Spotting Scope Opinions?

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I am trying to decide on a spotting scope to use on the club 100 yd range, mostly to see 30-06, 8mm, and .22 holes. This is not for competition, and I may visit a 200 or 300 yd range occasionally with the centerfires.
My budget won't allow a Kowa purchase anytime in this decade!

Any comments on the
1) Leupold Wind River 15-45X60mm with angled eyepiece?
2) The Bushnell Multi Position 20-60X60mm (with newfangled infinite position eyepiece?
3) other suggestions?

The Wind River in a kit with Tripod & Case is $239.95. I know the Wind River line is Leupold's Asian import. My understanding is that the Nikon Sky & Earth is made in China.
Does anyone know who makes the Champions Choice House Brand? Optics quality? Water resistant?

TIA
 
Dagum search feature is gettin' rusty...folks oughtta use it more

Take a look...lots of good info to be had with a search for "spoting scope."

:)
 
For your purpose--and it's pretty much the same as mine, but on out to 500 yards--I'm still using an el cheapo WalMart-sourced Bushnell 20/40/60. It's sorta fuzzy above 40X, but it's good enough for government work...

:), Art
 
I looked over at the Competition forum, did a search, etc.
Again, a lot of Kowa endorsements. Can't swing it anytime soon.
It seems the few comments on the Wind River were either ok, or disappointing, with no details. Bushnell multi pos Spacemaster has little eye relief.
Didn't see much for comments on the Champions Choice house brand.

I really need long eye relief, 45 degree eye piece, & general value for the bucks (<$300, better is $250 with eyepiece included, then need to add mini tripod on top of that).

Maybe I should repost this over in Competition?
 
Nah, if you couldn't find specifically what you wanted it can be handled here.

IIRC Champions Choice has stopped making their house brand, or contracting it out, whichever is correct. The CC scope was adequate for beginner HP shooters, but IMHO was not close to the Kowas in brightness or ease of use due to eye relief. To me eye relief is a huge consideration. FYI the CC scope sold for about $210 new. Used it should go for about $175. I believe it is well worth that.

The old "Swift" that Creedmore sells/sold or its equivalent "Pro-Optic" was a great scope and a real steal.

I think the Swift Instruments Lynx Model 836/"Pro-Optic" would be a great grab.
 
Just got an email from CC....
"We have (stk #CC632T) 20-60X60mm 45° Scope for $150.00 + $7.35 S&H, Ins. = $157.35 to you zip.
Aluminum Body w/rubber covering
Soft sided carrying bag
Minimum focal distance 10mm
Recommended use: 33ft. thru 1,00yds.
Will mount on zoom head or swivel head scope stand"

This model may be unproven as it looks to be a new type; and eye relief is a concern.

Re: Swift Instruments Lynx Model 836/"Pro-Optic",
This model looks rather odd, with that long 45 degr portion, but if optically sound & bright with long eye relief, I may look for one. Has it been discontinued? I see B&H is Out of Stock.

Thanks for all the info!
 
That is not the "old" CC scope...dunno anything about that new one.

RE the Swift, it does look odd, but reports are very positive as you can see. I don't think its discontinued, but they are harder to find these days. Search for it from a search engine...maybe you can find one around.

FWIW, Adaroma used to sell it for $108, and Creedmore for $208, and now they're even more! ($213 or so?)
 
spotting scope

I've had a few of them; started off with a really cheap import. Upgraded to a Champion Choice scope (not sure who made it). You asked about these, if it's the same one I had I'd stay away from them. Mine came apart inside, the glass came unglued. It wasn't much good after that. Had a Bushnell, Kowa (77mm I think) and now a Leica. The Kowa was good except on cold, wet days it would fog - making it useless. A friend in Az. has it and loves it, it doesn't get wet there. The first two literally got tossed in the garbage, the others I sold or gave away. I'm planning on keeping the Leica - it's durable, has excellent optics and is light enough to take hunting.
Look around for used ones, people are always upgrading these things and you can find good deals on used ones if you can wait.
 
have had a few over the years.

had the kowa 77 tsn-1 it was in ca. so never got a chance to test it in alot of rain.
now the cc scope in the 60mm with the 25 ler was a nice scope but was very lacking at 600 yards and any weather blocked you out at 200 yards.
the kowa 821m I have know is great but also not cheap either and works well every where.
I have a 60mm 24x 45 degree unertle scope I have for a back up it was the best you could get back in the 50's and 60's and the optics are very impressive but do not use it.
 
Well, just to chime in on Swift. I picked up a Swift Panther a few months ago and am very pleased. Bright, sharp and seems well made. Around $300 with the variable power eyepiece. Not Zeiss or Swarovski, but a nice step up from my Tasco beater.
 
Thanks All for the info.!
I am waiting to see which vendor gets the Swift Instruments Lynx Model 836 in stock first.
 
for the money and clear optics, the ProOptic spotting scope can not be beat............I bought the 45 degree angle eyepiece and this scope outperforms some higher priced scopes easily..........go to www.adorama.com
and look them up............
 
Is that the PRO500SS 90mm, $199.95?
45º erect image diagonal 1¼", 25mm Plossl 1¼" 20x eyepiece, Deluxe Carrying Case

How much eye relief is 22mm Eye Relief ? I wear glasses plus shooting glasses over them.
Would the 20X eye piece be sufficient? Can other eyepieces be purchased that will fit this scope?

-thanks
 
That is not the same scope. Not by a long shot. That looks like a much more fragile scope and appears to be a static mount celestial telescope. IIRC the Swift/Pro Optic has 30mm of eye relief.
 
Right,
I know what the Swift Instruments Lynx Model 836 looks like, but was wondering which model of Pro Optic "jem375" was commenting on.
Did Pro Optic, at some time, have one that was exactly the same as the Swift 836?
 
You don't need a super powerful spotter for shorter ranges. I picked up a 20x Kowa at an estate sale for the right price. It works fine for picking up .22 holes at 100 and even 200 on good days. Watch out for holes in the black against a dark background, though.
 
Spotting Scope

I had considered the Kowa scopes mainly because I see some of the bench rest guys using them around here. I bought a Bushnell 60X for $69.00 and it is okay at 100 yards but at 200 it leaves much to be desired. I finally decided on a Nikon Earth and Sky 20x60x80 and it is soo much better than the Bushnell. It was a bunch higher though at $415.00 and is made in China, which I did not know when I bought it. But, it works great and although it might not be the best choice I have it now so I, more or less, have to be satisfied. It has a 25 year warranty which is not transferable, so it will outlive me by quite a bit. I really wanted a Zeiss, but I also want a H2 Hummer and drive a Ford PU with just over 200,000 miles on it. Such is life. I had the opportunity to look through a realy good Zeiss spotting scope at our local range and it was so much better than the Nikon, but the price was way over $1,000.00. I guess if I had it all to do over again I would take my time and look through as many scopes in my price range as I could. You might make a better decision that way.
 
I bought a Swift Lynx because it was the 60mm, 45 degree eyepiece scope with the longest eye relief I could find. Its eye relief is 33mm at 15x and 25mm at 45x. It has nice clear optics. The eyepiece is built-in on this model.

I can see .223 holes in the black when the target is in the sun, but NOT reliably when in overcast or shade. Worse if the backing board is crappy and creates "hanging chads" instead of good holes.

If you shoot in the sun, I'll sell you my Lynx. I'm pricing out 80mm scopes because on our range the trees put the target in shade by the time we do slow prone.

I wear glasses or safety glasses, and the 33mm relief is what I want. When I up the magnification and get the 25mm relief, I don't get to see the whole field of view, and thus need to work to get my eye aligned to the center.

Sorry to read that that Kowa fogs up. We have high humidity most of the time.
 
New Kowas should not fog unless in extreme environments where just about all will fog. The 77 mm that rick_reno had was most likely a TSN-1. An EXCELLENT scope except for the infamous fog factor. Kowa learned all about sealing eyepieces after that one. Now its discontinued.


My Kowa 661 did fog once, but it was in a dead downpour, completely exposed, for over an hour. The scope was still usable and the fix was to disconnect the eyepiece, wipe the interior lenses and reattach. 5 seconds.
 
Check out Jim Owens' JarHeadTop.com site. He has some good deals on older model and used Kowa's. Several are in your price range. I've bought from him before and had a positive experience.
 
Id stay away from the Yukon yz...I wear glasses and
pretty tiresome.
Any body tested the compact Leupolds?
 
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