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Swarovski or Leica?

P

predatornut

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 9, 2009
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North Dakota
I'm looking for a good rangefinder that will reliably range out to at least a grand and have narrowed it down to either the Leica 1600b or the Swarovski. Right now I can get them both for the same price so that is not a factor. From what I have read the Swarovski will range farther but has a bigger laser so it might not be hitting exactly what I'm aiming at. It also has better glass than the Leica. I don't have any major terrain around here so the incline feature is not a big deal, but I might make it to the mountains some day. Ive seen a lot of people bragging up the Leica on here, but not much on the Swarovski. I am going to use it for long range (out to ~1000 yards) targets and hunting deer and coyote out to ~600 yards. Which would be the best for me? I'm kind of stuck and need a push one way or the other. Any opinions and first hand experience would be greatly appreciated.

One more thing. The Terrapin is way out of my budget and more than I need anyway, so don't bother. Thanks.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2
 
I have been really happy with my Bushnell 1 Mile 8x32 binos. The glass is more than serviceable and I can reliably range targets at 1k yards and beyond. To me rangefinders are a moving target because technology moves quickly so the top of the line rangefinder you have now in 2 - 4 years is far behind technology wise again.... just my 2 cents.
 
I was in the same boat and went with the Swaro.
The optics are razor sharp and has enough magnification for use as decent field monocular and I did not want or need any ballistic software, just pure ranging.
 
I just got a Leica 1600B. I love it so far. The feature I would probably use the most if I'm hunting is the inclination...if the Swaro had that I woudl have sprung for it. But because the Leica had it, it's one less transition from the gun to the LRF.
 
I never saw a recent head to head comparison between the Leica and the Swaro but I think the Swaro has the edge in distance / laser performance.
Not a bad choice between the two IMHO.
 
I have a Swaro, Terrapin and Leupold 1000 TBR. I just recently acquired the Terrapin so haven't had a chance to use it in the field. I have used the Swaro extensively and it has great glass and found it accurate past 1,000 yards and supposedly will range accurately to 1,500. I have checked the Swaro against the Terrapin and the ranges between the two were consistent. The only negative is the size of the reticle and wish it were slightly smaller. Neither the Terrapin or Swaro have the inclination feature which would be a nice addition but have ADI's on my precision rifles and not really necessary. I use the Leupold primarily for bow hunting and works well for that application since it is compact and light and has some nice software features. The negative is that it ranges poorly at longer distances. I tried ranging steel at 1,000 yards and couldn't do it.

I have tried the Leica and it is a fine unit and very compact compared to the Swaro or Terrapin. The inclination feature is nice. Unlike the Swaro it cannot be directly attached to a tripod which is sometimes necessary when ranging longer distances. There is an attachment but is one more piece of equipment to carry/lose when you are in the field. Both are great optics. If you have the opportunity test both of them then make your choice.
 
How about the Zeiss Victory PRF? How would it compare to the Leica since the Swarovski is no longer an option?
 
Yes, bigger beam (bigger divergence) means you paint and get returns on stuff other than your target. To boot, a lot of the reason the beam is big is that the electronics are looking for a 'big' signature.

A tighter beam with appropriate sensing will do a better job reading small targets at distance - i.e. the terrapin.

The victory PRF might be good for what you need anyway, but there is a video in one of these lrf threads comparing beams.

Gil P. said:
Is this a bad thing? Would it be more difficult to range something small with the Victory?
Click to expand...
 
I would recommend the SWAROVSKI Laser Guides. To me they are the base compact Laser Range Finder that really did a good job of ranging targets even in the hard conditions.

Yes SWAROVSKI is discounting and I'm not sure why they would do this especially when they do not have a replacement. The GOOD News is CSTACTICAL has them in stock, SWAROVSKI allocated a large # of them to CSTACTICAL, and now we have them on sale.

cstactical




Mike @ CSTACTICAL
 
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I would also recommend the SWAROVSKI. We used two of them in the 2014 Mammoth Sniper Challenge and never once had a problem with them. They were in the snow, dropped, kicked and rained on everyday for a week and never once stopped working and none of the 160 shooters had any issue with them not ranging correctly.

If you want to try them out we'll be using them again in the 2015 mammoth sniper challenge.

Marcus
 
cal50 said:
I never saw a recent head to head comparison between the Leica and the Swaro but I think the Swaro has the edge in distance / laser performance.
Not a bad choice between the two IMHO.
Click to expand...

I've seen several reports of Leicas ranging close to 2000 yards.

The Swaro has a higher probability of returning a range once you get out there but it's also more likely to be the range to something other than the target.
 
I have the Leica 1600B. Absolutely love it.

I have used it in full noon sunlight and ranged out past 1650 yds.
I have used it at dusk and ranged out past 1700 yds. Furthest reading I got was 1757.
I have used it in high mirage at over 1600 yds.
Grasslands, 1500+ yds.
Dust storms out to 1400+ yds.
Light rain out past 1200 yds.
I have had no issues ranging out past 1600 yds. with no tripod, only handheld.
Ranged a coyote at 1327, which allowed me a second round hit on the deer killer with a .250 Ackley. First impact was just slightly left with a strong cross wind and the coyote moved about 10' to his right and stopped to see what spooked him....bad move.

Very small and lightweight, a true plus for a hunting LRF, and one of the main selling points for me. Drop it easily in a shirt pocket.

Money very well spent for my uses. Hunting, ranging steel, just goofing around.
 
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I would snap up the Swarovski while you can. I have spent hours on the beam divergence thing and found on mine the actual beam is much smaller than the aiming reticle. It will not catch things until they are well into the inside of the reticle. The Leica lacks horsepower to range at long range. The Swarovski on good targets will range out to 1999 yards. The good glass allows it to be used in really low light where lesser glass will lose your target 20 to 30 minutes sooner. It keeps up with my rifle scope scope to speak. Plus the thing is tough.
 
Finally got my tax refund and picked up the Swarovski. Ive just had it out once so far, but I hit a building at 1739 and a tree line at 1400 and change in bright sunlight! The glass is great too! Thanks for all the input, this was a big investment and I am not disappointed.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2
 
I have the leica 1600 and I just got 1922 yds. yesterday (hard target) It's much smaller and lighter than swar. I think both are a great choice. The leica is about 200 cheaper so that's always a good thing. My brother has a leica as well and he is tickled with it as well.... The only draw back is that it can be hard to stabilize at long distance. JMO but I think the leica is the best out FOR THE MONEY.
Good Luck
 
Actually, I got the Swarovski for $800 shipped from Cabela's, so the money was a dead heat. I haven't had a chance to really test it, but i was ranging those targets leaning on a car in poor ranging conditions (bright sunlight at high noon) and got hits at almost a mile. And i do believe the glass is better than the Leica, too.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2
 
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