Spotting scopes?

[Fly]

Man I,m full of questions tonight.But I have never had a good spotting scope.I know
nothing about magnification & all that stuff.I just want a scope that I can see a 200yd
target.

How much must I spend for a scope as such & which one for the best price, my friends?

Fly:coffeecom

[John Allen]

I bought a Leica Televid it is awesome but way overkill. I do know that the Leupold ones are nice for the money.

[GARD72977]

I use a vintage (made in Japan) Swift. It has interchangeable eye pieces up to 20x. It is great condition and can be bought from ebay or classifieds for a very reasonable price. I like to use vintage items, it just makes me enjoy shooting more.

[Fly]

Thanks for the reply,s but like I said I know NOTHING about scopes.All I want is something I
can see my target at 200 yds.What magnification would I look for & what will I exspect to
pay, new or used?
Fly

[John Allen]

Buy the one you can afford. The nikons are also great for the money. I would look at a 15 to 45 power. The problem with the cheaper scopes is that they do not have the definition to see the smaller holes in the target. Also you have to decide what you are going to do for a tripod or standard stand. I like the ray vin ones here is the page http://www.ray-vin.com

[GARD72977]

My swift has very clear optics at 20X. Im not saying that it compares to a high dollar scope. But for around 100-125 bucks you can have a scope that you can see 22 cal holes clear at 100yds. I have not used it at 200 but I think 22cal would be too small to see but 30calshould be fine.

[Case Stuffer]

Thanks for the reply,s but like I said I know NOTHING about scopes.All I want is something I
can see my target at 200 yds.What magnification would I look for & what will I exspect to
pay, new or used?
Fly

What distance can you see it well enough at?

10X makes 200 yds. appear to be 20 yds. 20X makes it appear to be 10 yrds,

[Sergeant Earthworm]

Man I,m full of questions tonight.But I have never had a good spotting scope.I know
nothing about magnification & all that stuff.I just want a scope that I can see a 200yd
target.

How much must I spend for a scope as such & which one for the best price, my friends?

Fly:coffeecom

No easy answer. If you are sure that you will never need to use it past 200 yards, you can go with a lower end scope and be happy. I would recommend checking armslist.com and craigslist.org but avoid buying a scope without looking through it outdoors, even if you buy it from a dealer. If you go to a local or chain sporting goods store they should have someone who can take you outdoors and let you look through a couple of scopes. Best to do this on a cloudy day. What you are looking for is something that is easy to focus and easy to change magnification and provides good contrast and color rendition. Wal-Mart probably won't let you do this, but at least you can probably return it if you aren't happy.

Like a lot of things, you usually get what you pay for in a scope. A cheap scope will probably have plastic lenses that will not give you good contrast. If the outer edges of the image are fuzzy or blurry when the center is in focus, you may want to avoid that scope. Also look for scopes that have well made knobs and dials so you aren't looking for another scope after the cheap one breaks.

I used a Made in Korea Bushnell Sentry 18-36x50 for years and it was good enough for the range out to about 200 yards. "18-36" means it has variable power from 18-36x magnification, 50 means it has a 50 millimeter objective lens which is pretty small for a spotting scope. Another example, 30x60 means fixed 30 power magnification and 60 millimeter objective lens. A larger objective lens gathers more light so you have a brighter image than a smaller objective lens, generally speaking. On the other hand, if you were to buy a 60 or 65 millimeter Leica, Swarovski, Zeiss, or Meopta scope it will have a much better optics and image quality than an 80 millimeter scope from a discount store. But then again, a Leica or Swarovski is going to set you back about $2k or more. Personally, I dislike Leupold spotting scopes and binos. Unlike their rifle scopes which are excellent, I have used both in the field and for the money their spotters and binos are just not that impressive to me.

Another thing to consider: A larger scope is going to be heavier and bulkier, so a smaller and lighter scope with better optics might be better, say, if you are going after Pronghorn on the plains of Wyoming and have to walk long distances.

First thing I would recommend is decide how much you have to spend, then go to Opticsplanet.com or similar and see what they have in your price range. Sometimes they have model closeouts at greatly reduced prices. About ten years ago I bought a pair of Leica binos from BearBasinOutfitters.com, list price $1500, sale price $1100. Yep, that's a big chunk of cash, but Lord willing I will never buy another pair of binos. I got a similar deal on a Nikon Fieldscope III. But I've become kind of an optics junkie. When I bought the binos I was getting ready to hunt Caribou with my buddy in Alaska, so I did not want optics that might let me down. Also, don't spend all your $ on the scope. A sturdy tripod is essential, especially when the wind picks up. The tripods at Wal-Mart are junk, although they may have decent ones on their website. A window mount is nice, but I very rarely use mine.

Another way of looking at it: If you divide the price of the optic by the number of times you use it, even an expensive one still doesn't cost that much per use. Just beware of letting your so-called friends use it...

[GARD72977]

good advice is to buy the best used optics that in you budget. 20x +

[wv109323]

It all depends on what size bullet holes you are looking at. I assume since this is in the Black Powder section that the bullet holes are quite large. I am not familiar with what target you are using. It is much harder to see a bullet hole in a black target than a white one. At 200 yards you start to have mirage problems on hot days.
I use a 32X Bushnell. At times you lose a .22 hole in the black at 50 yards but you will find 95% of them. If the target is black I would lean toward a 32 to 45X with ML size bullets.
Another important thing that you need to consider is the stand or mounting system. A very rigid stand is needed with higher magnification. Any vibration makes it tough to use the scope. I am mostly talking about wooden benches. Most times there is too much vibration to use a scope if the bench is common to multiple shooters.
Some of your larger sporting goods places should be able to let you look through their selection of scopes.

[Nobade]

I really like my 80mm Chinese made Celestron. 20-60x, about $150 street price from Optics Planet and others. It's plenty for the silhouette shooting I do, and most people are amazed at how good it is compared to the high dollar scopes.

-Nobade

[GARD72977]

I bought a Leica Televid it is awesome but way overkill. I do know that the Leupold ones are nice for the money.

I bet you can tell the sex of a fly at a 100yds with that thing!

[Boz330]

This is what I use and I love it. You do need a good tripod for it. http://www.opticsplanet.com/konus-konuspot-20-60x100-spotting-scope.html

Bob

[oldracer]

I bought my scope a couple years ago from Walmart on line. It is a 30 to 90 power with 100mm opening and can see out to 1000 yards easily. The more light that can get in, the clearer and sharper the image will be. It was a Barska, cost $225 at the time and so far has been great!

[Omnivore]

The magnification alone tells you almost nothing. My 14x rifle scope will show better detail than a cheap 30x spotting scope. As said earlier, the large holes typical of a BP gun are not much of a challenge for a spotting scope. If you want to see .22" holes at 200 yards is various lighting conditions, you'll need some better quality glass. In perfect lighting, just about anything will be OK, but when things get less than perfect, that's when you need quality lenses.

I use a Leupold Gold Ring. Their Gold Ring "HD" is supposed to be better, and now I wish I'd got that one. But I'm reaching out much farther, and using smaller bullets too.

ALSO; my Leupold has the eyepiece coming out parallel to the line of sight, and that means I have to kink my neck to look through it unless I'm standing. Also would like to try an angled eye piece scope, which I think would be much more comfortable.

My advice is to avoid the lower priced scopes that look tempting in the store but will only be frustrating in the field. Been there, done that, won't do it again.

I'd say figure the most you can afford to spend, and then double it. The better the glass you get, the more uses you'll find for it, and you'll love it. By the way; the moon looks awesome through a nice spotter. Oh yeah.

[felix]

The rule: The more power, the more resolution is needed to save your eyes from cataracts later in life. You MUST minimize the time looking through any kind of powerful gadget. We BR guys paid the price by using measly 20 power scopes of days gone by. ... felix