I'm taking a scoped rifle course this fall.  This will be my first ever course and I hope to learn exactly what it is that I don't know.  I've only shot out to 200 yards before and have always wanted to shoot out to 600+.  This course will go out to 800 yards so I'm excited.

The course recommends having a rangefinder and a wind meter.  I thought about picking up a Leupold 1400i rangefinder and a basic Kestrel 2700.  Both are about $200 each.  Then I got to reading more and started to convince myself I needed both a better rangefinder and a better Kestrel.  I found a Sig Kilo 3k rangefinder for around $280 and can get a Kestrel 5700 Elite for around $590.

Is this a case of buy once / cry once (specifically for the Kestrel)?  Or can I get by on the cheaper items?

I like that the Sig and Kestrel 5700 can pair together but don't know if I really need that.  I actually don't know what I would need and that is one of the reasons I'm taking this course.  I honestly don't know how often I would use these since my local range only goes out to 200 yards, which is why I'm leaning toward the less expensive option.

I do hunt so I could use both of these for that, too.

It all depends on what type of long range shooting you intend to do. I shoot PRS and can’t tell you the last time I used my rangefinder (Vortex Razor HD 4000). My Kestrel (5700 Elite) gets used every stage. If you’re going to be shooting at unknown distances a lot such as hunting, spending more on the rangefinder versus Kestrel makes more sense.

Thanks for the reply!  Hunting will be unknown distances but 90% of the time in PA it is less than 100 yards.

I would love to get into PRS but don't know of any place near me that does that.  It probably won't be a few years until I could even try since I have a small kid at home.

I'm not really sure what my goal is other than to take this course and do well while learning as much as I can.  I'd love to find a range to shoot long (600-1000 yards) distances.  I want to invest in equipment now that will help me with that.  I don't want to get something I'll probably replace in a year or two.  I also don't want to buy more expensive equipment than I'll ever need.

I guess at this point I just want validation for spending twice what I wanted to originally spend, lol.

Thanks for the article!

I was going to buy the cheaper rangefinder and the cheaper Kestrel and then manually entering all that information in a ballistic calculator app on my phone.  Then as I was doing more research I found that certain rangefinders can link with the Kestrel and give you ballistic solutions right on the device.  I somehow convinced myself that I needed this feature.  The rangefinder that can do this is only $80 more than what I originally budgeted.  The Kestrel, however, is almost $400 more.

Along the lines of what you said, I think spending more on the Kestrel makes the most sense.  If I were to get the cheaper ones and find that I really get into the sport, then I would upgrade the Kestrel later anyways.  The rangefinder will work well for a while, too.  Jumping up to a nice rangefinder (or binos with ranging) would easily put me over $1000.  I can't justify that much right now on something I don't know how often I'll be able to do.

But yes, you are correct, I think I already had my answer and was just looking for anything I might not have thought about.

The 5700 is money well spent. I do not think you will miss not having connectivity with a range finder based on your description of needs. The 5700 with applied ballistics is a game changer.

Great!  I already got the shipping notification for both.  Can't wait to try them out.  My next range trip is going to be more about learning my tools than shooting.  I have a chronograph, rangefinder and the Kestrel coming.  I happy to finally get accurate data for my guns!

Kestrel does free online classes that are pretty helpful for learning all the features of your unit.
Kestrel classes

My opinion, they are both important... too easy to get distances wrong which can wildly change the correct dope between a hit and miss...I use the old Sig Kilo 2400 which has a good RF that can reach 1400 yards on animals in most conditions, and can hit off trees out past 1800 yards as well as good reflective targets out to 3000 yards..It also has a full weather on board except wind which works off your phone(or you can enter your own)...It also has the full AB ballistic program and combines all into 1 fast/accurate/easy package..Hard to beat, but when you are reaching the limits of you caliber it is easy for a slight miss in true distance to show up as a miss...Which ever you get, I would verify how it compares against your rifle when reaching your calibers limit..it may matter someday...

Which rangefinder did you order?  I too am looking for a setup that can communicate- seems like its a nice feature to have, but like you I'm not wanting to spend boat loads of money.

Any more details on what you got and how it works?

I did end up buying the Sig Kilo 3k rangefinder and the Kestrel 5700 Elite.  I bought both from Optics Planet during a sale a week or so ago.  I haven't paired the rangefinder to the Kestrel yet, but I did pair it with the Sig BDX app.  I was able to enter in my rifle/load in the app and upload it to the rangefinder.  Both are sitting on my desk so maybe later today I'll get them paired.  Doesn't sound like it will be too hard.

One thing I noticed, when ranging distant objects it is hard to hold the rangefinder steady.  I guess I should cut back on caffeine.



ETA:  Well, I went ahead and got it connected.  At first I couldn't get it working.  After some searching, I found a FAQ that said to go into the Sig BDX app on my phone and put the rangefinder into BDX-X mode.  I couldn't do that through the menus on the rangefinder itself.  Once I did that I was able to pair it.  Now I get a firing solution both on the rangefinder itself and on the Kestrel when I range something.  Pairing a Kestrel is required to get a firing solution on something past 800 yards.  I hope to get to the range in a few weeks so I'll give it a try in a real-world situation then.

LOL, yeah, to range anything very far away accurately, you are gonna want a tripod for it..I made a mount to mount my RF right next to my spotting scope and have it adjusted to where I look with the spotting scope the RF  ends up aimed at as well...Best to sight them in at as long a distance you plan to shoot..works great once you get used to it...Again, it's why I setup everything on Swiss-arca.....Simple cheap stuff from amazon or eBay all on Swiss-arca....

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I saw your setup in another thread.  That's awesome!  I'm not sure what my needs are going to be so I'm not going to invest in anything until I take my class this fall.  My rangefinder doesn't have a mount on the bottom so I'm not sure how I would put it on a tripod.


ETA:  I see you have a Sig mount for your rangefinder.  I'll have to see if it will work for mine.

Tagging for interest.

I just picked up a Kestrel 5700 Elite and looking forward to using it. My range goes to a little over 1100 yards regularly and 1200+ during competitions.

A rangefinder is less important to me currently because I have my old hunting one that will do the job 80% of the time and several friends have newer and better ones I can use for now.

In the future, I do like the Sig options and how they can pair with the Kestral.

I would also invest in a cheap roll of orange survey ribbon. While you are using the range finder place the a three foot piece of ribbon every 100 yards between you and your target. Then make notes on how the wind affects the tree leaves and the mirage at each distance compared to the ribbon and your wind speed displayed on the Kestrel. You will learn that wind does different things down range. Your log book is your friend. Good luck on your course.

This very good advice… Sometimes there might be some vegetation that is more reflective than the target and it will give you a different reading. That’s why it’s also important to learn your reticle and double check your solution. But we’re getting ahead of your class course.

I need my like button.