looking for ideas for a spotting scope set up,,

Pat, 

A spotting scope should last for your life and that of the boys.

Stay away from the junk at WALMART, Big 5, etc.

Cabela’s has a good scope they has their name on it and I had one for many years but my son took it.

Japanese lenses a those from Eastern Europe would be a plus.

Leopold would be a good place to start.

If there are any bench rest (200 yards+) competitions in your area, go see what the pros are using..

IMHO spotting scopes are in the buy once cry once catagory. I have a cheap 20-60 and have regretted not buying better since I first looked through it.

Look for one that has a good bit of eye relief. Leupold was one I picked. There are many out there better but you're going to have to spend big bucks. I'd look for a leupold on eBay. The compact ones are pretty nice.

I have owned a few but tried many , I own a Vortex Razor 27x60x85 and it is very good glass. I use spotting scopes for vapor trials with center fires and look out past 3000 yards and their is a huge difference between tier one glass and cheap glass , cheap glass you zoom in on visual defects in lens , so you look at a blur zoomed in , it doesn't work .



Buy the best glass you can afford . Places like euro optic swfa , optics planet, bh photo , sells new , used and demos

some of the better ones are lifetime warranty so a used one is as good as new , ones I liked were , Swavorski , Ziess victory , night-force ts 82 , vortex razor 85 , lieca APO 82 ,

these are top lines sometimes u can find serious sales at online stores , then lower lines I don't know much about then except they dont work at long ranges due to quality of glass ,

I am a long range shooter I have tried all the lower lines and you just cant spot same things and long range

It is better to have tier 1 glass at 8x then cheap glass at 25x

Most low priced spotting scopes do not have the glass to magnify the amount it says

Hope this helps if you were close by

Id have you look threw a few brands , sample list at swfa is good place to get a good used set , be careful on eBay some people selling clones and fakes better to get from a reputable shop or locally where u can see it

I have had the opportunity to have a look through a variety of spotting scopes at a gun range and agree to stay away from cheap crappy scopes.

I had been focusing on the fine print on the targets at 200 yards to determine the overall clarity. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between the high dollar ones vs the ones that the average Joe can afford.

The best scope I have looked through is a Swarovsky 85mm HD which cost $3800.00

Next best scope was a non HD Swarovsky similar to the one above which cost $2500.00

There was NOTHING else I looked through that would be as sharp and crisp as those 2.

I bought a $600 Bushnell Elite NON HD 15-45X and it wasn't good enough for me, shoulda bought once cried once.

What I ended up being content with was a Bushnell Elite 20-60xHD at about 1/2 the price of the lesser Swarovskys.

Looked through the $250-$350 Leupolds and Burris which were common just above the crap ones hard to see bullet holes.

If you are shooting past 200 yards you willwant to clearly see the bullet holes in your targets, that is the purpose right?

I would strongly suggest buying one not based on what you can afford, but one that you can't because it will be better 

and put it on a credit card if you have to. Trust me, you will thank me for it because you won't be second guessing yourself

like I did and have the cheaper $600.00 one that never gets used after I bought the Elite HD.

I don't think anything under $1000.00 would be good enough when purchased new.

For airgun use up to 100-150 yards I think the $250-$350 Leupold and Burris might be enough but you will struggle to

distinguish the holes in the targets at greater distances unless you have better than human eyesight.



CA

Been through tripods as well and I would highly recommend MANFROTTO.

CA

https://www.targettamers.com/spotting-scopes/bushnell-elite-20-60x80-review/

Good news is that you get to buy one for a lot cheaper now than for what I paid for mine.

There now is another with a different part number 784580 selling for $1781.64 on amazon and I

am guessing it is a new and updated version of it and would expect it to be even better.

Your post got me curious to try it out but don't want to end up with three of them.

If you want to send me a pm I could offer you one or both of mine since I am now wanting

to cry again and a bit harder this time.



CA

I bought a Kowa many years ago, with a 45 degree eyepiece, and it’s terrific...I have the 25 power fixed eyepiece, and a 25-40(I think) zoom... the 25 works well for me at 200, I can read target and 22 bullet holes...unless mirage rears it’s ugly head!...I like the 45 degree eyepiece, saves straining your neck... Brightness suffers as the power increases, just like a riflescope....

I had a Kowa with a 25 power long eye relief ocular. THAT was a good scope. Once you look thru the high end stuff it's pretty hard to go cheap.

Those older leupold 25 power compacts are pretty nice for the money . Selling used on ebay for between $200 and $300 and for that money they are WAY better then the new stuff selling for similar.

If you look on ebay you will see that they always sell. ALWAYS that tells you a lot. You really do have to look thru some before you buy. The numbers don't tell you much. Again eye relief. The cheap stuff you have to your eye so close to the ocular . That is annoying especially if you wear glasses. Lots of times you are going to spend a fair amount of time looking thru the spotting scope so buy good once. You'll appreciate it after heal from the money.

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mike

 

I have had my celestron ultima 80 for a long while now 

great spotter for the money I have no issues seeing targets at 250 yds with it 

great for celestial viewing of stars also 



pcpfan37