Laser Rangefinder Review

Bushnell is known for making affordable hunting optics with the quality of their products ranging the spectrum from poor to quite good with the majority of their optics falling in the average category, and this appears to hold true for rangefinders as well.  Several Bushnell laser rangefinders scored in 89 to 91 range, the high end of average, while a few of their cheaper models scored significantly less.  Most of the higher scoring models received good reviews by many users; however they also received really poor reviews from other reviewers.  So there are some people that are perfectly happy with their Bushnell laser rangefinder.  Many reviewers felt that these rangefinders offered a lot of features yet remained relatively simple to use.  LRR has compiled a comparison chart for current model Bushnell rangefinders below as well as a brief description of each model.

Bushnell Laser Rangefinder Comparison Chart 

Model	Elite 1600	Elite 1500	Legend 1200 ARC	Scout 1000 ARC	Bowhunter C.A. Edition	Sport 450
Picture
Cumulative Review Score	NEW	91(40)	90(22)	89(75)	51(13)	74(94)
Estimated Price	$499	$400	$350	$300	$250	$150
Mag.	7x	7x	6x	5x	4x	4x
Weight	12.1oz	12.1oz	7.4oz	6.8oz	5.3oz	7.4oz
L x W x H	5.1 x 1.7 x3.7	5.1 x 1.7 x 3.7	4.3 x 1.7 x 2.9	4.3 x 1.7 x 2.8	3.8 x 1.4 x 2.9	3.9 x 1.7 x 3.1
Reflective	1600 yds	1600 yds	1200 yds	1000 yds	800 yds	999 yds
Tree	1000 yds	1000 yds	850 yds	650 yds	600 yds	450 yds
Deer	500 yds	500 yds	475 yds	325 yds	200 yds	200 yds
ARC	Y	Y and N	Y	Y	Y	N

Bushnell Laser Rangefinder Reviews

Bushnell Elite 1600 ARC - This new rangefinder really appears to be more of an updated version of the Elite 1500.  The Elite 1600 has Bushnell ARC technoloy, a new red display, and a more rugged looking housing that its predecessor.

Bushnell Elite 1500 Rangefinder -  The biggest and most powerful of the Bushnell rangefinders.  While a little larger and heavier than other rangefinders, this model did receive a respectable rating score and would be worth further reading if you are interested in long range shooting or prairie dog hunting.

Bushnell Legend 1200 ARC Rangefinder – This device has many features that could make it a candidate for an all purpose rangefinder, and even though its somewhat low rating score, which was based on limited reviews, doesn’t inspire confidence it would be worth at least a quick glance to see what it offers.

Bushnell Scout 1000 ARC Rangefinder – This unit has many of the features of the above, but has less magnification and ranging power; however it rated higher among users and was used by many of the reviewers for both archery and rifle hunting.  Definitely worth a closer look for those interested in a dual purpose device.

Bushnell Bowhunter – Wow what can you say, it looks good on paper, combine that with an endorsement from Chuck Adams and you would think that this unit would be a home run.  While the score is based on a small number of reviews, there are still enough reasons to suggest that you would be better off with a different rangefinder for your archery hunting.  

Bushnell Sport 600 Laser Rangefinder – There are not enough reviews to post a review score, the very few that were found weren’t pretty, this appears to be very similar to the Chuck Adams model but without the angle compensation feature.  This model would fall under the entry level category and frankly with the high scores from the Leupold RX-600 and Nikon ProStaff 550 there just isn’t any reason to take a chance on this rangefinder.

Bushnell Sport 450 Laser Rangefinder – While it does share the Sport name with the model 600 this is actually a significantly different rangefinder, as it is even held horizontally like a pair of binoculars.  This rangefinder has been around for quite awhile and there are plenty of user reviews available so the score it received should be a pretty accurate representation of what owners of this unit think of it.  This model’s biggest selling point is its price, but don’t give this unit much consideration unless you absolutely can’t afford a more expensive rangefinder.