Looking to get into long range shooting (308 for now).

Was thinking Leupold would be a good place to start but saw on Optics Planet (yeah, I know) comments about the crappy two-year warranty from Leupold and people having issues.

Is this not the experience of this audience?

Other suggestions...would like to keep it under $500. Assume all good ones will have angle measurements and maybe some wind input adjustment.

Thanks in advance.

JB

I have a Leupold. It was about two years when stuff disappeared around the edges of the view. It still gives the range, but the angle & other stuff (I can't recall all the specifics) is gone.

I have a Nikon Monarch that's supposedly good to 1200m. I have had it for just shy of ten years, and it has never had a problem. No angle or wind stuff. Made in China. I typically look to Leupold first, nowadays, for that kind of stuff, because of their American roots; not sure where their range finders are made though. I guess a lot of components of something like that are bound to come from China; at Least Leupold, as a company, makes the effort to prioritize American-made in the majority of their product lines. If I ever need another range finder, it'll be a Leupold. Even if there are reports of issues, I'd still rather support them.

Believe it or not, I've got a Bushnell 1,000 yard rangefinder that I've had and used continuously for over 20 years. Got it for varmint hunting originally and found lots of other uses for it since.

Used it yesterday again and it's still working fine.

I have a Sig Kilo (not sure which one) which has been fine so far. I made sure to get one that lights up red since I can't see the black numbers against a dark background too well.

I just gave my Leopold to my nephew and bought a SIG. All the things I didn't like about the Leupold, and why I was willing to give it up, turns out the SIG has as well. lol So now I have one that's slightly larger and has a display I like a lot less. The only improvement is it will work farther, which is something I didn't need in the slightest. Oh well.

I guess no advice from me other than "try before your buy" if at all possible.

There a number of options in your price range, assuming you are willing to use a monocular design. Monoculars mean:
- smaller display -- sometimes hard to read the numbers
- small size -- easy to put in a pocket
- difficult to use for searching for targets -- binoculars are better
- reasonable cost
- more challenging to hold steady and obtain an accurate reading

I don't find angle measurements all that useful for a 308-type rifle. Unless you plan to shoot at targets at up/down angles of at least 20-30 degrees, for targets at least 300-400 yards away. This is very specialized shooting in steep, mountainous terrain.

Wind inputs aren't all that useful. Ballistics are too different from one rifle to another -- muzzle velocity, bullet type, bullet BC, air density altitude. You will use another ballistic system for wind drift.

Try to get your hands on the LRF you wish to buy. You want to look through it. Honestly, consider more than just rifle LRF models. At this price range, the internals are pretty much the same for bow & arrow or golf LRFs.