Good spotting scope?

[Dirte]

I am thinking of getting a spotting scope to use when sighting in/zero-ing rifles. I assume this is not a particularly complicated purchase, but I am always worried about blowing money on things I know nothing about, and know absolutely nothing about spotting scopes, or scopes at all for that matter.

This http://http://www.simmonsoptics.com/spotting_scopes/index.cfm is on sale at Big5 right now for $64. Seems like a pretty good deal to me. Any opinions? Would it be good for this application? Are there any important specs/features I should look for in a spotting scope? School me.

[the86d]

Here comes the "get what you pay for" crowd? But what is too much? What is too cheap?

I am having the same delima. I ordered the spotting scope from Harbor Freight and even at 100yd it had a rainbow effect making spotting difficult.

I don't know what brands are good, or what brands to avoid, what brands are cheap that work but die soon, etc.

Gordon, Barska, Bushnell, Zeiss, Leupold, Nikon, Trijicon, Leupold, Steiner, Redfield, Swarovski, Armasight, Burris, Leapers/UTG, I know nothing other than My Leapers scopes are working...

It would be nice to have a sticky, or a sub-section of optics with a sticky...

Has anyone used one of the inexpensive Walmart spotting scopes for simple spotting?

[toby]

JUNK!

[lewdogg21]

Do a search as this has been discussed many times. Honestly if you had expectations of getting something under $100 that you would like there isn't really anything someone will cover in this thread that hasn't been covered already.

I personally have limited experience in spotting scopes but know of many good rifle scopes that suit my needs which is hunting. The best thing you can do is post your budget, what you want to use it for, and how many times a year you intend to use it.

That criteria goes for both the OP and hitlers tea kettle.

[DaleAGribble]

Konuspot 80 or 100.

[rero360]

Honestly, I would avoid all that chinese junk like the plague, it will give you eye strain and headaches real quick. A somewhat better scope, when I was at SDM school they gave us Bushnells, the scope quality was decent, I forget the model, but even that would cause eye strain by the end of the day. The tripod that came with it was pure junk though, I broke mine within 5 minutes of handling it.

I would recommend you look at the Leupold, USO, Konus, Zeiss, and Swaro, I'm sure there are other good ones out there.

Fact of the matter, and this is coming from a serious money grubber, you truly get what you pay for.

[OpticsPlanet]

For the money the OPMOD spotting scope can't be beat. Its perfect for seeing holes on your target up to 200 yards.

http://www.opticsplanet.com/opmod-20-60x60mm-spotting-scope-w-tripod.html

Tim G.

[Garyson1311]

I have an Alpen 788 and I love it.

http://alpenoptics.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=alpen&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=788KIT

It won outdoor life's great buy award, has a lifetime warranty, and the glass beat the pants off of other scopes I tried that were around the same price point. Its not a Zeiss but it is pretty dang nice, especially for the price point.

I bought mine through DVOR/Opticsplanet last month and waited almost a month to receive it when the item stated it would ship within 3 days. After waiting a long time, I was told my item would be shipped expedited shipping on their dime due to inconvenience and guess what, that didnt happen either because when it did ship, it shipped the cheapo way (took a week to get here). I wouldnt recommend purchasing from them if you intend on having the item any time soon and dont mind a company lying to you about their lead times.

[Dirte]

My bad

Do a search as this has been discussed many times. Honestly if you had expectations of getting something under $100 that you would like there isn't really anything someone will cover in this thread that hasn't been covered already.

I personally have limited experience in spotting scopes but know of many good rifle scopes that suit my needs which is hunting. The best thing you can do is post your budget, what you want to use it for, and how many times a year you intend to use it.

That criteria goes for both the OP and hitlers tea kettle.

I took your advice and searched for spotting scope topics in the forum and you're right, there is much discussion already available. My lack of experience led me to believe that this was probably a pretty mundane topic for most. I figured I was just over-thinking it and I just assumed it wasn't something that had been covered a lot. Noob lesson learned. Next time I will

[Dirte]

Thanks for all the opinions. You guys saved me $70 that I can put towards ammo at the show this weekend. I'll hold off on the scope until I can afford a quality one. Glad I resisted the urge to just buy this one one the spot.

[ExtremeX]

I have an Alpen 788 and I love it.

http://alpenoptics.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=alpen&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=788KIT

It won outdoor life's great buy award, has a lifetime warranty, and the glass beat the pants off of other scopes I tried that were around the same price point. Its not a Zeiss but it is pretty dang nice, especially for the price point.

I bought mine through DVOR/Opticsplanet last month and waited almost a month to receive it when the item stated it would ship within 3 days. After waiting a long time, I was told my item would be shipped expedited shipping on their dime due to inconvenience and guess what, that didnt happen either because when it did ship, it shipped the cheapo way (took a week to get here). I wouldnt recommend purchasing from them if you intend on having the item any time soon and dont mind a company lying to you about their lead times.

That's a really nice spotting scope, my friend has the same and its a pleasure to use.

[brando]

I learned the hard way over several years, first going cheap, getting frustrated, then buying something better, shooting farther, getting frustrated, buying the next better thing, shooting farther, getting frustrated...etc. I'm not saying you have to spend crazy money on a spotting scope; just have reasonable expectations that correlated with your budget.

[ExtremeX]

I'm not saying you have to spend crazy money on a spotting scope; just have reasonable expectations that correlated with your budget.

Well said...

Seeing your picture also reminded me of another thing I found pretty important to the usability of the spotting scope especially at longer distances and higher magnifications.

The tripod or stabilization device you are using is critical to a usable sight picture. Magnification shake is even worse than crappy glass.

It sounds excessive but I probably spent more on my tripod than others do on the actual spotting scope.

[brando]

I did the same thing with rangefinders, constantly unwilling to save up the money to get a proper milgrade solution that was ultimately what my needs and expectations were. If I had done that from the start I would have saved a lot of time and money in the long run.

On that Manfrotto tripod, it's the carbon fiber version with the fine adjust head; very light for it's size but the head is heavy. However, I prefer it to the swivel head I'd been using with my previous spotter. Having 3-axis dials with coarse/fine adjustment options has made it really easy to setup and track targets at far distances, which is generally what I shoot (1000-2500 yards). It's also versatile enough with the many ways you can arrange the legs and center column that I sometimes use it while standing or in a folding chair or even with the legs splayed out very flat and wide next to me in the prone position.

I don't have a proper digiscoping setup yet, so this is just me holding my phone up to the lens and shooting the view towards the airport from my house about 2 miles away. The magnification range is from 20-60x.

[ExtremeX]

I have a similar Manfrotto tripod... but use a ball head with panning capability.

I too love the flexible setup features, I can get the entire setup very low and in positions most tripods cant do. Its also sturdy enough to hang a rifle off of it.

I am also a photographer so the tripod became a dual use thing so it worked out very well.