20 Best Cheap Archery Rangefinder (2022 Updated)

Purchased Muddy 1300 rangefinder 1OCT2020. The rangefinder broke the second time I took it hunting 15OCT2020. I contacted GSM Outdoors and the first guy said there would be no problem replacing it. After two weeks of waiting, I contacted them again.

That rep said the rangefinder was back ordered until March 2021 and we began the refund process. It took about a week to get the return label and I shipped the rangefinder back on 7NOV2020. Today is 8DEC2020 and I still haven’t heard anything back or received my refund.

I tried calling, after being on hold for an hour their automated system hung up on me. When the rangefinder worked it was good and it was reasonably priced. However, I wouldn’t buy anything from them because their customer support is nonexistent.

First Laser Rangefinder purchase. Have tried it out on several different objects and distances and found no problems or confusing displays. The instructions brochure appears accurate for the model. Its operation is pretty simple.

It is a touch bigger than other Rangefinders I have looked at, but not too big. Have not noticed a problem of it eating up battery strength. It comes with a wrist type lanyard. I will probably switch it to a neck lanyard when using it for archery deer hunting.

It functions just fine so far at the typical distances I view game at from my stands. It was reasonably priced on sale. It comes with a soft sided carrying case as well.

First thing I noticed is that it’s BIG. I was skeptical at first before I ordered it because of some of the reviews of the other models from this same company. I went ahead and bought it on the strength of the good reviews.

After all, this was not for hunting but was for my range bag. When compared next to my Nikon 2000,I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was and how close they read to each other. The numbers are a bit small for these tired old eyes, unlike the illuminated red display in the Nikon.

Still, it worked well, and I don’t have to use my hunting range finder for target shooting. Getchu one! I think it would work fine for hunting too, just note that it is rather large.

Rangefinder works ok, digital display gets pretty weak during cold hunts. Lenses aren’t too clear. I’ve seen much better rangefinders priced much lower than this one. Also found this same range finder priced at almost half TSC’s price if you look around at all.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Worth the money. So far have used it out to 1000yds pics up well, but branches thin or not obscur distance readings as expected.

This rangefinder is a very nicely made and easy-to-use. Its definitely worth the money.

Fairly good unit. Does however not work well in low light. Great in full daylight. Accurate in distance measurements.

I like it alot perfect size comes with a carrying case the yardest is right on target and correct I recommend this range finder

Haven’t used it yet except for short distances but everything seems to be working.

I used it one time. the brass conductor ring inside the battery compartment came loose from the plastic body frame and the wire conductor soldered to the brass conductor ring broke lose from the conductor ring and the unit lost power and quit working while on a moose hunt in Newfoundland October 10-17/2019.

I was able to make the rangefinder work in the field by stripping the plastic insulation from the wire placing the brass conductor ring back inside the battery compartment laying the bare wire across the top of the battery putting the battery cover back on securing the wire to the top of the battery and using electrical tape to hold the battery cover in place.

This allowed the unit to power on. Spend a few dollars more and by Nikon.

So far it’s been great. Haven’t really had a chance to field test it yet but it is easy to operate and rapidly acquires distance. Comes with battery and seems like durable design. Clarity is pretty good too.

Didn’t give it a perfect 5/5 because the fit (eye relief) and the cross hairs could be more refined. Overall a great product and definitely worth the money for the average hunt. I can foresee situations where this would be difficult to use since the crosshairs are black.

Maybe better if they were a brighter color like red (I’m told expensive models offer this). Even though I haven’t really had a chance to field test this over time or in extreme conditions, I’d venture to say that I’d probably buy it again.

This unit has worked just as well as the Nicon that I had lost. Less than 1/2 the price. I have dropped it twice. Once on my deck and once on frozen ground. So far it has held up to the abuse I bought the longer range model for my son last year.

He swears by it. He teased me when I dropped it in the deer timber, accusing me of looking for an excuse to upgrade. Thanks TecTecTec.

This is a high quality precision instrument: I was looking for a rangefinder that could easily accommodate golf or hunting & this has all the features I required for both: high magnification, quality optics, a number of different targeting options, elevation adjustment (that can be turned off if required), ease of use (the manual is down-loadable from the Bushnell website).

I would have liked an illuminated reticle but there are limited rangefinders with this feature at this price. It was inexpensive & delivered quickly.

Easy to use, accurate, great sight picture

I bought this from BPS about 3 weeks age for hunting and 3D archery. I was so disappointed with this range finder I returned it last night. I shoot in a Wednesday evening 3D league plus go to 3D shoots a couple times a month on the weekends.

I’d been struggling with the accuracy of this unit since I got it. I usually get 1-3 yards per target more than the other guys I shoot with. It will range white objects fine but dark targets are another story.

(I told the clerk I returned it to, there are not a lot of white deer running around and they are illegal to shoot anyway. ) Last night on a coyote target I would get 42 yards on the brown body, but 40 yards on its white legs.

My buddies were getting 40 on the body. Even worse on a black bear target, I got 39 yards while the other guys got 34. 5 yards. Now a 4. 5 yard difference at that distance would mean a 4-5″ miss with a perfect shot.

Not acceptable!!!!.

The description does not tell you what you really need to know. In rifle mode you have to choose your caliber, bullet weight and velocity before it will generate the ARC range. It only lists common factory loads that are sighted in @ 100 yards.

It does not include the 6. 5 Creedmore. I sight my rifles at 2 1/2 high at 100 yards then I use the ARC to give me correct yardage. I do not want Bushnell telling me my bullet drop from a dead-on @ 100 yards.

Download the instruction manual prior to purchasing the odd rangefinder I definitely wish I would have. However if you are using for bow hunting, it might work ok, but then why would you need 1300 yards? The first antelope the unit would not range.

I grabbed my Wildgame 1000 and it ranged it @ 292 yards immediately.

Purchased in Sep of 2020. Sat in my bow case for all of but 5 uses. Go to pull it out, will not read yardage. Everything woks except the yardage reading. Call customer service and they ONLY WARRANTY FOR 1 YEAR.

RIDICULOUS that you pay $200 at Cabelas for a rangefinder, you think it would have a good warranty but nope. They’re glad to send you a “25% off” voucher to purchase another one that will most likely fail within a few months after warranty expires(a one year warranty?!? For hunters? You guarantee ONE season??) SAVE THE MONEY, BUY ELSEWHERE.

Worked good for about 1.5 months of hunting and then it started eating batteries. Finally it just didn’t work. I had bought it a little over a year before but barely used. No warranty after a year.

Great price, works well but eats batteries like crazy I received this a month and a half ago it came with a battery that was dead, bought a new one. Now the day before deer season I tried it out again as it was a gift to my dad.

Guess what, battery was dead again after just replacing it a few weeks earlier. So if you wanna buy CR2 batteries every other week, it’s awesome but for a bit more you can buy that will last with the same battery for a full year.

If you are looking for a cheap rangefinder for hunting this is it. Its max range is 450 yards or so, but honestly if you go past 200 yards the rangefinder will kinda lag while your hand shakes trying to get a good scan on the target, so its better for hunting purposes rather than golf.

If you are going to use it for golf, just use it for approach shots. That being said, it has a scan function that takes forever to hold down the button to activate, that works well enough. The readings are in +-1 yard increments.

My Nikon coolshot 80vr has. 5 yard increments, so I noticed that the Halo was off by a yard most of the time. If you are finding your Archery gap and doing some short range shots, this may effect the size of your gap.

This device has a slope function that is really helpful and nice. The eye relief is poor, so if you wear glasses, you have to take your glasses off, or really jam the eye piece into your lens to get a clear picture.

The 6x magnification would be better with a better eye relief. Also the display is really faint and hard to see in low light situations compared to bushnell, Nikon, leupold etc. The weight is something like 3oz so that is definitely a plus.

the physical shape of the device, although fits nicely in the hands, is awkward to find a generic neoprene cover or strap to protect it, since this product does NOT come with a case. Buy if you want cheap, but effective and light rangefinder, this is the one.

At bowhunting ranges, this rangefinder is dead-on accurate. Tested using ranges that had been measured with a tape measure spot-on out to 40 yards (I shoot out to 40 yards while practicing, but will only shoot out to 30 yards when hunting) The “AI” (angle Intelligence or logic) feature is really nice too – will compensating for being up in a treestand when hunting.

Importand because an arrow drops a specific amount over a specific horizontal distance. This takes the extra yardage created by line of sight at an inclined angle out, allowing you to sight in correctly.

I had read other reviews that this is not for ranging in low light, as the measurements aren’t visible. This is true, but I purchased knowing this is a limitation. That is a trade-off I was willing to make for an accurate unit at this budget-friendly price.

Other notes, this unit is lightweight, compact and appears to be ruggedly built. CR2 Lithium batteries aren’t too expensive, and tend to last much longer than alkaline batteries, so battery cost should be a wash.

All in all, a great product at a great price = value!.

This is the second Halo product I have purchased. I obviously like the product as I now own two. These things are very reliable and are as accurate as it gets. This one has a few more features than my first one.

The extra features were a must for my little lady. She will benefit from the angle information while bow hunting. They are middle of the road as far as expense, but by no means are they less than perfect as far as function.

If you are looking for a range finder this is the one you need. I have had my other one for 3 years now and have taken game because of the accuracy of the tool. They are good in all weather conditions.

I even had a leak in my water bottle and pretty much drowned it. I took it out of the puddle, shook it off, cleaned the lenses and it worked just fine. I would recommend removing the battery if you aren’t going to be using it during the off season only because you should remove batteries from anything for storage, this is just a general statement, but will definitely make any battery operated product last longer.

You can’t ask for a better product.

I needed a new range finder and spent hours checking the reviews on several brands that I had on my short list. Quality, dependability,warranty and a lighted display had to be there. I didnt need to range long distance.

500 yards would be a max. Mostly tree stand hunts. Bow and rifle out to 300. Unpacked it,took it out side and it ranged fast. Did some stuff out to 75 yards and then to the end of my street at 850 yards.

The Vortex Ranger 1000 was easy to use and felt rugged in my hand with the rubberized coating. Crystal clear optics and the red LED was easy to read. The lifetime warranty was a plus also. Im sure it will work well for me out in the field.

This is a excellent product. You can get range with it quickly. I have been shopping for a range finder for a little while. I checked 10-12 different range finders in gander mountain all side by side comparisons.

There were 3 things that sold me on this rangefinder. #1 The Vortex VIP warranty for life. They stand behind ALL of their products and I own several other Vortex optics in my arsenal and Have not had to use the warranty yet but its great to know its there.

#2 The clarity of the glass. As with all my other Vortex products the clarity of the glass is not what you would expect from a product in this price range. It exceeds what you would expect from this price point.

#3 and the biggest reason why I chose the Ranger 1000. The red display! It is easy to read in low light conditions where a standard Black LCD display would not be legible. Buy this product with confidence.

You will not be disappointed.

Ive used range finders for years. Low light conditions become a problem trying to read the typical LCD display. There are only a few companies with a rangefinder that has LED display, and they are usually quite expensive.

($400) Vortex with a lifetime warranty has one. Its great in low light and bright light conditions and seems very accurate. A typical purchase here, makes it affordable! I am glad I bought it. Simple to use.

Adjusts reading for uphill or downhill shots. Instead of buying a less expensive rangefinder and being dissatisfied and then having to buy a better one, spend your money once and be happy, buy this!.

The speed of target designation is outstanding. The military would tell you they don’t have much better. Battery life and rangefinding both excellent. Lasers = light and that means you can’t get any faster.

Or accurate for that matter since it’s only possible to be off within a foot. That would only occur at max ranges with fog/weather obscurity. This one’s the updated version of an already known and loved product.

Unit performs to specification. Basic features function to specification. This is a base model, so understand what is purchased; use in daylight conditions, back light a low light optics not present.

Ordered online, ship to my address. Ordered over a week early to make sure item arrived in time for archery season. Dicks selected carrier took so long, original delivery date got postponed and delayed.

Several days after, package arrived and the unit did not work. Not my first range finder, I know how to operate these unit. End up driving 25 minutes to the closest Dicks for a refund. Very LAME that the company got rid of all in store hunting section.

Was too late to purchase new range finder and opening day is the following day.

Really good product and very accurate. Easy to use! The field mode is “interesting” I had it on this setting whilst zeroing. It saw through the slits in the pallet to which the target was attached, and measured to the backstop behind.

Switch this mode off, accurate (and I measured it!) to the target. Brilliant!!.

This is a decent little LRF for the money. It’s basic but works very well and is accurate. You will need to spend more for top features but if all you want is basic range finding you can’t go wrong. Even at the RRP it’s good, but at under £110 it was a bargain!.

Not accurate, too much variation, did not pick up target at longer distances. The case it came with was to tight a fit so not useful. it was small easy to use but if it’s not accurate it’s not good.

This is not illuminated with little chance you’ll be able to see the screen display adequately in low light. If you want an illuminated rangefinder, look for one that has a red OLED or similar illuminating feature.

I’ve seen a review stating that this works through glass – it does not. This is a very basic rangefinder that has two settings – one for archery, which includes angular detection to calculate the true horizontal distance needed for estimating drop.

The other is the firearm setting – assuming you are using a high power rifle and not needing to calculate drop. This is a very inexpensive rangefinder, and probably ok for daylight use; however, I don’t recommend it for low light conditions (dawn and dusk).

Great product. Works as advertised. Only con for me is the yardage display is very small. Awesome for the money.

I just purchased this weeks ago and I dont know why I went all these years without it. Its so accurate. I use it in the woods and range things around me like trees stumps so when that deer appears I know the distance.

Most rangefinders have options that will never be used. Simple, durable, and accurate. I have never taken a shot with any weapon; incorporating ethical morals, past 300 yards. Why would you have additional options.

Everything you need and nothing to pay for that will never be used.

Bought this mid bow season. Love it’s compact design, its easy to use and seems to work well. Only complaint is the battery holder, the cap is kind of a pain to make sure it is tight. Had the battery fall out on me once.

I was in the yard, up a tree and at the range today with my BC850. Beautiful picture. Easy controls. In the South this unit has more capability h hen I actually require. I love the price.

This is my first experience with a laser rangefinder. So, I’m not a skilled judge of how it functions. But the rangefinder seems to work exactly as described. At this point, it’s providing more information than I know how to recognize and use effectively.

But with repeated practice, I’m getting accustomed to how to read the rangefinder display and app interface. Yes, there’s an Sig BDX app for your phone device. I downloaded mine from Apple’s App Store.

Download and installation was easy. The app/phone system links to the rangefinder by Bluetooth. There’s no hesitancy in making the link. All you need to do is have your phone turned on and with you; then, when you press the button on the rangefinder to activate it, there’s a linkup generated between phone and rangefinder.

The app can process a lot of information, it seems. As I understand it, you can enter in windspeed and temperature — looks like manual input, unless there’s a way to link it with a weather app (maybe; I haven’t looked into it that far).

But range and incline / decline is transmitted by the rangefinder. Also, you can input custom information about the type of round you’re using — caliber, weight, speed, ballistic coefficient. Or you can use one of the numerous bullet profiles already programmed into the app.

None of the rounds I use was in the database, to my surprise, because most of what I use is common. 223 or 5. 56 NATO. Then again, there are so many kinds of rounds, it would take up a lot of memory to track them all.

Custom input was easy. Finding the BC for some of my rounds was not, but I eventually got them all. The upshot is, for any given rangefinder sighting, the app appears to calculate things like bullet speed at a given range and other key information pertinent to aiming precisely.

I’m still figuring out how to read all this. But I’m as inexperienced in the arts of shooting as I am with using this rangefinder. I suspect that for a seasoned marksman or markswoman, the information provided by the app will be really useful in making a good shot with no wasted time or ammo.

As far as I can tell, this Sig rangefinder is a dandy, well made product that offers good value for the money. I’d buy it again if this one got lost or broken beyond repair.

This was my 1st rangefinder. bought it because the bdx sounded like an interesting feature. And it is really great. but it’s only as accurate as the data you enter. If your not running your loads/shots through a chronograph and only using factory box velocities you may have misses at longer ranges.

The app works pretty flawlessly together with the rangefinder. Can enter many different data options for multiple rifles. I have at least 3-4 for each of my 3 commonly used calibers. I’ve recently switched to the strelok app for ballistic data but this works great in the field for hunting at longer ranges when you may not have time to enter data into a ballistic app.

Just make sure you switch the rangefinder to the applicable load before you lose wifi or cell service.

The Kilo 1K is a good product. Clear, high quality optics, good for short to mid range estimations as advertised. It’s a bit light and plasticky but functionally has a quality feel. Does angles for bowhunters.

Controls are simple, display is clear in daylight. However, I’m finding it hard to rangefind stationary objects in the nearby field (trees, sheds, even cars). Tried different settings but haven’t figured it out yet.

Objects with high reflectivity (limestone walls) seem to be no problem. Maybe I’m doing it wrong, but for me there’s been a bit more than zero learning curve to figure out how to get the most out of it.

Other than not being idiot-proof, it’s a solid buy, and a great value for the quality you get.

When I need to sight my scopes this has become a great tool. My boresight requires that I first sight the scope at 25ft and then at 50 yards when at the range. I never had a range finder so always had to guess.

Well I didnt want to do that anymore so on our last range trip, I rented a private section of the range so I can do this with ease. It locked in perfectly and I was able to set targets at specified yards.

What I didnt know was the private section of the range already had indicators so I was able to verify its accuracy. It was spot on so for the price. cant complain.

I had the previous model and while it was a good deal it had issues. This one takes care of those issue: consistency and ability to turn the slope on and off and still get lock on target. I have had a lot of rangefinders over the years and for the price this is by far the best value.

There are two small things that I would change: the wrist band is hard to attach to the rangefinder on but it is not important as you only will do this once the focus is a bit too easy to turn so every time I take it out of my pocket it needs to be adjusted again.

I suggest, but have never seen on any rangefinder, a locking or bit tighter adjustment. These are both minor and should not deter as they do not affect the overall performance which I would put up against any other rangefinder.