Spotting scope

Celestron are somewhat decent.

The Vortex are good but more than $300. I was happy with mine until I was able to upgrade to a Pentax.
 
Unfortunatly, the "you get what you pay for" rule applies huge to optics, especially spotting scopes. For $300.00 I would look high and low for the oldest Bushnell Spacemaster I could find. And by old, I mean early '70's vintage and made in Japan. Fantastic spotters for the dough. IMO the optics are easily compared to new scopes worth twice as much.

R.
 
Unfortunatly, the "you get what you pay for" rule applies huge to optics, especially spotting scopes. For $300.00 I would look high and low for the oldest Bushnell Spacemaster I could find. And by old, I mean early '70's vintage and made in Japan. Fantastic spotters for the dough. IMO the optics are easily compared to new scopes worth twice as much.

R.

Yeah I agree. I haven't seen anything better than the 100 dollar Bushmaster scope I have, that is, not under 300 bucks. Once in the 400-500 dollar range the differences in build, glass, and function seem more apparent. I ended up with the Bushmaster and a 700 dollar Leupold. I guess its a lot like rifle scopes.
 
I think a guy on a budget is best to start with a 15-45X60 Bushnell Elite.
Good waterproof value for $450.00.

The hundred buck scopes are junk.
 
Nothing is good for under $300.

What distances are you shooting? If you are into precision shooting it is worth investing in a spotter which comes with either a mil rad or MOA reticle.
 
Rman is correct on both points. You are not in a quality price bracket; it is a case of getting the best of a bad lot. His comment about old Bushnell spacemasters is also excellent. These were a great scope in their day.
 
http://www dot cameralandny dot com/optics/minox.pl?page=62226

I have one of these. For $189 USD it is an absolute steal. Cameraland will ship to canada for $25 I think.

It is better (when set at 25x) than my Leupold Gold Ring 25x50mm, which is admittedly 25 year old technology, and in daylight it is almost as good as my B&L 15-45x60mm Elite at equivalent magnification

It is also tiny, but with easy to use focus and zoom adjustments
 
They don't sell quick on the EE so you can usually pick up a good deal on one used. I sold a Nikon with all kinds of goodies for just over $300, new it sold for well over $500. You won't have any trouble finding one used, but might take a month or so.
 
Konus is a really good value spotter.....

http://www.championshooters.com/Scopes-g.htm

http://www.jarheadtop.com/KONUS.htm
 
I have the B & L Elite 15-45 x 60. It was $500 ten years ago. With this scope I have seen the rings of Saturn. Also works good for spoting. :)
I would imagine the new Bushnell version is just as good.
 
US Optics

I have the US optics, 15-45 x 60 i do believe, love it.....have the FFP moa reticle to spot and correct shots...... i do believe its about 1200 or so...

Excellent glass....Love the reticle.
 


Have one and agreed its good value and the 80 is decent for sighting to 300 yards in good light.

My dumb oppinion is that unless you are an ornothologist then invest in a really good rifle scope even if you have to buy a target rifle to mount it on. You will get much more use out of a decent quality higher magnification rifle scope than a poor quality $300 spotter.
 
I've read some really good stuff (on an optics forum) about the Bushnell Excursion. Unfortunately they go for about $400+ but this includes a tripod(?), very nice case and the scope itself is encased in a good protective cover. I'm not a Bushy fan but this one has received a lot of good press.
 
I paid $300 for my Hawke Endurance 20-60x60 spotter. It is an amazing scope. I have nothing but good things to say about it. I also have a set of binos from them as well.They are also amazing. My father has a Hawke rifle scope and he also loves that as well! I had an older Bushnell and the Hawke blows it out of the water. Gave it away. The guy from the shop that i bought it from is a friend of mine and him and his brother took a Swaro and the Hawke on a goat hunting trip and they couldnt tell the difference between them. I personally have compared it to a Sequioa and it is 1000x better. Im just another nobody when it comes down to it but for the price, you cannot go wrong. It also came with a great warrenty. just my 2 pennies.
 
Need it to see out to 800m and mirage...

Then you are definitely looking in the wrong price bracket.

If your looking for bullet holes at 800 you'd best have some goooood glass and not even a twitch of mirage. If you are spotting hits on steel I still don't think a $300 spotter is going to help much if at all.

Pentax 80ED with either the 20-60 Zoom or a fixed eyepiece (I use the XW-14) for around $1200 from Cameraland would be the very least I would be looking at. After that it's Kowa and the likes in the $2000-$3000 range.
 
Back
Top Bottom