Picking a spotting scope

[rabw101]

Get a Barska 20 60X60 good for 50yards and 100yards....works great and reasonable price..

[FMJBT]

I'll preface this by saying that I'm not a fan of Barska rifle scopes. I shoot almost exclusively through cheap Chinese crap scopes, and Barska has consistently been near the bottom of the barrel for those optics. Having said that, their spotting scopes are actually not too bad. I've recently been trying out a new 11-33X50 Tactical Spotter from Barska. Glass clarity wasn't really what I was looking for in this particular application, although the glass in it is actually pretty decent. The main feature I wanted was the mil based reticle it has. Very few spotting scopes have reticles, and on a budget, the Barska is really the only cheap spotter with a reticle in it at all. I was looking for a spotting scope with a reticle that matched the reticle measurements of most of my rifle scopes, which are all either mil dot or mil based reticles. This feature comes in very useful for long range shooting, as the spotter now has the ability to call accurate corrections in mils rather than guessing. I wasn't really concerned with the ability to see .22 caliber holes at 300 yards with the scope, as I rarely ever shoot at 300 yards. Most of my shooting is at 450 yards or further, and despite it's price the Barska actually works really well for this. During a recent trip we were actually able to spot hits/misses with it at over 1500 yards, as well is see bullet impact marks on a steel plate from a 338 lapua. It does have it's low points. Eye relief is not the greatest, but is still very usable. The magnification ring also feels very cheap, like something off of a happy meal toy, but is functional regardless. The tripod is complete garbage, I replaced it with a compact unit from Manfrotto for another $50.00. Overall price including the upgraded tripod was about $170.00.

[hoss_hk]

some add'l spotting scope reviews here

http://www.accurateshooter.com/category/optics/

[s4alex]

This is the scope that I bought..

http://www.amazon.com/Meade-81011-Travel-View-20/dp/B001BMYBLA/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339712217&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=meade+spott

So far, it has been great at the range up to 100 - 150 yards. No issues. Even on hot days, mirage is not really an issue.

Go any farther than that on a hot day and you will end up seeing the some heat flares.

The tripod is OK. It is great for table top. I like that I can flip the scope 90' and look through it.

[NiteQwill]

If you can wait, SWFA is putting a spotting scope on the market which will probably be on par with its current riflescope line... meaning it will be great build quality and a lower cost.

As for spotting scopes: go big, it will last you a lifetime and you won't regret it because upgrading will be unlikely.

[FMJBT]

Here's a rather horrible picture I took through the Barska 11-33X50 Tactical Spotter. Trying to hold a small digital camera by hand behind the eyepiece of a spotting scope is pretty challenging to say the least. Someone has to make a bracket or something for this type of thing..... Needless to say, the picture doesn't really convey the true clarity of the scope. The smaller craters and surface detail that is kind of blurry in the picture were totally clear and visible through the scope.

[roki]

I'm new to this site (obviously), but I've been reading for a while.

I'm looking to purchase a spotting scope for the range. I have a Remington 700p in .308 with an SWFA 10x42 scope on it. I do paper at 100 and 200 yards at the range, and steel out to 600. I'm hoping to pick up a mid-range spotting scope that would enable me to pick up paper holes out to 200, and simple hit/miss out to 600 (spotter/shooter combo).

I've got a boatload of Amazon credit to burn prior to sales tax september, but I'm hoping to keep the scope under $400. Is that unrealistic for my expectations?

Looking at this one, possibly: Alpen 20-60x80 Spotting Scope

Any guidance would be appreciated!

[Coyotegunner]

I went through this for over 2 years.Fatigue is not your friend when using optics for hours on end.Friends had me believing the best was Swarovski.To my eyes color spectrum I disagree.Leica I would pick hands down over any other for clarity,but they are well over $2000.In the $400 range,Nikons Prostaff had the vote.It is NO Leica.
I did not buy it.I went to Big 5 and bought the Barska regular 20-60 for $99 on sale.I would like to know if the ED glass model from Midway is alot better for a little over $200.My personal reasoning is I needed a light scope to use mainly at a range and sometimes from the truck scouting for elk.I invested in 2 pairs of high quality binoculars,12-50($700) and 8-42s($450).When scouting for animals I am on the optics for several hours at a time.I sold my Leupold gold ring spotting scope do to the headaches I got from it.Now I know it was not that particular spotter but just spotters in general I dislike.I use mostly binoculars now.So is the cheapo Barska sh**ty,well compared to?Everything I looked at for 2 years was sh**ty compared to the Leica.
Any spotter is hard to use and will not be used without a very good tripod.Really.
I lay the Barska on the bench I shoot from at my range.I can see 17cal holes at 200yds.If I was shooting 1000yds regular I would spend some time looking at the glass the other guys use.Keep in mind the folks shooting 1000yds that are good at it have rifles in the $5000 range.
I spend a few bucks on out of state tags every year and rely on my binoculars 98% of the time.