Leupold Gold Ring HD or Minox MD Spotting Scopes

BLATT13

BLATT13

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Im trying to decide on my next spotter and I’ve narrowed it down to these two. Leopold Gold Ring HD 12-40x60 or Minox MD60. Has anyone ever put these two beside each other and compared glass quality?
 
I played with the Leopold and used the minox a fair bit. I like the minox better, I used the minox 80, it actually kinda sucks. I'd buy something else. Between the two it is a bit of a toss up. I guess it has more to do with what you are doing with it. About 10 years ago I had the same dilemma I ended up getting the Bushnell ELITE TACTICAL 8-40X60 LMSS2. I use it for hunting and backpacking mostly. I use it as well when I shoot some local precision matches. I let a lot of people use it so it has taken a beating. Most guys like the 8x for finding things fairly easy. But of the two you asked about I'd choose the Minox 60
 
twosmokinspades said:
I played with the Leopold and used the minox a fair bit. I like the minox better, I used the minox 80, it actually kinda sucks. I'd buy something else. Between the two it is a bit of a toss up. I guess it has more to do with what you are doing with it. About 10 years ago I had the same dilemma I ended up getting the Bushnell ELITE TACTICAL 8-40X60 LMSS2. I use it for hunting and backpacking mostly. I use it as well when I shoot some local precision matches. I let a lot of people use it so it has taken a beating. Most guys like the 8x for finding things fairly easy. But of the two you asked about I'd choose the Minox 60
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interesting, what did you not like about the md80?

This spotter will be for long range target shooting as well as spot-and-stalk mulie hunts. I narrowed it down to these two based on the reviews I've read online. I want a straight spotter with a reticle and I want the one with the best glass for under 2K. I already have nice binos so the lower mag isn't something I necessarily need. 12x at the bottom end is fine.

are you able to count tines at ~2K with your LMSS2?
 
Have you looked at the Kowa TSN-664?
I like it with the fixed 30x wide angle for the large FOV.
A well priced spotter.
 
The glass on the md80 doesn't seem to up to par with other optics in a similar price and magnification. The focus and zoom are way to sensitive as well, it's difficult to focus properly to me just a slight turn and it's out of focus. If you hands are cold or have gloves on its almost impossible to dial in. I like a spotter that the sweet spot is fairly wide. I don't mind a like extra tuning of the dial. And the MD80 is too bulky to want to fit in a pack nicely. Packing a spotter a tripod rifle and lunch up a mountain it gets heavy quick.

We were able to see elk off in the distance and see the bigger bulls for sure. Not sure exactly how far away they were but up no the mountain you could not see them with the naked eye. Most of the stuff I do 40x is plenty. Around here 20x seems to good enough to count points on deer. Not much is beyond 1000 yards. I did a sheep hunt a few years back and the 40x was just barely enough a larger zoom would have been nice but also would he heavier to lug around. The Leopold, Minox md60 and the Bushnell are all nice scopes. The two you asked about the minox is better. If you want to use the reticle for ranging the minox is way easier to use. It has the fast ranging features in it, I can't remember what it's called. It's the L shaped feature in the lower corner.
 
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I have a Leupold 12-40 but no reticle. It's good glass for the money. I will be selling it off soon for the 20-60 model, for long range shooting purposes.
 
Never played with them, but yes, they gave different reticles available

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Who else has eye relief like the leupold? I haven’t shopped for a spotter for a few years so truly curious if anyone else has 30mm at high mag. Everything else I looked at in that price range when I was shopping had tight eye box and super short eye relief. Which make for very uncomfortable long viewing sets.
 
Pescado said:
Have you looked at the Kowa TSN-664?
I like it with the fixed 30x wide angle for the large FOV.
A well priced spotter.
Click to expand...

The Kowa is one of the best spotters on the market. But the OP has himself convinced that he wants a spotter with a reticle rather than a spotter with top notch optics despite the fact that he wants to use it for long range shooting and open country mule deer.
 
BigUglyMan said:
The Kowa is one of the best spotters on the market. But the OP has himself convinced that he wants a spotter with a reticle rather than a spotter with top notch optics despite the fact that he wants to use it for long range shooting and open country mule deer.
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yes, this is correct.
 
sillymike said:
If I wanted to guess range, I'd rather use this
(Unless you're on a two-way range, and are concerned that they'll follow the beam back to you)

leica-rangemaster-2800.com_1__696_399_84_int_c1.jpg
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Already have a range finder, I use the reticle in a spotter to call shot corrections when I'm shooting steel out to 1500m.
 
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