What's a good spotting scope for a beginner target shooter?

ALBERTA BOY said:
I haven't tested spotting scopes per-se but I've had some experience with rifle scopes. I wouldn't buy the Vortex at any price. It looks like they sell for about $600 right now. Leupold has some spotting scopes priced at $400 which I would wager five of my paycheques are optically superior.

Vortex trades on its image of having the best warranty in the business: even covering accidental damage. Believe it, you pay for that up front. Their optical quality is sub par in my experience and from what I've observed of their build quality, odds are better than even you're going to need that wonderful warranty.
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Well, I have to eat crow on this one! I've now had some experience with a Leupold spotting scope (going back to the store on Tuesday!) While I've had excellent experiences with their riflescopes, their spotting scope is GARBAGE. In fact, I can resolve bullet holes slightly better with the $59 (on sale) Crappy Tire "yukon gear" spotter. Ouch. Really disappointing. Actually this is my second one - the first one was broke in the box. I'm very impressed with their scopes but this Chinese stuff they put their name on isn't worth spit.
 
Maple57 said:
As mentioned above the old vintage Bushnell Spacemaster is a great value and it will likely have a 20 to 45x eye piece.

An alternative might be an old vintage Bushnell Sentry which is the same as the Spacemaster except a smaller objective and a fixed 20x eye piece.

The Sentry also does not focus quite as close as the Spacemaster... if you're an airgun guy, then get the Spacemaster.

I have both actually and find them to be the very best value and anyone considering a new scope should buy and try one of these oldies first. It might just be good enough.

I also have a Kowa 554 and obviously the old Bushnells wont compare to that, but I recently sold off a Vortex Viper spotting scope that I would be hard pressed to say was any better than either of the old Bushnells. (Which is why I sold it)

This might sound bold, but I dont know if I would buy any new $1,000 spotting scope over a vintage Spacemaster or Sentry.

If I wanted to spend more, I would look for a Kowa with Prominar glass from the 90s or so. I've seen them on ebay for around $600, and they will be close optically to a new $2000 scope today.

Here's a couple nice ones on ebay, but if you look around you can find them cheaper.

Pay attention to the eye piece!!

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Bushnell-Spacemaster-II-Prismatic-Telescope-Tripod-Stand-Sighting-Scope-30X/303737244045?hash=item46b826898d:g:muAAAOSwrCFfkcnN

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Vintage-Bushnell-SpaceMaster-II-60mm-Spotting-Scope-With-Matching-Tripod/264891173193?hash=item3dacbe8949:g:DDQAAOSwsklffmsR

In bright sunlight you can see mirage easily with the old Bushnell scopes, but not very well in overcast conditions. That's were the big money pays off.
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Hey thanks for this post. Found an old Sentry 11 locally for pretty cheap. Reading mirage is one hurdle I have to get over.

cheers
 
I got a Simmons 20-60x on sale in December I think, it's about as cheap as I'd go for my own purposes. My range is only 200m but it does a fine job out there with 22-30cal holes. Not sure about 300. The moon sure looks pretty through it.

In the field I'm strictly minimalist so it's binos only for me (Nikon Monarch, excellent), which is probably best as I'm not sure where Simmons cut the corners to build a $250 spotter with okay glass but I'm pretty sure it's not the toughest build out there.
 
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