Why shouldn't I buy an inexpensive spotting scope?

skookumchuck

skookumchuck

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I'm getting tired of walking from one end of the range to the other to see if I'm hitting my target so I'm in the market for a spotting scope. I've been considering the Canadian Tire sale scopes but I read in this forum that you can't buy a decent scope for $250. If I did drop the $199 on this weeks special, Bushnell 20-65mm, what about it would make me leave the range thinking I'd wasted my money? I'm shooting out to 200 yards now but want to go further.
 
I suppose that I could start this out with "you get what you pay for" however it really comes down to performance. What you expect to be able to see at the longer ranges? The Vortex line of scopes are excellent, I have a Leupold Mark 4, outstanding and well worth investment. If you want/expect to see .223 holes at 100,200, etc then you will need power. If you simply want to see the target? then you could probably get by with less.When it comes to quality & value, that's very personal, I'm kinda "buy once cry once" shopper.
 
When it comes down to glass to see fine resolution the quality of lenses is the main factor.You can have a lower power quality scope vs high power poor quality, guess which one will show you finer detail?? Always the better quality glass.

You can get very good glass for mid-range prices $500-$700.Speak to Doug at Cameraland , they are very knowledgeable and prices are excellent and service is very high end.

Of course the buy once cry once motto can never be more true when it comes to optics.

If you get the chance go look through a few different optics and your eyes will tell you the difference.I bet you find out that the Bushnell wasn't what you first figure when you compare it side by side with another.
 
If you want to see small caliber bullet holes, in a black background, past 200 yards, you need a lot better spotting scope, than you can buy for $200. As the distance increases, so does the price.
 
Well my father has a in expensive spotting scope from Bushnell. Don't know the exact specifications because we never use it. The thing is imposable to bring into focus. Yes the target is bigger, but its so fuzzy @ 100yds you can't see a 30cal hole in the black.My 3-9 scope works better so...
 
If you do your research you can get decent glass without breaking he bank. I purchased a Konus with a 100 mm objective -20x-80x About $400 all in I think from OpticsPlanet. What I don't like is it is bulky. You can get a smaller Vortex razor or Swaro for much more 20-60x and they are impeccable and light. Though I've had others with a razor poor thru mine and say "you paid what for that?"
 
If you are using it to sight a few times a year and 200yrds the sub $400 scopes are fine . Where you notice a difference is :

- resolving holes @ longer distance
- if you are staring through the scope ( spotting for someone ) for more than a couple min @ a time cheaper scopes will give you a freaking headache

I used a Bushnell Spacemaster for a few years until I bought my first good scope ( Nightforce NSX ) . Gave my Bushy to my nephew the next day. The NSX was lightyears ahead resolving bullet holes !

Lastly, if you are using spotting scope for anything other than holes in paper, you will find the cheaper scopes often have worst chromatic aberration ( blue / purple ish color fringing ).

This is noticeable even when looking at paper targets . Good place to look is edge where black target edge meets white, or if you are using white "cover up" stickers on black target

This is minor for shooting, but deal breaker if you are using it for digiscoping or animal watching etc
 
I have that Bushnell Trophy spotting scope to which you're referring. At about $225, it's okay. For 100 yards it's great; for 200 yards it's not good. If I had the money right now, I would do what previous posters mentioned, spend $500 or more and get CLEAR optics, power not so important. When you shoot let's say 500 yards, and you dial back that good quality scope to about 20x and are capable of following the bullet to the target, you know you have CLEAR glass.
 
Until you are willing to put down some serious coin, seeing bullet holes at long range is not likely to happen unless you shoot a large bore and willing to drop them into the "white".

At 300m, it is almost impossible to see bullet holes in a black target with ANY spotting scope.... even a 30cal hole.

Better scopes will kill two birds if you want to make the investment but if there is mirage, forget about it.

If shooting further, the easiest is to set up a wireless camera and a monitor where you shoot. Then distance nor conditions don't matter.

Jerry
 
Got to go with what Chuckbusters says about Crappy Tire Bushmaster spotting scope. Almost useless. 100 yards is beyond it ability to focus at any power level that allows you to see holes. TRG-42 is bang on with the chromatic aberration in case you try the color changing targets to get around the clarity issues with this scope. Going to unload it at the next garage sale. I was looking at the Bushnell on sale as well. Let us know how it works if you get it.
 
Its true that you get what you pay for (sometimes!) but computer assisted manufacturing has brought the cost of consistent quality optics down a LOT. ALSO an older used spotter from a quality company can be a pretty good investment. Sometimes you can spend a lot of money to upgrade only to find that the incremental improvement was very small (been there and done that). A lot of guys jumped on the multi coating bandwagon a decade or two ago and in some cases found an improvement for critical use but sometimes just a simple lens hood to reduce flaring light sources would result in 95% of the improvement. ALSO not much point in having an expensive apochromat objective if you're the type to leave greasy thumb prints all over the exterior lens surfaces.

The old Kowa's are usually good. Some of the Bausch and Lomb labelled scopes. Some Pentax and Nikon work ok. And as Mystic points out ... dont expect the impossible - mirage, range and target colour will certainly limit what you can see with any scope.

(and there are some tricks to improving contrast on overcast days such as a yellow filter to remove the blue UV etc etc)
 
I have a tasco 20-60 that I got for 99$ (instead of 200)
It's pretty cheap optics really... image always feels "blurred".
At 100 yards it's okay, at 200 it's really average.
Cant use power above 40 because somehow, from 40 to 60, you see bigger but the image is all blurry
Oh I mean, if you don't want to spend too much, it "works", but it's not a pleasure to use.
My range now has cameras and tvs to see targets, MUCH better. Honestly, I think I will buy a camera + monitor for LR shooting instead of buying a quality spotting scope.
1000 yards and you can see the target like you are there.
 
Thanks for all the answers guys. I'd really like to be able to see clearly at 200m so I guess I'll wait until I can drop $500 on a better brand. I imagine in that price range all the well known names, Vortex, Nightforce, Leupold are all good value but are some better than others at the low end?
 
stop expecting #### to work well....
get a 99$ cheap 20-60 and see for yourself.
It "works", you might see holes at 200 yards.

honestly, get a camera instead. spotting scopes are useless for BR target. you arent at war.
 
I bought one of the cheap Canadian Tire Bushmaster scopes for use at a 50 meter indoor range. At $60 on sale it was affordable and it served its pupose. I saw no need to drop a serious amount of money just to better see my groups at such a short range. However, if I were shooting on an outdoor range I would want to invest in a quality scope if I were shooting beyond 50 meters.
 
skookumchuck said:
I'm getting tired of walking from one end of the range to the other to see if I'm hitting my target so I'm in the market for a spotting scope. I've been considering the Canadian Tire sale scopes but I read in this forum that you can't buy a decent scope for $250. If I did drop the $199 on this weeks special, Bushnell 20-65mm, what about it would make me leave the range thinking I'd wasted my money? I'm shooting out to 200 yards now but want to go further.
Click to expand...

Depending on what you are shooting a 20 X is going to be hard pressed to show you holes past 100 yards, I bought a 20-60x vortex 65mm and really like it , On 20X it works well as a 20 yard sighter for my sons .22 small bore indoor shooting and 50 m outdoor smallbore competition shooting. With the higher powers it shows 6.5 mm and .243 hits out to 250-300 yards without much problem . Some of the bushnell scopes work really well and some don't, do some reading online and see how the reviewers are using them . My scope was about 350 ish and is as decent as some scopes nearing a 1000 bucks in performance and clarity .
 
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