Sig WMLRF KILO WARP Rangefinder – Potentially Huge Implications

Sig Sauer’s much-anticipated weapon-mounted laser rangefinder (WMLRF), the KILO WARP, will be released soon. The KILO WARP uses the same engine and laser from the SIG KILO 10K and comes with the Applied Ballistics Elite (AB Elite) on board.

Straight off the bat, one concern is the Bluetooth remote. Will there be delays introduced by the Bluetooth connection? Many prefer having a wired remote.

Rumors suggest there will be 950nm and 1550nm versions, both available to civilians. The 1550nm version will cost around $10,000. The 950nm will be Bluetooth remote only while the 1550nm will also support wired remote, a built-in level, full environmentals onboard, scheduled for release in Q4.

Sig’s Also Releasing New High-End Scopes to Partner With the KILO WARP Rangefinder – The New BRAVO6T Scopes May Fix All BDX Scope Shortcomings
Admittedly, we’re excited about the KILO WARP. But what we’re more excited about is what you can pair it with. Specifically, the new BRAVO6T scopes. When paired with the KILO WARP, the display inside the Bravo6T-BDX scopes will show the distance and adjustment needed. If you already have dope dialed in, the display will show the difference needed to correct. When paired with WARP, you can find, range, and engage without leaving the scope. When not paired, it still has AB Elite built in and can store up to four profiles. The display will show yardage of dialed dope with wind. These new BRAVO6T scopes are “Assembled in the US”.

These new scopes are what makes the Sig KILO WARP an even bigger announcement. Sig’s finally upgraded their BDX scope line to be genuine high-end optics. Up until now, the various BDX lines of scopes suffered from dismal shortcomings including mediocre glass quality, lack of a zero-stop, cheezy reticles which were unusable for holdovers, and so on. As a result, the Sig BDX platform never developed a strong following among serious shooters. We pleaded with Sig to address these problems. And now, (likely unrelated to our pleadings), it appears Sig has finally started taking their BDX line seriously with their imminent release of the BRAVO6T-BDX 3-18X and BRAVO6T-BDX 5-30X. We’re super disappointed Sig is not (at least for now) planning to introduce a BRAVO6T LVPO. Hopefully they will reconsider.

The point here is that a WMLRF that integrates the BDX system AND can be combined with high-end BDX-enabled riflescopes is potentially game-changing. And Sig Sauer is banking on you buying them in combination, which will set you back about $5500. The combo looks like this:

What Problem Do the BRAVO6T Scopes Solve?
What makes these scopes so interesting is, in addition to the much better quality glass, when paired with the KILO WARP rangefinder, they’ve made it super easy to dial your dope with a digital display inside the scope that tells you in real-time how many MILs you’ve dialed, and how many MILs you need to dial. And since you’re actually dialing a mechanical turret, the target will stay in the center of your reticle when you aim, rather than with the old BDX scopes, where you’re given a holdover dot. The problem with the holdover dot was with long shots, you can be aiming though the bottom of the reticle, which is awkward and can introduce optical distortion. Not to mention, if the holdover is too great you have to dial back your magnification just to see the holdover. So on the one hand, you need more magnification to see the target, but on the other hand, you can’t zoom because the holdover dot is too low to show up in the reticle. It a real problem, and the BRAVO6T line solves it. As an aside, before you drop $2.5K on a BRAVO6T scope, it seems that the Burris Veracity PH line of scopes, which cost roughly $1k, also offers a similar “HUD” (heads-up display) and gives similar functionality. And posters on Snipershide indicate that the glass is better overall than the lessor (non-BRAVO6T) BDX scopes. As to how the Veracity PH line compares to the new BRAVO6T scopes, that’s something we don’t know but would like to investigate.

Implications for the Competition
Needless to say, if it doesn’t suffer from major shortcomings, Sig Sauer’s new WMLRF KILO WARP rangefinder could kill off competitors like the Vortex Impact 4000 and the Tango Fire4000, among others. Anyone considering other options like the Vortex Impact 4000 or the Tango Fire4000 would likely be putting buying decisions on hold to wait for Sig’s release.

4 Reasons You Might Want to Wait Before Impulse Buying the Sig KILO WARP Rangefinder

1. New WMLRFs Usually Have Bugs to Get Worked Out
A good example is the Vortex Impact 4000, which stops working in cold weather. Or the Tango Fire4000 which stops calculating firing solutions when running in continous range mode.

2. Sig Doesn’t Always Nail New Releases
A good example is their relatively recent and expensive ECHO SV35-LRF Thermal Sight which has fatal flaws. Including a built-in rangefinder which is not properly co-witnessed with the reticle, and cannot be adjusted.

3. Concerns of Potential Bricking by Firmware Updates
This is a particularly irksome issue, but Sig and their partner Applied Ballistics continue to force and enforce mandatory BDX firmware updates. That means depending on the firmware version you’re currently running on your BDX rangefinder and/or BDX scope, Sig can detect that your firmware may be a little too old for their taste when you connect to the BDX app. When this happens, they remotely disable the rangefinder and/or scope until you have updated your firmware. Super annoying and Orwellian that they are doing this. And potentially dangerous for end users to have their rifle optics and rangefinders remotely disabled at the exact moment they may need to use them. Just imagine what a danger this alleged “feature” could be to soldiers on the battlefield. Certainly Sig wouldn’t do this with scopes and rangefinders they supply to law enforcement and the military. And what’s worse, the updates don’t always complete as intended. Halfway though the update, the process can stop, leading to bricked hardware. People on forums like Snipershide talk about having to send back multiple BDX rangefinders on a semi-annual basis because they keep getting bricked by these mandatory firmware updates. Applied Ballistics is apparently partly (or perhaps even wholly) to blame for these firmware update glitches. We’ve covered this problem in detail in our reviews of other Sig BDX rangefinders. Our question for Sig is:

How many shooters are going to have their day at the range or their hunting trip disrupted before this problem is addressed?

And does the new Sig Sauer KILO WARP handle firmware updates in the same manner? We’ve spoken to high-level executives at both Sig Elctro-Optics and Applied Ballistics about this issue and neither took the problem seriously. Neither saw it as a problem that needed addressing. The Sig executive, who shall go unnamed, tried to portray this as a benefit and a feature. “It’s better if you’re always using the latest version of the software.” Here is a link to a post on Snipershide with a BDX user who said he’s had his rangefinders bricked 3 times over the course of several years. To the best of our knowledge, this problem has not been resolved. We hope that everyone will join us being vocal about the issue until it gets addressed. Call Sig at 603-610-3000, or email your favorite Sig Sauer rep and tell them you’re not going to pony up $2K for a rangefinder or $6k for a rangefinder/scope combo they are remotely disabling when they feel like it, no matter what the excuse is.

WMLRF Goes Mainstream
But guys, seriously. This one could be big. Sig’s KILO WARP could trigger a shift in the way rangefinding is done across shooting. Thousands more shooters will discover the amazing benefits of using a WMLRF. Shooters everywhere will challenging the strength of their marriages as they try to squeeze an extra $2000 out of their household budget.

4. Options that Cost Far Less, Including the Sightlok RF-1
While currently sold out, Sightlok makes a mount that enables you to turn most rangefinders into WMLRF. Simply put, you take our mount and clamp your existing rangefinder to your rifle. The result looks something like this:

It may not look as slick as the KILO WARP, but functionally it’s similar and it saves you $1700. The Gen 3 version of this mount is expected to be completed around the time Sig will start shipping the KILO WARP. You can read more about the Gen 3 version here.

We will continue to update this article as time allows.

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