advise on spotting scopes

tazzharm

tazzharm

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Hey guys
just wanted to look into picking up a inexpesive spotting scope from canadian tire, Bushmaster Spotting Scope 20x60 zoom

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/FathersDay/Outdoorsman/Fishing/PRD~0761086P/Bushmaster+Spotting+Scope.jsp?locale=en


its on for half price and I'd thought well my binos are alittle difficult to use at range so hell for 50 bucks will this do/
I'm looking for a scope that will allow me to see my paper target a far as 200yards and clearly see any holes that I made on target ( providing I actually hit the target )
does anyone hear have this one and if so how good is it and should I spend alittle more at crappy tire.
thanks
Glenn.
 
tazzharm said:
Hey guys
just wanted to look into picking up a inexpesive spotting scope from canadian tire, Bushmaster Spotting Scope 20x60 zoom

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...1086P/Bushmaster+Spotting+Scope.jsp?locale=en


its on for half price and I'd thought well my binos are alittle difficult to use at range so hell for 50 bucks will this do/
I'm looking for a scope that will allow me to see my paper target a far as 200yards and clearly see any holes that I made on target ( providing I actually hit the target )
does anyone hear have this one and if so how good is it and should I spend alittle more at crappy tire.
thanks
Glenn.
Click to expand...

I have one, and it works great for me. I can see .22 holes at 100yds. My only advice is get a good tripod for it. The one you get is kinda shady.
 
The only advice I'm going to give you on spotting scopes is to buy the best one you can afford.

The scopes you mention, are OK for range shooting out to a couple hundred yards. Maybe more, depending on conditions.

As far as field conditions go, If you can't make out the size and number of points on an animal, out to 700-800+ meters, you're wasting your money. The scopes you mention are not what you need for hunting.

Most people don't know how to properly utilize their spotting scopes. Used properly, they will eliminate a lot of walking.

When you're in an area that is open enough to allow you to utilize the capabilities of your scope, you can check out the legality of the animal, without having to disturb it or any others you don't see in the area.
 
I've got one sitting on my shelf that I'm going to donate to someone. It's a pure POS that was a total waste of money as far as being a good shooting scope.

It's OK for looking at .22 holes out to around 100 yards but beyond that when we try to zoom in to see anything it becomes blurry as blazes. And even the .22 holes seen at 100 were noticably blurry and foggy looking due to light dispersion within the optics. And even at 100 yards it's still not that easy to see the holes if I try to zoom in more than 25x'ish Looking for .38 size holes at 200 was tough going and trying to see anything at 300 was more like using a Oujii board than a spotting scope.

I finally said THWI and bought a used Nikon scope that was on consignment for $375. It was a toss up image wise when comparing it to a $400 Bushnell but the Nikon felt a little less straining to my eye so I went with it. Now the holes in my targets are easily visible at 300 and the image for the entire zoom range is clear and useful where the cheap Bushnell was beyond useless for anything zoomed in more than about 25x. With the Nikon the image is so clear that it's like I walked out to the target and I'm looking at it from 2 to 10 yards away depending on the zoom point and distance. Yep, it's THAT clear.

Yeah, it's hard to suck it up and pay the price. But do it once and you'll have a optical tool that you can use for the rest of your life that'll be effective and strain free. Buy that half price anchor and it'll just be a waste of money that sits on the shelf or teases you over your mistake until you finally give in and buy something decent.
 
great info.
on that I'm going to wait till later and pay more and get better....I don't hunt at all ...well no zombies yet so ....anyways.
thanks for the info and when I'm ready to spend a few hundred I'll ask for help and give price range.
Glenn.
 
I picked up the Celestron 60x spotting scope from CT a while back for $169 and it has been pretty good. I've used it out to 100y and it is nice and clear. For the money I am happy with it. I really didn't want to spend several hundred $$ on a spotting scope, considering I don't shoot long range very often.

canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/5/SportsRec/Camping/OutdoorAdventureAccessories/PRD~0761042P/Celestron+Spotting+Scope%2C+60+mm.jsp?locale=en
 
thats the thing....right now I'm shooting my sks no scope nothing so I'd like to see how close I'm getting without running back and forth pluskinda nice to stick with plain iron sights till next year when I build my sks up to something better...
glenn.
 
I got an $80 one off of Amazon.ca. Came with a soft case & a hard aluminum case, tripod, waterproof, etc - good to 45x. I bought mine for the range. There was a ton of them, and you are only limited by the amount of $$$.

Mine has one huge problem with it. The gf & I went to the range yesterday morning. She fired her first five rounds from 25 yards with the Skorpion (stock folded, standard two-hand pistol grip), and I fired 5 with my M&P 9. I looked through the scope and said "Ha! Sweet! Two bullseyes and three just outside the top right, on my first 5 shots!" She looked into it and said "Wrong lane - those are my hits. Look at yours."

No comment. Should have stuck with my crappy blurry binoculars.

Cannon
 
tazzharm said:
thats the thing....right now I'm shooting my sks no scope nothing so I'd like to see how close I'm getting without running back and forth pluskinda nice to stick with plain iron sights till next year when I build my sks up to something better...
glenn.
Click to expand...

Rather than buy a cheap spotting scope I'd suggest that you invest in a $200'ish rifle scope and use it as a spotting scope for now. Then when you build up a scoped rifle you already have the scope.
 
I shoot at an indoor 50 yd range. Mostly shooting 22LR @ 25 yards or less. I upgraded to a camcorder with 60x optical zoom a few years ago, and it works AWESOME. Just set it up on the tripod, and then you only need to shift your eyes and focus to see your hits, no need to turn your head. It's also fantastic to document your trips to the range. At 50 yards 22LR holes are very difficult to see on dark targets, no problem on white targets. Haven't had a chance to use it beyond 50 yards.
 
I was a little disheartened to see that someone was selling a Nikon spotter (20x with 60mm Objective) for $100 on CGN in what was described as excellent shape. I was disheartened cause I bought the same scope, also used, from "Henry's" for $375 plus tax several years ago and thought I got a pretty good deal. That scope was (is) sharp, contrasty with excellent colour and is would be tough to beat for all round use. The ONLY things that could improved would be a 45 degree eyepiece which is a lot more convenient for prone shooting and a little more eye relief ti accommodate shooting glasses.

I'd probably go for something like that then something from Canadian Tire fwiw.
 
I did go to the range yesterday and once I got just north of it I stopped in town at the local canadian tire to stretch my legs...saw that the Celestron Spotting Scope, 60 mm was on sale ...online its not advertised as onsale....reg price $169.99 I got it for $110.99 figured its one step up from the bushmater and came with both soft case and hard case with lock...
I set up 50yrd, 100yrd and 200yrds targets yesterday and took alook through my new spotting scope...WOW...even though Im not using a scope on my sks iron sights all the way I was hitting the targets at 200 yrds and actually saw my shots with new spotting scope..
for the amount of shooting I'll be doing its perfect...
Glenn.
 
Awesome. The Celestron isn't bad for the money. Haven't tried mine out to 200y yet, but good to know.
 
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