Wishing to purchase a spotting scope...

New Camper

New Camper

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
22   0   0
Location
Lurking in the woods near SFRC.
I've already decided on the angled occular lens as it will be used for spotting bullet holes from 100 - 1000m. Beyond 300-400m, bullet holes will be produced by anything from 6.5mm to 30 cal, but under that distance mostly 224 caliber. Light conditions would vary as the weather, and be during daylight hours.

Anyway, base point would be nothing less than a Vortex Diamondback, but I am considering the Viper HD 20-80.

So as usual for these threads, I have a few questions(having already looked through threads found with the search function and the lame "stand in a building and talk about the scope" reviews). Foremost question is what magnification range is optimal for observing bullet holes as described above? Is this one of few cases where "more magnification is better"? Optic quality: I don't want to regret the day I bought the glass, so while keeping it affordable, cheaping out is not an option so where does this criteria set, before excluding possibility?

Ideally (and with thanks), I would appreciate the recommendations of those who have once trod this path.
 
I don't know of any spotting scope on the market that will allow you to see bullet holes at 1000m. I have a Kowa TSN-1 with a 22 WA eyepiece. On a still day in the right light I can see bullet holes in the black at 300M. On hot and humid days I have seen guys having problems seeing an 6" orange spotting disc at 1000 yards in heavey mirage with better scopes than a Viper HD 20-80.
 
Thank you for the information: If 300m is tops, then that's something I'll have to live with. I understand that even the best glass in the world is practically useless on those hot and humid days because of heavy mirage. Given that, it might even be pointless to pay for the extra magnification and objective lens size in a 20-60X80 rather than the 15-45X60.
 
I use a celestron c90 mak spotting scope with eyepiece mag of up to 120x. I can see bullet holes in around 1000 meters but not on hot humid days. You can get higher magnification by swapping the eyepiece except the field of view gets smaller.
 
I use a Kowa TSN 883, and at 400 yards, I can see bullet holes in the white background, but it can be a challenge to see bullet holes inj a dark background, especially in less than ideal light conditions. The TSN 883 is a step up from the Vortex Razor.
 
Kowa TSN 661 here, with a 20-60 eyepiece. Often used for up to 300 meters on paper. Occassionally up to 1000-1200 meters on steel.
Very reliable, and no eye strain after a full afternoon of spotting/shooting.

Edit: Kowas are the most popular spotting scope in the USA at competitions. So says the website 6mmbr dot com.
 
You will likely already have seen my comments if the search function worked but if not I'll add them again: At a very attractive price point it is hard to beat the Pentax 80 ED. I can easily see .308 holes at 400 yards in most weather conditions and out further if the weather is clear. Mirage is the foe of course and in heavy mirage even S+B glass on my scopes struggle.
 
Tomochan said:
You will likely already have seen my comments if the search function worked but if not I'll add them again: At a very attractive price point it is hard to beat the Pentax 80 ED. I can easily see .308 holes at 400 yards in most weather conditions and out further if the weather is clear. Mirage is the foe of course and in heavy mirage even S+B glass on my scopes struggle.
Click to expand...

I also use the Pentax 80 ED and couldn't be happier with it.
 
I have a Bushnell Elite 20-60x80. It fit the budget, it's quite good, not a KOWA, but it works for now until I win a lottery, or rich relative leaves me money. Even on good days I can't make out bullet holes past 300 yards, however I can see all the other things like bullet trace, impact in the butts, and mirage to try and make good wind calls... try being the operative word. I had a 60mm spotting scope,, however I found the reduced objective diameter to be a hindrance, I would definitely stay with the bigger scopes. Good luck in your search.
 
I had a Vortex Viper HD 20-60x80 angled and a Kowa Prominar 883 20-60x88 at the same time. I preferred the Kowa and sold the Viper. I can easily see 223 holes at 300 yards and when I get somewhere with a longer range I have no doubt visibility will stretch out quite a bit further without any problems. I have not seen anything that comes close to the 883
 
Resolution may be more important than power.
With the better scopes, power is determined by the eyepiece installed - these are interchangeable.
I upgraded my little old Kowa fixed 20X to a Kowa 663 with the LER 25X eyepiece.
Can see bullet splash in the paint on 1000m gongs. Bullet holes at 300m are reasonable.
 
SteelCap said:
I use a celestron c90 mak spotting scope with eyepiece mag of up to 120x. I can see bullet holes in around 1000 meters but not on hot humid days. You can get higher magnification by swapping the eyepiece except the field of view gets smaller.
Click to expand...

tiriaq said:
Resolution may be more important than power.
With the better scopes, power is determined by the eyepiece installed - these are interchangeable.
I upgraded my little old Kowa fixed 20X to a Kowa 663 with the LER 25X eyepiece.
Can see bullet splash in the paint on 1000m gongs. Bullet holes at 300m are reasonable.
Click to expand...

Where did you lads get your upgraded eyepieces?
 
I was given a cheap, but new Celestron Ultima 80. This past weekend, I was surprised that I was able to see my hits without issue from my 7mm08 at 500 yrds on cardboard. At 60x, bullets holes were easily distinguishable. No blurr or fishbowl vision. The only other optics I have to compare to are my Bushnell Elite scopes and binos. Not as bright and clear but can gets the job done. I wont use the spotter for hunting so it does its job fine at the range. I don't think I would drop a couple grand on a spotter dedicated for the range when this one can do it at less than a fraction of the price for the max range of 500 yrds.
 
OP - Just curious but why would you prefer a spotting scope to a Bullseye camera system. I've seen this in operation and regardless of the weather, you can see your bullet holes at 1000 yds. and it only costs a fraction (25%) of good glass.

I've asked the question before and some folks use their spotting scopes for hunting or bird watching and while I can see this I have a hard time justifying spotting scopes for target use anymore.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom