Rangefinder mini review Halo XRT7 (and a little rangefinder buying advice)

[marine6680]

Why a rangefinder?

Since moving to Colorado, finding a new local shooting range was needed.

Unlike in SC, where the state DNR had ranges they maintained, with equipment to borrow, well defined shooting lanes, and a park ranger on hand. (my local range was very well maintained and had nice equipment on hand)

All for the grand price of free...

Here in CO, I have not found anything like that. I guess the large amounts of public federal land available preclude the need.


There are several ranges close at hand, if I am willing to pay for the privilege. Some are clubs with public access, and some are businesses. Indoors and out. There are a few in state parks, But you have to pay to get into the gate, and then pay again to use the range. I am willing to pay a fee, but most in the area charge a pretty penny for range time, and I am not ready to pay $50+ in range fees.


This lead me to finding the closest "designated shooting area" in the national forests in the area... Well over an hour away, and it has no facilities, no range markers or anything other than a parking area. Plus an access road so rough, that I look at the various front wheel drive sedans in the parking area, and wonder why the owners hate their car so much.


So I needed a rangefinder to be able to accurately set out targets. Also several of the shooting "lanes" extend up slopes, with 200yds+ being at angles of 10* or more, so that was a factor as well.


What was my selection criteria, and what did I find?

I wanted a lower cost rangefinder that would be accurate enough for my purposes out to several hundred yards. About the longest distance I can get at the location is about 300yds or so. I also wanted the rangefinder to be able to calculate angle, as that affects the shot depending on total angle and distance. The fact that I can be shooting at any of the "shooting lanes" or maybe even at a different location, meant I wanted to have a good zero, and then be able to calculate changes based on the slope and distance of where I was shooting that day, and not disturb my basic scope zero.

I have a ballistic calculator app on my phone that can take angle of shot into consideration. It uses linear distance and angle for its calculations.


I was willing to look at models up to about $200.

During my search, I found a few options in my price range, but most did not fit what I needed, either lacking angle calculations, or only giving an angle corrected distance... or having options of either linear distance or angle corrected, but no readout of the measured angle. Some higher end models would give you linear distance and angle for a second before giving a compensated range, others would give simply range and angle which is the ideal for my needs...

The method of handling angle calculations was all over the place. Most options were geared with the hunter in mind, who usually just needed a quick simple compensated reading to allow for an accurate shot. Ones that gave simple distance and angle readings with no fuss, tended to be focused on long range target shooting, aided by ballistic tables or calculators, they were often times the most expensive. (some upwards of thousands of dollars, and some even had ballistic compensation built in as well)

Some had multiple modes, making for a hybrid use rangefinder, suitable for range work and hunting. The Vortex Ranger models are an example, and frankly, had I the $300 or $400 I would have chosen one for the no fault replacement warranty alone. (Most manufactures with a lifetime warranty, excluded rangefinders. And the feature set on the Rangers is pretty solid for the price. The $300 Ranger 1000 gives a Cosine angle reading, which my ballistic calculator can use, and the $400 Ranger 1500 gives direct angle readings)


Another thing I looked at was distance performance. Cheaper models may work at 500yds on a highly reflective target, but maybe only 200yds on a non-reflective target like a tree. Which would be most of my ranging needs to map out reference points. (higher price models closed this performance gap) So I wanted a rangefinder with a higher max range, to compensate for lower non-reflective performance, that wasn't too expensive and had the other features I needed.

I researched for several days... If only I was willing to spend $275+...


What I chose.

I settled on the Halo XRT7, as a promising low cost option... Around $115. The feature set worked for me, and the cost was nice. Its simple, but so were my needs.



It has a max range of 700yds, which should give me a non-reflective performance enough for my needs, and it has an angle readout when in angle compensation mode. I would need to switch to linear mode to get that distance reading, which I could do without much fuss, but that meant I had to take the measurement twice. Not as ideal as having a linear reading and measured angle all in one mode, but it will do for the price.

Optically it has a 6x magnification.

It is also water resistant, which many other options in the sub $200 range are not. And "water proof" devices are usually $100+ more still. I do not plan on being out in the rain, but having some water resistance is always a plus.


How does it perform?



Adequately...


But more in depth...

The build quality is ok to decent. It is made of plastic, and not with any flair to it. Its made to be a budget device, part fit is not very exact. Other higher cost options may be plastic as well, but usually fit together better from the ones I handled at Cabela's during my initial looking.

Halo does offer a higher end Aluminum cased model for $200. (or a bit more... Amazon has lowest pricing, but it may be an older model, as it looked different than the Halo site... MSRP was $300)

The optics are OK, not the clearest, but useable for my needs. I am not sure if they are actual glass or acrylic, and I am not sure any easy way to tell... Not that isn't potentially damaging anyway. The device is lightweight, but I can't really go by that alone. My gut tells me it is an optical acrylic, but I could be wrong.

The display is a black LCD type, optic quality affected the crispness a small amount, but nothing preventing even the weakest eyed among us from using it once the optics are focused.

It has a simple box aiming reticle that pops up when you power on the unit. The reticle is about 10moa give or take. It covered up the better part of a fallen log that I was ranging to. So it is not a fine precision reticle... It works well enough inside a few hundred yards, but it is not ideal for longer range use.

I can not attest to its accuracy at ranging, but I only need it to be accurate to within a couple yards. From rough eyeballing based on many trips to the 100yd line, it seems close enough for my purposes. The specs of the device claim it is accurate to 1 yard.

Measurement speed is slow, taking several seconds to get a reading from first powerup. I would not recommend this for a hunter, as I would imagine that a faster reading would be better for that use. Once it has its initial distance reading, the scan mode updates pretty quickly, so I can range off several objects quickly to use as reference points when downrange placing targets.


The Halo XRT7 gets the job done, but not in any spectacular way. For the price, it offers a set of features I wanted, that I could not get in other brands without spending much more.

Had I simply needed a linear distance reading, I would have chosen the Nikon Aculon for $40-50 more, as it gets good reviews.


There isn't much to say about a rangefinder... it does its job or is does not. Optic quality and ranging ability are about all you can say about them. They work or not, they have features you need or not.

It works for me, and I will keep it.


My advice for others looking for a rangefinder.

If like me, all you need is to be able to set out targets at known ranges, when you do not have range markers to go by, then the Halo XRT7 should work just fine for ranges out to a few hundred yards, and at a low price point.

If you have the money to spare, or are a hunter who needs faster measurement speed, I recommend you get a higher end rangefinder. If your needs are simple there are many in the $200-250 price range, give or take depending on features.

If all you want is a linear distance, then Nikon has a nice basic model for $150.

Simmons has models for well under $200 that have basic angle compensation modes, If that is a feature you want, but need a more budget friendly price.

If your needs are a bit more demanding, you may need to go up to the $250-400 range for more advanced features or higher quality optics. Non-reflective performance is also better, and game animals count as non-reflective.

Optic quality will most certainly be better from the more respected brands, and even the more budget brands like Simmons are likely to be a bit better optically.

Had I another $100-150 I was willing to spend, there were some nice Bushnell models with features I liked, with better quality in build and optics too.

The Vortex Ranger models are very tempting, at $300-400, with their no fault replacement warranty, and good feature set. Vortex is known for good quality products and optical quality for a reasonable price...

Nikon and other respected brands are also available, with various features and prices.

High end brands like Leica, Swarovski, and Zeiss can cost upwards of $1000 for their lower end models... Unless you are shooting at 1000yds, I doubt you need the performance they offer.

Even Sig makes a rangefinder, that several reviews have compared favorably to the high end high dollar stuff, and it costs $500.

If you are into long range 500yds+ precision shooting, you are likely going to want to look at the higher end stuff designed for that use. Just be prepared to spend $500-3000. (You are also likely to be much more knowledgeable than me about these things, and not in need of my advice)

[alphaone]

I'm looking for a rangefinder just for bow hunting, so it only really needs to do <60yards really well. Have you tried the Simmons rangefinders before? I found one solid review, https://outdooropticshq.com/best-ran...nting-reviews/, however, I don't know anyone that has one. Plus they are well priced, which is nice considering I'd only be using it to find shooting lanes and distances.