really not any less expensive than products made elsewhere.

In contrast, the Bushnell rangefinders are made in Japan.  

Here is a photo showing my new Bushnell Elite 1500 ARC, next to my older Bushnell Yardage Pro 1000.  You can see how much lighter and more compact the new model is, compared to the old one.




SIG 220