my hunting ground is flat and featureless (rice feild). the quarry is a specei of small wild pigeon with a vital hit zone of 1 1/2". normal shooting range is from 50 to 150 yards. these birds are a pest but at the same time hunted for their tastety meat. i hunt them with rimfire and use standard velocity ammo for less meat damage. a quit round is also nessesary since these bird tend to flock and i can sometimes get 3 or 4 birds before the flock flies off. problem is with standard velocity ammo drop after 60 yards is so much that i have to dial up my scope at least for every 10 yard. my rifle is capable of less than 1 moa at 100 yards but problem is with the range calculation. Lazer range finders are pretty accurate but i dont know if it can read distances given size of quarry and a featureless ground. mechanical range finder might be the solution but i really dont know coz i havent tried iether. need help on these before deciding what to by.----zero on these so any info would be of great help. thanks.

I am interested in what people have to say about a good rangefinder also but if you are hunting in the same field all the time I would set up some range markers right in the field if you hunt from the same location all the time.

If you're ranging small animals from a stationary position a mechanical range finder might work if you are patient enough- I have tried them (ranging 1000 and ranging tlr 75) but find that they leave a bit to be desired.A lot of time is used to get a reading compared to laser rangefinders. I would not trust them for an accurate reading before calibrating them at the shooting site over a known distance, so before commencing the shoot i would pace out a distance, say to a fence post (or anything vertical) and calibrate the unit, rechecking them every now and then. So i eventually switched over to a laser range finder. They are more expensive, but worth every cent for hassle free ranging. If you decide to go for a laser range finder, make sure that it has a narrow enough beam to register a small target .

You did not mention how much money you want to spend. If that's not a problem the Leica 1200 Scan will work very well. The problem that I have at least with laser rangefinders is that they are so light that they are hard to hold steady on a small target. The Scan feature will enable you to wobble back onto the actual target and confirm that the reading is the correct one.

What color are the birds? My Leica will not return a signal from snow (white).

Perhaps you are already using drift and drop data like "PointBlank" available free from www.huntingnut.com

I put a runoff of each load with the cartrige box and carry it in my pocket.

Also I would switch to match grade ammo. It will drift less in the wind and be sub sonic and therefore not disturb the other birds as much.

You did not mention how much money you want to spend. If that's not a problem the Leica 1200 Scan will work very well. The problem that I have at least with laser rangefinders is that they are so light that they are hard to hold steady on a small target. The Scan feature will enable you to wobble back onto the actual target and confirm that the reading is the correct one.

What color are the birds? My Leica will not return a signal from snow (white).

Perhaps you are already using drift and drop data like "PointBlank" available free from www.huntingnut.com

I put a runoff of each load with the cartrige box and carry it in my pocket.

Also I would switch to match grade ammo. It will drift less in the wind and be sub sonic and therefore not disturb the other birds as much.

bird color is ash gray. now i'm confused! thought lazer rf works best on reflective surfaces (white better than black).
leica units are a bit off my budget. i know they are good but it seems an over kill since my normal ranging distances are 30 to 150 yards.

Use the balcalc program (big game info) coz i can easily tranfer generated data to a spread sheet and further customise it. I do a little gunsmithing and outfitted my scope knobs with dirrect readings.(elevation in meter distance, windage in inches at 100 meters). these are easily adjusted for zeroing but specific to one bullet type only (i normally don't change ammo). Use cci standard velocity since i chambered the barrel for it. Yeh! green tag (if available!!) and cci subsonic hp though i cant find any published velocity readings for it yet. The reason for my choice is that cci is readily available in my place (they are good too!).digressing too much already!thanks for the info.

I have never had a problem with my Lieca 1200 in rangeing anything under any conditions at 600 yards and under.I believe at your ranges ther woould be zero prblems with the Lieca 1200.In my experience the only time the problems arise is in bright sun light at the longer distance's