Sturdy, accurate, and easy to use - Bushnell Prime 1300 6x24 Laser Rangefinder

If you're shooting rifles at short ranges, like under 100 yards, you don't need this, since you're shooting at your zero level. Bullet drop for the next hundred yards is just a few inches and you can easily eyeball it. If you're shooting at 1000 yards, you are a precision shooter, and you're going to be using much more expensive equipment all around.

But if you're an intermediate shooter who wants to try out mid-range shooting (200-500 yards) this is an excellent buy. Functionally, there's almost no difference between this rangefinder and a $400 rangefinder at middle range. Both of them give you accurate readings (within about one yard) and perform calculations to compensate for angle. The Prime 1300 uses a simple two-button menu system to adjust for typical ballistic profiles, so i can change the on-screen bullet drop calculation from my 69 grain .223 load to a 180 grain .308 load in just a few seconds. You just select the alphabet letter that corresponds to a ballistic profile group as listed on their website. SOunds complicated but it's actually pretty easy once you try it, and now I just point and it tells me range, angle, and bullet drop. YOu can change the bullet drop to show inches, MOA, or mil dots easily too. There are a lot of other modes and features that are useful for archery, golf and hunting that I haven't tried yet.

It's easy to find your mark at 100 yards, and if you're off by 50 yards bullet drop is less than one inch so it probably doesn't matter. But I have a hard time eyeballing the difference between 300 and 500 yards, where bullet drops can be two or three feet apart from the aiming point. This takes out the guesswork, so if you are going to be shooting at these ranges this is an incredibly useful tool.

And it costs a lot less than competitors with similar features, which range between $200 and $400.

Build quality is excellent. It's quite light but also feels very sturdy. It uses a CR2 battery, which I don't really like, but apparently this is needed to power the laser out to 1300 yards and still keep it lightweight and compact. I would prefer using, for example, two Energizer Ultimates in AAA, but this is a very minor quibble.

It comes with a carrying case and wrist strap, and also with a long cord and ring that you could use to keep it slung over your chest, although I can't imagine why you would want to do that instead of keeping it in a pocket or pouch.