Spotting scope recommendations

[kd4avp]

Need to upgrade my spotting scope. Getting into the longer range shooting situations and need something that performs better than the Celestron 100mm scope in use now. At 600 yds or more, I know there really is nothing that will show impacts in less than ideal conditions and the bullet hole from a 223 is almost impossible past 300 yds.
What are you seeing at 1000yd shoots?
Considering one of the remote view camera systems as well.

Thanks

 

[Gargoyle]

Just yesterday I friend asked me for recommendations for a spotting scope. The conversation quickly went to the view camera systems! Hunting - spotting scope. Range - camera system!

 

[FNSafari]

You hit the nail on the head, even the best spotters are challenged in heavy mirage and the longer the distance the more of a challenge to see bullet holes of a given diameter. The smaller the diameter the harder it becomes. Good glass is wonderful to use but on many days its benefits are negated by the atmospheric conditions. I have an old Nikon ED spotter that is really nice and the Kowa's are great scopes too. Tough decision.

 

[SKWERLZ]

Kowa Prominar glass is pretty amazing.

 

[Gargoyle]

I've been thinking of going the 15X56 bino route also. That heavy summer mirage will render a Swarovski useless above 20X.

 

[FNSafari]

I've been thinking of going the 15X56 bino route also. That heavy summer mirage will render a Swarovski useless above 20X.

Boy, seeing bullet holes at longer distances at 15X is going to be a challenge imo.

 

[Gargoyle]

Boy, seeing bullet holes at longer distances at 15X is going to be a challenge imo.

Oh boy, holes yes. I was auto thinking white steel plate impacts.

 

[FNSafari]

IC.

 

[One Eye Pete]

I used to use the Celestron 100mm scope for F class mirage reading but found it very bulky. The optics are OK, I even have the long eye releif eye piece for it, but it was just too big and cumbersome. The second time around I went with a Kowa TSN-773 77mm PROMINAR XD and the long eye releif wide angle eyepiece. Huge Difference !!!!! The Kowa is much smaller but the optics are nothing short of fantastic. The Kowa TSN-883 is even better but a lot more expensive and I just couldn't justify the price. For general short range spotting and mirage reading the Kowa is the way to go. However, if your trying to spot bullet holes reliably at distances over about 300 yds spotting scopes just don't cut it. Where I shoot in SC the mirage can be brutal in the summer and it quickly renders spotting scopes useless for spotting hits on the target. For that stuff I bought a Longshot target camera. It works great and is very easy to set up. No more problems with mirage (at least while looking with the Longshot camera). Before the Longshot I had a Caldwell target camera. It worked but was much more difficult to set up and I had a lot of trouble getting the WiFi to link up to my tablet. (This was an older model so maybe they have improved it by now.) Also it didn't have anywhere near the resolution of the Longshot camera.
The moral of the story is with either spotting scopes or target cams don't try to go cheap you basically get what you pay for. Buy something good and buy only once.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

You hit the nail on the head, even the best spotters are challenged in heavy mirage and the longer the distance the more of a challenge to see bullet holes of a given diameter. The smaller the diameter the harder it becomes. Good glass is wonderful to use but on many days its benefits are negated by the atmospheric conditions. I have an old Nikon ED spotter that is really nice and the Kowa's are great scopes too. Tough decision.

Yeah the old Japanese built Nikon EDs can’t be beat for the price. I would even argue that most of the Japanese ED glass spotters couldn’t be beat at ANY price point. I can pick out 6mm holes on 56x at just shy of 900 yards where we shoot, even with a little amount of mirage going on. Quite easily see them when conditions are perfect. Looking thru Swarovski ATX/BTX, Meopta S2 HD and other optics at the same distance, even with higher magnification levels, gives no advantage over the old Nikon ED. Modern glass really isn’t much advantage. They’ve just figured out how to give wider fields of view and better eye relief but the glass quality itself isn’t really any better. Could argue about coatings but I don’t think those are much better either except for maybe the water shedding and scratch resistance built into them now. You got way more quality for your dollar back in the day.

Many people think I’m BSing about my old Nikon ED spotters but when we meet at the range and set up to shoot at 871 yards, I’ll stand there and call out the holes in the paper every time. Pretty amazing glass. Closer targets at 450 and 700 yards are a walk in the park for the old scope. Saves a lot of driving on a rough road

 

[Schutzen2]

^^^^What Ledd said. Get a Nikon ED and save yourself a bunch of money. Especially if your just looking at targets and don't need a really wide FOV. One of the old ones,not the new ED.

 

[6bra1k]

Need to upgrade my spotting scope. Getting into the longer range shooting situations and need something that performs better than the Celestron 100mm scope in use now. At 600 yds or more, I know there really is nothing that will show impacts in less than ideal conditions and the bullet hole from a 223 is almost impossible past 300 yds.
What are you seeing at 1000yd shoots?
Considering one of the remote view camera systems as well.

Thanks

define the type of shooting ??
paper targets or steel impacts
i used the 100 ed celestron for a long time, but when i moved out to 2000 sighting impacts were lost.
its about quality of the glass, objective dia, distance and hole dia on the target.
my current is a meostar s2 82 hd with a 22-70 eye pc. i can see three clays stacked in a triangle at 2000.
save money and buy right once...just save till you can buy top end

 

[kd4avp]

define the type of shooting ??
paper targets or steel impacts
i used the 100 ed celestron for a long time, but when i moved out to 2000 sighting impacts were lost.
its about quality of the glass, objective dia, distance and hole dia on the target.
my current is a meostar s2 82 hd with a 22-70 eye pc. i can see three clays stacked in a triangle at 2000.
save money and buy right once...just save till you can buy top end

Most of the shooting at 1000 yds will be paper targets. Maybe a little steel but not much. Mostly shooting for groups or score. I will check out the meostar. And I agree, buy once and get what works well.

 

[JEFFPPC]

I have a Ziess , I like it. It's about 15 yrs old. Of the newer scopes I have looked at I think Kowa is real tough to beat .

 

[One Eye Pete]

If you are going to shoot paper at 600 to 1000 yards even white paper or splatter targets I highly recommend a target camera. With a spotter you may or may not see your groups depending on conditions. With a Longshot target cam you will see your groups in any condition and you can number your shots on the screen. The camera is less expensive than a good spotting scope and with a full charge the batteries last all day. I have both but I definitely prefer the target cam at long distance. But then again my old eyes ain't exactly eagle eyes and I only have one good one.
If your a decent shot and can hit a 48 in target at distance then you don't have to worry about hitting the camera as you can easily offset it far enough. The only downside would be if your shooting at a crowded range with people who don't exactly know what they are doing.

 

[Chiquita]

@Ledd Slinger what is model of your Nikon?

 

[R.Morehouse]

define the type of shooting ??
paper targets or steel impacts
i used the 100 ed celestron for a long time, but when i moved out to 2000 sighting impacts were lost.
its about quality of the glass, objective dia, distance and hole dia on the target.
my current is a meostar s2 82 hd with a 22-70 eye pc. i can see three clays stacked in a triangle at 2000.
save money and buy right once...just save till you can buy top end

I had this exact set-up ( Meostar ) and thought it was great. I now use a Vortex Razor 11-33x50 compact. It is much lighter/smaller and easier to deal with. With the Meostar in perfect conditions I could make out bullet holes a 1K at Williamsport, but you really had to know what you were looking at. They were like tiny little tic marks. I only use the Vortex for spectating and for SR-BR it is great and at longer ranges it picks up trace real well. The Meostar was also fantastic for wildlife watching. I used mine for checking out nesting Bald Eagles and that was just plain COOL.....

Regards
Rick

 

[Ledd Slinger]

@Ledd Slinger what is model of your Nikon?

I have a 78mm ED with the 25-56x zoom eyepiece and the 75x fixed wide angle eyepiece. Don’t use the 75x ep much because conditions really have to be perfect. But no issues spotting bullet holes in paper at 870 yards with the zoom ep set on 56x. Can even turn it down to 50x when there’s a little mirage and still see the holes.

I also have 2 of the old Japanese Nikon 60 ED spotters. One has fixed 20x and fixed 40x ep. The other one has a zoom but can use fixed as well. Both phenomenal glass. Have used one of the 60 EDs to spot holes in paper on a 635 yard target using the fixed 40x ep and it did so with ease. Wasn’t really even a challenge for the scope. Bet they would see holes at 870 yards as well but I haven’t tried it yet.

Even my Trijicon 4.5-30x riflescope is just good enough to pick out 30 and 338 cal holes in the paper at 870 yards. But seeing 6mm holes with the Trijicon on 30x might be a pretty healthy challenge.

 

[Hankpac]

I have a Leica 20-60 that is great and all, but becomes pretty much useless on a sunny day past 20x. You can barely see the numbers on an f class target at 500 with the mirage. No chance of seeing holes

 

[Ledd Slinger]

I have a Leica 20-60 that is great and all, but becomes pretty much useless on a sunny day past 20x. You can barely see the numbers on an f class target at 500 with the mirage. No chance of seeing holes

Yeah it’s weird how those Leica scopes are. Their binoculars have always been my favorite with top notch resolution and extremely vibrant color contrast. I currently use their 3200.com Geovid RF binos. Amazing product!

But their spotting scopes have never impressed me much at all. I always have high hopes when I look thru one yet always seem to walk away with a bit of disappointment.