Revic Optics BR4 Rangefinder: Tested

Fresh from the boundary-pushing minds at Gunwerks, the new Revic BR4 is unquestionably the most capable and advanced rangefinder available.

For around 15 years, Gunwerks—a custom rifle company located in Cody, Wyoming—has focused on long-range hunting rifles, and today, it is generally recognized as a leading expert in that field. Revic Optics was established more recently. Owned and founded by Aaron Davidson, also founder and CEO of Gunwerks, Revic was launched to research and create space-age smart optics, such as its PMR428 4-28X 50mm smart scope.

About 10 years ago (pre-Revic), Gunwerks introduced the G7 BR rangefinder that featured an onboard ballistic calculator and basic sensors that read fundamental atmospheric data and plugged real-time conditions into ballistic solutions. It was powerful, complex, and expensive, but it was reliable. Once Revic was founded, the Revic BR4 was created, and it does so much that attempting to convey its capability in clear, concise prose is daunting. But here goes.

The Revic BR4 has a broad but narrow (meaning not tall) laser beam, so it’s very good at providing exact ranges, exactly on target, consistently. I’ve obtained readings to 2,600 yards handheld. Mounted to a tripod, the BR4 will zap reflective targets out to 4,000 yards.

Gunwerks and Revic have performed exhaustive testing on actual deer and elk hides, hung at long distance, to determine and refine the laser types and frequencies that provide the most reliable, accurate responses. Three different ranging modes allow the shooter to fine-tune capability to best fit the current task. And you can choose metric or standard (imperial) output, as well as come-ups in M.O.A, MILS, or a special BDC dial mode.

The BR4 has 10X magnification and weighs 10 ounces. Specs on laser type, battery type, and so forth are shown in the accompanying chart.

The BR4 reads “station pressure,” meaning on-the-spot, right-there, right-now air density and temperature and humidity. And as a first-ever, the BR4 has an exposed (but protected) probe that allows it to provide extremely accurate atmospherics. It plugs those real-time atmospherics into the onboard ballistic calculator when it crunches dial-up solutions for long-range shots.

The really advanced stuff is found in the BR4’s ballistic calculator and the sync-able Revic smartphone app. The app is free, and it’s both simple and incredibly advanced. It pulls weather from the nearest weather station or allows you to override that and manually enter on-the-spot atmospheric data, and another function helps you create custom rifle/ammo/optic profiles. Once zeroed at your preferred sight-in distance, a simple touch-screen toggle enables you to switch the ballistic calculator from using “zero distance” to “zero angle.”

Zero angle is a relatively new concept in calculating advanced ballistic solutions. The concept is, rather than assuming your 200-yard zero is always on—no matter what altitudinal or temperature changes you’ve undergone, no matter what steep angle you may be shooting at—and basing all range-compensating calculations from that point out like zero distance does, zero angle computes the exact angle of departure between your scope and the axis of your gun’s bore and anchors all calculations from that point. Without question, it’s a better mousetrap.

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Yet another in-app function provides the handiest, easiest “truing” capability I’ve ever seen in a ballistic calculator. Once you’ve refined and confirmed your zero, and after validating your long-range trajectory, it enables you to instantly refine ballistic coefficient or velocity to match real-world performance. For long-range competitors, that can make the difference between a hit or a miss.

To take advantage of the “trued” ballistic profile, you have to sync the ballistic profile(s) in your app with the BR4 rangefinder, and it’s easy to do. The BR4 will hold 10 different onboard ballistic profiles.

The Revic app and the BR4 rangefinder will incorporate and compensate for all the nuanced, complex influences that affect extreme-range ballistics. Functions include Aero Jump, Spin Drift compensation, and Earth Effects. By reading latitude, magnetic declination, and compass bearing, the Revic app and the BR4 rangefinder will compensate for Coriolis effect.

And the BR4’s angle-compensating capability borders on miraculous. Rather than being based on the old Rifleman’s Rule (the horizontal distance method), it utilizes actual scientific data and very advanced ballistic mathematical calculations to produce dial-up solutions. Measurements and calculations are so refined the algorithms incorporate the differing gravity acceleration or drag effects of downhill versus uphill shots. They also incorporate increasing or decreasing air density during long uphill versus downhill shots.

My first acquaintance with the new Revic BR4 came in October 2021, during a long-range shooting refresher course with Gunwerks in Texas, followed by a few days pursuing aoudad sheep.

After a briefing on building a ballistic profile for my Gunwerks ClymR chambered in 7mm SAUM and syncing it to the BR4 rangefinder, we confirmed zeros, validated and trued long-range ballistics, and began climbing Texas Hill Country ridges and shooting at distant targets. I put a first-round hit centered in a nine-inch target at 662 yards, followed by a second shot that impacted right beside it. From a somewhat shaky sitting position rested over a tripod, I regularly rang a 1.5-MOA plate at more than 1,100 yards.

This was with a superbly accurate but unfamiliar load (Gunwerks’s 168-grain Berger VLD Hunting ammo) in my rifle, using a ballistic app and rangefinder that, previous to this trip, was entirely new to me. I was darned impressed.

BR4 Rangefinder Specifications

• Manufacturer: Revic Optics; revicoptics.com
• Distance Rating: 4,000 yds.
• Magnification: 10X
• Weight: 10 oz.
• Length: 4.85 in.
• Height: 3.15 in.
• Width: 1.65 in.
• Body Material: Metal
• Waterproofing: IP67
• Operating Temp.: -4º F to 140º F
• Sensors: Laser rangefinder, temperature, station pressure, compass, inclinometer
• Battery: CR2
• Display Color: Red
• Laser Beam Divergence: .2x1.6 MRAD
• Connectivity: Bluetooth
• MSRP: $1,350