What is the best WMLRF?

The best WMLRF is a Sightlok RF-1 gen 3 paired with a Sig Sauer KILO8K-ABS Gen II rangefinder. Nothing else offers this combination of features, high-performance, and value-for-money. To learn more about the Sightlok RF-1, click here.

With this combo you get the best of all possible worlds, including:

– the best commercial hand-held rangefinder
– the longest ranging distance
– the best ballistics software
– the best environmental sensors
– the best integration with Kestrel wind meters
– the best and most flexible mounting system
– the best durability
– the best warranties & support

You also avoid:

1. being forced to use inferior technology just because it’s a WMLRF
2. being unable to range targets you don’t want to point your weapon at
3. being locked-in to a platform and technology that rapidly becomes obselete
4. battery life problems
5. cold weather performance issues
6. bright LED displays that give away your position at night
7. dealing with Chinese companies that gaslight you when you need support
8. bluetooth remote-related connection and battery issues
9. divergence between visible aiming laser and IR ranging laser
10. large front lens that reflects sunlight and moonlight
11. a tedious and time-consuming compass calibration process
12. firmware bugs that never get fixed
13. broken continuous ranging features
14. slope calculations mistakenly pulled from mobile phone rather than rifle
15. missing critical environmental sensors

In this article we’re going to examine each of these points to validate them. We’re going to start with the disadvantanges of standard WMLRF like the Vortex Impact 4000 and the Tango Fire 4000.

1. Being forced to use inferior technology just because it’s a WMLRF
One of the biggest problems with the WMLRF devices on the market is that technologically, they are inferior to much less expensive handheld rangefinders. For example, a $129 Sig Sauer KILO2200 offers better ranging performance, ballistics software, warranty, and support than either the Tango Fire 4000 or the Vortex Impact 4000. When you buy one of these purpose-built WMLRF devices, you’re essentially paying $1500 for a $129 rangefinder in a fancy box. Here’s a ranging comparison, for example:

Ranging animals (Deer/Elk):
Sig Sauer KILO2200: 1,300 yards
Tango Fire 4000: 1,200 yards
Vortex Impact 4000: 1,100 yards

To learn more about the Sightlok RF-1, click here.

2. Being unable to range targets you don’t want to point your weapon at
Pointing your weapon at everything you want to range is cumbersome and sometimes just impractical. With the Sightlok rangefinder mount, you flip a lever and snap the rangefinder off the rail, range the target, and snap the rangefinder back on, without losing the rangefinder zero with the optic. No dedicated WMLRF can do that.

3. Being locked-in to a platform and technology that rapidly becomes obselete
Rangefinders are high-tech tools. Every year, the technology advances, becomes smarter, easier-to-use, and more accurate. The advantage of using a Sightlok RF-1 mount is when the time comes to upgrade, you swap out the high tech portion, the handheld rangefinder, and save on having to also replace the expensive precision mounting hardware that makes WMLRF so expensive.

4. Battery life problems
WMLRF are notorious for burning though batteries quickly. And batteries dying quickly not just in the rangefinder itself, but also in the Bluetooth remote which runs on a separate battery. WMLRF’s all have a large LED or OLED display that chews though the small batteries that power them. By comparison, most Sig Sauer laser rangefinders provide approximately 4,000 individual range calculations on a single standard CR2 lithium battery. So while you can pretty much count on your WMLRF battery dying while you’re in the field, a Sig Sauer handheld rangefinder battery can endure months of active use.

To learn more about the Sightlok RF-1, click here.

5. Cold weather performance issues
Every commercial rangefinder is succeptable to cold weather, and the batteries themselves are impacted by cold weather. But in cold weather, the Sightlok RF-1 with a QD/QR mount can simply be snapped off the rail and kept warm in your pocket until the time comes to range. That’s something that cannot be done as easily with a purpose-build WMLRF, which may lose zero if detached, or require unbolting, or may be be tied to the rifle by the rat’s tail remote.

6. Bright LED displays that give away your position at night
Some WMRLF are better about this than others, but every WMLRF has a display that emits light, and that light can reflect off your face at the worst possible moment, revealing your position to adversaries and predators. In many circumstances, having your face lit up by a digital display may simply not be an option. When you use a Sightlok / Sig Sauer rangefinder combo, you can get your range and dope without alerting your target.

7. Dealing with Chinese companies that gaslight you when you need support
This is a problem specific to the Tango Fire 4000, but it’s a serious problem that would guarantee we would never recommend purchasing one. As far as we know, the Chinese company that makes the Tango Fire 4000, Henrich Technology Co. of China, which also apparently operates as Tango Innovations (or Tangoinnos) in the U.S., has never corrected or even acknowledged any of the serious software and/or hardware flaws that users have brought to their attention. Nor have they issued any firmware updates for the device itself. A sampling of just some of these issues has been covered in this blog post. If you buy Sig Sauer and Sightlok, you deal with legit experts, get fast, intelligible responses, problems get solved, and questions get answered.

To learn more about the Sightlok RF-1, click here.

8. Bluetooth remote-related connection and battery issues
For anyone in the market for a WMLRF, if it comes with a bluetooth remote, RUN. A bluetooth remote is an instant disqualifier in our book. In most cases, such as hunting, when you need to range your target, you need to range it NOW. Seconds count. You cannot afford to have bluetooth disconnects, delays, and battery failures in the exact moment you need your equipment to work. Bluetooth remotes are nothing but trouble, some of which is discussed in one of our blog posts about the Vortex Impact 4000 here. With the Sightlok RF-1, when you need to range, you push the range button on your Sig Sauer or similar rangefinder and you get your instant range. No bluetooth delays, no dead batteries, no slop.

9. Divergence between visible aiming laser and IR ranging laser
WMLRF come with 2 lasers; A visible aiming laser, and a invisible ranging laser. And these 2 lasers are mechanically slaved together inside the unit. They are supposed to be accurately indexed to each other, and aim at the same point, but in fact, in many cases, the indexing is off. And because these 2 lasers do not move independently, the problem cannot be corrected. Imagine how much trouble this can cause. You zero with the visible laser, but the actual ranging laser is pointing somewhere else, so you THINK you’ve zero’d correctly, when in fact you haven’t. Just a fraction of a degree difference over long distances, and suddenly you’re ranging is way off the mark. While 2 slaved lasers that diverge cannot be fixed with standard WMLRF, it can actually be solved with the Sightlok / Sig Sauer. With the Sightlok RF-1, you have a small picatinny rail to accomodate an external visible laser. External picatinny-mount lasers have windage and elevation adjusters, so the problem of having a set of divergent slaved lasers that cannot be correct is overcome from the onset. And the Sightlok user manual and FAQ here describes multiple ways to accurately co-witness your visible and invisible lasers.

To learn more about the Sightlok RF-1, click here.

10. Large front lens that reflects sunlight and moonlight
This is largely self-explanatory, but the large mirror-like reflective fronts of many WMLRF are harmful to stealth. The Sightlok RF-1 offers a non-reflective front cover which mitigates this issue.

11. A tedious and time-consuming compass calibration process
Some WMLRF’s like the Vortex Impact 4000 have a tedious compass calibration process that can waste hours of your time. None of the Sig Sauer rangefinders suffer from this flaw, so it’s not going to be an issue with your Sig / Sightlok combo.

12. Firmware bugs that never get fixed
Shout out again to Henrich Technology Co. of China, a.k.a Tango Innovations, a company that has not acknowledged nor issued a single fix for any flaws with the Tango Fire 4000. With Sig Sauer, when there’s a problem, they issue fixes, so it’s a good choice to combine with your Sightlok RF-1.

To learn more about the Sightlok RF-1, click here.

13. Broken continuous ranging features
Again, shout out to Henrich Technology Co. of China, a.k.a Tango Innovations who’s Tango Fire 4000 silently stops calculating dope while in continuous ranging mode. Obviously not a problem when you use the Sightlok RF-1 with a Sig rangefinder.

14. Slope calculations mistakenly pulled from mobile phone rather than rifle
Again, shout out to Henrich Technology Co. of China, a.k.a Tango Innovations who’s Tango Fire 4000 tries to pull slope information from the user’s smart phone rather than the rifle itself, so that the dope goes completely haywire. Obviously not a problem when you use the Sightlok RF-1 with a Sig rangefinder.

To learn more about the Sightlok RF-1, click here.

15. Missing critical environmental sensors
Again, shout out to Henrich Technology Co. of China, a.k.a Tango Innovations who’s Tango Fire 4000 is missing all the environmental sensors needed to keep the ballistic solutions accurate. Again, obviously not a problem when you use the Sightlok RF-1 with a Sig rangefinder that includes sensors.

To learn more about the Sightlok RF-1, click here.

Have a different opinion? Find any errors in our report? Please share your opinion below!