Revisiting a mounted rangefinder

204 AR

204 AR

Well-known member
Around the first of the year my buddy got one of the laserworks rangefinders delivered. He had pretty limited success with it, but he had it mounted under the float tube so it was awkward to view.

I asked to mess around with it and ended up acquiring it for pretty cheap, and mounted it on the left side of the receiver where it belongs and can be viewed easily without moving the head. This thing has some slop in the mount, which I corrected. It's no Radius, but last night I was able to range deer past 400. The biggest issue is that if there is anything close up, if it's in line with the intended target, it will not range past the close object. Even if the view is not obstructed, it won't range the distant object. It must throw a pretty wide beam.

I was curious how well any of the lrf's actually work. I read alot about pretty expensive lrf scopes not working at all. My feeling on this one is that if the critter is in the open you have a pretty good chance of getting an accurate reading out to 400, maybe 500 tops.
 
I have used the laserworks and a few others. I haven't used one for a few years and maybe they have gotten better. About 300 is about the max range on a coyote, but other items like a hillside, rockpile, trees, etc you can get further readings. For a large object like a building or trees sometimes up to 700+.

On the models with LRF, not sure but hope to test some over the summer/fall.
 
The LRF in my Pulsar Trail 2 xq50 works reliably, but the max range on a coyote is about 350yds. Its a little disappointing it won't range farther, but it does serve it's purpose.

I ended up mounting a radius on the LH side of my stock. It has been nearly flawless on animals out to 1k yds and will range buildings well past 2kyds. The 3 readings can be confusing at first, but it's handy once you get used to them.

My friend and I both bought N-Vision XRF's at the same time. His has worked really well and he routinely ranges coyotes past 800yds. There were a couple of times that his reading was 50 yds short compared to the radius and double checking showed the radius was right so I wonder if the XRF doesn't sometimes pickup something in front of the animal.

My XRF was one of one of the scopes you probably read about that had problems. It wouldn't work at all. It sounds like they finally got the issue fixed, but after dropping that kind of money on a scope that didn't work right out of the box and then having it returned to me still not working after they had it for nearly 3 weeks in the middle of prime hunting time and then having to fight for my money back, I don't plan on ever spending another dime with them to find out.
 
I'm not very familiar with the Radius, but it seems like they work very well. Just a bit ahead of their time, and I can't believe someone hasn't picked up the ball and ran with it. I had a chance to buy one for 950 the other day, but that's just a bit much for my taste.
 
I have no idea why that double posted.
$950 seems steep for a used LRF, but it seems like it's a $1k option to step up to the models that have it integrated and the Radius works better, it's just not as convenient. It seems like a decent value to me.
 
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Yeah it is a pile of money but like you said it works.

I'm hoping my $80 one will do what I need it to do. The integrated visible laser is a nice bonus for marking fallen critters.
 
204 AR, I read up on this and watched a few videos but not sure how to match it up to your scope. If it's mounted on the side rail can you use the visible laser, say at 100 yards to read the distance of what your aiming at. The sights on it wouldn't do any good in the dark with thermal. I see it's visible with IR.
 
Really like my Trail lrf. It seems to work as good as anything will. Radius is great too but can loose zero when stuffed in a gun case. The spring loaded mount is what gives.
 
204 thank you for the report. I may try one if I continue down the lrf rabbit hole.

Sure wish I still had a radius after the NVision and iRay rangefinders failed to function. Ksracer I believe the reason the radius still demands such a high price is because they actually work! (To be fair the Pulsar lrf I had worked good enough for me but it had other issues)
 
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P&Y, a product that works seems like such a simple concept.

My Pulsar LRF worked well within it's capabilities, the max range was just a little limited for me.
 
Originally Posted By: KsracerP&Y, a product that works seems like such a simple concept.

It sure does. I can't imagine putting my name on something that doesn't work. I'm not talking the occasional issue that may pop up in the real world. I'm talking pumping out hundreds/thousands of products that just don't work. I believe most these companies simply have the customer do their field testing. Unethical but very profitable I'm sure.
 
Originally Posted By: Dark moon 63204 AR, I read up on this and watched a few videos but not sure how to match it up to your scope. If it's mounted on the side rail can you use the visible laser, say at 100 yards to read the distance of what your aiming at. The sights on it wouldn't do any good in the dark with thermal. I see it's visible with IR.

Sorry, just saw this.

The mount is adjustable, so you have to calibrate it to point at the same thing you're aiming at. The sights and the visible laser are just to help you get it calibrated.
 
Originally Posted By: 204 ARThe mount is adjustable, so you have to calibrate it to point at the same thing you're aiming at. The sights and the visible laser are just to help you get it calibrated. How this is done depends on the LaserWorks model. The one on Amazon (which I own) shows a picture of open sights to calibrate/zero the range readings. I use Night Vision to calibrate mine as you can see the IR laser pulses and adjust the mount to match the spot your scope is pointed to. Using the open sights is not very accurate or precise.

I have heard of a model that uses a visible laser to help calibrate/zero the range finder. When you look at sites such as https://www.opticsgears.com/product/laserworks-le032/, they show an image with one with a visible laser and one with open sights for the same product. A visible laser would be nice because this could be potentially used for marking downed coyotes also as well as make zeroing your rangefinder easier. Based on what 204 is saying, he got the model with a visible laser. Even with the visible laser, it may not be exact. NV has to be the most precise option as you see the exact spot which is being pinged, but not everyone has NV sitting around to do this.
 
Yes, mine does have the laser. It's not a particularly powerful one though.

So to fine tune the adjustment, I spend a fair amount of time testing it out on objects at various distances. For instance, power line poles make wonderful targets to adjust it for windage. The range function has a scan mode, for a certain length of time, maybe a minute or so. Simply view the pole through the scope and view the rangefinder display with the other eye and go back and forth across the pole, testing the edges and where you get the reading for the pole and when it goes out to the background behind it. Easier to do than explain.

Vertical is tougher because there aren't many horizontal targets with empty space above and below them out there to view. If you're a couple hundred yards from a center pivot irrigation system the water pipes would be ideal.

Keep in mind also that the lrf sits a couple inches to the side of the scope, so at some point the lines of sight cross paths, so the further out you calibrate and test it the better.

I've found I can get deer to 400 easily and a bit further, and get tree lines to 700+. My buddy did tell me that the display is too bright and can shine you as he had a coyote look his way the moment he turned it on once. So I'm going to be looking into tinting it somehow as it has no brightness adjustment. All in all, after having it on for a few weeks I think it will do what I'm looking for. Taking the slop out of the mounting system is paramount if you want it to be consistently accurate though.
 


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