Spotting scope

The Bushnell T-Series 15-45x is closing out all over, priced running $300-360. It’s not a top end optic, but for $300-360, it’s top of the price class. The mil-hash reticle is very handy for ranging and calling corrections as well. I really enjoy this compact optic.

I also use the Bushnell Elite 20-60x when size isn’t a concern, useful for spotting impacts out to 1200. It’s notably better than the T Series compact, but also cost about 4 times as much, certainly out of the price range in this post.

I have, however, reverted to doing my match spotting with a set of Swarovski SLC 15x binos. Granted, they’re a very different price class than the spotters mentioned above.

ETA: looks like I missed the boat on a price bubble. The T Series spotters are back up at $415-433 now. I was planning to buy one for one of my interns a few weeks ago but put it off, had it in my amazon cart even, but wanted to dig through details on a couple other ads. Still a steal at that price.

konus with bench tripod. 200 bucks. great value.

KONUS 7120 20x-60x80mm Spotting Scope with Tripod and Case https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DX7Q8W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_nvJQCbDHK7WWA

I do have a decent spotting scope, but I'm not qualified to give advice....other than get a good one with an angled eyepiece. They have benefits.

I've had the cheapy Redhead spotting scope from Bass Pro Shops for over a decade and have no issues with it.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1210887-REG/leupold_170760_sx_1_ventana_2_20_60x80.html

Complete kit ,get it with angled eyepiece

Cheap spotting scopes are seldom worthwhile and I know firsthand. Dad still swears by his old garbage Tasco who’s only benefit is doubling the apparent size of holes with a fuzzy ringing effect. I have a Columbia branded spotter that is tolerable at 200 with .30 caliber holes, but more often I simply rely on my rifle’s scope to view hits.

If I ever get serious about spotters I really liked the Pentax 80mm I looked through at the range and the compact Minox a birding friend owns for lower power. The other glaring omission in equipment is a good tripod. Mine is a big box $20 Sunpak where I should have simply doubled the budget and bought once (on both counts).

Now that you’ve sprung for a better scope make sure not to hamper it with a cheap tripod!

With the angled eyepiece you can use the scope on a table, rock, car hood, or even the ground for that matter, without a 6 ft wobbly tripod to pack along. Mine came with a sturdy little tripod....but you have to position yourself behind it.

Armored farmer said:

other than get a good one with an angled eyepiece.

Click to expand...

What the Armored farmer said..........
My first was a straight on scope. PITA to use effectively at the range. But works okay mounted on the door window of the pick-up .(kind of)

I’ve always preferred a straight eyepiece. Guys talk about the advantage of angled eyepieces when looking up or downhill, maybe they’ve all broken their necks and have to wear a C collar every day? God granted me the ability to look up and downhill, so putting a scope between my eye and target is pretty easy.

Varminterror said:

I’ve always preferred a straight eyepiece. Guys talk about the advantage of angled eyepieces when looking up or downhill, maybe they’ve all broken their necks and have to wear a C collar every day? God granted me the ability to look up and downhill, so putting a scope between my eye and target is pretty easy.

Click to expand...

And this is fine....but of multiple people want to use it....its being cranked to different heights.

Walkalong said:

This Athlon will be tough to beat while on sale IMHO.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/6...ing-scope-20-60x-80mm-with-tripod-angled-body

Click to expand...

You can spend a lot of money on spotting scopes, and spotting scope stands, but that is a real deal.

Having purchased too many spotting scopes, I developed a few opinions about them

This is an early rig of mine, with the later Freeland Tripod. This is a fixed power, 27X, but long eye relief scope.



In the middle 1980's these 77 mm Spotting scopes appeared on the market and they were just too big for the Freeland "Crow's Foot" tripod. There were a number of times that my Kowa, and other's Kowa's ate dirt when the scope stand was bumped, or just fell over, as we shot 200 Slow Fire Standing. The older scope stands were designed around the older 65 mm spotting scopes and the next generation spotting scopes were just too heavy and unbalanced for the older spotting scope stands. I know of one Bud who's Kowa cracked its objective lens when his stand tipped over. Freeland offered a spike which screwed in the shaft, which worked great in soft dirt, but did not work very well when you needed a jack hammer to make a hole, or, on a concrete firing point. I have seen what must be twenty pound cast lead weights attached to the shaft of the older Freeland stands. One clever shooter told me how he cast his weight, screw in the middle, using a cast iron firing pan. This was to prevent his scope from tipping over when fully extended on his stand, but it sure made his stand and scope a monster to carry!



When the 80mm scopes came out, I bought a Pentax with variable magnification. This is my go to scope and stand, for Smallbore Prone and Prone Centerfire.




This was a learning experience. While optically good, this Celestron 100mm scope is so ill balanced the manufacturer included a kludge extension bar that shifted the center of gravity. The bar never worked right, got loose, and only with the purchase of a Ray Vin scope head was I able to use this scope. It is still so badly balanced that fine adjustments are difficult to make. Also, don't buy a scope without rotating center attachment ring. This scope has a fixed attachment point and though the Ray Vin scope head makes it work, this is not as good as a rotating attachment ring.





This is a 65mm Celstron, optically good, but it does not have the rotating center attachment ring. The Freeland interface makes it work, but there are too many screws and they loosen up, and the scope droops, and that always happens at an inconvenient time. This is on the old Freeland Scope stand, which is very tippy with any scope with an objective greater than 65 mm, and a bit tippy with this rig.




This Pentax is a great little scope, fits on my old Freeland Tripod, use a stand long enough and the paint gets knocked off. I have no doubt this is optically better than a $139 dollar, or even a $200 spotting scope, but it takes a teenager to see the difference. This has the rotating center attachment ring and is a zoom scope.



If you are serious about shooting, get the biggest objective lens you can afford. The more you can see at distance, the more information you will pick up on mirage and plant movements. There are range conditions which the only thing you can use for velocity and direction estimates are the plants around your target. I remember talking to Tobie Tomlinson, a service rifle National Champion, about one horribly windy 600 yard relay at Camp Perry. Tobie had a plant in front of his target, when it went horizontal, he held his fire! I think the high score for the match was in the upper 180's, which was pretty low considering the number of National Champs on the firing line. When I grumbled about the conditions, the next day, an old retired USMC shooter, a couple of firing points away, informed me that when he won the 1000 yard match, with his service M14, he had full left windage on his rifle, and he was aiming at the third target to the left!.

While I like the zoom feature on my spotting scope, seldom is it useful when above "40X". Yes the image is larger, but mirage washes out the bullet hole. When mirage is bad, and often it is, I dial the magnification down. Sometimes even that won't work. I don't know the "perfect" fixed magnification, sometimes a 20X scope is what you need, sometimes a 30X will work. Lower magnification works in bad light and mirage when higher magnification won't.

Does one find that a 40x max scope used predominately at 20x be a better picture than a 20x scope used at 20x, given all else the same?

I find that with riflescopes often max magnification comes at a cost in clarity. I assume this is similar in spotting scopes. But I’ve looked few only a few in my time so my exposure is minimal.

Light transmission is a crucial component of the ability to distinguish things in a spotting scope. Once the ratio of the objective size to power gets below approximately 3, not enough light is getting to the human eye and the image begins to suffer on all but super bright days. High power scopes sound great, but you can rarely use the highest powers.

It's not an accident that Kowa (and others) sell fixed power oculars in the 24 to 27x range for their 80 mm objectives. Anything much higher and you don't get enough light to be useful.

Varminterror said:

I’ve always preferred a straight eyepiece. Guys talk about the advantage of angled eyepieces when looking up or downhill, maybe they’ve all broken their necks and have to wear a C collar every day? God granted me the ability to look up and downhill, so putting a scope between my eye and target is pretty easy.

Click to expand...

Angled seems to work better for me when shooting prone.

I recently bought a used late model Kowa TSN82 with 27x long eye relief eye piece for $700

3 of my last 4 scope purchases have been used and I’ve had really good luck doing it getting some great glass at really good prices. That might be an option for the OP to consider

Either used, or find a mil or LEO buddy who knows about Fight Club.

brutus51 said:

Need a new spotting scope, won't be shooting more than 300 yards and I don't want to spend more than 400 bucks unless you can guarantee I can see the rings of Saturn with it.

Click to expand...

https://www.amazon.com/Gosky-Waterp...rs-20&linkId=e19c94165154cee47dc184399cf43ebe
129 with didgiscoping adapter.

skeeterfogger said:

https://www.amazon.com/Gosky-Waterp...rs-20&linkId=e19c94165154cee47dc184399cf43ebe
129 with didgiscoping adapter.

Click to expand...

I bought this very scope earlier this year based on the reviews it had. I wanted to see if it would do better than my many years old, not top of the line Leupold 15x45 spotter. I set them up on seperate HD camera tripods and compared them side by side at the same distances at the same objects. I spent quite sometime at this and wound up with a stiff neck, tired eyes, and a low opinion of the GoSky scope. It's big and bright with poor resolution. With both at max power the Leupold beat it and with the GoSky backed down to 45x it was still no contest. Maybe I just got a bad one and the others are good but with my experience with it I wouldn't recommend it at all. Amazon got it back. I'm sure someone got it at a used, like new, price and may or may not be happy with it.