Element Optics Titan 3K Rangefinder Review
by Dylan Whittier
Dylan is a sponsored shooter out of Utah, USA. He competes regularly in precision rifle matches and has been using the Titan 3K to validate target distances. We asked him to share his feedback after a match in particularly harsh weather conditions:
I was eager to test the new Element Optics Titan 3K rangefinder ever since seeing photos of the prototype almost a year ago at the Northeastern Airgun Classic. The very first thought I had when seeing the Titan 3k was how cool the 1/4×20 mount on the bottom of the rangefinder was. The hassle free mounting ability of the rangefinder is very appealing to the modern day shooter because of how easy and quick it is to mount to a tripod for maximum stability when ranging in the field. All you need to add is an arca plate to the 1/4×20 mount and you are well on your way to measuring precise distances.
I had the opportunity to use the Titan 3k at a Precision Rifle Series shooting match in Blue Creek, Utah. I was especially eager to test the unit at this particular range because every target is on a 5′ T-post in the middle of a prairie, making target ranging fairly difficult if your laser isn’t perfectly on target. I have used other rangefinding binoculars for the same application and have found getting reliable distances on small targets rather difficult, especially if target distances aren’t given by the match director for you to compare your distances with. This rangefinder has a mode called “first target priority” which to me is one of the coolest features, in this mode you can press the range finding button and it will shoot the laser at your target then give you the distance of the first object the laser hits rather than the hillside hundreds of yards behind it. The beam divergence is about 1.8 MRAD which is great for first target priority mode because you have a higher probability of getting a portion of that beam to hit the target, thus getting you a precise distance much more efficiently than before.
I wanted to give this unit a critical test to make sure it was as dependable and proficient as I believed it to be, especially because I plan to use this rangefinder for the rest of competition season. For my testing, I would purposely range the hillside behind the target, take note of it, then I would attempt to get a perfect target distance on the first attempt, then verify that it was similar to what the match book specified. The 25-30mph wind shaking the tripod made my test more difficult than I would have liked because the reticle in the rangefinder was dancing around quite a bit and the targets were fairly small. It was actually great to be able to test the rangefinder in a practical/worst case scenario like this and I was able to perfectly range every target within two tries, which is very impressive especially compared to other rangefinding optics.
The ballistic calculator feature is lightning fast and provides a heads up display of your elevation and windage solution based on your rifle’s profile in the Element Optics app which links via bluetooth to the Titan 3k. The Element Ballistics app has almost every mass produced projectile in its database, making it way easier to create a rifle profile than having to measure the exact parameters of your projectile.
Some other intuitive features include the removable and rechargeable 18650 battery, and an onboard usb-c port to charge the battery if you don’t have an 18650 battery charging station. The tethered eye piece is important to keep dust and debris out of the ocular area to make ensure the clarity of the glass lasts as long as possible. We had a snowstorm blow in during the match and everything was soaked within minutes, I was a little nervous as the Titan 3k is one of the Utah Airguns demo models and I didn’t want to be responsible for damaging it. The Titan never skipped a beat even when soaked and there were no signs of moisture inside the glass housing or battery compartment.
The last topic I will mention is how painless and fast the bluetooth pairing is. When the rangefinder is activated it will put out a bluetooth signal that will automatically populate in your Element ballistics app, from there you can send a rifle profile within seconds. Sometimes pairing a device and creating/sending profiles can be a tedious or frustrating process and it is such a relief to experience how easy and painless the Titan 3k is.
Watch Dylan’s overview video here: