Best magnification for a spotting scope?

[67siia]

Need some opinions if I may. I am looking to purchase a spotting scope, most of my shooting is at 100 yards. What magnification do you recommend? I am told a 20-60x65 should do the job... I want to be able to see even the .17 HRM holes on the paper.

[AC Gould]

A 20X will do the job at 100 IF it's a quality scope. Magnification is not the issue...it's resoultion. The higher magnifications are of most value at longer distances as you will see a larger picture of a relatively smaller object. Again all the magnification in the world won't help a scope that has poor resolution. Of the scopes on the market today, Kowa is one of the best. Don't buy cheap, as you generally get what ya pay for.

[CSACANNONEER]

Magnification is not the issue...it's resoultion.

That says it all!!!!!!!!! Buy quality glass and you will see far better than you could see with a cheap piece of glass that has twice the magnification!

[67siia]

Any good recommendations? Under $100?

[hk-p2000]

what about the Burris Spotting Scope 12x-24x-50mm like $150.00

[rksimple]

Under 100 aint gonna get you much. I have a cheap 20x50 burris landmark spotter that I got for free. I can see holes at 100, but not too far beyond. It may fit the bill for you.

[trashman]

I've been investigating scopes for use in both birding and spotting -- have to agree with the Kowa recommendation. However...I'm looking at ~600 dineros minimum to get something with reasonable glass.

Anything less than that and it appears you should plan to replace the scope in a couple years or so with use -- scopes under that price point are just not constructed too well (China).

--Neill

[AC Gould]

Any good recommendations? Under $100?

Since $$ are an issue to you, I'd look for a used scope. Try flea-Bay. Bird watchers sometimes put them up for sale. Probably one of the best old scopes is the Bushnell 45 degree angled Spacemaster. They were made by Kowa, and sold under several names..Bushnell, Tasco, Weaver, Prominar(Kowa's brand for their lenses) and Kowa as the T-6 I believe..All made in Japan. The eyepieces are interchangable, std is a 20x, but 25x, 40x and 60x are out there too. Also search for the early B&Ls. Another one to look for is the older Redfield Regal scopes. The come in two versions..15-45x and 15x-60x with 60mm objectives. They are not angle type eyepiece, but are of excellent quality and were about the best you could get in the 80's. Also made in Japan for Redfield but not by Redfield. They have really fine focus adjustments, which help you see small holes in a target by by taking it slightly in and out of focus.

There's one on Flea-bay now that you can checkout ... http://cgi.ebay.com/Redfield-Spottin...QQcmdZViewItem


About all you will find new for $100 or less will be China made and is a real hit or miss proposition. Good luck!!!

[LibertyOptics]

Since $$ are an issue to you, I'd look for a used scope. Try flea-Bay. Bird watchers sometimes put them up for sale. Probably one of the best old scopes is the Bushnell 45 degree angled Spacemaster. They were made by Kowa, and sold under several names..Bushnell, Tasco, Weaver, Prominar(Kowa's brand for their lenses) and Kowa as the T-6 I believe..All made in Japan. The eyepieces are interchangable, std is a 20x, but 25x, 40x and 60x are out there too. Also search for the early B&Ls. Another one to look for is the older Redfield Regal scopes. The come in two versions..15-45x and 15x-60x with 60mm objectives. They are not angle type eyepiece, but are of excellent quality and were about the best you could get in the 80's. Also made in Japan for Redfield but not by Redfield. They have really fine focus adjustments, which help you see small holes in a target by by taking it slightly in and out of focus.

There's one on Flea-bay now that you can checkout ... http://cgi.ebay.com/Redfield-Spottin...QQcmdZViewItem


About all you will find new for $100 or less will be China made and is a real hit or miss proposition. Good luck!!!

Well put and good advice! Spend more on new or buy used for the value.

Thanks for the tip on the spacemasters....learned something new!

Scott

[Mnort10x]

Celestron makes this great scope!

I have been using this scope for about 1 year and find it very clean. I like the quality, it is well made. I especially like the eye relief, at over 1" (32mm) your not having to get your eye too close to the eye piece to see a full field of view (I wear glasses and its hard to find this kind of eye relief for this price). It can go from a straight through 45 and even 90 degrees, as well as rotate on its tripod mount. A great range scope for pistol as well as rifle to 300 yds. If they made a 80mm version of this scope, it would be even good to 600 yds.

http://www.celestron.com/c2/product.php?CatID=30&ProdID=400

Best Price - free shipping

http://www.opticsplanet.net/celestron-ultima-60-sv-refractor-spotting-scope.html

[brassburnz]

+1 for resolution being the key.

I had a Winchester 20-45X65 spotter I bought at Angeles Shooting Ranges a couple of years ago. I think I paid $135 plus tax. The retail packaging was great but it would not resolve .22 holes at 100 yards.

I also had a Bushnell Spacemaster 20X65 I picked up on Ebay for about $125. It was an older model with optics made in Japan. The resolution was amazing. At 20x I could see things the Winchester couldn't pick out at 45x.

Bushnell makes several scopes labelled "Spacemaster". You want the model with the 65mm objective lens, not the 55 or 50.

[67siia]

cool, Bushnell Spacemaster - see if I can find a good deal....

[Ironchef]

Shucks, I use a crappy ncstar 10x40 spotting scope I got for $40 that sees my holes fine at 100 yds.

Cheap Chinese crap scopes FTW!