- Location
- West Quebec
+1 It is pretty good at 100 yards
Any Decent Spotting Scopes for ~$200
- Thread starter BillD
- Start date
+1 It is pretty good at 100 yards
When I was using open sites on my K31, I didn't want to use my other rifle's scope to see the 200 metre target, so I picked up a cheap Firefield off Amazon and as long as you don't shake the scope (the tripod is quite sturdy), then it is good for 250 metres - which is the length of the range I shoot at anyways. For $100 it fit the bill until I upgraded to glass on the rifle.
h t t p://w w w.amazon.ca/Firefield-FF11018K-20-60x60SE-Spotting-Scope/dp/B005CGIIE2/ref=sr_1_1?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1439878681&sr=1-1&keywords=Firefield+FF11018K+20-60x60SE+Spotting+Scope+Kit
h t t p://w w w.amazon.ca/Firefield-FF11018K-20-60x60SE-Spotting-Scope/dp/B005CGIIE2/ref=sr_1_1?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1439878681&sr=1-1&keywords=Firefield+FF11018K+20-60x60SE+Spotting+Scope+Kit
LordEvilPepper
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Under a rusty barge in BC
I see the poster already bought a spotting scope.. but for others watching..
THe best cheapish spotting scope you can get is a vortex Diamond back.. or its earlier edition the "nomad" if you snag one up it can be had in the $300-400 range.
I will say don't buy a bushnell because they are the same quality as the $80 ones with a much higher price tag. Even a bushnell elite SS in the $400 range was beat out by the cheaper nomad and failed miserably when used to spot things against your typical $400-600 competitors. At WSS we took a bunch out to look at a brewery tower some 740m away, this is what we found
-Spotting scopes in the $100-300 range +bushnell's up to $600 could see the bricks but not really clearly, at ranges of 100m plus, lettering on signs showed blurring and the further you got the more illigible the signs were despite them appearing "close"
-vortex and lupold SS in the 400-600 range could clearly see the bricks and you could spot bolts on the fire escape at 100m+ signs were clear enough to read and remained so at longer ranges with only slight fuzziness
- some $500 (vortex viper) but primarily $600+ spotting scopes could make out detail on the mortar holding the bricks together. at 100m+ letting on signs was crisp and legible, and remained crisp even out past 500m
-$1000 + scopes like swarovski and leica, vortex Razor, like the 600+ range could see amazing detail, but were able to continue to do so into very low light
Now if your only looking at targets in bright day light out to 300m... well find a deal on a barska scope, I paid $50 (I bought 2) for a 20-60 with the same hard case your bushnell came in with a tripod and soft carry case. with those "easy spot" targets you can just make out the holes at 300m using a .30 cal.
I would never use this scope for spotting while hunting, the field of view sucks, It needs a lot of light and in the evening when the suns going down you can't see ####. It would be hard to distinguish between antlers and branches at range.
i think your bushnell is just a rebranded version of mine with slight cosmetic changes... for $190 more...
THe best cheapish spotting scope you can get is a vortex Diamond back.. or its earlier edition the "nomad" if you snag one up it can be had in the $300-400 range.
I will say don't buy a bushnell because they are the same quality as the $80 ones with a much higher price tag. Even a bushnell elite SS in the $400 range was beat out by the cheaper nomad and failed miserably when used to spot things against your typical $400-600 competitors. At WSS we took a bunch out to look at a brewery tower some 740m away, this is what we found
-Spotting scopes in the $100-300 range +bushnell's up to $600 could see the bricks but not really clearly, at ranges of 100m plus, lettering on signs showed blurring and the further you got the more illigible the signs were despite them appearing "close"
-vortex and lupold SS in the 400-600 range could clearly see the bricks and you could spot bolts on the fire escape at 100m+ signs were clear enough to read and remained so at longer ranges with only slight fuzziness
- some $500 (vortex viper) but primarily $600+ spotting scopes could make out detail on the mortar holding the bricks together. at 100m+ letting on signs was crisp and legible, and remained crisp even out past 500m
-$1000 + scopes like swarovski and leica, vortex Razor, like the 600+ range could see amazing detail, but were able to continue to do so into very low light
Now if your only looking at targets in bright day light out to 300m... well find a deal on a barska scope, I paid $50 (I bought 2) for a 20-60 with the same hard case your bushnell came in with a tripod and soft carry case. with those "easy spot" targets you can just make out the holes at 300m using a .30 cal.
I would never use this scope for spotting while hunting, the field of view sucks, It needs a lot of light and in the evening when the suns going down you can't see ####. It would be hard to distinguish between antlers and branches at range.
i think your bushnell is just a rebranded version of mine with slight cosmetic changes... for $190 more...
Last edited:
LordEvilPepper
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Under a rusty barge in BC
yeah $130 seems to be the going rate for it now.... they make a 70mm lens for about $175 and I would bet that bushnell is the same optics but the edges of the lens covered to hide the fracturing you get near the edges of the lens. Call it a 65mm and problem solved lol.
Personally I would just anti up and spend $400+ get a diamond back... or something better. Its better to go with out a few more months then have to start saving all over again because the $250 you spent was wasted on something that doesn't work for much.
Personally I would just anti up and spend $400+ get a diamond back... or something better. Its better to go with out a few more months then have to start saving all over again because the $250 you spent was wasted on something that doesn't work for much.
