Review - Bushnell Fusion 1600 ARC LRF Binoculars

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  • Barney88PDC

    SEND IT
    Jul 16, 2008
    2,994
    38
    Somewhere over the rainbow
    I purchased a pair of Bushnell Fusion 1600 ARC LRF 10 x 42 binoculars about a year ago. I have been using these often for hunting and trips to the range to get the distance to my steel target. (I shoot down a long private dirt / gravel road.) The readings are very accurate and very repeatable. I have gone on one day and spray painted the ground at even hundred yard marks and went back a couple weeks later where the marks were not easy to see driving but you could see them once you got out the truck, ranged it again and was dead on. I typically shoot between 500 - 1000 yards but have ranged out to 1200 on a white steel IPSC target and got the same reading on different days. I have verified the distances on Goole Earth as well and they match perfectly. There are some head lands that serve as land marks and using the ruler in Google Earth it confirmed my LRF readings. I took it to Colorado last year and ranged a black cow (less reflective) at 1248 yards. It is supposed to be good to 1600 yards but the local sheriffs range is next to the airport. I have consistantly ranged the control tower from a little bridge that crosses a ditch at 1625 yards and have got the corner of one of the white hangars at 1814 yards. So it more than covers my needs.

    Now from what I have read about LRF in general the distance it can range will be dependant on the size of the target and even color of the target you are trying to range. Now AFAIK from my research the FCC puts limits on the intensity of the lasers that can be produced. So many manufactures will have the same strength laser but what sets them apart is how focused they can get the beam.

    Now what is really cool is that it has three modes. One is "regular" mode where whatever you put inside of the circle is the distance you are going to get. The second mode a little bullseye comes up to the side of the circle. In "bullseye" mode if you want to range a target that is out in the open but the there is say a tree line behind it, many times other rangefinders will only give you the distance to the tree line and you cannot get a reading on the object you want. Well Friday I was out shooting and once I was done I was glassing the area. I ranged a tree line across the feild at 980 yards but while doing so I noticed a power line with obviously several poles I had never noticed. Well I put it in "bullseye" mode and what you do is hold down the ranging button and sweep from side to side and it will give you the reading of the closer of the targets it is picking up. The say 10" diameter pole was 642 yards out.

    The third mode, a tree icon appears in the display and what this option does is give you the furthest distance it is picking up. So say you are in the woods and there is a deer out in the open field you can use this mode to get the distance to the deer and not be bothered with picking up the range of all the trees that are closer. I was in Mississippi and we put out a target at the top of a hill down the road from the camp. Well the road dips then goes up the hill and the vines have made a canopy over the road but you could clearly see the target. Well I tried to range the target with another guys monocular but I kept getting 97 yards which I knew was just the vines in the way. I went get my binos and put it in "tree" mode and easily ranged the target.

    Glass: The glass is very good I would say 8.5 out of 10. Very good for glassing and observing.

    Drawbacks:
    The only two things I see and therse are VERY minor.

    1. The have a very slight blueish / greenish tint. Really I never even noticed until I read a review which stated this then went look through mine and could kinda see what they were talking about.

    2. The display has 4 settings to be able to adjust the brightness. If you had it on setting 4 (brightest) at night or in low light you would just wash out the image an all you would see is red and never be able to make out the target you were attempting to range. Now on a VERY bright day in full sun it can be slightly hard to see the display. The could have one more setting just a little brighter to help on those days where it hurts your eyes not to have sun glasses on.

    I bought my pair from Liberty Optics for $759 with free shipping and no tax. If you are in the market for a pair of binos or looking for a good LRF I highly recommend them. The image clairy is not as good as Zeiss but at less than a third the cost well worth it. This is truely one of the pieces of kit that I have 0 regrets buying. A+ product.
     
    Last edited:

    Splat

    Well-Known Member
    Mar 21, 2012
    410
    16
    Lafayette
    Good write up. I have a Leica LRF 1200 that was sitting in my hunting bag in the garage. I forgot to pull the batteries out for the offseason and this reminded me to do so. I had issues with battery corrosion/leakage in a cheaper rangefinder that I had... BIG MISTAKE!
     
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