This Leupold is our most affordable recommendation. We’ve recently started recommending this instead of the Nikon Aculon, because the Leupold packs some extra range and noticeably better accuracy, for barely any more money! It’s all you need if you don’t hunt past 650 yards, and it makes a good starter rangefinder (like SUAOKI RANGEFINDER )for new hunters.
Pros:
It gives you lots of bang for your buck. Compared to others at the same price point, the Leupold provides greater magnification power and a wider usable range. It’s equipped with 6x magnification, and it’s good out to 650 yards for reflective ranging (deer are rated for about 500 yards, but we’ve found that this one can easily be used for taking deer at 600).
While it can’t compete with the more expensive Leupold or Sig Sauer below, this one’s pretty close to spot-on within its range. It can occasionally be fiddly to get locked-down, but once you’ve sighted your target, it’s very accurate. It’s more precise than comparable Nikon offerings, as well as cheaper options from other brands.
The glass is excellent. That’s one key feature that lets down a lot of other budget rangefinders. In this case, Leupold’s glass is actually great. It’s fully multicoated, and has impressive clarity and light transmission for the price.
The glass is paired with a high-contrast LCD display. In our experience, it’s perfectly legible in a range of conditions. It’s not as sophisticated as our more expensive picks, but it covers all the basics quite well.
Unlike the majority of budget rangefinders, it’s actually enjoyable to work with! The fast-focus eyepiece is user-friendly, and easy to work with in the field. The Leupold offers more eye relief than others at this price, too.
It’s a little tank, even though it weighs less than half a pound. The Leupold is completely fog-proofed and waterproofed. It’s covered with a rubberized grip material for shock absorption and traction. In terms of ruggedness, it’s much better than any of the competition in its class.
The Leupold uses a standard CR-2 lithium ion battery, which is a common type used in cameras. We like that because it makes things easy to replace. Plus, using a standard cell is much less expensive than proprietary power cells like most brands require you to use.
It’s a solid investment. The Leupold comes with lifetime warranty coverage on the optics, and two years of coverage for the electronic components.
It comes with a lanyard and case.
Cons:
Obviously, this one’s limited to anything under 650 yards. It’s not good for anything long-range, and you should expect to use it beyond its rated range. If you regularly hunt further out, get one of our more powerful picks.
While very good, this Leupold is imperfect. It’s usually dead-on once you get something in sight, but it doesn’t lock onto targets (especially smaller ones) as easily as the 1200i or Sig Sauer below.
Unlike Leupold scopes, it’s not made entirely in the USA. It’s about half-and-half between American-made components and imported ones.
