Thoughts on spotting scopes

D

dfarr67

Member
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Location
Edson
Need something for the range (500m)- and have to budget accordingly as in it won't be used much. Unfortunately I know what good glass is, I have all well above average scopes or at least great value- I just cannot afford a top tier spotter even a used one.

- I am looking at some used Kowa's out of Japan, need to find out what the model number mean- around $350usd shipped.

- open to vintage scopes, maybe B&L.

- right now looking at new straight-line 80mm Celeston Ultima. why?

- as I understand it, the large lenses in the body are very easy to make- and make good. Where the cheaper scopes fail is in the eye piece- small and complicated- I've seen certain eye piece brands selling for $800. So in the mid 2000's guys started to take the pos eye piece off of this particular scope and retrofit with a German Baader Planetarium zoom piece which elevated the scope performance greatly. $250cdn for a new scope plus $400cdn for the eye piece which can be purchased later or if I lucked out- a used one. A question would be- what does $650cdn or $450usd buy in the used market AND where would the performance value be pegged with the modified scope- my feeling is that it would hang with the $1500 crowd.



Thoughts?
 
You know what good glass is. On something like a spotter, that you could be spending a lot of time looking through, you're going to notice it if you cheap out. But since you kinda have to keep the costs down I would look at one of the compact Kowa spotters from Cameraland NY. They're a 20-40x 50mm scope that comes with a tripod for $399 US. Cameraland is excellent to deal with (I thought they were a sponsor here at one point) and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again. I bought binos and a LRF from them in the past.
 
Last edited:
On a budget looking for a decent optic without spending the big money you should look at the Athlon line! You may just find exactly what your looking for in your budget. I had one I forget the model but it was pretty great. I ended up moving to a larger vortex viper but the Athlon didn’t disappoint and I think it was around the $500 mark cdn.
 
Are you checking the EE ? I've seen several in the past couple weeks.
I got a Celestron 25-75x70mm a few years ago for $60cdn - off Kijiji. It's a disc't'd CT model but sold for about $200 back then. I can see .223 holes in paper at 200yds . . . may not be enough for 500?
 
I bought a used Kowa TSN-1 25 years ago for $600. It was a good price back then. If I every had to replace it I would be looking for another Kowa, my second choice would be a Pentax. Angled eye pieces and long eye relief is important when shooting prone, more so if you wear glasses. The next most important thing is a good solid scope stand.
 
I was just looking at Athlon. A lot of brand names now I'm not familiar with. What is Burris like- seems like they are not well rated on their lower end gear.
 
BigUglyMan said:
You know what good glass is. On something liek a spotter, that you could be spending a lot of time looking through, you're going to notice it if you cheap out. But since you kinda have to keep the costs down I would look at one of the compact Kowa spotters from Cameraland NY. They're a 20-40x 50mm scope that comes with a tripod for $399 US. Cameraland is excellent to deal with (I thought they were a sponsor here at one point) and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again. I bought binos and a LRF from them in the past.
Click to expand...

I don't know if Cameraland still deals with Canadians. I've bought a Leica rangefinder and some Pentax binos from them in the past but a couple years ago I tried to buy a camera from them and they told me they didn't ship to Canada anymore.
 
Last edited:
The rule of spotting scope is don't spend "not enough" for "too much". If your budget doesn't stretch too high, I would look for a higher tier 15-45x instead of a lower tier 20-60x. I know because I made that mistake. My 20-60 is #### at the range, hard to focus and image quality at full magnification is crap.

For range work in an open field, you also won't necessarily need a large objective. You will give up nothing going with a 65mm instead of 85mm unless you are trying to gather tons of light to spot movement in a tree line near dusk.

Kowa does come well-regarded. Any of the big optics brands offer solid products but again, you do need to be aware of the trade-offs and the possibility to move up a tier by shrinking glass/magnification which will almost definitely give you a better result.
 
If you are on a tight budget, invest the money into the rifle scope. There are some fantastic rifle scopes that can give you a great view downrange.

If the goal is to see bullet holes in paper, it ain't going to happen especially if there is any mirage at all. With top quality high mag target scopes and alpha spotting scopes, seeing bullet holes in the white can be irratic if there is any mirage at all... in the black, forget it.

If you are only shooting at extended distances and want to see the impacts/bullets in target as they occur, consider remote camera system. If you are handy with basic electronics, you can easily setup a remote camera system for little money.

And with a reasonable camera, it will be like being a few feet away.

Jerry
 
Instead of a 2 units - rifle scope + spotter combination I invested into a better glass target scope. I can see the holes on the paper target out to 250-300 when no mirage.
Also the convenience factor.
I have two older spotting scopes from 15 plus years ago when I was competing in long range archery shooting. This is not only to take care the scope alone but a tripod as well (and all the good tripods all heavy). And you start adding up loose pieces you need to drag with you no matter you go in the bush or to your shooting bench.
I am shooting BR only and so far my rifle scope doing a job well, but if I would want to stretch the limits - I was eyeing the remote cameras as well.
 
And on a tight budget, putting everything into one really good rifle with one really great bit of glass on top that can see holes downrange may be the only winning strategy.

A spotting scope mostly makes sense if you've got various rifles going it can be shared between, especially if you're trying to make distance on iron sights or smaller scopes, or if you want to spot for a buddy, or if you sometimes want to look at things you don't want to point a rifle at.
 
Have you thought about a target camera? They're about 500 and good out to 500m. They work on a Bluetooth system and an app. The app records all your shots and data. all you have to do is not shoot it. Mine is from Bullseye.
 
There are lots of advantages with a spotting scope over a target camera or a better rifle scope. As a competitive shooter, with a spotting scope I can sit back and watch the relay before me shoot. Watching the mirage and win flags you just might catch a condition that will come in useful on your relay. This isn’t something that you can do with a rifle mounted scope. The RO will get a little excited if you are behind the line pointing your rifle while people are shooting. Target cameras are not allowed in competition.
 
bcsteve said:
I don't know if Cameraland still deals with Canadians. I've bought a Leica rangefinder and some Pentax binos from them in the past but a couple years ago I tried to buy a camera from them and they told me they didn't ship to Canada anymore.
Click to expand...

What's funny is that I bought exactly the same things from them too!
 
old303 said:
A spotting scope mostly makes sense if you've got various rifles going it can be shared between, especially if you're trying to make distance on iron sights or smaller scopes, or if you want to spot for a buddy, or if you sometimes want to look at things you don't want to point a rifle at.
Click to expand...

^this exactly, for me. I don't have a need to do any of those often but when I do, a spotting scope seems to work the best. I've also used mine (few weeks back) helping a buddy zero a lower magnification scope @ 100 yards, advise on POI @ 200 yards, etc. Used it this past spring zeroing a red dot on a .22 (no magnification) etc.

I've also learned the hard (=expensive) way that if you want good glass, you do have to pay for it. lol However, I try to focus the resources on the gear I use most..and since that does not include a spotting scope, I bought NOS "GOSKY" from a local B&S site, basically an older version of this;

https://www.amazon.ca/Updated-20-60x80-Spotting-Carrying-Smartphone/dp/B07KFTV8WM

Not comparing it to any other makes/models, but I think I only paid $100 for it and unless/until it fails..I have no intention of replacing it. Glass seems very decent to my middle-aged eyes. Don't know if the cell phone attachment is gimmicky (=probably is) but I plan on trying it out anyway. I DO mount it to a very good quality tripod from my photography days, and considering the size/weight of spotting scopes of this size, I'd say a good/solid way to mount it is key.
 
I always say the same thing about spotting scopes on a budget... Buy it used.

You can get a very good used optic for less than the price of something that is only marginally acceptable new.

Look on ebay for any of the premium brands and even if its 40 years old it will be far better than anything comparably priced new today.

I sold a Vortex spotting scope some years ago for $900 that was nowhere near as good as a vintage Leica my buddy has that I later found available on ebay for less than $400.
 
I just went through this dilemma myself. I ended up buying a Athlon Ares G2 UHD 15-45x65 from Mystic precision. I'm very happy with it! much better than the old bushnell I had. With perfect weather conditions I could easily see my 30cal bullet holes at 400m. I was impressed! While I would have liked a high end Kowa or Swarovski, this will have to do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom