Picking a spotting scope

[Javi]

What stands out for you when picking a spotting scope(I guess this could go for weapon scopes as well) when your comparing similar spec'd glass? I'm looking at the Redfield Rampage 20-60x60, Konus Konuspot 20-60x80 & the Midway USA exclusive Barska Blackhawk ED 20-60x60. I've read that the regular Barska Blackhawk is pretty ****ty but with this "ED" glass makes it a really good one with the reviews on there. I'm hoping to keep this scope for a long time as I progress from shooting 100 yards-600+ yards. Any advice would be great. I've only seen the Redfield in person as Turner's had it sitting on the counter. Didn't get to peer through it, though.

[Javi]

Anyone?

[Black Majik]

Here are some of the things I would look for when choosing a spotting scope:

* resolution
* brightness
* eye relief
* chromatic aberration
* spherical aberration

One thing to note about spotting scopes, you'll want one that is easy to get behind. A lot of the lower cost variable power spotting scopes, the eye relief is so bad you'll be pushing your eyeball again the eyepiece.

When you're looking for a spotting scope, you'll need a realistic expectation of your spotting scope's performance capabilities. Spotting at 600 yards, are you spotting hits/miss on steel plates, or are you looking to spot bullet holes? Even the best spotting scopes can have difficulties spotting bullet holes in the black or white at 600 in mildly warm conditions.

One rule of thumb I always have is that my rifle scope can't out resolve my spotting scope. Buying a Barska for example to use to spot bullet holes when you have a good quality riflescope which outperforms the spotting scope is useless.

The only one I have experience using is the Konus. I have two in our group and it's a good scope with generous eye relief. I've heard good reports on the Redfields but never got to look through one.

If you want to A-B-C a bunch of scopes, check out Scope City in Costa Mesa. They'll have everything from the Konus to your alpha glass. It'll give you a better idea of what each price range offers. I would recommend leaving the credit card at home the first time visiting the store as to not max out your card.

[Javi]

What exactly happens when you zoom out to 60x regarding eye-relief? I don't own any scopes so I don't know exactly what it means when people say that it has good eye relief at 20x but gets bad at 60 or something. Ahh as far as performance capabilities...I would of thought these would be cool to see bullet holes at 600 but that's probably asking too much at the $200 price point? I know these 3 can see rimfire holes at 100 yards so that's nice but I'm hoping you can see holes at at least..300 yards? Spotting at 600 yards and being able to see the trails & hits would be great. Great point on the rifle scope/spotting scope. I only have iron sights on my firearms but the next two bolt-action rifles I'd want would have them. Did the Konus provide good clarity? I just want to make sure for $200+, I'd be happy with it for a long time before moving up later. That store is a little far from me but I still may check it out & I'll be careful haha.

[23's Dad]

Eye relief

Black Majik is spot on!

Many scopes (nearly all) have some loss of eye relief as you increase the zoom. This is exhibited by a reduction in the diameter of the exit pupil, and a corresponding difficulty in finding the image in the eyepiece. The lack of eye relief will cause the image to disappear, or a small circle of light that you must move your head about to view. The closer you place your eye to the eyepiece, the less this effects you. When wearing shooting glasses, it is very difficult to see through many scopes at high zoom levels without removing your glasses. In my experience, most of the sub-200 scopes can't be viewed at any but the lowest power while wearing eye protection.

It would be a travesty to sustain an eye injury while looking through your scope.

[Javi]

Dang...Well, I wasn't really thinking eye-relief was a big deal for me. If I had to, I'd lift my glasses, close & cover my hand over my left eye and put my eye in there but if my eyeball has to go in reallly deep hahah then I'll pay more attention to eye-relief. I won't be able to make it to some stores until Friday or Saturday but what would you guys say is a decent eye relief amount? Here's the eye relief for the 3 I'm looking at:

18mm at 20x, 12mm at 60x
18.4mm-16.5mm
17~14

Blackmajik: Your kind of getting me to think about spending more on the spotting scope. With my future..Tikka, Savage or Howa, I may go to some kind of $300-$400 or maybe $500 scope to go on top of it.

[hoss_hk]

Have to agree with BM. You probably won't see bullet holes at 600 yd with those scopes. I have see a lot of good reviews on the Konus for $200, but also seen a lot of neg on their tripod/case. I was unfortunate because the Scope City went out of business in SD. Without anything to compare to, I bought an Alpen 20-60x80 for $340 because it had a hard case, somewhat decent tripod (get a real one if you shoot comps) and a real warranty from a company here in socal. I've got bad eyes, but I can see out to about 200 yd (farthest I've shot so far with the rifle) with 308. I also agree that better scope glass might be worth it. I just picked up a 5-20x50 HD and will see if that helps. I was using a 10x40 fixed before, and that was good for 100 yd.
check out these guy for some reviews. http://www.accurateshooter.com/category/optics/
someone had a pentax scope on here for a few hundred off, but it was still at least $1000. get what you pay for.

[d33pt]

hoss..that's a great price for the alpen. did you get it from scope city before they went out of business?

[PrimaryArms]

This a good bang for your buck

https://www.primaryarms.com/Vortex_Nomad_2060x60_Spotting_Scope_Angled_p/nmd-60a.htm

Dimitri

[03ranger]

If you’re looking at precision shooting 100 yards or more you also should look a kowa spotting scopes (buy once, cry once), yes a good spotting scopes are not cheap in any sense, no need to buy twice for quality. You will also need to consider a scope stand, the three that come to mind are: Creedmoor, Freeland and ray-vin. With any scope consider getting the long eye relief eye piece. It a lot easier when you in position (prone, sitting, kneeling and standing) using a long eye relief.

[HK Dave]

Bushnell Elite 20-60x 80mm Spotting Scope

I purchased this for under $500. Comparable to a Vortex Viper HD Spotting scope. Zeiss design, build by Bausch and Lomb, rebadged as Bushnell.

Best bang for your buck... if you can find one used that is.

[Dinosaur Jr]

I have a Barska 20-60x60 spotting scope. It works great for me and my friends at the range and I find it a great value @ $110. (The rifle range max is 200 yrds.) I don't care about seeing bullet holes at 600 yards because I can't see much else at 600 yards anyway...or 400 either for that matter. See the big picture...everything is relative...purchase equipment to meet your actual needs (and budget).

I use it with my nice Manfrotto tripod though, that little bench tripod it comes with isn't a really good idea because the range benches are usually shaky which is not an advantage when it comes to magnification...

[CEDaytonaRydr]

Great question, actually. I've often wondered this myself.

[popndrop]

It's hard to get decent glass on the cheap. expect to spend money to get results.

[ExtremeX]

I wrote a bunch on what I look for in this thread....

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=563453