Leupold RX2800 or others?

[darth_ritis]

I'd love to get a Terrapin X but it's just not in the budget. I've thought about the Sig Kilo 2200 or Nikon Black 4k, but I just heard about this option having fantastic glass and ranging successfully to 3000 yards ++. Is this a better option than the Kilo 2200 or Black 4k? It gets points with me for the tripod mount which the others don't have.

 

[Mordamer]

I bought one to try. It has really impressed me. I have never gotten a range at over 3,000 yards, but I regularly range over 2,000 yards with it. I have ranged 2,900 yards off a building. The laser is small and I have had excellent results ranging coyotes and dear past 1,000 yards. The laser is very powerful and I can basically range anything I can shoot. I believe the Leupold 2800 to be the most powerful laser with the smallest beam divergence for under $700. I believe short of a Terrapin X the only rangefinder that competes in pure ranging abillity is the Leica 2700

 

[darth_ritis]

That's encouraging, thanks. I doubt I'll shoot beyond 2k more than once a year if I'm lucky, so consistent performance at 2k sounds good enough.

 

[PTPATAW]

From the Rx2800 & Terrapin-x owners manual. I’m not well versed on lasers enough to say which is better even though I use class 4 lasers that can burn your eye out at 11nm away. It seems the RX2800 has more wattage than the terrapin-x.

5.14mW vs 2mW

 

[darth_ritis]

Thanks! Beam divergence is tighter than the 2200 as well, and Nikon won't publish theirs.

 

[PTPATAW]

It’s true you want a tight beam divergence especially if the laser is under powered, but the RX2800 seems to be powered beyond what I’ve seen in a handheld laser. So it’s fine for its divergence to be a little sloppy. The Leica 2700B isn’t even 1mW and it supposedly does pretty wel.

 

[PTPATAW]

Black 4K says 0.25x1.8 beam divergence.
Also say 29W but that can’t be correct. So many reasons that’s wrong but it wouldn’t be a class1 laser pumping out 29W off those little batteries.

 

[PTPATAW]

Leica 2700b

 

[PTPATAW]

Applied Ballistics said that it’s very hard to determine a lasers performance based off technical data. The software computing the readings could be just as important.

I have no idea. I’d like to test a bunch of lasers and decide which one to buy. with all the anecdotal information on here, it makes it hard to decide.

 

[darth_ritis]

Well, I pulled the trigger on the RX2800 with what I think was a holiday sale price.

 

[triatleta]

Impressive!!!

 

[Deleted member 113831]

Put mine to a test in worse case scenario today.

Foggy, misty morning...shooting straight into morning sun at a tree line of pines.

I started getting returns at 1712 yards.

Edit: later in day at noon in clear bright skies, ranged cattle at 1552 yards.

 

[Deleted member 113831]

I took it out to a known spot that has been verified by a couple other rangefinders at 2385 yards.

The conditions were overcast but otherwise clear with just a very little haze. The RX2800 ranged the rock face at 2387 yards. I had to hold the button down for a few pulses but it was consistent and I got a reading every time.

 

[magtech]

Put mine to a test in worse case scenario today.

Foggy, misty morning...shooting straight into morning sun at a tree line of pines.

I started getting returns at 1712 yards.

Edit: later in day at noon in clear bright skies, ranged cattle at 1552 yards.

How long did it take to acquire the cattle in time and/or button presses? Was it tripod mounted? Were you hitting the cattle, or something right next to it?

 

[Deleted member 113831]

How long did it take to acquire the cattle in time and/or button presses? Was it tripod mounted? Were you hitting the cattle, or something right next to it?

The cattle were pretty instant, maybe a couple pulses at most.

No tripod for the cattle, bracing hand held off the edge of my truck. The cattle were standing in an open field. I hit both a group of cattle and a single one standing off to one side.

 

[trob]

I just sold my zeiss PRF and picked up the rx2800 last week from Cabelas on sale for $349 w/free shipping. Right away, I was really impressed with the Leupold and it has a lot more to offer than the zeiss does. (overall size, instant readings, angle compensation, precise crosshairs, etc)

I still had the zeiss when I got the Leupold, and I also have the vortex ranger 1800. So I compared the three RF’s side-by-side. The Leupold and Vortex were giving the exact same readings and were very similar in features, display appearance, the speed of the readout, size, feel, etc... The zeiss was lacking significantly and is grossly outmatched by what it’s competition is putting out for less money.

 

[Duffman1975]

I had the same dilemma as you did, thankfully i found this video on youtube comparing most of the rangefinders i was looking at. Needless to say, i went with the RX-2800 and am very happy with it.