NewCon LRM3500M (35BT) LRF First Impressions

[JB.IC]

First impressions:
Spent a few hrs or so behind the 35BT model ranging stuff in the bright and sunny Arizona weather. The sun was to my back but working it’s way over head(1100-1300).

Disclaimer: I used a Vortex High Country Tripod so stability wasn’t the greatest.

 

[JB.IC]

 

[JB.IC]

Overall it has the ranging capability of a PLRF25c but for around half the price.

It has a tighter beam divergence as well.

I need some more time behind it but so far it’s pretty damn awesome.

 

[Alpine 338]

Where is it manufacturered? Does it do the range angle/cosign calculations?

 

[JB.IC]

Where is it manufacturered? Does it do the range angle/cosign calculations?

You’ll need to contact the manufacturer, NewCon, for any questions.

 

[JB.IC]

Where is it manufacturered? Does it do the range angle/cosign calculations?

 

[GIXXER2000]

I looked at NewCon a couple years ago at Shot Show and the construction didn't seem to be on par with the PLRF 25c. I was looking for a 4K plus range finder and ended up getting the 25c. I didn't like the use of plastic in the case. Have they changed the case construction? I didn't go by there booth at Shot this year.

 

[JB.IC]

I looked at NewCon a couple years ago at Shot Show and the construction didn't seem to be on par with the PLRF 25c. I was looking for a 4K plus range finder and ended up getting the 25c. I didn't like the use of plastic in the case. Have they changed the case construction? I didn't go by there booth at Shot this year.

I don’t know anything about NewCon’s older products but the 3500M outer body is made of hard plastic surrounded by an rubber armor case.
You don’t need anything more than that unless you’re a JTAC in an assult force.

 

[GIXXER2000]

It sound like they did beef up the case. The older one look like it was just to lite and didn't have a good feel, felt cheap for the price they were asking at the time. I would liked to have spent less but at the time a got the 25c that was the only option since they were discontinuing the PLRF 10 and 15 and Terrapin. What is the street price for that unit??

 

[JB.IC]

It sound like they did beef up the case. The older one look like it was just to lite and didn't have a good feel, felt cheap for the price they were asking at the time. I would liked to have spent less but at the time a got the 25c that was the only option since they were discontinuing the PLRF 10 and 15 and Terrapin. What is the street price for that unit??

MAP: $5,668.00 for the 35BT. Much cheaper than a 25c

 

[GIXXER2000]

Nothing is cheap... LOL
I was lucky got the if you order it now ShotShow price of $6800. They gave me 30 min to think on it. They are going for $8100 the last time i looked.

 

[JB.IC]

Nothing is cheap... LOL
I was lucky got the if you order it now ShotShow price of $6800. They gave me 30 min to think on it. They are going for $8100 the last time i looked.

You gotta pay to play. The accuracy these LRF provide are beyond the budget LRF that claim around the same distance. As you can see by the pictures and the mapped distance, it does the job nicely.

 

[GIXXER2000]

Yes at the distance we shoot I needed to have the something i could trust to give me the correct range. We are shooting out to 2880 right now and will be looking to push out past 3000 plus yards when i get my 33xc barrel.

 

[JB.IC]

Yes at the distance we shoot I needed to have the something i could trust to give me the correct range. We are shooting out to 2880 right now and will be looking to push out past 3000 plus yards when i get my 33xc barrel.

I’m currently getting my ELR gear together. Still not sure what cartridge I want to go with. But I hope to have a decision in the coming months. I either want a 375, 408, or 416

 

[GIXXER2000]

Me too I am going to go bigger but just don't know which one I am going to go with. The 375/408 really good brass from Peterson and the 416 brass is getting better. So of the guys i shoot with at the SW ULR match are having go results with the 37XC so i an going to wait til next month then decide.

 

[Lowlight]

The new models are legit, I am using them now and met with them at show, the new US rep is the old Vectronix rep and he is doing a ton.

I have an image of the App for this from Shot, and they have hella lasers in them.

Plus they have great support, super responsive to changes, I like them for ELR stuff beyond the Terrapin X

I have this here, the spotter laser combo and the Seeker - so we’ll be talking more about them

 

[GIXXER2000]

Hey thanks Lowlight good to know. As i said the older models seemed cheap but the new one look good. If i didnt have a 25c i would look into one.

 

[MK20]

Tag for interest. I have been looking at these for a long time, but it was hard to find any info on their actual quality. It also appears to have the cable jack for a DAGR. Has anyone hooked this up to one yet?

 

[Strykervet]

Glad somebody FINALLY wrote up these on here. I've seen 'em for sale for over a decade but their lasers were just SHIT. Their PEQ type lasers. Obviously Russian or Chinese. But their nicer LRF's were priced the same as others: about $1 per meter. And recently I heard the army actually buys one of these models. And other militaries do use them. They make some very nice stuff too, some very expensive.

I'm glad to hear it works well too. I'm sure a lot of guys around here will be considering a Newcon soon.

Their top end stuff looked REALLY nice. Not many mfg.'s of this stuff sell openly to the public like that.

 

[MK20]

Yeah, that is the nicest part. They will actually retail to the public. I called their HQ in Canada about 2 years ago asking about this model and they were really helpful and friendly. I was hesitant to purchase one solely because of the lack of info from third party testers. This now goes to the top of the want list.

For any of you back country hunters out there, this thing has a gps cable port on it. If it works like the PLRF15c you can connect your gps and set the LRF so that when you range it it tells you distance and gives you a grid for your target. I love this feature for navigating to a spot that I see and want to hunt while up in the mountains.

 

[JB.IC]

Tag for interest. I have been looking at these for a long time, but it was hard to find any info on their actual quality. It also appears to have the cable jack for a DAGR. Has anyone hooked this up to one yet?

How you loading crypto to take advantage of a DAGR

 

[MK20]

I am not, just wondering if it had that function.

 

[JB.IC]

Yeah, that is the nicest part. They will actually retail to the public. I called their HQ in Canada about 2 years ago asking about this model and they were really helpful and friendly. I was hesitant to purchase one solely because of the lack of info from third party testers. This now goes to the top of the want list.

For any of you back country hunters out there, this thing has a gps cable port on it. If it works like the PLRF15c you can connect your gps and set the LRF so that when you range it it tells you distance and gives you a grid for your target. I love this feature for navigating to a spot that I see and want to hunt while up in the mountains.

Model 35M & 35BT has a built in GPS.

The GPS seem to be very accurate so far in my tests

 

[JB.IC]

Alex Rudiy, Executive Vice President & COO of NewCon, emailed me every single day for about three weeks when I was deployed to Afghanistan recently.

By far one of the best customer services I’ve ever dealt with. I was just like you guy with a bunch of questions. I told Alex I would try to help you guys out since he helped me out.

 

[MK20]

With the internal GPS it will give grids for the target loc?

 

[JB.IC]

 

[JB.IC]

With the internal GPS it will give grids for the target loc?

Affirm. See above post at the bottom of specs sheet

 

[MK20]

I don't know where you are pulling these sheets from but if it is their website they have really updated it since I last looked at it. I couldn't find any decent specs sheets back then.

So let me get this straight:
Internal compass
5500 m range
eye safe laser outside of NV range
internal gps
cable ports
NV monocular compatibility
rugged construction
low beam divergence laser
good customer service

Priced around 4500 to 5K

Why would anyone buy a PLRF25?

 

[JB.IC]

I don't know where you are pulling these sheets from but if it is their website they have really updated it since I last looked at it. I couldn't find any decent specs sheets back then.

So let me get this straight:
Internal compass
5500 m range
eye safe laser outside of NV range
internal gps
cable ports
NV monocular compatibility
rugged construction
low beam divergence laser
good customer service

Priced around 4500 to 5K

Why would anyone buy a PLRF25?

That’s a good question. From what I’ve gathered these units (35M, 35C, & 35BT) are new for this year. The 35M was available prior though, I believe.
Keep in mind the LRM3500 has a better deam divergence. I think the LRM3500 also has a more powerful laser as well but they wouldn’t give me that information.

I’m willing to boast NewCon because they suffered through my countless emails. Now that I think about it, all the Canadian companies that I’ve emailed all had great customer service. I flooded Cadex with emails recently as well lol.

 

[JB.IC]

Product page
http://www.newcon-optik.com/products/laser-rangefinders/lrm3500m/

Spec page for the model I own 35BT
http://www.newcon-optik.com/Specs/LRM3500MNC35BT.pdf

 

[skierhs]

That’s a good question. From what I’ve gathered these units (35M, 35C, & 35BT) are new for this year. The 35M was available prior though, I believe.
Keep in mind the LRM3500 has a better deam divergence. I think the LRM3500 also has a more powerful laser as well but they wouldn’t give me that information.

I’m willing to boast NewCon because they suffered through my countless emails. Now that I think about it, all the Canadian companies that I’ve emailed all had great customer service. I flooded Cadex with emails recently as well lol.

That’s great to hear, I may have missed it, did you go through the company directly to get one in or which dealer did you go through? This may beat out the plrf25 I was thinking about.

 

[JB.IC]

That’s great to hear, I may have missed it, did you go through the company directly to get one in or which dealer did you go through? This may beat out the plrf25 I was thinking about.

I ordered direct because online retailers weren’t selling the 35BT at the time. I believe the company squared that away now. I know EuroOptic got it after I purchased it. Josh at EuroOptic should be able to get you taken care of

 

[JB.IC]

Some distance measurements between two targets.

Top pic is the distance between the two target mode

Bottom two pics are the individual distance of each target

 

[Canuck525]

I was waiting for a report on these. I really like the GPS factor. You can go right to the spot you shot your coyote.
If the beam divergence is accurate it should range small critters like coyotes a long piece away. This is exactly what I am looking for...
I will wait for some more reports but will probably pick one of these up next year if it lives up to the claims .

 

[JB.IC]

I was waiting for a report on these. I really like the GPS factor. You can go right to the spot you shot your coyote.
If the beam divergence is accurate it should range small critters like coyotes a long piece away. This is exactly what I am looking for...
I will wait for some more reports but will probably pick one of these up next year if it lives up to the hype.

What hype? I’m literally the only person actively reviewing it lol
Frank will have a follow up review but I’m the only person talking about it and showing it off

 

[Canuck525]

What hype? I’m literally the only person actively reviewing it lol
Frank will have a follow up review but I’m the only person talking about it and showing it off

HYPE was a poor choice of words on my part but I think you know what I mean

 

[JB.IC]

HYPE was a poor choice of words on my part but I think you know what I mean

I’ll try to get more ranging and pics posted. I’ve been doing some load development for a new rifle at the moment.

 

[JB.IC]

More testing. Keep in mind I’m using a cheap vortex high country tripod. Any little deviation after pressing the range button will induce a range error. It’s the best I have at this time.

 

[Canuck525]

So will it actually give the gps coordinates of the target?

 

[JB.IC]

So will it actually give the gps coordinates of the target?

Yes. Mine was off due to a magnetic variation. I updated the LRM with the magvar and just need to go test it.

 

[Canuck525]

As a long range hunter i would find that very useful.

 

[JB.IC]

Hiked to a different spot to do some ranging.

Ranged an antenna off a cellphone tower

Ranged a steel plate that was less than MOA. This was a hard one to get steady off my cheap tripod. It got returns all day.

Tested out the TGT GPS after updating my magVar

Hit another steel plate that was bigger than MOA. No idea how big.

 

[_Windrider_]

Hiked to a different spot to do some ranging.
View attachment 7016308

Ranged an antenna off a cellphone tower
View attachment 7016309
View attachment 7016310


Ranged a steel plate that was less than MOA. This was a hard one to get steady off my cheap tripod. It got returns all day.
View attachment 7016312


Tested out the TGT GPS after updating my magVar
View attachment 7016313

Hit another steel plate that was bigger than MOA. No idea how big.
View attachment 7016311

Well it’s got my attention for sure.

 

[Canuck525]

WOW !!!! That is so coooooool . If you get a chance do you think you would be able to try it out on deer/coyotes ? I need one that will range a coyote at 1300-1400 yards or so . The only one I have seen which would do this is a vectronix.
If the stated beam divergence is correct it should have no problem( 0.75 mils x 0.25 mils) ..
Thanks so much for taking the time to post your findings.

 

[JB.IC]

Keep in mind the sun was off to my left shining all over the transmitter and receiver

 

[JB.IC]

WOW !!!! That is so coooooool . If you get a chance do you think you would be able to try it out on deer/coyotes ? I need one that will range a coyote at 1300-1400 yards or so . The only one I have seen which would do this is a vectronix.
If the stated beam divergence is correct it should have no problem( 0.75 mils x 0.25 mils) ..
Thanks so much for taking the time to post your findings.

I’m in Arizona. There’s no deer where I’m at. There are yotes here but the come out after dark.

 

[skierhs]

Have you tried linking it with a kestrel or any other ballistic computer/app yet?

 

[JB.IC]

Have you tried linking it with a kestrel or any other ballistic computer/app yet?

I’ve connected it to my Kestrel Elite. Works as advertised.


Took the LRM out today with my new tripod and RRS Leveling base. Nothing significant to report. The LRM performance is awesome so I didn’t bother taking screen shots of map data and ranges to over lay.

I was able to range a 1moa white steel target from 3426yds away. The leveling base and tripod made it steady enough and I referenced it to the google map data and it was within 1 yd. (it may have been smaller than 1moa. Can’t tell because the center dot is 1moa. Either way the center dot covered the target and I got a reading within 1yd referenced to google map data)

One thing I’ve notice is the LRM doesn’t care if the sun is out and beaming light into the transmitter or receiver lenses. It performs the same if it’s overcast or bright out.

Considering all my ranges are done in Arizona, we have plenty of sun to go around.

I don’t need any more convincing. I made a good purchase.

 

[skierhs]

I’ve connected it to my Kestrel Elite. Works as advertised.


Took the LRM out today with my new tripod and RRS Leveling base. Nothing significant to report. The LRM performance is awesome so I didn’t bother taking screen shots of map data and ranges to over lay.

I was able to range a 1moa white steel target from 3426yds away. The leveling base and tripod made it steady enough and I referenced it to the google map data and it was within 1 yd. (it may have been smaller than 1moa. Can’t tell because the center dot is 1moa. Either way the center dot covered the target and I got a reading within 1yd referenced to google map data)

One thing I’ve notice is the LRM doesn’t care if the sun is out and beaming light into the transmitter or receiver lenses. It performs the same if it’s overcast or bright out.

Considering all my ranges are done in Arizona, we have plenty of sun to go around.

I don’t need any more convincing. I made a good purchase.

View attachment 7031419

That’s awesome to hear. Looks like i’ll Have to start saving up for one. Seeing your in Arizona I won’t even ask about precipitation/snow usage haha

 

[JB.IC]

That’s awesome to hear. Looks like i’ll Have to start saving up for one. Seeing your in Arizona I won’t even ask about precipitation/snow usage haha

Haha yea I hope I never get to find out lol.

It did ran for a good solid day or so. I never thought to test it in those conditions.

It is snowing pretty good up north a couple hours from Phoenix. From what I’ve gathered they haven’t seen that amount of snow in like 20 years. A friend sent a picture and it looked like it was a good two feet of snow fall in one night.

Either way I don’t like the snow so I don’t plan on ever needing it in the snow