spotting scope

Going over 25x doesn't do much other than intensify the affect of the mirage anyway. So leaving a variable set on the bottom end is the most useful anyway. Even the sharpest of scopes won't show a bullet hole in paper at 500 yes unless the hole has enough light behind it to show up.

You didn't say what you use would be but I was given a Burris 20x50 spotting scope a few years ago and don't use my Leupold as much as I used to.

Not saying the cheap Burris (I thing they gave them away if you bought one of their scopes) is anywhere near the same quality but I can see .22 holes at 100 yards and I don't mind leaving it mounted on my rest out in the shop.

When I shot Hi- Power I found on cloudy days I needed a pretty good scope so I bought a Kowa 80 mm with a 27X lens. Another guy shooting Hi power bought a 6" refracting telescope. You could see the grain of the target paper at 100 yds but it was pretty big.

I have been shooting Bullseye and took off my el cheapo 20X-60X Barska primarily because I wanted a wider field of view, which meant less magnification at 50 yards . I bought another cheap scope, a Busnell which went down to 15X power. I would like to see if 10 power would work, 22 LR and 45 ACP holes are easy to see at 50 yards, and I want a wide field of view. I don't like having to fidget around trying to find the target. You have to check out the spotting scope, some of those won't focus at 15 yards.

I have used these Celestron scopes out to 1000 yards. These are cheap, provide darn good optics and clear images. This is a 65 mm scope, I think 18X to 55X. I don't recommend going larger unless you want a large scope to carry around. This scope is fantastically clear at its lowest magnification. If you ever shoot rifle, you will find that spotting scopes become useless much over 40X as the atmospheric interference blurs out the image. I have a 100 mm Celestron, the image is clear out to the edges, not green!, wide view field of view, but it is like carrying a 5 gallon bucket around.



You know, the optics today are so much better than they have ever been. Even my cheap Barska would work for a spotting scope for high power rifle. I took the thing to a 500 yard match and compared against a $1,000 Pentax. I could see the color difference between the paster and target with the Barska. Zoomed up the image in the middle was green and the outer image was awful. But you could see in the middle. It worked much better at lower magnification. Now with the Pentax, I could distinguish the paste edges at 500 yards, you know, the edges are white from being torn off the reel.

I bought a spotting scope that is never used. My rifles have good 3-18 scopes mounted and I can see .22 bullet holes at all ranges I shoot. Those shoot-n-see targets make spotting a lot easier too. A spotting scope really comes into its own when you have someone spotting for you.

I only use a spotting scope when I'm using irons, most of my rifles I punch paper or knock over cptr with have enough magnification on the rifle.

I do like my Kowa TSN-82SV with an EER 25x eyepiece. It was as high up the price/performance ladder as I could afford.

I think one of the biggest issues with spotting scopes in the lower price range, such as the Vortex 20x60x60, is knowing how to use one. I spend hours on end glassing with scopes, and if I were to put my eye up close to the eye piece, I would be suffering a blinding head ache is less than 30 minutes, and I would miss that little piece of antler sticking out from under a tree in the shadows.

Which takes us to proper use, or how to correctly use a spotting scope, especially at higher magnification, or magnification above 15x.

When I'm teaching someone how to glass with a scope, I teach them to look at the eye piece, not into it. Think of the eye piece as a T.V. screen, get back from it, and view the small dot sized image quadrant that's visible, not the entire available field of view. Regardless if I'm working long hours at long distances glassing for game, or if I'm trying to see 22 cal bullets holes at 500 or 600 yards, I position my eye a good 6" or 8" away from the eye piece, then I roll around the available field of view by moving my head up, down, or side to side until I've covered everything in that field of view, or the specific object I'm viewing. This prevents excessive eye strain, but more importantly, it improves the image quality immensely. But because it's necessary to back way off the eye piece, it's also often necessary to have some way to shade your eye, and the eye piece. For that, I usually drape something over my head and the scope, this blocks out reflections and glare.

GS

2 things that you need to know when buying a spotting scope.

The first is to try looking through the intended scope in the position you intend to use it at.
If you will be looking through the scope in the prone position find a place where you can do that and test it out.
I cannot get comfortable shooting prone behind a straight scope.
My preference is angled.

Also when comparing apples to apples make sure to include the price of the eye piece since high end scopes sell the eye piece separate.

Thump-rr, that is so true. When I buy glass I always bring my pod, mount it up, and take it outside to use it as I would in the field, or the range. There's just no way to test glass by holding it up and looking through, not too mention while standing in a store with florescent lighting.

GS

In the past when I am looking at high end products that I want to know more about I order all of them, test them, then return all but the one I want to keep.

Scheel's markets a cased scope in 20x-65x for a little over $200. Mine is a see-thru, but you can get an angled-eyepiece, if that tickles your fancy.
I bought a Vortex camera tripod and adjust it for my eye-height, at the bench...or all the way up, if I want to use it standing up.
Have fun,
Gene

The wife gave me a Redfield "Rampage"... zooms to 60X. Optics Planet (I think) had them on sale a while back for less than $199. Yeah, it's not a $1,000 spotting scope, but it also works just great for a few hundred yards. I can see the itty bitty holes a .17HMR makes and that's good enough for me. It has a nice rubber cushioned exterior and comes with a perfectly sized tripod. Great for the money.