Recommend me a rangefinder for around $150?

[patrick_sween]

There is a pretty large selection of laser rangefinders now in the $150 price range.  I've been looking around for a while and having never owned one I'm a bit overwhelmed.  My shooting is typically not going to require a longer range model, so if it's capable of 4-500 yds it would do.  Anyone got any first hand experience with the following:

Bushnell Yardage Pro Sport 450
Simmons 4X20 600yd
Nikon ProStaff 550

Any other options or recommendations for ones I've overlooked would be great as well.  Thanks,

Patrick

[Lloyd Smale]

problem is that if you want accurate ranges to 500 yards your going to have to get a 800-1000 yard model. Most rangefinders only acutally give you RELIABLE readings to about 2/3s of there claimed range.

[Rock Home Isle]

This is a decent Laser Range Finder
http://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Legend-Rifle-Modes-Rangefinder/dp/B001SO3D06/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I32DAUQWCSW6YW&colid=1G4AKUCL6OK4P
 
Here's a decent Binoculer Range Finder
http://www.amazon.com/ATN-Omega-Class-Rangefinder-Binocular/dp/B0019CTIYM/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2IAUBO9TZ31HE&colid=1G4AKUCL6OK4P
 

[JustaShooter]

problem is that if you want accurate ranges to 500 yards your going to have to get a 800-1000 yard model. Most rangefinders only acutally give you RELIABLE readings to about 2/3s of there claimed range.

Lloyd's got it about right (though I'd say more like half their rating for accurate ranging of targets like deer, rock outcroppings, etc.)  The rating is for reflective targets.  Not many of those out in the field in my experience...

Just a Shooter

[JustaShooter]

(Duplicate post, sorry)

[LanceR]

I use a Bushnell Yardage Pro 800 that cost about $250 at a discount 6 seasons ago.  They have dropped to below $200 and $180 or so is the lowest I've seen one.  If you hang around Ebay for a few months you can get some darn good deals too.

My Yardage Pro gets a pounding since it's in year round use for groundhogs, foxes and coyotes on our farm plus about three big game seasons a year.  It has been dropped out of a tall ladder stand without any issues and it spends a lot of time rattling around on the dashboard of a 4x4 although I do put it under the seat when the sun is hot so it doesn't get baked to badly.

It got dropped in a field of soy stubble while dragging a deer through a swampy area on the last day of last year's New York southern zone muzzleloading season (20 Dec) and I couldn't find it before it got snowed over.  Ten days later we had a day where the ground was mostly clear and I found it encased in ice and half underwater.  I broke the ice off, warmed the battery in my pocket and it was fine before I got back to the truck. It's one tough device.  It is waterproof and floats.

Mine is the camo model and if I were doing it again I'd get the black one.  The camo blends in too well with leaves and dirt.  After I got it out of the swamp I put a wrap of orange electrical tape on it to make it easier to find if I ever get careless again.

Lance

[hunt-m-up]

I'm a fan of the compact size and vertical design of the Nikons, I guess part of that comes from using them for bowhunting. Lloyd's spot on, you'd probably want one with more range to get to 500 reliably. My little Nikon 400 gets close to 400 but it takes multiple readings on buildings, etc to get there, won't happen with animals.

[Ladobe]

Can't speak for the new models, only those I had and used years ago.   Main two were a Leica LRF 800 and Bushnell Yardage Pro 1000 - the Leica upgraded later to a LRF 1200, and all way over your price way back then.
 
Bought for use in the digger fields mostly to establish range waypoints ahead of time for when the shooting got fast and furious.   And mostly in CRP and crop fields were objects like mounds, rocks, well heads, etc were the targets.   The BYP outshined the LRF800 in some ways with more options.   But they always agreed with each other within a yard or two on a good target they could both "see" even out to about 700 yards, and almost as close later with the LRF1200 even at longer ranges.   The BYP "saw" targets the Leica's didn't as the Leica's had a hard time with both lower and higher reflective targets where the BYP did not.
Effective correct range readings were entirely dependent on reflectivity though... target size/isolation, color, distance and aspect angle, so overall the BYP was more reliable.
FWIW

[Rock Home Isle]

Can't speak for the new models, only those I had and used years ago.   Main two were a Leica LRF 800 and Bushnell Yardage Pro 1000 - the Leica upgraded later to a LRF 1200, and all way over your price way back then.
 
Bought for use in the digger fields mostly to establish range waypoints ahead of time for when the shooting got fast and furious.   And mostly in CRP and crop fields were objects like mounds, rocks, well heads, etc were the targets.   The BYP outshined the LRF800 in some ways with more options.   But they always agreed with each other within a yard or two on a good target they could both "see" even out to about 700 yards, and almost as close later with the LRF1200 even at longer ranges.   The BYP "saw" targets the Leica's didn't as the Leica's had a hard time with both lower and higher reflective targets where the BYP did not.
Effective correct range readings were entirely dependent on reflectivity though... target size/isolation, color, distance and aspect angle, so overall the BYP was more reliable.
FWIW

Those are good points. The bunshnell that I have is great on reflective targets out 1400 yards. But for deer sized game...its about a 425 to 475 yard rangefinder. And since I only take Varmints at those long ranges, that's pleanty good to meet my needs.

[Ladobe]

RHI,
The BYP would "see" targets it would give readings for as high as yours or farther, but with no easy way to check them I never relied on them.   I never used any of the rangefinders on fur itself, but then few of them would "see" a small digger or predator anyway unless close enough that you wouldn't need the rangefinder for them anyway.   
 
Most of my hunting was long range, not only for varmints and predators, but also for deer, antelope and often for elk and bear.   So I really didn't need a rangefinder for predators or big game hunting with a lifetime of experience judging their range in the habitats I hunted them in.   
 
Range estimation isn't as critical with the modern laser guided missile launchers most folks hunt with now days, but it was very critical while growing up using a Win 94 30-30 for all predator and big game hunting, and especially starting from the late 60's using handguns for a lot of my hunting.
 
So for me anyway, they did a useful and reliable job in the digger fields, but I probably never would have used them for hunting anything else.   They also came in handy though when I set up my 1000 yard range with 1800 & 2500 gongs, and when putting targets out at other places to check sight-in or shoot just for fun.
 
 

[Rock Home Isle]

RHI,
The BYP would "see" targets it would give readings for as high as yours or farther, but with no easy way to check them I never relied on them.   I never used any of the rangefinders on fur itself, but then few of them would "see" a small digger or predator anyway unless close enough that you wouldn't need the rangefinder for them anyway.   
 
Most of my hunting was long range, not only for varmints and predators, but also for deer, antelope and often for elk and bear.   So I really didn't need a rangefinder for predators or big game hunting with a lifetime of experience judging their range in the habitats I hunted them in.   
 
Range estimation isn't as critical with the modern laser guided missile launchers most folks hunt with now days, but it was very critical while growing up using a Win 94 30-30 for all predator and big game hunting, and especially starting from the late 60's using handguns for a lot of my hunting.
 
So for me anyway, they did a useful and reliable job in the digger fields, but I probably never would have used them for hunting anything else.   They also came in handy though when I set up my 1000 yard range with 1800 & 2500 gongs, and when putting targets out at other places to check sight-in or shoot just for fun.

Very knowledgeable...I have so enjoyed reading your posts over the past year or so. They are always well thought-out  and logical. 

[drdougrx]

A rangefinder is about the only thing I haven't purchased yet.....My friend Chuck let me use his when we were in Texas a few months ago hunting Nilgai and Oryx.  I carried it in my pack and never used it....actually forget I had it with me....

[JW307]

I have a Leupold RX600 that I gave $160 for at Cabela's on sale.  It's advertised as a 600 yd unit on reflective targets (like a truck).  I've gotten it to read out beyond 400 yds on rocks, etc.  It's a nice compact range finder and it does what I need it to do.

[Ladobe]

RHI,
Thanks for the kind words.  About all I have to do nowdays, try to pass on from long experience... and hopefully in a way some benefit from it.   Don't always accomplish it, but I try.   
L.
 
 

[Cheesehead]

A few years back, I bought a Nikon Laser 600 for 200 bucks. Simple, easy to use and DURABLE. Last fall I put it on a fence post in my yard while measuring distances at my archery range. I forgot it there, it fell off the fence post and landed in the wife's flower garden. It stayed there till this spring when the wife found it. I wiped some mud off and it worked instantly and perfectly.

Cheese

[Zachary]

I have a Bushnell Yardage Pro (I think 800) that I bought some years ago.  When I took it to the 100 yard range, it read exactly 100.  When I took it to the 200 yard range, it read 200 exactly.  When I took it to the 300 yard range, it read 300 exactly.  I haven't tested its accuracy above that because the longest targets that the range had was 300.  Given that about 80% to 90% of all of my shots are around 100 yards or less, I really don't need a device that can accurate measure over 300 yards (and certainly not 100 yards because I can "eye ball" 100 yards), but I was just curious and having fun when I did my own testing.    I don't recall how much money I spent back then on the 800, but I am guessing that it was around $250 or so. 
 
In the field, while hunting, I used my 800 a lot.  But, I must admit that I really didn't need it because I was hunting in a tower blind in Texas where the feeders were (like I said before) around 100 yards or less.  Other than the accuracy, I can report that they have been reliable and I haven't even changed the battery yet.

[patrick_sween]

Thanks for all the good info.  Sounds like I might want to save for a couple more months and look at some slightly higher end units.

Patrick