Nikon Black Range X 4K
- Thread starter 6gunner
- Start date
I ordered one last night. Ill post back once it arrives and i get a chance to use it.
I read both good and bad reviews so i have realistic expectations.
As long as it compares well to other 400$ rangefinders, ill be satisfied.
I read both good and bad reviews so i have realistic expectations.
As long as it compares well to other 400$ rangefinders, ill be satisfied.
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Ha! That simple!
Thanks.
The review i read on GunsAmerica did a head-to-head comparison to the Sig Kilo 2000, and it seemed to best the Sig, which is in the same price range.
Nikon may have got a little carried away with the whole 2 mile claim thing, but compared to rangefinders in its own price class, it seems to compare favorably.
If they had named it the RangeX 2K and kept the same pricing, it would probably have glowing reviews.
Thanks.
The review i read on GunsAmerica did a head-to-head comparison to the Sig Kilo 2000, and it seemed to best the Sig, which is in the same price range.
Nikon may have got a little carried away with the whole 2 mile claim thing, but compared to rangefinders in its own price class, it seems to compare favorably.
If they had named it the RangeX 2K and kept the same pricing, it would probably have glowing reviews.
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It will give Leica 1600 and often 2000 run for their money ,but past that Leica pistolwhips Nikon Black 4K , also there is no where near as much variation in performance unit to unit with Leica ,as there is with Nikon ,soem of these 4K cant make it past 1000y .Lets just say you need much more luck of the pick with ither Sig or Nikon
If your sig 2200 works well you are not gaining much if anthing at all with Black4K ,save your penies for Leica 2700
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So there has been a lot of SH hate on this LRF after people got their hands on one. IE crappy glass, claims on range are bullshit, blah blah. And each person making the claims has their own opinion and a lot of them expertise and even dealers who get to play with a lot of different models. There was another thread where people launched crap at the nikon reps, etc. But obviously this ain't going to be elite tier for sub 400 dollars. I bought one just to see what it was to form my own opinion despite all the crap people were talking about it.
I had been using a kilo 2000 which was decent enough, but really struggled on anything past 800 even on a tripod - in normal conditions. The beam divergence and donut reticle pissed me off enough that I started looking in to a better tool for the job. My buying decision tree went like this:
I want a LRF that will work every time i need to use it, whatever the conditions are.
I want it to range out to the max of my weapon systems- say 1500 yards in those conditions.
I don't need any onboard anything
I don't want to sell something to be able to afford this tool
I don't need to spot with it (already own swaros)
I don't need your german/ fancy glass on this tool I will use for minutes at a time. I would prefer the honda accord of glass in this application. Not flashy, but gets the job done. If you're trying to read mirage through your non bino LRF - you're doing it wrong.
I had some amazon credit and one went on sale, so I bought one knowing I could easily return it if I wasn't impressed. But I have used it the past month, and will say this thing is good to go for what most are using this for. It's awesome! It works well hand held, on a bag, on a truck, tripod, whatever. Beam divergence is quite good. Aiming reticle is awesome. Beam is perfect center. Glass is fine. Even with the terrapin x, they talk about how it's not an OG terrapin. So for a tool that isn't meant to be used for extended periods of time, i think this nikon is awesome.
I had been using a kilo 2000 which was decent enough, but really struggled on anything past 800 even on a tripod - in normal conditions. The beam divergence and donut reticle pissed me off enough that I started looking in to a better tool for the job. My buying decision tree went like this:
I want a LRF that will work every time i need to use it, whatever the conditions are.
I want it to range out to the max of my weapon systems- say 1500 yards in those conditions.
I don't need any onboard anything
I don't want to sell something to be able to afford this tool
I don't need to spot with it (already own swaros)
I don't need your german/ fancy glass on this tool I will use for minutes at a time. I would prefer the honda accord of glass in this application. Not flashy, but gets the job done. If you're trying to read mirage through your non bino LRF - you're doing it wrong.
I had some amazon credit and one went on sale, so I bought one knowing I could easily return it if I wasn't impressed. But I have used it the past month, and will say this thing is good to go for what most are using this for. It's awesome! It works well hand held, on a bag, on a truck, tripod, whatever. Beam divergence is quite good. Aiming reticle is awesome. Beam is perfect center. Glass is fine. Even with the terrapin x, they talk about how it's not an OG terrapin. So for a tool that isn't meant to be used for extended periods of time, i think this nikon is awesome.
My RangeX arrived yesterday, so i got to play with it a little today. Here are a couple telephone pole ranges.
My video skills suck, so please forgive.
Powerpole at 1494yds
Powerpole at 1599
Front of a building 1937yds
Powerpole at 1706yds
4000 is a bit absurd under any realistic conditions, maybe if the target is a giant mirror.
But, i can hit telephone poles at 1700 without alot of drama, so it will work for my needs.
My video skills suck, so please forgive.
Powerpole at 1494yds
Powerpole at 1599
Front of a building 1937yds
Powerpole at 1706yds
4000 is a bit absurd under any realistic conditions, maybe if the target is a giant mirror.
But, i can hit telephone poles at 1700 without alot of drama, so it will work for my needs.
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The transformers on the powerpole directly behind the 1937 yard building.
I tried to range it multiple times today with no luck. It just became overcast and started raining, so i tried again.
Ambient light makes a huge difference with these things.
A steel plate at 1500 yds
I tried to hit the same plate at 2380yds and got nothing.
The back of a stopsign at 1800yds
Btw: My RangeX manual lists the beam divergence as 1.8 mils vertical x 0.25 horizontal. Thats a tall, narrow strip of light. Maybe why it seems to work well on utility poles.
I tried to range it multiple times today with no luck. It just became overcast and started raining, so i tried again.
Ambient light makes a huge difference with these things.
A steel plate at 1500 yds
I tried to hit the same plate at 2380yds and got nothing.
The back of a stopsign at 1800yds
Btw: My RangeX manual lists the beam divergence as 1.8 mils vertical x 0.25 horizontal. Thats a tall, narrow strip of light. Maybe why it seems to work well on utility poles.
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So, after a couple days of using the RangeX black, ive come to a few conclusions about it.
Well, about my RangeX anyway. Others may find their's may behave differently.
1. It doesnt like ranging tree-leaf canopies. Mine could barely pick up tree canopies past 1600 yds on WA evergreens, and only a little further on bigleaf maples.
2. Its really good on tree trunks. Nice thick evergreen and maple trunks can be ranged to just over 2000 yds. I could range the trunks, but not the canopies on many of the same trees.
3. It ranges powerpoles very well too. I could get to 2000 yds on thick power poles.
4. Its not great at buildings. I couldnt range houses, roofs, etc any further than tree trunks. 2050 ish yds is the furthest i could range a building.
5. Steel target plates and the back surface of road signs could be ranged to about 2000 yards. I didnt bother ranging the front of road signs, the reflective paint seems to me like an unrealistic advantage.
6. Steel plates and road signs, inside 1600 yards can be ranged effortlessly. Itll return the range with the first push of the button, every single time.
From 1700 to 2000, id have to hold the fire button down a couple seconds.
7. The beam is very narrow. I love this as it could be a useful feature. I was able to range each of 2 individual tree trunks, spaced about 3 feet apart @ 1850 yards. I was easily able to range a car, shooting between the 2 tree trunks, about 15 yards further back @ just under 1900 yds.
8. At one point, just once, trying to range a 24" square steel target plate, it gave me a return of 2380yds. 2380 is correct for that plate as it was previously ranged by Skookum with an expensive, high power rangefinder. I tried again for about 10 minutes to get another return, with no luck.
9. At no point was i able to range anything beyond that 2380 plate. Aside from that single 2380 yard return, the furthest object i could range was a bigleaf maple trunk @ 2050yds.
10. This LRF will range steel plates, tree trunks and powerline poles better than tree canopies, and just as well as houses.
The material and reflectivity of the surface seems to play the biggest role, not the size of the object.
I couldnt find an oppertunity to try any plates, signs, cars or any other reflective obects between 2000 yds (which it can easily do) and 2380 yds (which it cant do). Its limit on those types of targets appears to be somewhere between 2000 and 2380.
Well, about my RangeX anyway. Others may find their's may behave differently.
1. It doesnt like ranging tree-leaf canopies. Mine could barely pick up tree canopies past 1600 yds on WA evergreens, and only a little further on bigleaf maples.
2. Its really good on tree trunks. Nice thick evergreen and maple trunks can be ranged to just over 2000 yds. I could range the trunks, but not the canopies on many of the same trees.
3. It ranges powerpoles very well too. I could get to 2000 yds on thick power poles.
4. Its not great at buildings. I couldnt range houses, roofs, etc any further than tree trunks. 2050 ish yds is the furthest i could range a building.
5. Steel target plates and the back surface of road signs could be ranged to about 2000 yards. I didnt bother ranging the front of road signs, the reflective paint seems to me like an unrealistic advantage.
6. Steel plates and road signs, inside 1600 yards can be ranged effortlessly. Itll return the range with the first push of the button, every single time.
From 1700 to 2000, id have to hold the fire button down a couple seconds.
7. The beam is very narrow. I love this as it could be a useful feature. I was able to range each of 2 individual tree trunks, spaced about 3 feet apart @ 1850 yards. I was easily able to range a car, shooting between the 2 tree trunks, about 15 yards further back @ just under 1900 yds.
8. At one point, just once, trying to range a 24" square steel target plate, it gave me a return of 2380yds. 2380 is correct for that plate as it was previously ranged by Skookum with an expensive, high power rangefinder. I tried again for about 10 minutes to get another return, with no luck.
9. At no point was i able to range anything beyond that 2380 plate. Aside from that single 2380 yard return, the furthest object i could range was a bigleaf maple trunk @ 2050yds.
10. This LRF will range steel plates, tree trunks and powerline poles better than tree canopies, and just as well as houses.
The material and reflectivity of the surface seems to play the biggest role, not the size of the object.
I couldnt find an oppertunity to try any plates, signs, cars or any other reflective obects between 2000 yds (which it can easily do) and 2380 yds (which it cant do). Its limit on those types of targets appears to be somewhere between 2000 and 2380.
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D
Deleted member 113831
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The most impressive thing to me was that it hit everything out to 1700 or so, through some fairly intense mirage coming off of those corn fields, and in direct sunlight in the middle of the day.
