You’ll have to excuse my excitement about the weapon mounted laser rangefinder or WMLRF. Yes, I know it is not a new concept in anyway. What I once saw as a high speed, low drag, tactical-luxury item I now see as a must-have force multiplier for the individual precision rifleman. If you’re somewhat proficient in the shooting process — think less trigger press, breathing, sight picture, and think more target ID, acquisition, ranging and ballistics solutions, then you understand how much of a pain said process can be.
Maybe inefficient is a better term. There’s nothing worse than getting down on the rifle and assuming you have everything you need to start shooting, only to realize that you didn’t range the target or you don’t have your ballistics info right in front of you. Not to mention getting an accurate range can be difficult when you’re trying to use the rifle as your support. An inaccurate range means you’ll miss. The WMLRF that is installed and deployed properly ends all of these issues.
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The number of different offerings continues to grow, and with that, the differences between them starts to show. Yes, I mean to rhyme that. But in all seriousness we are starting to realize the differences in capabilities for the dollar amount, and the prices vary for sure.
Who is Maztech?
Maztech Industries is a proudly American company. Based out of Montana, Maztech is actually a spin off from another successful company that made a major impact in the defense space with thermal optics. “Maztech truly is America’s rangefinder. It truly is built designed, manufactured—everything here in Montana,”, stated Michael Masarik, Director of Sales and Marketing. Michael went on to explain some of the nuisances of the LRF space, and how basically no other company can truly stand on the “Made In The USA,” claim. “Because we make everything in house, we really only pay for material and labor, so we can drive our prices way down compared to competitors.”
The Unit — Maztech X4 15K
Maztech sent out one of their most excellent X4 LRF units for evaluation. It is available in three models, the X4 2k, X4 15K, and X4 15M. The 15M is their most powerful unit for MIL and LE only, while the 2K and 15K fall into the civilian category. Maximum ranging distance with the 2K is 2,180 yards, which is pretty solid. The 15K steps things up with an astounding 16,400 yard range. The MIL/LE version has the same ranging distance as it 15K but has a much more power in the aiming laser itself.
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You may be wondering why it’s even necessary to range over 16,000 yards when you obviously can’t shoot that far. It has nothing to do with actual engagement ranges but more to do with reliability of ranging when conditions deteriorate. While the X4 15K truly ranges 16,400 yards in the best conditions, it can reliably range three kilometers when weather turns for the worst; think rain, fog, snow. “In these conditions, if you can see it, you can range it with the X4,” Masarik exclaimed. These same conditions cause lesser LRF’s to crap out early or give inconsistent, inaccurate readouts. When you’re depending on this data, whether you’re a competitor or soldier, accurate data is key since you’ll be basing your ballistics solution on that range reading.
X4 LRF Details
The X4 15K employs a single-pulse high energy laser, giving it the advantage over competitive units that use multi-pulse lasers. On a multi-pulse laser you’ll get a delay when you push the range button because it has to pulse many thousands of times and aggregates a range from wherever the strongest signal was. This causes inconsistent or slow speeds. The single-pulse of the Maztech gives readouts sometimes within a tenth of a second. This laser is not visible to night vision devices.
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It takes more than just a strong laser to make a top-tier laser range finding unit and the Maztech has it with a full suite of sensors that read pressure, humidity, and temperature. These sensors, when paired with the internal Applied Ballistics solver give the Maztech and the user great capabilities. On top of the sensors, the unit also has auto cant correction just in case you don’t have your rifle leveled off.
Built Tough Maztech
The Maztech X4 is built tough from 7075-T6 aluminum for hard and serious use. It’s also designed to MIL-STD 810 environmental specs. While expertly designed and assembled, every unit undergoes a durability test on a full auto SCAR 17. The SCAR 17 is known for doling out serious punishment to optics and other attached accessories and the X4 takes it head on before it gets the approval to ship out to the customer.
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This durability capability runs all the way to the OLED screen, which isn’t affected by cold temperatures like a LCD screen is. You an also see the screen while wearing polarized glasses. Sounds like a small thing but that’s massive. The unit runs on a CR123 battery and comes with rechargeable batteries, a wired trigger, reflective alignment targets, and charging cables for the batteries.
Operation & Use
First you need to mount the X4 to your rifle. It attaches via pic rail. Most people opt to mount it to a diving board scope ring. It can also be mounted to the side of your rifle. Once mounted You’ll need to set up the unit, but first you’ll need an accurate zero. From there you’ll use a reflective target to align the laser with your rifle’s zero. There is a bit of an offset and Maztech provides clear instructions on how to do so. It’s really quite easy.
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Once the laser and optic are aligned you’ll need to set up your bullet profiles inside the Applied Ballistics solver. You do this on your smart device, syncing with the X4 via Bluetooth. Once you set up the profile with all the necessary info, you sync it and it’s ready to go. The smartphone app is optional and not necessary for operation.
Once Zeroed…
With your optic dialed to its zero you simply find a target, laze it for range, dial to the solution on the screen and press the trigger. Like any solver you may need to true your data at longer distances but I had incredible success right out of the gate with no need to true the data. I shot my .223 bolt gun out to over 900 yards with impact after impact using the Maztech X4. It’s difficult to describe just how much work it takes out of the precision shooting process. It’s indeed the definition of a force multiplier.
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I tested the ranging of the X4 15K to see just how far I could get it to range. I’ll just cut to the chase. 14,700 yards was the best. I was raging what looked to be a trailer far off in the boiling mirage of the Arizona desert. I had ranged a distant mountain the day before at over 12,000 yards and the Maztech did so with absolute ease. I don’t even think it took a half a second to measure such a long range. I have no doubts in the claimed capabilities.
Maztech: Luxury Item or Must Have?
So the question is, is the Maztech a luxury item? For the serious precision shooter who wants to maximize his or her efforts on the rifle, no. In fact I’m slowly moving toward the “WMLRF is a necessity,” camp. I’ve used several units thus far, this one being the best, but every time I use any unit it solidifies my belief in its validity.
The Maztech is a high performance unit. It possesses a level of quality and legitimacy that other units may not. Durable construction and design is well executed and it shows in the ragning results. The 15K is not cheap. The $4,995 price tag may keep it unjustifiable if not unreachable by many. But if you can swing it, I think it would be well worth the cost. That being the case it is still less expensive than other competitive units and arguably has much greater capabilities.
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Specifications: Maztech X4-LRF-15K
- Dimensions: 5.2×2.8×1.8
- Weight: 12.9 oz
- Ranging: 25-16,400 yd
- Battery Type: CR123 Lithium
- Battery Life: 10,000 ranges
- Mount: Rain/ STANAG 494
- Ballistics Solving: Applied Ballistics
- Wireless Connectivity: Bluetooth
- MSRP: 2K $2,195/15K $4,995
