Spotting scope magnification?

I find the quality of the glass is more important then the magnification. I use a Vortex Razor HD. I can see .308 bullet holes on paper at 25 times mag. Compared that with a cheap Bushnell somebody else had at the range which I couldn't see anything with at 45 times.
 
tripod

better quality tripods will aid greatly in the use of spotting scopes at the range, some thing a little heavier will help quite a bit when viewing out to 300 yards.
On warm days many scopes will have trouble with heat waves when viewing at 300 yards. FS
 
If it is a single bullet strike on a white plate, around 20X would work. It is when you are trying to see if that second shot is beside the first that optics start to matter.
It also matters if it is sunny or cloudy and dim.
Frankly, anything in the 25-45 X range would work, if the optics are good (read $$), the front objective lense is a reasonable size, and you have a good tripod to minimize minute vibrations.
 
As an example, last weekend I tried out a 16x sightron scope, and at 300 yards, could see the holes clearly on paper....painted steel is usually much easier to spot.
Mind you, they were .510 holes, and it was good white paper with the sun directly on it but still.......300 isn't that far to spot and as stated previously, any decent 20-24 should work fine.
 
It's time to get your eyes checked.;) I can see my .223 at 300 meters with my 15x scope, for real. Funny thing is, I bought a cheap 40x spotting scope and couldn't see shyt at 300.
 
If possible, put a piece of coloured paper about 6-10" behind the target and look at it with the scope a few feet off to the side. That way you'll see a coloured hole because the holes from the bullet are in a straight line and you're viewing from an angle.
 
Denisb said:
If possible, put a piece of coloured paper about 6-10" behind the target and look at it with the scope a few feet off to the side. That way you'll see a coloured hole because the holes from the bullet are in a straight line and you're viewing from an angle.
Click to expand...

I am shooting at 5\8 steel plate 300yds away. My guns won't put bullets through it at that distance.
 
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