Used to have a tour V3 that worked fine for about a year. then all of the sudden one day it stops working (not the battery). send it off to Bushnell, they send it back after "repairing" it and surprise, it still doesn't work. I go ahead and buy a V4 since I needed one asap (the original repair took almost 5 weeks). so I told my buddy he could have the V3 when it comes back form repair since now I have V4. about 5 weeks go by and it hasn't come back so I ask my pro shop what is taking so long. well come to find out they received a letter stating the cost to repair the V3 would be greater than the cost of a new rangefinder so they will give me $100 towards the purchase of a new V4. I was upset they didn't do more than that, but that's a different issue.

So then 2 weekends ago we have a rainy tournament weekend. we get called off the course for weather so we park our cart under an over hang at the clubhouse and go inside to wait. my V4 range finder was siting in the front cubby of the cart which was parked out of the rain. go back out when the weather cleared, and surprise, the lens is completely opaque from moisture.

pretty bummed I'm having so many issues lately with Bushnell as they have always been great products. contemplating going to something else now with how they handled the last repair return I made.

anyone else having any frustrating problems with theirs?

I've had three Bushnells over about the last eight years (v2, z6, and v4). Never had a problem with any. The two friends I sold my lasers to aren't having any problems with them either.

Had a v4 with slope for about a year. Sometimes it worked well and sometimes it would give me the wrong yardage or take forever to lock on. Made me second guess every read so I got rid of it. On the hunt for something reliable.

I have a v3 jolt and never had an issue. Sits in my bag most of the time now as I tend to use my Garmin G10 instead.

I am still using a Bushnell Medalist, at least 9-10 years old and still works great

Dropping these things are the death of them. Alignment issues are common, which makes it more difficult to lock into longer distances.

My older pin seeker stopped working all of a sudden, and I was able to open it up (they make it much harder than it should be), and one of the wires connected to the battery compartment broke off, so I soldered it back on. Super fine wire (like 30 gauge wirewrapping wire) is what they use for that connection.

Since the advent of skins, which offers a little more protection, I haven't had any problems with my current v2 which I've had for at least 6 or 7 years. Buy cheap cr2s on amazon and away we go!

I went thru 3 thru warranty (faulty yardage readings) years back and switched to Nikon .. zero problems going on 4 years now

I went thru 3 thru warranty (faulty yardage readings) years back and switched to Nikon .. zero problems going on 4 years now

I'm thinking this is will be my new direction

i have a nikon for hunting that spits out ballistic solutions that is flawless

I am still using a Bushnell Medalist, at least 9-10 years old and still works great

I would vouch for the Medalist. Mine was 10+ years, literally bought it when it came out. Still going strong and only this month was it replaced with an X2. But I am keeping it so that it goes into my range bag. Fantastic range finder, 10+ years old and still going.

Had a V4 that developed Black spots in the screen and got no help other than it was Sun damage and not "Covered", not sure how it got Sun damage when it was always kept in a case.. Not sure about the newer Bushnell's quality and agree with other posters that the older models hold up much better.

Z6 has been working great for the last 3 years for me. Only issue I have is early morning fog, that is it.

My threaded piece that the batter cap screws into broke out of my V4, very strange, but totally useless now.

No question the quality of Bushnell has gone downhill, the newer units are very cheap plastic and not durable, the older models like the 1600 and Medalist were much more durable.....yet the prices keep going up! As discussed on these threads non stop there are numerous quality Lasers at lower prices. Basic Laser technology is a level playing field now.

If you're having issues with your Bushnell rangefinder, consider trading it in for a 20% discount on any of our rangefinders including the new [NX9 HD Slope](https://www.precisionprogolf.com/product/nx9-hd-slope-rangefinder/ "NX9 HD Slope")! Just shoot an email to [email protected] and we'll hook you up!

I'm on my 3rd Precision Pro NX-7 since April of this year. The first 2 did the identical thing, after a while they wouldn't pick up the yardage and just gave me straight lines. Emailed their customer service and they replaced each of the first 2. They do have great customer service. Now my 3rd one is doing the exact same thing. Was thinking of going to Bushnell, I had the 1500 pinseeker for a long time but it was just too big. My buddy has a Tec-Tec-Tec 500 that never gives him issues and they are relatively cheap in cost.

How are you guys handling your rangefinders? I don't drop mine or store in the car. When not using it I store it in its case. I keep it in my pocket while playing (its a small unit) and protect it from rain. I will use it in drizzles and it works fine (its rated "water resistant"). I don't baby it but I do realize it's an optical/electronic device and thus treat with care. Just this week I got a new Bushnell Tour V4 Shift and so far it works fine. Over about the last 10 years I've had 4 Bushnells (V2, Z6, V4, V4 Shift), and a Nikon Coolshot. I traded the Nikon in after a couple rounds for a Tour V4 after finding it was slow in locking on to flags past 175 yards. The other two oldest Bushnells I sold to friends and they still use them without any issues. I kept the V4 for my wife. Maybe I'm naive but I buy into the spiel that 99% of pros use a Bushnell. Even if Bushnell gives them away (?) I guess the pros would only use them if they proved reliable. I'm sure the other brands are good too but I don't see any need to change. I watched the duel between Michelson and Woods last year and noticed both were using V4's. At the recent skins game from China (Woods, Day, McElroy, Matsuyama) it appeared they were using either V4's or the new Pro XE.

They're all comparable anymore, kinda like phones. It just depends on what you're looking for as far as features and what brand you want. In the past decade or so I've used a Bushnell, Leupold, and lately a Bushnell Tour V4. My playing partners have different brands and models and we compare them from time to time. All are within +/-3 yards outside 100 yards and seem to stay that way thru 250. As previously mentioned, they are a electrical device and should be treated as such. If you care for one like you do your phone, it should serve you well for years.

Having the Tour use is always a good thing, if you checked advertising lately you will see most of the Champions Tour players using a Golf Buddy laser now, proves the point that the Laser technology is fairly level now so prices have come down except for Bushnell....sure alot of the cost is their massive marketing effort. Like Niram stated they all come up with the same yardage for the most part and anything new catches the flag without catching anything behind it, really comes down to whether you want to pay less for PP and others which work great or pay more to have "The Name" brand...less painful if you lose it or break it to spend less!!

I bought a Tour v3 about 7 years ago and it worked fine up until about 2 years ago when I found the yardage was no longer reliable. So I bought a Tour v4 but apparently the Fire button is now "worn out" and does not make contact to turn the range finder on. So I'm looking for something else.

Check out the Precision Pro, they are well reviewed and a quality product, the laser is just a commodity now and all grab the flag instantly with no background reads. You can pay less or overpay for a big name but no reason to anymore, PP starts at $159 with free batteries for life and from what I see on these threads they have great Customer service.

Are the "skin" covers that come with most Bushnell's designed to improve waterproofing or is it simply a trim piece? I've always just left them in the box. Thanks.

I was having a terrible problem with my Tour V4 Shift in that the sight circle would disappear randomly. To resolve the issue, I'd simply tap it against my hand a couple of times and the sight circle would come back. I was thinking of trading it in, but then I saw in one of the forum discussions about the battery cap not being tight and to just put a piece of aluminum foil under the cap. And sure enough, I started watching the battery indicator when my Shift would lose the sight circle and the indicator would show "low battery", even though I have a fresh battery in it. So, I did the "foil fix" and it's been working great since. Just wanted to share this in hopes of helping others out there having the same problem.

I've always had good luck with my Bushnells. Started out with a V2 and later upgraded to a Z6. Then got a V4 and V4 shift. Sold the first two to friends who still use them. The two V4's my wife and I use. What I've noticed is in each new generation battery life has improved and speed and ease to lock on is quicker.

Interesting all the issues people have with their Bushnell products, clearly their older product was a better build and now they put out a very average quality. There will always be people on here defending the product and they are the leader, but as everyone knows the Laser is just a commodity now and sure Bushnell will spend millions on marketing and the Tour but at the end of the day most all the lasers work well now. Anyone who knows sourcing will tell you electronics are all made in the same factories just each vendor will have small tweaks, the laser is a laser and until someone gets a quality laser in a phone they are all just a simple Laser in a plastic box and mass producerd, the reason Bushnell costs way more is marketing and fueling the machine to keep it all going.

On 8/13/2018 at 6:29 PM, smitty said:

Z6 has been working great for the last 3 years for me. Only issue I have is early morning fog, that is it.

My Z6 ,which is out of warranty , cannot be fixed in the UK where I live . The screen lights up with all the red icons on it and does nothing else . very pretty . Bushnell no help at all . Disappointing for such an expensive item .

I have several friends who had Bushnell units and loved them when they worked, but they all seemed to develop problems within the first year or two.  And their customer support is terrible.  I am on my 2nd Precision Pro NX7 and yesterday got the dreaded "E" message, and it would not read yardage.  The battery meter showed 2 bars but I replaced it anyway and it seemed to work after that.  I will echo what others have said about customer support from PP being second to none.  It just seems like most of the companies have reliability problems to varying degrees.

I got a TecTecTec 500s three and half years ago. It was my first rangefinder so wanted to start entry level before upgrading. I have zero desire to replace it at this point. Still going strong. Maybe on my 3rd battery.

I had one of the value lasers and it was noticeably less of a device than the V3 Bushnell I used to have.  Maybe if the newer Bushnells have dropped in quality it makes sense to go less expensive now, but if I was going back to a laser I'd go Bushnell.

On 7/23/2018 at 2:26 PM, swgolfer said:

Had a V4 that developed Black spots in the screen and got no help other than it was Sun damage and not "Covered", not sure how it got Sun damage when it was always kept in a case.. Not sure about the newer Bushnell's quality and agree with other posters that the older models hold up much better.

I have black dots on the creek of my v4 as well. They don’t seem to affect anything other than being a cosmetic flaw. A few of my friends also have v4s and theirs are fine. 

Just had to replace the battery way more often than the Nikons I used before.  And the battery life indicator was basically worthless.