spotting scope questions

[splashdown]

I'm looking to get a spotting scope for bench shooting. looking to spend 100-400 yards. spend 100-200.000? any Ideas?

[BDH]

http://www.jarheadtop.com/KONUS.htm

Although a few bucks above your budget, Jim Owens has great insight and good deals on Konus spotting scopes. He is also a Kowa afficianado and knows good and acceptable optics. Check him out.

HTH

Bruce

[brando]

You can't get much of a spotting scope for $200. You'll just have to settle for the cheap ones, which can be fine for 100 yard shooting. Anything beyond that and you will likely get frustrated. Cheap spotting scopes, like rifle scopes, tend to not take a beating well or handle tough conditions, have sub-par glass which leads to distortion and difficulty viewing longer range, etc. That said, for a lot of people those cheap scopes work fine because their use isn't all that demanding. If you're on a scope all day spotting for people, you're going to hate life with a cheap scope, but if you're just plinking and aren't all that demanding then you can get a lot of mileage out of one.

You might want to move your budget up to $400-500 though - at <$200 you rule out all but the crappiest scopes.

[CK_32]

OP just go with a barska or bushnell spotting scope... They are all about the same until you get into the $500 to $1100 range...

It works and you can put some cash in your pocket. They run about $99 at big 5 and on sale sometimes $79.99.. I used it out to 800 yards not the clearest thing at 60x but its a little bigger.

[fmunk]

OP just go with a barska or bushnell spotting scope... They are all about the same until you get into the $500 to $1100 range...

It works and you can put some cash in your pocket. They run about $99 at big 5 and on sale sometimes $79.99.. I used it out to 800 yards not the clearest thing at 60x but its a little bigger.

Ditto. I got a cheap $80 Celestron and it works fine. for 100-300 yards. If you wear glasses, pay attention to the eye relief spec. Most scopes don't have relief good enough for those wearing glasses.

[Mail Clerk]

I'm looking to get a spotting scope for bench shooting. looking to spend 100-400 yards. spend 100-200.000? any Ideas?

splashdown,

Like the others have said get a Barska or better get a Bushnell scope. If your like me I too shoot from the bench and the table gets pretty crowded so a couple times I almost knocked-off my scope off the bench. If it were an expensive one then that would have been it!!!! Quality wise the Bushnell is a little better than the Barska so for my agin eye I never go beyond 100 yards of shooting anyway. Good luck in your final choice.

Mail Clerk

[Don29palms]

You can get a Yukon 6-100x100 for $299 if you shop around. They are great scopes and are crystal clear.

[Sicilian]

Let us know what you end up getting. I want to get a decent one. A friend of mine has an expensive one, but I don't want to shell out too much money - I'd rather buy another gun or two! Something that can get out to no more than 4 or 500 yards.

[Z.1]

I got a Barska Big 5 special a few years back. Definitely not good glass & miserable eye relief, but it gets the job done. Knocked it off the bench a few times and it's still chugging along. Think it was about $80, so if it craps out, no big loss...

[sniper4usmc]

I just got Simmon Spotting scope from Cabelas for $39.99 After $10 rebate..

[Vu 308]

Look into a KONUS, they can be had for around 200 and are not a bad optic for the price range.

Our club runs two of them for spotting hits on steel out to 600 without issues. Of course our Kowas are a lot better with resolution, but also cost 5 Xs as much.

Vu

[Knife Edge]

I got a Barska Big 5 special a few years back. Definitely not good glass & miserable eye relief, but it gets the job done. Knocked it off the bench a few times and it's still chugging along. Think it was about $80, so if it craps out, no big loss...

A guy had one of these at the range last month. We couldn't see the holes at 200y, just used my 14x Leupold which worked considerably better. IMHO, you need to target $500 and up or buy a great quality scope and shoot at Shoot-n-C stickers.

[akjunkie]

Get yourself a Nikon $300-$500.

Crystal clear and it'll last U forever.

[bombadillo]

If you can bump it up, I would REALLY recommend a Redfield Rampage 20-60x60 scope with a scope coat, tripod and made and backed up by Leupold. Those are a great scope for the money. They're usually around $219 or so online.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033C5EJE/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B004P87L9G&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1PSV3BV3W0BF2MJ4192W

My vote.

[popeye4]

Depends of course on what you're shooting, but seeing holes in the target much beyond 200 yards is going to be tough with any scope..... (especially .223). Optics are one area where you are going to pay for what you get.