Who has handled the Leica Rangefinder?( I ordered one today)

[sask boy]

Scotty, I bought a Leica 4.5-14 X 42F from our friend Doc. We are going to place it on my new Whelen. It has a 30mm tube & I am placing it on top of a one piece Talley base with light weight aluminum rings.
I am looking forward to visiting and learning from Mike, he has forgot more than most of us know about loading and shooting :wink:

I will have a report hopefully next Friday or Saturday from Mike's along with photographs if Mike will place them on the forum.
My wife and I just bought a new camera yesterday as our old one gave up the battle.
Got a once in a life deal on the camera it is a PHD.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[DrMike]

Dan, I'm worried about what I've forgotten. That is spooky. Here are some pictures of the Leica.

 

[sask boy]

Thanks Mike, looking forward to a little time with you my friend and seeing some beautiful country :lol:
Blessings,
Dan

 

[SJB358]

Oh man, that is NICE Dan! Really nice. I have heard the Leica song a little, and our Cameraland here in the states has that scope on sale for around 1000USD. It is very tempting I gotta tell ya. I know some folks have stated they are Schmidt and Bender type glass. Plus, I really like their dials alot.

It is going to look really nice on your Whelen buddy. I think you are going to be blown away.

 

[DrMike]

If it looks too good, I may not let the Whelen leave my house.

 

[SJB358]

With all the back story on this RMR, I would have a hard time letting it out too!

I am dieing to see this rig.....

Dan, are you shooting it yet or what.. Your killing us here. I just got about 300 225 AB 2nds, so I am thinking I should be in Whelen bullets for awhile. Hopefully both of ours get some elk this year.

 

[sask boy]

See i told you guys that Mike is starting to think left handed. He is now talking about keeping my Whelen it is just a matter of time :roll:
Mike I don't think you will keep my Whelen a real long time as you will get sick of seeing my face at the diner table every day until I get to take it home :mrgreen:

Blessings,
Dan

 

[DrMike]

Ah, Dan, just got a report. I think they lost your Whelen, or something. Yep, it isn't around anywhere. Don't come over. Stay there. I'll look around and see if I can find you something. :mrgreen:

 

[sask boy]

Remember Mike I almost know where you live
See you in a couple of days :wink:

Blessings,
Dan

 

[velvetant]

I had a Leica 1200 for about a week, it was nice but i took it back and now have a Zeiss Victory PRF.
Both have incredible optics but for me the Zeiss would range out a bit farther consistently.
The Leica 1600 was not on the market when I was shopping for rangefinders.
My first rangefinder was a Bushnell yardage pro 800.
I learned real quick how badly I judge range before I got a range finder......
That looks about 600 yards...............what........only 400 yards...........no wonder I kept missing

 

[orchemo]

I recently picked up a Leica 1200 CRF. Works well. Have not torture tested it, but as Velvetant says...it really helps you learn distances.

 

[Lucky Too]

I got a Leica 400 yard one, some time ago, not sure if they still make them. The reason being was I wouldn't be taking 'the shot' past that range and that might have been the only one offered then. Never has failed, the eye piece is clear and sharp and it's small enough to fit in small pockets. Have used it on woodchucks, squirrels on which I like to do head shots with a Kimber. Used it to pre measure 35 yards when Dove, turkey hunting. I used it gardening, building and to measure just how far it is to the mail box. Never has failed.
There has been only one dissatisfied user in three pages of comments and I suspect that he is dissatisfied with most things in his life or works for Bushnell.
All that being said, what I really do know about Ernst Leitz is his cameras. Bought my first one, a Leica M3 rangefinder, in 1963 (ouch). Understandably, I have worn out four of their rangefinders based solely on the extreme number of rolls I ran through them. I have never worn out any of their lenses,
neither rangefinder or SLR. Often, I can look at a published photograph and tell you that it was made with a Leica lens.
You can't do that with any other manufacture's lens. Their
digital cameras results simply amaze me.
What I don't understand is the need or use of extreme long range rangefinders. I would think that their only use would be when you are in range and getting ready to take the shot. It seems to me, that a good pair of binoculars and/or a spotting scope would be much better for the distance before that. Unless rangerfinders are also being used to gauge just how far you will be needing to crawl on your knees. Help me with this, please.

 

[DrMike]

Lucky Too,

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for your input. I look forward to your contributions. Many people are into long range shooting, which requires precise range estimation. In those instances, a quality range finder is essential. Others use the range finder to turn down a shot and attempt to get closer. Others, just like knowing the precise distance to a game animal. I suppose the reasons for "needing" a good range finder are as varied as the people that are buying them. Candidly, a 400 will fill the need for most people. However, the ability to range farther holds a great appeal for many of us.

 

[IdahoCTD]

To add to what Mike has said....some rangefinders (especially lower end ones) will not always read reliably to the distance they are rated for. This is more pronounced when ranging things in flat open country like hunting for antelope. It's not uncommon for a 800yd rangefinder to only reliably read to 4-500yds in this kind of terrain. It typically has to do with the beam divergence or size of the beam.

 

[Ridge_Runner]

I've used an old leica LRF since '05, have ranged a deer to 1210 yards, the swauro's may range farther on large targets but its a dead heat on deer sized targets and smaller, because of the way the lazer diode in the leica concentrate the beam.
RR

 

[Lucky Too]

Thank you, IdahoCTD & DrMike & others for your comments. I am always happy to learn about stuff, in this case, a lot of stuff about rangefinders. .
I realize now that I've been spending way too much time in the deep dark woods with little to no time in
flat open country. I'm going to dig out of the back of my heavy box, the O'Connor like Featherweight pre-64 in 270 Winchester, me thinking. Maybe, get a much longer reaching rangerfinder too.
I like the undercurrent of humorous banter that seems to be woven in these posts. The best hunting and shooting in 2012 to all you guys.

 

[DrMike]

Lucky Too,

I trust your hunting season will be both productive and fulfilling. Your 270 Winchester will be just as effective on the open prairies today as it was for Saint Jack.

 

[ridgewalker]

I've owned/used several brands and models. It is another of the optics you don't want to go cheap on. I have the 1200 Leica and it works extremely well. It fits in my shirt or jacket pocket. It is very light, so you need to steady it on sticks, tree, rock, pack, bipod, etc. The bigger heavier ones hold a little steadier off hand.

Spend the money and I doubt you will ever regret it.

A note about longer ranging range finders...the longer range they can read, the quicker they can read closer. Even though I have a 1200 yard rangefinder, I have rarely shot over 400 yards, but the Leica 1200 reads the distance very fast compared to a 600 yard rangefinder I use to have.

 

[GSSP]

I'm actually not surprised that their was nothing, in all the replies here, concerning the Leica 1600 and now 1600-B's internal Ballistic calculator.

I, like many, either owned a Swaro and then a Leica 1600 LRF. I can't say enough good about the Swaro.......until I bought the Leica 1600. I did a side by side comparison and it wasn't long 'til I sold the Swaro; still a VERY good LRF.

But.....

The Leica 1600's Intelligent ABC ballistics program allows one to simply point, range and adjust ones scope to hit spot on out to 550 yds. The new 1600-B out to 880 yds. The device measures temperature, barometric pressure, angle (up/down) as well as the distance in yds or meters. I've been testing the 1600 in prep for a very intensive 24 hr Sniper Challenge where we carry all our gear, rifle and handgun over a near 40 miles grueling desert mountainous terrain in 30 hrs or less. Along the course we have courses of fire where we have time limits to search, find, range and shoot reactive steel targets. Elevation changes can be as much as 2500'. Temps can change as much as 50+ deg F. Angles, from what I can determine, can be as much as 60 deg up/down.

With this device, I can look for the target/s with the LRF and range them. A second after the range pops up, another number will appear on the screen. Depending on how the LRF is set up, the adjustment could be in minutes, MILS or inches. One then applies the adjustment to their scope elev turrets, or holds over using their scopes appropriate reticle hash marks or simply holds over the appropriate number of inches.

Example. I am shooting a 6.5x47 Lapua with a 130 Berger VLD running 2970 fps. That fits ballistic curve #3 of the 12 curves stored in the LRF's memory. I zero the rifle for either 100 or 200 yds. I find a target, range it, wait a second and I get a number in MOA. With my NF 5.5-22x50 with NP-R1 reticle, I can either dial in the correct amount our simply hold over in MOA. I don't have to worry about the temp, distance, barometric pressure or angle. The Intelligent ABC ballistics program instantly figures it for me and I shoot. My testing/impacts thus far has bee VERY close. Usually within 1/4 MOA of either my Shooter or EXBAL program.

Again, the 1600's Intelligent ABC ballistics program measures to 550 yds and and the 1600-B's to 880 yds. Of course the range finders themselves measure to 1600+ yds.

If one does not wish to use the Intelligent ABC ballistics program or the shot is beyond the 550/880 yd distance, all you need to do is push the second button on top of the device and it gives the ambient air temp, barometric air pressure (in PSAI which can be simply converted to inches of HG) and angle up/down in degrees. You then simply insert the data into your favorite pocket ballistic computer and shoot on!

For this 24hr Sniper Challenge I'm competing in next week, I'm the precision LR shooter so my shots can be out to 1200 yds. So, I'm loaning my 1600 to my partner, who is shooting targets out to 500 yds with his AR15, and I bought the new 1600-B. He has been playing with it enough to be sold and will buy his own after the match. His hits to 600 yds with a 69 gr Match Burner use the ballistic curve #5 and hits have been spot on for him with 1 MOA targets.

Hope to give a full account of the LRF's success or failure next week after the match concludes.

Here is a link to the match. Approx $75k worth of prizes on the prize table.

Alan

http://competition-dynamics.com/24-hour ... enge-2012/

Now all I need is a device to measure and compute exact wind holds :mrgreen:

 

[DrMike]

Excellent summary of the 1600 LRF. Thanks for posting. Good luck in the match.