17 caliber spotting scope?

[Gary O]

Question: when you folks started shooting 17 caliber rifles, did you have any difficulty resolving those tiny holes in your paper targets at 100 yards? What say you? Thanks...

PS: did you have to upgrade your spotting scopes?

 

[gamestalker]

At 100 yds. it shouldn't be a huge issue, most decent spotting scopes will suffice at that distance. However, beyond 100 yds. you may need to either utilize splatter targets, or in fact up grade your spotting scope to something with higher magnification, and with good image resolution. Cheap high magnification spotting scopes are just a waste of money.

For good quality optics, you might take a gander at the Vortex line. I have one of their Viper spotting scopes 20x60x80, and I can literally see flies buzzing the eye's on deer at well over a mile away, and I'm not exaggerating. That's what Vortex can offer for about $1K OTD, best deal around for that level of quality.

GS

 

[back40]

flies buzzing the eye's on deer at well over a mile away

really? over a mile away?

a decent spotting scope should allow you resolve .17 cal shots on paper at 100 yards. contrast is the name of the game, and black bulls don't help. white paper targets with red aiming points work fine for me.

 

[Art Eatman]

Years back I bought an el cheapo telescope, 20X-60X. Above 40X it begins to get blurry. But, 40X is plenty good for any bullet holes in white paper out to 200 yards.

 

[RainDodger]

The wife gave me one of the new Redfield "Rampage" spotting scopes last Christmas. It's a 20 - 60X scope, made by Leupold. From Optics Planet, it's $199 and well worth it. I wanted something I could see the little bitty holes with, and this does the trick adequately. Nope, it's not as crystal clear as a pricey Zeiss or something, but it works just fine, and it won't break the bank. I spend the big $$ on rifle scopes, but not a spotting scope. Good value.

 

[bamajoey]

If you are looking at holes in paper, a good scope (T-36 Weaver for example) is all you need at 100 yds.