So I'm looking into getting a rangefinder and doing some research, reading manuals and the like. Last time I did this, rangefinders were just that, LOS range.
I've also kinda been living under rock for a decade (long story with some very, very low times in my life) and now find that rangefinders have built in ballistic calculators and can talk to weather meters like the kestrel. And the kestrel I find is now also available as a ballistic calculator, that happens to have a weather meter. Ok, my brain now hurts.
It seems that there are 2 approaches to this. One is to get an all in one device that has the full Applied Ballistics engine, like the Sig KILO2400ABS. The other approach is to get something like the Leica 2800 or the KILO 2400BDX that has AB lite but can also connect to a Kestrel 5700 Elite for the full AB experience.
There's really 2 key questions in my mind.
One is the trade off between an all in one solution, like the KILO2400ABS, versus two pieces of gear. One the plus side, it's all in one. On the down side it it goes down, you lose everything. It also doesn't read wind, but I think that wind meters can be a bit overrated when the terrain is not flat.
On the other hand, something like the BDX version has AB lite (out to 800) if the Kestrel does down, and if the rangefinder goes down I have my Mildot Master, so I have redundancy. I'm tending toward the paring of a rangefinder and kestrel partly because of this.
The other is the difference between AB and AB lite out to say 600 yards or so in terms of first round hit on say a full size IPSC target. AB Lite doesn't take into account things like scope height so far as I can tell. Let's assume its a dead calm day, so we are just looking at drop. My guess is that it will be a couple of clicks elevation out at most, so for all practical considerations I believe it's a wash. But confirmation of that would be great.
I intend to shoot mainly 308 out to 1100 yards max. I hope to add a 6.5x47 or 6.5 Creed to the mix, but I'm loathe to expand my cartridge mix with primers in such short supply.
Finally, I really don't like using my phone in the field, so I'm not looking for an app based solution.
Thoughts and wisdom would be appreciated.
I've also kinda been living under rock for a decade (long story with some very, very low times in my life) and now find that rangefinders have built in ballistic calculators and can talk to weather meters like the kestrel. And the kestrel I find is now also available as a ballistic calculator, that happens to have a weather meter. Ok, my brain now hurts.
It seems that there are 2 approaches to this. One is to get an all in one device that has the full Applied Ballistics engine, like the Sig KILO2400ABS. The other approach is to get something like the Leica 2800 or the KILO 2400BDX that has AB lite but can also connect to a Kestrel 5700 Elite for the full AB experience.
There's really 2 key questions in my mind.
One is the trade off between an all in one solution, like the KILO2400ABS, versus two pieces of gear. One the plus side, it's all in one. On the down side it it goes down, you lose everything. It also doesn't read wind, but I think that wind meters can be a bit overrated when the terrain is not flat.
On the other hand, something like the BDX version has AB lite (out to 800) if the Kestrel does down, and if the rangefinder goes down I have my Mildot Master, so I have redundancy. I'm tending toward the paring of a rangefinder and kestrel partly because of this.
The other is the difference between AB and AB lite out to say 600 yards or so in terms of first round hit on say a full size IPSC target. AB Lite doesn't take into account things like scope height so far as I can tell. Let's assume its a dead calm day, so we are just looking at drop. My guess is that it will be a couple of clicks elevation out at most, so for all practical considerations I believe it's a wash. But confirmation of that would be great.
I intend to shoot mainly 308 out to 1100 yards max. I hope to add a 6.5x47 or 6.5 Creed to the mix, but I'm loathe to expand my cartridge mix with primers in such short supply.
Finally, I really don't like using my phone in the field, so I'm not looking for an app based solution.
Thoughts and wisdom would be appreciated.
