Please Recommend a Good Spotting Scope Under $350

[Quick Draw McGraw]

Never shopped for one before, and I don't know much about scopes. I am Looking for something for range work that will give me a good picture put to 200 yards. Whatever you guys recommend would be appreciated.

[bigbrowndog]

i just surfed eBay and found several current and older Bushnell scopes for under your price point. The recent higher level stuff has very good glass in it.
Some of the older Bausch and Lomb scopes are excellent just not in variable magnification.

Trapr

[bushog]

If you don't have the $$ for good glass keep the magnification down....

You just going to use it at the range?

[oregon45]

Fixed 20x-25x should be more than enough for the range out to 200 yards--in fact, I use a fixed 20x out to 600 yards for NRA competition. More magnification is not always a good thing, particularly if you shoot anywhere where you will encounter mirage.

It's a bit beyond your budget, but for $480 you can set up a really nice Kowa spotting scope with a 25x long-eye relief eyepiece, so you don't have to jam your eye up against the scope like you have to do with many inexpensive spotters.

www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/276098-REG/Kowa_TSN_601_TSN_601_2_4_60mm_Spotting_Scope.html

www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/336342-REG/Kowa_TE_17HD_TSE_17HD_25x_Long_Eye.html

[Quick Draw McGraw]

Apr 26, 2017 20:20:05 GMT -5 bushog said:

If you don't have the $$ for good glass keep the magnification down....

You just going to use it at the range?

Yup, just range use.

[bradshaw]

480 skins is a lot more than “under $350.” Photo shows a wide ocular lens on the Kowa 25x eyepiece. A WIDE OCULAR is indispensable to my sighting, and a long EYE RELIEF in conjunction with a wide ocular allows glasses to be worn while maintaining field of view. So many spotting scopes get this critical detail wrong. As inferred, higher magnification requires higher quality optics. If you have the chance to look through a variety of spotting scopes by all means do so. 20x with good resolution is a versatile power.

If you happen to trip over an old dogleg Weaver spotting scope (1960’s or early 70’s?), pick it up. Likewise an original Leopold 20x50mm straight-through rubber armored. Don’t know about the Weaver but the Leopold can take a bath in the ocean. First saw the Weaver in action on the firing line of the IHMSA International, a.k.a. World Championship. It belonged to All-American Ron Cottriel and he loved it. The dogleg prism system shortens a scope. More importantly, the dogleg or PORRO PRISM folds light without adding a jellyfish shadow. Memory thinks the beautiful little Weaver was about 20x. That Weaver and the Leopold 20x50mm are total sleepers.

With real quality there is nothing wrong with used. A small ocular and pinched eye relief are deal-killers.
David Bradshaw

[Snyd]

Optics are one of those areas where you get what you pay for. $350 will buy you a real crappy scope with a zoom or a mediocre fixed power. Either one will leave you wanting. I'd advise saving some more shekels and get up to the $500-600 range and then look for a quality used scope. Buy once, cry once. Better than wasting your money on crap.

I have a PENTAX PF-65 ED II that I've had for 12+ years with a Williams Optics Zoom II eyepiece that I use sheep hunting. It's a very nice quality scope, resolves excellent detail and has the PENTAX lifetime warranty. If you keep your eyes peeled you can find them for about $500 with the PENTAX 20-60 zoom and you will have a scope that will last a lifetime. Or you can get various fixed power eyepieces as well. The PENTAX scopes accept standard 1.25 Astronomy Scope eyepieces. Here's just one of many old reviews on the PENTAX PF-65. Lots of info out there... www.birdwatching.com/optics/2009scopes_mid/pentax_pf80ed.html

All else being equal, a fixed power scope will give better resolution than a zoom because there are fewer lenses you are looking through and no mechanical device moving them around.

Magnification does not give you a higher resolution, clearer image. It only makes things bigger. You can make out more detail with a quality 20X scope than you can with a crappy 40 power.

Higher magnification requires more light which means a larger objective lense is needed. 45X is about the max power a 65mm scope can handle before the image gets pretty dim. 80mm+ is best when you get to 60X.

Quality scope have quality glass and coatings that cut the glare and allow you to see the detail you want. A 30cal hole at 200yds can be tough to see when facing the sun. A crappy scope is garbage in those kinds of situations

Higher magnification magnifies everything between you and the object you are looking at including the moisture in the air, heat waves reflecting off the ground, fog, dust, etc. A quality scope on lower magnification rules in those conditions.

[AxeHandle]

After a lifetime of shooting pocket pool I can tell you that for 25-50 yards cheap scopes work pretty good. Our issue scope was something like a 25-60 B&L with a 45 degree offset eyepiece . I think the objective was about 60mm. We easily spotted 22 holes at 50 yards with those things. My personal spotting scopes include a little straight 25 power Tasco that I have never felt lacking with at 50 yards. FWIW the high power rifle team guys laughed at our issue spotting scopes. They shoot 200-600 Yards.

[potatojudge]

For home range use, is there a wifi camera system that can be used? Set the camera up 10 yards in front of the target, watch your shots hit on your phone.

No good for hunting or public ranges, but for some of the shooting I do at the family ranch it would definitely have utility.

Set up an iPhone by the target, one at the bench, FaceTime. Watch me blow up a phone that way. 

[Rimfire69]

I'm with Snyd on this one, spend more money on higher end optics. The quality will be long remembered after the price is long forgotten.

[paul105]

+ 1 -- good quality optics are worth the price. Always believed this but was reinforced yesterday. Son and I were shooting up some miscellaneous 300 mag ammo (didn't know exact POI)on some steel at 650 and 850 yards. He has a pair of Sworofski (sp?) binoculars, the 10x model with integral range finder. I've had trouble with binoculars for years (squirely left eye). I couldn't believe how bright and clear they were. I was easily able to spot misses and walk him onto the targets.

Not suggesting you need extra high end like Swaro's or others, but spend a bit more. As mentioned above, several years from now you won't remember spending the extra.

FWIW,

Paul

[Quick Draw McGraw]

I forgot to update you fellas. I have a coworker that had a Vortex spotting scope he isn't using so I bought it off him for $200. I can't recall the name of the model but it was around $360 new, and it has a 20-60 magnification and I think a 60mm lens. Clarity is very good, and for my purposes is perfect. Only reason he sold it was he now prefers binoculars.

[Snyd]

Good deal. I've heard the Vortex Scopes aren't bad.