range finder advice

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Apr 14, 2015
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Purchased a Vortex 1000 for an Elk hunt this year. Ranged animals 800+ yards. Also use it bow hunting. No problems.
 

twall13

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Jan 21, 2015
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I have a Sig kilo 2000. It is fast! I've ranged out to 1700 with it on several occasions. I'm not good enough to shoot that far but it's a huge step up from my old Nikon 800 that only ranged to about 300 yards. I've been very happy with it.

I've heard of a few quality control issues, usually due to poor batteries from the factory and cold weather. I haven't had those issues but can understand being frustrated if you had problems. Especially when it's problems with both of your units.

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pods8 (Rugged Stitching)

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Define no issues! I don't have anything going wrong, they just don't range over 700 yards. On Hunt WA these guys are talking consistent 2200 yards to 2600 yards. I don't see anything remotely like that? If I had just one unit I'd think maybe it was a bad one but having two of them I just have no confidence in them. I wonder if there are others out there experiencing this too! Use what you'd like but I'm done with Sigs!

ElkNut/Paul

Weird, I have an early kilo 2000 when they first came out and no issues. I hit trees at 1600 no problem and have ranged antelope at 700-800, can't recall trying to range an animal further out than that off hand. I replaced a nikon 1000 when I got this which struggled getting a range on anything past 700 which was unacceptable to me. I personally am not concerned if I can't get a range on an animal at 1600 but I do want to be able to range a rock/tree out that far for planning purposes.
 

J8tnub

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Feb 10, 2018
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Weird, I have an early kilo 2000 when they first came out and no issues. I hit trees at 1600 no problem and have ranged antelope at 700-800, can't recall trying to range an animal further out than that off hand. I replaced a nikon 1000 when I got this which struggled getting a range on anything past 700 which was unacceptable to me. I personally am not concerned if I can't get a range on an animal at 1600 but I do want to be able to range a rock/tree out that far for planning purposes.
rocks are not a good target to judge a rangefinders performance on.
 

Mt Al

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Dec 16, 2017
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I have a Leica 1200, had it for years, zero problems, light, ranges farther than 1200 now and again.

However, tried my friend's new SIG and it's awesome. That's what I'd buy if mine takes a deep six, which I doubt will happen. Ranged WAY out many times. Deer at 1500 several times. Tough to really hold right on the deer at that range of course.

However #2: I may opt for the Nikon 10x42 laserforce next time, even with the cheeseball name. One less thing on my neck and I always have binos out anyway. Looks like about $1000-ish. Just a thought.
 

ElkNut1

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Feb 25, 2012
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pods8, I agree there are certain objects that are not good ranging monitors. I tried ranging everything possible not just an animal. I tried mountain sides, houses, groups of trees & most under 1000 yards trying to get it to range over 700 but to no avail. -- I want one like MT AL's buddy has! (grin) We even have the Sig 2400 battery in it, it's supposed to be much better than the Sig 2000 & 2200 according to the Sig Rep! I do know some of those Sig's work great but there are definite issues with others as is ours! Thanks!

ElkNut/Paul
 

dotman

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Feb 24, 2012
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I purchased two Sig 2200 because of the hype here, neither ranged over 700 yards no matter what I tried, their rep said send one back, I did. It was returned with the better battery that's in the 2400 & still is a 700 yard unit. I was replacing a Vortex 1500 because I felt the sig would double or triple it from claims I've seen here, not the case! I went back to the Vortex, at least it's a solid 1000 yard unit.

ElkNut/Paul

I think your the first I’ve heard have this problem.
 

J8tnub

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Feb 10, 2018
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pods8, I agree there are certain objects that are not good ranging monitors. I tried ranging everything possible not just an animal. I tried mountain sides, houses, groups of trees & most under 1000 yards trying to get it to range over 700 but to no avail. -- I want one like MT AL's buddy has! (grin) We even have the Sig 2400 battery in it, it's supposed to be much better than the Sig 2000 & 2200 according to the Sig Rep! I do know some of those Sig's work great but there are definite issues with others as is ours! Thanks!

ElkNut/Paul

The 2400 comes with Duracell batteries. It’s a standard CR2 battery. There will be no affect on the rangefinders performance. It could be the things you are ranging. Windows on a house are not going to usually return a range, mountainsides are like rocks. The foliage of trees is going to return a range more than the trunks of the tree. If you don’t hold the range button down it will be hard to get long distance ranges.
 
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ElkNut1

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J8tnub, thanks! Yes I am ranging lots of things, I'm familiar with scan mode by holding down button. I've owned many rangefinders over the years & an fairly proficient with them. In many of the situations I had two different brands side by side, the Sig was the one that would not range over 700 yards. I've had these close to a year now & still they do not compare to what others are experiencing!

Yes the batteries are different in the 2400 models over the 2000 & 2200. The Sig Rep told me this himself & did send me an extra one when he sent one of the units back to me along with a 2nd battery, they are definitely different! He said the 2400 battery is twice the battery!

Dotman, actually there are quite a few other guys that have experienced the ranging issue that we have. Outside of that it's a great looking unit! Thanks guys!

ElkNut/Paul
 
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Apr 1, 2013
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J8tnub, thanks! Yes I am ranging lots of things, I'm familiar with scan mode by holding down button. I've owned many rangefinders over the years & an fairly proficient with them. In many of the situations I had two different brands side by side, the Sig was the one that would not range over 700 yards. I've had these close to a year now & still they do not compare to what others are experiencing!

Yes the batteries are different in the 2400 models over the 2000 & 2200. The Sig Rep told me this himself & did send me an extra one when he sent one of the units back to me along with a 2nd battery, they are definitely different! He said the 2400 battery is twice the battery!

Dotman, actually there are quite a few other guys that have experienced the ranging issue that we have. Outside of that it's a great looking unit! Thanks guys!

ElkNut/Paul

That’s weird, I was ranging Aoudad with mine at over 800, and rock faces at 1500-2200, not to long ago. Weird

Love mine, most my buddies now use sig also and thier experience is same as mine.
 

pods8 (Rugged Stitching)

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rocks are not a good target to judge a rangefinders performance on.

They're fine to judge for that item. If your point is animals aren't going to reflect at the same distance you can range a rock or tree or such no argument there, thus I listed what I was ranging and how far. I might not be able to range an elk at 1600 very easily but I can range a tree near the elk to get me the ballpark I needed to know for planning my stalk in to close the distance (since I'm not trying shoot an elk at 1600 otherwise I'd have a different range finder ;) ). What I didn't like was 1000yd units quitting at 600-700yd on even terrain features (rather than a reflective target they are rated against) that I felt was a handicap. I haven't felt that handicap with the sig 2000.
 
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