Do I give ConX another chance!? (UPDATED with replacement)

[MysizeisMAGNUM]

Update: Brownells sent me a return label for ground FedEx for the return/exchange. I also received $15 refund to my card because that day the ConX was slightly cheaper and they refunded the difference. I shipped it to the mall the day after the label was emailed to me, they received it 6 days later. I called a week after they received it and something was a miss and the CS rep put me on hold. She came back onto the line and she told me one will me next day shipped to me. I got home this afternoon and tried out my replacement. I could tell it was improved over my previous version after the first few ranges.

First i I started on my neighbors house at 108yds, the reading was much faster than my previous unit. I went walking around and got immediate hits at 330, 480, 550 all on houses, readings were very fast. The farthest I could find reflective targets was a road 877 yards out. I couldn't get reading off the tree line while trying off hand but when cars would pass by the beam at 45mph. The unit quickly updated at 877. Something my previous unit had never done.

I'll get out this weekend while at the cabin to see if it'll range steel as advertised. This was a glimmer of hope that the ConX may fit my expectations (which is range steel out to 1000-1300 yards).

All in all for less than $300 and having the Bluetooth connection to my Kestrel I hope it'll do its job. I'll update again after the weekend.




Original Post: First trip out with my new Bushnell ConX last Saturday. Partly cloudy day and I couldn't get it to range steel. Targets were 9"X13" at 553, an 18" round at 740, or the 24" round at 1050yards. Range finder was tripod mounted.

My question to ConX owners would be, should I exchange it and try again? Or return and buy new rangefinder (likely would be Leica 1600).

 

[Kadams1563]

You couldn't get hits on any of them?

I could get reliable hits out to 1041 with no tripod with mine on smaller plates. There was a 36" target at 1300+ that I could not get a range on though.

I also went to a match yesterday and it was reliable on every piece of steel I found out to 1070.

I would give it another go.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MysizeisMAGNUM]

It would range paper target setup at 100, and a bush at 400. Trying to range all over the place I never got a hit past 474.

 

[MilDot1960]

Sounds like you need to get it changed, my one works really well and to date I have never had to use a tripod, Good luck. John.

 

[blbennett1288]

I would get it swapped out as I was able to range an white IPSC target offhand at 1000yards. Ranging from 200-1000 matched within a couple of feet of the advertised distances where I shot

 

[MysizeisMAGNUM]

I called Brownells to return it, they gave me $15 off and convinced me to exchange it for another model. Sure is a slow shitty process.... I'll try another one, although this is usually not something I do with equipment I'm going to rely on for my next hunt.

 

[SSW7]

I grabbed a CONX whilst it was on sale as well. For some reason I didn't have great expectations for the LRF but decided to give it a go as a cheapish hunting LRF. First time I used it I couldn't range anything past 300m and I was pretty disappointed with it. I gave it another go then I realised you have to continually hold the range button down for it to range longer distances!

Not sure if it's in the manual but that's how it works. Not sure if you had the same problem as I had. All the other LRF I've own/owned, I'm pretty sure I didn't need to do that, Leica, Zeiss, Terrapin, Swarovski and Radius.

But overall I'm impressed with it, it will range most things to at least a km in bright sun and I haven't had a chance to look at the onboard ballistics yet.

 

[blbennett1288]

I grabbed a CONX whilst it was on sale as well. For some reason I didn't have great expectations for the LRF but decided to give it a go as a cheapish hunting LRF. First time I used it I couldn't range anything past 300m and I was pretty disappointed with it. I gave it another go then I realised you have to continually hold the range button down for it to range longer distances!

Not sure if it's in the manual but that's how it works. Not sure if you had the same problem as I had. All the other LRF I've own/owned, I'm pretty sure I didn't need to do that, Leica, Zeiss, Terrapin, Swarovski and Radius.

But overall I'm impressed with it, it will range most things to at least a km in bright sun and I haven't had a chance to look at the onboard ballistics yet.

Yeah, it definitely took some time to range the 1k targets mid afternoon on a sunny day. For me today anything inside 600 was pretty quick. The 700 and 900 lagged but wasn't that bad. The 1000 yard prob took about 5-10 seconds.

 

[_Windrider_]

Yeah, it definitely took some time to range the 1k targets mid afternoon on a sunny day. For me today anything inside 600 was pretty quick. The 700 and 900 lagged but wasn't that bad. The 1000 yard prob took about 5-10 seconds.

5-10 seconds in which mode? I get returns pretty quick at most ranges, ive never timed it but it surely isn't 10 seconds.

 

[blbennett1288]

5-10 seconds in which mode? I get returns pretty quick at most ranges, ive never timed it but it surely isn't 10 seconds.

I was in Rifle HD Brush mode. I didn't time it either but there were a couple that were right around 5 seconds and one that took about 10 seconds. Keep in mind this was in the afternoon at >90 deg and ranging white targets with a red alabama clay burm. The mirage was so bad that I could ID the targets with a 5-25 power scope set at 15 but I could not tell where the target ended and burm started

Edit: I couldn't get it to range anything in bullseye mode and this was all offhand

 

[_Windrider_]

I was in Rifle HD Brush mode. I didn't time it either but there were a couple that were right around 5 seconds and one that took about 10 seconds. Keep in mind this was in the afternoon at >90 deg and ranging white targets with a red alabama clay burm. The mirage was so bad that I could ID the targets with a 5-25 power scope set at 15 but I could not tell where the target ended and burm started

I can see it taking longer in brush mode. It's getting multiple returns determining which one is best. Try just the basic target mode.

 

[MilDot1960]

Even in heavy Haze/mirage mine gets returns off of dark grey stone buildings within a second or So at 1485y some targets can be a problem but I put that down to hand shake or Heartbeat, I don't class the ConX as a cheap LRF yes they have come down in price but they were over $700 when they came out, they have now come down by 60% or more.It's a shame all the other brands don't do the same because when you compare the price compared to the features they are just not worth it, I have ranged targets that measure 6:x 6 (72"x72") at 1677 yards 9 times out of 10 so that's not too bad, I have tested the life out of it and now I am on my second battery since February baring in mind I have not used it for the past 2 months.

John.

 

[MysizeisMAGNUM]

I've never seen someone so in love with a rangefinder, Mildot.

I hope I get one that works as well as yours...

 

[MilDot1960]

I've never seen someone so in love with a rangefinder, Mildot.

I hope I get one that works as well as yours...

Well when some thing works and works well Life is good, There are a few that range further but from the price point the ConX wins, If they gave it the range of the terrapin then it would be at the top of the list because it does 99% of what people want.

John.