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Rangefinder - Leica or Sig?

Yondering

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 16, 2017
2,393
1,950
Skagit Valley, WA
My old Leica 1200 Scan seems to be giving up the ghost after almost 20 years (was the top of the line model when I got it) and won't reliably read anything beyond about 600 yards.

I'm trying to decide if I should pick up another Leica, or try one of the newer Sig options (2200, 5K, etc?).
Requirements:
- I need reliable ranging on trees & rocks out to at least 1,000 yd, preferably 1,500 or so
- not too concerned about other features and would rather choose simple reliability (like my Leica was until recently) than lots of features and spotty reliability.
- I don't use a Kestrel; all my ballistic stuff is on iPhone and range cards.
- Trying to stay inside of $600 or thereabouts but that's not a hard limit.

Other options I should consider?

Apologies in advance if this horse has been beaten too much. I'm doing some searching as well, but last time I paid attention to rangefinders, the Sig Kilo 2000 was the hot new thing, and the Leupold models my buddies bought sucked. I'm pretty cautious about Vortex and Sig electronics, but am at least smart enough to listen to those in the know. Let me know what's what; thanks dudes.

Edit to add - this is for long range shooting, mostly in the western mountain states. Not really a hunting tool for me.
 
I’ve had great luck with the Sig Kilo 1600 in the BDX line up. It has been solid so far the past year and a half and with in a yard or two of many higher end rangefinders. I don’t have much else to compare it to tho since I only used it at a few matches and compared results to other shooters. At the last match I think the furthest I targeted was 700 yards tho so I’m not sure how well it works past that compared to others. It’s pretty nice for the price I picked it up for but I really only intended to use it for hunting but that changed after I got bit by the ELR bug and went full retard. I’ll probably pick up another for next year with more range after I finish the new rifle build.
 
I just picked up a Leica 2400 from Cameraland. Probably very similar to your 1200, 550$ shipped.
Yeah I was looking at the same one. It looks like a solid choice and probably what I'll get, just didn't know if I'm missing out on anything good with the Sig or others. My normal inclination though is to choose quality like Leica over something like Sig or Vortex when possible.
 
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Oh wow, thanks for the info, I didn’t know that.

Does it require a coupon code or anything to get that price, or just calling and talking to them?

I would call Doug at camerland or Rich at cstactical or euro and see who will give you the best price
 
I have not tried the SIG but I have the Leica 2800.com, yes it’s a dumb name, and the glass is really nice and it works well. Cycling through though the menus is not intuitive but you don’t have to very often.
 
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I’d go with Sig 2400abs. They are nice for all round purpose.
 
Another 2800. Glass is quite good and it's tiny. Makes a pretty decent monocular for pocket carry. My experience has been pine trees at 1000, and rocks at 1500. I've gotten returns of cars and buildings well over 2k. We have a lot of mist and haze here so those are probably conservative and it most likely can do better in a dry clear environment.
 
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Another 2800. Glass is quite good and it's tiny. Makes a pretty decent monocular for pocket carry. My experience has been pine trees at 1000, and rocks at 1500. I've gotten returns of cars and buildings well over 2k. We have a lot of mist and haze here so those are probably conservative and it most likely can do better in a dry clear environment.
That’s pretty good. We have a lot of mist & humidity here too in the cooler months, and fire smoke in the summer, so I’d probably see similar results.

Leica glass is nice for sure; always liked that about this old one I have. And a smaller one would be nice too.
 
It would be our pleasure to discuss this with you if you have a few moments to give a call, 516-217-1000.

The Sig and the Leica are both reliable units, however, the Leica is optically superior
 
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