Recommend me a spotting scope with a reticle

T

Tikka223

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I currently have a Pentax PF-65ED and I’m looking to replace it with something of equal or better glass but also with a reticle. I use it almost exclusively for shooting and spotting others.

I don’t have much selection where I’m at so I’m at the mercy of CGNers and YouTube reviews.

Im not looking to spend 3000$, even 2000$ for that matter. The Bushnell Legend-T has caught my eye and the price is reasonable. Anyone here have some experience with one? Anything else I should be considering?
 
The cheapest route would be to
A) try a 1.25" microscope eyepiece with reticle in your current spotting scope

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B) have a reticle added to your current eyepiece

https://meijitechno.com/how-to-install-eyepiece-micrometer-into-ma535/
 
I’m trying some Google searches and this seems a bit complicated for me. How would I know that the eye price would be displaying true Mils? Is that all just in the eye piece or does it need to precisely fit into the spotting scope body?
 
Tikka223 said:
I currently have a Pentax PF-65ED and I’m looking to replace it with something of equal or better glass but also with a reticle. I use it almost exclusively for shooting and spotting others.

I don’t have much selection where I’m at so I’m at the mercy of CGNers and YouTube reviews.

Im not looking to spend 3000$, even 2000$ for that matter. The Bushnell Legend-T has caught my eye and the price is reasonable. Anyone here have some experience with one? Anything else I should be considering?
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h t t p s ://www.bushnell.com/spotting-scopes/legend-tactical/legend-tactical---t-series-spotting-scope-15-45x60/BU-781545ED.html

you will need to change the cover for a real one. but for what you re looking it will be great.
 
I’ll keep my eyes peeled for one of these. Hopefully I can find one on sale or on the EE. Cabelas had a good price but after chatting with them on the phone it sounds like they are discontinued and that a newer model will be replacing it at some point.
 
griffin86 said:
If you can’t stomach a $4000 spotting scope, it’s not a bad choice.
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Agreed. It's pretty decent for the price.

I used one for awhile. Sold it after I found a good deal on a Gen1 Razor Mil eyepiece. Another good option for the OP, if he can watch the exchanges and be patient.
 
my best knowledge about optics is that, regardless of MOA or MRAD or whatever...
my rifle scope (Falcon X50) reticle is calibrated at x25 power for 1 MOA, a 50 magnification setting will give 0.5 MOA at 50 meters or 1 MOA at 100 meters.
and every scope shall have this printed in the manual.
For a spotting scopes as well
 
I've never looked through your Pentax (and have no experience with that spotting scope) but I did have the Bushnell Legend Tac and then reviewed 3 spotters in the next tier (Bushnell LMSS, Athlon Cronus Tac and Minox MD60ZR) and have spent time behind a Leupold Mk4 and a Swaro (whichever one with the illuminated reticle).

Here's the review on the 3 "mid tier" spotters: https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...spotting-scope-with-reticle-review-comparison

For what it's worth, after all that I wish I'd spent the little extra and picked up the Leupy Mk4. It all depends on what you want out of this spotter but you really do get what you pay for and there aren't tons of options in spotters with reticles.
 
Just read your review. Well done and thank you for taking the time to write it up!

Since writing it have you had the chance to look through any of the Vortex offerings? There seems to be more and more on the market now that have reticles but it is still really niche. I hear what you’re saying about watching swirl; it’s an amazing data point and learning tool.
 
My pleasure. I don't have any experience with the Vortex offerings but being that the Viper reticle eyepiece is at 33.5x and the Razor one is at 22x, they're both less than ideal in my opinion. I'm sure the Razor one has quite good glass and fixed 22x is certainly more useful than fixed 33.5x but honestly, I end up using my spotter at lower mags a whole lot. Not to mention that the cost of the Razor+eyepiece puts you in the same price bracket as a Leupold Mk4 12-40x. I'd definitely be interested in getting behind the Razor to see but for my uses, a variable magnification spotter is just much more flexible.

Off the top of my head, the reasons to have a variable power spotting scope:

-FOV: The ability to set your magnification to get the field of view that you desire. You don't necessarily need to "tunnel" on the target, it's often good to zoom out and be able to take in mirage/other signs of wind occurring elsewhere than exactly at the target whilst still be able to observe the target and make corrections.

-Mirage: The ability to lower your magnification when there's so much mirage that you just can't resolve anything

Now I could be totally wrong, as I haven't been behind the Razor and the specs for FOV on the 22x reticle eyepiece are quite impressive (130ft @ 1000y) and I don't know how it manages mirage at all but I just can't see a fixed magnification spotter being quite as flexible as a variable.
 
Snowballs said:
Legend Tactical is a good unit and won't break the bank.

If you want to spend more look at the Athlon Cronus Tactical 7-42×60 UHD Spotting Scope.
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While looking for some specs last night I discovered that Athlon have actually discontinued the Cronus Tactical and don't have anything in their lineup to replace it. Not sure why, tbh.
 
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