LaserWorks LE-032 Riflescope Mounted Rangefinder

[NamibHunter]

Has anybody tried this scope mounted LRF? Youtube videos are positive. Warranty is very limited (one year, and for manufacturing defects only).

Amazonia link:

https://www.amazon.com/LaserWorks-Riflescope-rangefinder-Tactical-Rangefinder/dp/B077M4BF7T?th=1&psc=1

Intended use is on a crossbow and a lightweight 30-06 hunting rifle with heavy recoil.

Main concerns:
Does it survive heavy recoil?
Does it last more than a year?
Does the warranty mean anything?

Feedback from anybody who has tried it would be greatly appreciated!

Namib Desert Hunter

 

[NamibHunter]

Intended “use case” is kudu and eland at 400 yards plus:

And Colorado elk.

Grandkids named him Rudolph...

 

[Evintos]

There are better LRF for the price. The LE-032 advertise 700m ranging capabilities but that's most likely based off reflective targets in ideal lighting conditions. You may not be able to get good returns based off your intended use and distance. The ability to cowitness the device with your optic looks like it'll be a pain in the ass too. Something similar to NVGs and IR laser where you either get a good parallel zero for constant offset or converging zero and have to deal with offset at a distance. The specs don't show beam divergence so it's hard to say how close you need to get it to get a good result.

 

[db2000]

Looks like about 350 yards is max from the comments I read.

 

[NamibHunter]

Thanks for the feedback.

It seems most companies claim 2x more than what is realistic under typical field conditions in bright sunshine, ranging non-reflective targets like trees and animals.

Seems like this device might be OK for air guns, 22LR rifles and crossbows? But probably not for good enough for center fire rifles at longer ranges (beyond 400).

Any better alternatives out there? What would you guys recommend in the sub $200 price range? [The Wilcox Raptar is out of my price range.]

Btw: Have used a Burris Eliminator-3 a few weeks ago (buddy of mine mounted it on a Tikka in 300 Winmag) and it worked fine to 500 plus. Did not test it beyond that, bush was too thick. Got a very nice Eland bull at 450 yards with this setup, and the vertical elevation was spot on. But it is a $1,000 plus scope, and hard to justify when you already own several scopes with better optical quality.

 

[Hoyter87]

I purchased one a few months back. During the day it will range maximum of 300 yards. At night I have had no issue getting it to work to 675 yards. It's fairly accurate I suppose. It's within 15 yards of my other range finders. I have actually used it to effectively range a coyote at 400 yards and adjust my POA to hit. This was at night with thermal. I've had it on .308 and .223 wylde guns.

It's ok for the price. Seems like I could break it fairly easily with my hands or banging it on something. It does work for ranging 200-600 yards at night. Useless in the daytime. I ordered mine direct from china through alibaba over amazon. Saved like $45. Yeah I know, shouldn't support the commies.

When a dummy like me starts to study circuit boards and python programming so they can put their own together with parts you know there should probably be a company that steps up and offers a decent shock rated LRF to 1200 yards around a $1000 price point. I bet they'd sell more than a few. Maybe there is one out there and I'm ignorant to it. If so please enlighten me. The reviews on the group buy Raptar es that I've read make me scratch my head. Why exactly is the Raptar ES so pricey?

 

[NamibHunter]

@Hoyter87: Thanks much, this is useful info.

It seems this very cheap solution might work well enough on my crossbow (70 yard max), and my dedicated hog hunting rifle (Rem700 with IR night vision), since shooting distances in Texas are rarely above 300 yards. Probably not a good fit for daytime hunting on open grassland / prairie.

The SilencerCo Radius appears to have been discontinued. Is there a replacement model for it?

I guess at the $1,000 price point, the Burris Eliminator 4-12 is already a viable solution. The V2 was at this price point when the V4 got launched. Optical clarity is not great, but certainly adequate for daytime hunting. Dusk might present some challenges perhaps.

 

[918v]

Just looking at it looks like a piece of shit

 

[PlinkIt]

Sico made the radius and it was the right price point and the right level of function...

They were not popular enough to maintain production and abandoned the project and we clearance sold out of existence

At the time they were clearance sold for line 350 bucks and now demand over 1k for a used one...

To some of us they are great! But apparently there just wasn't enough market to support them...

 

[Glassaholic]

Sico made the radius and it was the right price point and the right level of function...

They were not popular enough to maintain production and abandoned the project and we clearance sold out of existence

At the time they were clearance sold for line 350 bucks and now demand over 1k for a used one...

To some of us they are great! But apparently there just wasn't enough market to support them...

NV hadn’t really caught on in the consumer world like it has now when the Radius was introduced. If a reputable company comes out with a weapon mount LRF in the sub <$1000 class it would sell like nobodies business.

 

[NamibHunter]

NV hadn’t really caught on in the consumer world like it has now when the Radius was introduced. If a reputable company comes out with a weapon mount LRF in the sub <$1000 class it would sell like nobodies business.

Thanks for the info. It seems i was asleep and really should have picked up one when they were still available.

Several of the companies making affordable IR based night vision scopes (under $800) are now adding a laser range finder, like this ATN add on device:

 

[PlinkIt]

NV hadn’t really caught on in the consumer world like it has now when the Radius was introduced. If a reputable company comes out with a weapon mount LRF in the sub <$1000 class it would sell like nobodies business.

While I hope you are right and I hope more come to the market in the near future...
I do wonder, is the nv market actually large enough to support this? I know it's gaining popularity as prices work their way into more palatable brackets. (Except for a few guys that price seems to be no deterrent for...)

Personally I'd love to see someone come out with some competition for the RAPTAR ballistics model as well. Range and a ballistics calculation on the rifle just seems like a great idea, but I can't talk myself out of the money the ballistic unit demands...

I think there is a large portion of the nv crowd that can work within maximum point blank range of a cartridge and never have the interest in the range finding module which may hurt the nv crowds ability to support the manufacturer and sale of these units. It would be interesting to me to be able to see sales differences between units like the thermion and trail lrf as I imagine that may show a bit of the split between these groups in my thinking...

Just to clarify though I'm nobody and these thoughts are only my own curiosities, and when I see what people end up choosing and how they spend their money I tend to think to myself... Curiouser and curiouser

 

[NamibHunter]

Maybe i am just an eternal optimist, but.... LRF max range has gone way up over the past two years, and the low end devices have dropped a lot in price.

i hope it is just a matter of time before a 500 yard LRF becomes a standard part of any NV scope...

 

[NamibHunter]

Picked one up at a gun show today: Ranged a treeline just now in the dark at 570 yards (so ideal night time conditions, no fog, and very low humidity). Don’t have a target that is further away yet. Will try longer distances tomorrow. Then see how well (or how badly) it works in bright sunlight. I would be happy with 400 to 450.

It has an aluminum housing and a nice pic mount, that looks fairly sturdy. The rat tail cable is permanently attached, and it might easily get damaged. Will figure out a way to protect it from jerks (like me!) who are rough on their equipment...

Will try it on my dedicated night vision rifle soon.

 

[NamibHunter]

Tested it again this morning in fairly bright sunshine after 3” of snowfall overnight. Close to freezing temps. Blue skies, very low humidity. Ranged reliably to 450 yards (trees), but struggled beyond that. Got a few readings out to 580. I presume it will do better with large rocks, but less well with small hairy animals.

As expected, the LRF does not work wel in heavy snowfall. Fog mode was only a little better and i got a few accurate readings, but mostly the numbers were wrong. Laser bouncing off snowflakes.

Left the device outside in the cold for 3 hours (intentional) and it worked reliably when turned on.

Battery life is not great, but probably aceptable. Uses a tiny CR2 battery (a weird little overpriced battery). Will have to carry two spare batteries.

All in all, at least so far, i have hope that this low cost device will work for my limited purposes, which is rifle hunting out to 500 yards, and crossbow out to 70.

We shall see about reliability.

 

[NamibHunter]

Final update: It is a little tricky to line up the LRF in the daytime even if you hang a metal plate on a clothes line. However very easy to zero it properly at night as you can see the laser scanning rapidly up and down in your IR scope’s viewfinder. My attempt to align it by day was off by a lot. Now it is finally correct. On a standard optical scope, this may pose a challenge.

Used it last weekend for boar hunting at night, and it worked fine. Not a premium device but usable on a night vision system.

Sightmark Wraith plus LRF on top is very tall and it will get damaged if you drop the rifle. Also it does not fit in a rifle bag, it will need a pelican case with a foam cutout. Two computers with a rifle attached to them.

 

[erwos]

That's pretty neat!

Has anyone reached out to them to talk about what the riflescope market is looking for? I agree with the crowd that the market is ripe for a new SiCo Radius-style LRF at the $500-$1000 price point. (Actually, now I'm wondering why Sig hasn't released one...)

 

[M4guru]

If I had to guess who had the horsepower and inclination to make a decently priced/available rifle mounted LRF it would be Sig. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an integrated BDX scope along the lines of the Eliminator also.

 

[NamibHunter]

Used the device mounted on a Rem700 and it worked well. Activation switch is mounted close to the trigger guard, so easy to find by feel at night.

You can see the IR laser beam scanning up and down in the night vision scope. Worked fine to distances beyond 400 at night. Beyond what the scope plus the current illuminator can do. Will need to mount the upgraded illuminator soon.