I came to hunting and serious rifle shooting a bit later in life than most. While there was a .22 LR in the house growing up, dad was more fisherman than hunter. As such, I never got as good at determining distances through a scope as many people I know have.
Recently, I bought a SIG SAUER KILO850 rangefinder for review. I have to say that this unit impressed me. It’s not expensive, but it is fast and seems to be very accurate. Let’s talk about it for a few minutes.
General Information
The KILO850 is a handheld unit that uses a laser to determine distances. It has a few options that I describe in the Ranging section below. In general, it is a very simple tool to use and should serve the needs of most shooters. The SIG KILO850 has 4x magnification with a diopter adjustment.
It has a polymer body with soft, textured inserts on the top and bottom for a good hold. The unit is just slightly longer than the width of my hand, so it fits me well.
The unit is lightweight and SIG includes a nylon carrying case with it. The soft case is made of nylon with some sort of foam for cushioning. It has a belt loop that is sewn on the back. While this is less convenient for attaching to a belt, it is far more secure than snaps.
To secure the top, SIG opted to use a tab and hook. The tab is attached via elastic to the lid and fits over a plastic hook to secure the top. This beats Velcro as there is no noise when you open the lid to grab the rangefinder.
Specifications
| magnification | 4x |
| objective aperture | 20 mm |
| eye relief | 24 mm |
| field of view @ 100 yards | 43.77 ft |
| max range (deer) | 600 yards |
| max range (trees) | 800 yards |
| max range (reflective) | 1,200 yards |
| ranging response time | 0.25 seconds |
| MSRP | $239.99 |
Ranging
Here’s the short story: the KILO850 rangefinder was fast and accurate.
I did quite a bit of work with it out to about 100 yards. As near as I could tell, it gave me accurate measurements every time. I compared it to a pre-determined distance marked with a Bosch laser measure (30 yards). The SIG rangefinder was spot on at that distance.
Comparing it on a 100-yard range with a Leica CRF 1000-R, both rangefinders showed 100 yards (±0.2 yards.) Considering that I don’t know who set up the range distance and that the SIG SAUER KILO850 is roughly $300 cheaper than the Leica, I was satisfied with its performance.
The KILO850 is very fast. According to the company, it will range in about 0.25 seconds. For me it seemed instantaneous. I have precisely zero complaints here.
The battery compartment is accessed on the rearmost portion of the rangefinder. You can use a screwdriver if you want, but I found a quarter to work best. The cap screws in and out easily. Since everything is plastic, I urge you to use a little caution to avoid damaging the threads and cap. Reasonable caution – not handling VX gas kind of caution – is all that is needed.
A word on battery life. I’ve been using the range finder for about five months now. Everything is humming along nicely on the original battery. Speed and accuracy seem as good today as when I first fired the range finder up.
I spent a couple of days setting up a new air rifle range on my property for me and my son to use. I was setting up some SIG steel targets in anticipation of testing one of the new P320 airguns. I also wanted to mark some distances for my PVC target stands I built.
During this time, I had the KILO850 in the sand brush with me. Florida sand is one of those things that seems to get everywhere. Even so, the rangefinder did an excellent job in keeping it out. Some of the rubber surfaces did have sand “stick” to it, but that could be brushed off.
Final Thoughts
For the price, you can’t beat the SIG KILO850. There are a lot of good rangefinders on the market, and some are better than the KILO850. However, they also tend to be twice the price.
I’ve found this unit for less than $200 on many sites, and it is well worth the money. However, if you are looking for long distance shooting (say 500+ yards), this rangefinder may not be the right one for you.
Last Update: October 9, 2022
Since I wrote this review, I’ve gotten a lot of great service from the SIG rangefinder. Unfortunately, the company discontinued the model.
However, it now offers improved versions of the range finders.
If you are comfortable with the SIG line, take a look at the KILO1600R. This is a 6×22 rangefinder that can range a deer to 800 yards and a reflective target to 2,000 yards. It has a retail price of only $354.99. I found it for $100 less through this affiliate link.
Disclosure
Every review you read – be it online or in print – should have a disclosure stating what biases and influences may affect the evaluation of the product. If the review does not have a disclosure, you should ask why.
The KILO850 was originally sent to me as a loaner unit to review. However, I liked it so much, I decided to purchase it prior to writing the review. As the item was used, I did receive a discount on the unit, though I still paid about $120 for it. That’s pretty close to the street price, and a fair price for a used rangefinder.
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