Sig Sauer Kilo 2000 Review

[kbrowne14]

I purchased a Sig Sauer Kilo 2000 from Cabelas approximately 3 months ago.  I took it out hunting, A shooting Competition, and tested it against a Leica 1600.  My experience with the Sig is not on par with what I have read in other reviews.  I used this thing in every condition imaginable: Clear conditions, Rain conditions, Snow conditions, dusty conditions, Light and Dark conditions, etc.  These were my findings. 

Flat out, the Sig Sauer that I received Could not even be compared to the Leica 1600.  The Leica's glass was way more clear and bright, It ranged reflective and non reflective objects more consistently and out to much further distances, and the reticle on the Leica was much small and more usable. 

Right out of the gate, when I turned on the Sig Sauer it would not turn on.  I pulled the battery out to make sure it was in the right direction.  It was, so I put it back in and it turned on.  I was able to range things around the yard, I played around with it.  I liked it.  It felt solid.  I checked the accuracy with my Father in Law's Leica 1600.  It was reading the same as the Leica with both distance and angle.  I put it away in the safe.  I came back the next day to mess with it at some distance. It wouldn't turn on.  I pulled the battery put it back in, it turned on.  I took out and ranged some reflective objects like buildings and transformers on power poles.  I was able to get a consistent readout out to 900 yards.  That's as far as I could range where I was at.  There wasn't room to go further.  After a couple weeks of owning.  I took it out to where I shoot longer ranges.  On my hike to my shooting spot, I started ranging trees and rocks. 

This is where I started noticing problems.  I wasn't able to range anything past 900 meters.  I thought that maybe it had to do with conditions, even though it was just overcast and 8:00 in the morning.  I started ranging my targets and noticed that the reticle on the Kilo 2000 was enormous.  I was having trouble ranging the steel targets out to 825 meters, partly due to reticle size and partly due to the rangefinder.  But I was able to steady the rangefinder on a tripod and was eventually able to get a range of 825.  It took a long time, about 5 minutes of ranging.  I chalked it up to me being unstable and maybe the conditions.  I gave it the benefit of the doubt due to the hype of the rangefinder and the reviews I had seen and read. 

Where the real problems began to occur is when I took it to a training exercise at the Yakima Training Center.  It ranged anything steel out to 900 meters.  There were targets out to 1200 meters.  I had to steal someone's Leica to acquire the range, which it did with ease.  This rangefinder did however, completely outclass the Vortex Ranger 1500, the vortex could range steel past 600 yards.  But both rangefinders were completely outclassed by a Leica 1600.  With the Kilo 2000, The farthest object I have been able to range to date, was a large mirror glass window in Yakima on the side of a range tower at 1325 meters.  I haven't ranged anything past that yet. 

I then took it out elk hunting in the Manastash in late October.  It was foggy some of the days.  But when it wasn't, I was constantly ranging things.  My father in law started getting irritated because I kept asking him how far things were because I couldn't range them.  The Leica was able to range nearly everything it was pointed at.  He was able to easily range the broad side of a white trailer in a field at 1700 meters repeatedly.  I couldn't even get furthest I could range that day was a white no hunting sign at 900 meters.  Another time during the hunt, I was staring at a herd of about 100 elk.  They were 805 meters away.  I know that because the Leica told me, not my Kilo 2000.  If I would have only had the Kilo 2000, I would have been unable to range those elk.  On another day, that same herd of 100 was in a field of grass.  I tried ranging them, I knew they were far away, but I wanted to know how far.  I was unable to range them.  I then said, "hey, can you range that herd of 100 elk in the field over there?"  "Sure," he said with a grin, "I told you to buy the Leica."  "1400 meters." 

I have about 10 other stories that I could tell about how much better the Leica was than my Kilo 2000, but they are all the same.  I will say that under 600 meters, the Kilo 2000 was way faster and just as accurate as the Leica 1600.  But even if the Kilo 2000 worked as advertised, something that I don't know if I can get over is the size of the reticle circle.  It is absolutely huge.  It's like 3 times bigger than the Leica, I could be wrong on that, but it is definitely much bigger, which makes it very difficult to range small targets. 

I have seen so many good reviews of this rangefinder, I want to love it, I really do, but I hate it right now.  I am going to talk with Cabela's or Sig Sauer to see if I can get mine fixed or replaced because it doesn't work as advertised.  I am very open to the fact that I may have a defective product.  I am hoping that they will make it right.  I will post updates to this review as the process progresses and let you know about what they did to remedy or not.  I will post an update with another comparison to the Leica 1600.  Not the 1600 B or the 1600 R.  The original Leica CRF 1600.   

[bone collector 12]

I have the 2000 and love it, mine has ranged elk out to 1950 and on the move. I would see about getting yours replaced because I have never had a problem with mine and I absolutely love it

[hunting4sanity]

Definitely get in contact with Cabela's and Sig, you've got something wrong with yours, both power issues and performance. I've used two of the Sig Kilos and was very impressed with both units. The glass isn't as clear as the glass on the Leica and Zeiss models I compared them to, but I carry good binos and need more magnification than a rangefinder anyway.

[CAMPMEAT]

I had the same type of problems. Peter Pfiefer is the man to get ahold of. He sent me a new one without having sent mine back first.

[Eli346]

Something's not right with yours. I've ranged deer and elk at 1250 yds, a slash pike at 2000 yds, and a boathouse at 2400 yds. No problems at all.

[Bob33]

3250 yards is the max with my Sig. Multiple readings over 2000. My Leica 1600 never read over 2000. Sig optics aren't as clear as the Leica but distance ranging is superior.

[Boss .300 winmag]

3250 yards is the max with my Sig. Multiple readings over 2000. My Leica 1600 never read over 2000. Sig optics aren't as clear as the Leica but distance ranging is superior.

What gun you running at those distances? 

[kbrowne14]

I just went to cabelas today and returned the kilo 2000.  I then bought another one because it was $349.  I will conduct a test with it tomorrow in the daylight.  I have ranged some stuff in the pitch dark and was able to get a stoplight at 2020 meters  If I can range that same light in the daylight, I'll be in business. 

[TVHunts]

The issue I had with my Leica 1600 is it won't operate in temps below freezing unless kept against your body.  Mine failed while hunting in Alberta in 2015.  It was in the outside pocket of my jacket.  With a bino harness on having to keep the Leica against my body made it inconvenient to access quickly.  I bought my Leica when they were the bomb and paid $750.00 for it.  I was pretty disappointed when guys around me had there $299.00 Leupolds working and my high end Leica wouldn't work. The temp lows were in the high 20's on that trip so it wasn't like real cold.  Sold it when I got back from that trip and got the Sig.

  I don't have the need to range as far you as you do so I am real happy with the Sig.

Good luck with your new one!

[coop2424]

I have heard of this same problem as yours on 3-4 different sig2000's..  Glad you got it returned and a new one also good they have a good warranty since it seems it is needed.. 

[Magnum_Willys]

The leica is very sensitive to low voltage from cold batteries.  You have to use quality new ones. I carry a spare warm one in my pants pocket just in case.  If you keep the unit warm next to ur body it defeats the temperature compensating ballistics it features.  Maybe lithium batteries would solve issue have t tried em yet.

[TVHunts]

The leica is very sensitive to low voltage from cold batteries.  You have to use quality new ones. I carry a spare warm one in my pants pocket just in case.  If you keep the unit warm next to ur body it defeats the temperature compensating ballistics it features.  Maybe lithium batteries would solve issue have t tried em yet.

Mine was the 1600 not the 1600-b.  It had a brand new battery in it, then replaced with another new battery.  When I got home I read the literature and here it is what it said, from their website;

Notes:
• Cold conditions impair the battery performance. At low temperatures the Leica Rangemaster CRF 1600-R should be kept as close to the body as possible and a new battery should be  tted.
• If the Leica Rangemaster CRF 1600-R will not be used for a long period, the battery should be re- moved.
• Batteries should be stored in a cool dry place.


My point for posting was that for the price I expected better, especially in real hunting conditions.

[kbrowne14]

I took the range finder out and put it to a test in daylight.  The conditions I used it in were heavy rain, light haze of fog that move in and out, and at about 3:00 pm. I was able to range all of the grass and shrubs that I could out to 1200 meters.  I was able to range trees out to around 1550 meters.  reflective objects could be ranged out to 2015 meters.  To range the trees at 1500 meters, I had to try at it, but it was easily doable it just took a second to find a part of the tree that would range. Any trees under 1400 meters could be ranged with little or no adjustment, just point and range.  I was only able to range out to 2015 because I have nothing further to look at other than trees out at that distance, which I don't think I could range. I will do a comparison to the leica 1600 soon. 

This is a complete night and day comparison to my last Kilo 2000.  Even my father in law (the one with the Leica), tested it out when I was at work and said, "wow."  This works way better than your last one.  He said that if it works out in field conditions as well as it did on my deck, for $350, that is a steal. 

I was ready to dump another $150 and buy the Leica 1600R.  But because of the overwhelming response that I must have a defective product, I decided to give it another try before I bought the Leica.  As of right now, I don't think I need to buy the leica. 

Thanks guys.