Spotting Scopes

[Jpanzer 1,265]

Discovered on my range trip today that my Bundeswehr binoculars are not powerful enough (8x30) to give me a detailed view of my target. Even at a distance of 100 yards it's tough to get a sharp image of the target. Think maybe it's time to investigate a spotting scope.

 

Currently the farthest distance any range around here offers is 400 yards, and usually 100 or less is the norm, so I'm looking for a scope that will zoom in at these distances and give a sharp image. Not looking to spend a load of dollars on this, just looking for decent quality at a good price.

 

Any reccomendations?

[waltermitty 2]

part of the answer depends on the user. younger eyes vs older, caliber, distance, convenience, etc.

 

natch, in my shooting career, I started out cheaply, picking up a Minolta spotting scope for about $50

but was not satisfied when beyond 100 yrd...especially when I began to look for holes made by 308

in the 2-300 yrd range.

 

next would be to get Cabela et al on sale for $50-150 but generally, they are 40-60 objective but

so-so quality. their ability to resolve fine lines and detail may be lacking.

 

best value per dollar would be to find a used astronomical telescope in mirror design for $200-300.

 

when I graduated to the 50 cal, the distance went beyond 600 yds.

 

my eyes began to age and not able to pick up critical details if ambient light was low(er). I had to

pick up a scope which had larger objective.

 

fortunately, i found a used Kowa in 82mm obj on one of the forums and that was great for me most

of the time. < 5# and great optics. mostly use the 50x eyepiece on it but always carry the 27x long

eye relief as back up.

 

i did sample a colleague's Konus and thought it was a very good performer for the money.

 

for comic relief, i did bring out my 8" objective (200mm) to the range 2-3x. it's used to scan the

skies for nebulas and rings of saturn. it's about a 40# package but pretty neat picking out .22 holes

at 800-1000 yrds.

Edited February 18, 2011 by waltermitty

[TX-Zen 287]

best value per dollar would be to find a used astronomical telescope in mirror design for $200-300.

 

 

That's great advice, I wouldn't have thought of that

 

 

 

Z

[Garys4598 1,065]

I give a big +1 to what waltermitty stated. I have a Kowa TSN-773 Prominar and love it to death. But the farthest I typically target shoot is 300 yards. I'd say at 400 yards and beyond, the weather and temperature is the largest factor that impacts on the visibility of any spotting scope, whether it be a $500 scope or a $3,000 scope.

 

You mentioned up front that the vast majority of your shooting is done at 100 yards. To accommodate your needs at that range, I'd say you should be able to find a very nice and reasonably priced spotting scope from the vast majority of manufacturers.

 

Below is my Kowa TSN-773 setup:

 

Edited February 23, 2011 by Gary

[Dad2142Dad 6,559]

Thanks for the thread guys, great advice. Went with Barska Benchmark 25-125x88

[atakacorp 147]

part of the answer depends on the user. younger eyes vs older, caliber, distance, convenience, etc.

 

natch, in my shooting career, I started out cheaply, picking up a Minolta spotting scope for about $50

but was not satisfied when beyond 100 yrd...especially when I began to look for holes made by 308

in the 2-300 yrd range.

 

next would be to get Cabela et al on sale for $50-150 but generally, they are 40-60 objective but

so-so quality. their ability to resolve fine lines and detail may be lacking.

 

best value per dollar would be to find a used astronomical telescope in mirror design for $200-300.

 

when I graduated to the 50 cal, the distance went beyond 600 yds.

 

my eyes began to age and not able to pick up critical details if ambient light was low(er). I had to

pick up a scope which had larger objective.

 

fortunately, i found a used Kowa in 82mm obj on one of the forums and that was great for me most

of the time. < 5# and great optics. mostly use the 50x eyepiece on it but always carry the 27x long

eye relief as back up.

 

i did sample a colleague's Konus and thought it was a very good performer for the money.

 

for comic relief, i did bring out my 8" objective (200mm) to the range 2-3x. it's used to scan the

skies for nebulas and rings of saturn. it's about a 40# package but pretty neat picking out .22 holes

at 800-1000 yrds.

Thank you for the info, I am shotting 500 + yards ,looking at this ones is it overkill ?

http://www.amazon.co...ASIN=B0007UQNKY

http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/refracting-telescopes/celestronpowerseeker80eqtelescope.cfm?TID=CELE016&source=channel_intelligence_amazon_telescopes&srccode=cii_23393768&cpncode=27-94730982-2

Edited February 5, 2012 by atakacorp