Spotting scope stand suggestions

[ShootDots]

if you can find a used Kowa TSN-1 you will be happy as a tick. I bought one from a friend and had Kowa recondition it. It only cost $100 for the recon. job and it was as good as brand new. Get and Eliseo head for whatever stand you get.
Found a scope for you on Armslist. I saw top shooters using them at the Berger SWN this weekend.
http://www.armslist.com/posts/3000729/wichita-kansas-optics-for-sale--kowa-tsn-1-spotting-scope

Thank You VERY much!!!

 

[Gman]

Ben, Pentax is a very good scope also, and it is conditions you need to see. Not looking for bullet holes, but it will, at 600 on a good day, and remember the eye piece is the deal breaker and they have the best.... jim

I'll second this recommendation. I have a Pentax PF-80ED with a Pentax XW-14 eyepiece, and like Jim says, it will resolve 6mm bullet holes @ 500 meters pretty regularly. Plus the wide field of view will allow you to see flags/ribbons & your target.

 

[brxbrad]

Thank You VERY much!!!

I believe the scope is advertised for $400 not $100

 

[Pietro panama]

I am an old beginner, so not a lot of experience. Have the Freeland 3/4" stand with Polecat. I use only for scoring, but want to use for F-Open mirage------not very ergonomic, but am not used to viewing with left eye.
Disappointed in Polecat: concept is good, but getting it adjusted is difficult for me. Grip to pole and elevation done with one knob---hard to get synchronized. Have adjusted several times to no avail. End up adjusting elevation with knob on Freeland base.
Just returned from SWM last night where I cruise the line looking for new ideas. Took a pic of homemade setup that I hope to copy.
Will now try to attach photo----never have done before. Here goes.
Looks like it attached? Guy made a flat aluminum plate with with Manfrotto pistol grip adjustable device which I found on Ebay for $69---seems like it was Manfrotto 220. I ordered two.
RSVP if I can help. Going to make a baseplate for Manfrotto and TSN82 with 20-60 eyepiece----about $900 but very good scope.

 

[Ringostar]

Pete, that's a unique idea but you also need to elevate your scope for scoring. Unless you plan on laying beside the shooter to score. Not everyone will appreciate that.

 

[Pietro panama]

I am an old beginner, so not a lot of experience. Have the Freeland 3/4" stand with Polecat. I use only for scoring, but want to use for F-Open mirage------not very ergonomic, but am not used to viewing with left eye.
Disappointed in Polecat: concept is good, but getting it adjusted is difficult for me. Grip to pole and elevation done with one knob---hard to get synchronized. Have adjusted several times to no avail. End up adjusting elevation with knob on Freeland base.
Just returned from SWM last night where I cruise the line looking for new ideas. Took a pic of homemade setup that I hope to copy.
Will now try to attach photo----never have done before. Here goes.

Pete, that's a unique idea but you also need to elevate your scope for scoring. Unless you plan on laying beside the shooter to score. Not everyone will appreciate that.

 

[Pietro panama]

I just ordered and received a Vortex tripod. Can move the Manfrotto and spotting scope to it when scoring------or use the 3-way on tripod. Another guy had the Manfrotto on tripod.
Love gadgets.

 

[skiutah02]

Ray Vin F-Stand, outrigger and Eliseo head.

I guess I read your mind....after almost a year of hemmimg and hawing, I bought the Eliseo head yesterday and the ray vin today. And saw this post just now...

 

[Ned Ludd]

I recently bought the Polecat. It's "ok", but not great. The stand is fine, IMO, but the arm is very difficult to adjust, as was mentioned above. It's not the simple thing it would seem to be when you're lying behind the rifle. I went back to using my old Freeland stand and arm that has nice knob adjustments that are easy to tune in fine increments when laying behind the rifle.

 

[Fast14riot]

I use the HMR stand, it's 7/8" and the head is sturdy enough to support the beast of a scope Konuspot 100mm without sagging. Goes for about $140. Good solid stand at a good price.

 

[kvd]

I am in the same position as you are. I am seriously considering a spotting scope for F-Open. The stand you have in your posting is the same one I am considering. I think it is excellent. Now for the costliest part of the equation. I have an old Nikon spotting scope with a "straight" eyepiece. You really do need the angled eye piece. AND, although it was an excellent scope in it's time, compared to today's scopes, it is sadly lacking. I have narrowed it down to 3 scopes. 1.) Vortex Razor HD.. About $13-1500 bucks and it is "bright", crisp and very clear; 2.) Kowa 80MM ($1600.00 one) >> excellent! Clear but not as "bright" as the Vortex; 3.) Nightforce $2350.00... Beyond either of the other two in both clarity and "brightness" BUT A LOT more $$$s.. Is it worth the extra? I have looked thru all 3 but not for any great lengths of time.
I too am interested in this thread as I am on the brink of making the plunge..

If you haven't already taken the plunge on a scope, another option you may want to consider is this establishment:
http://cameralandny.com/
I don't know what Doug may have available now but he sometimes can get ahold of display models from the manufacturers after optics and gun shows like the SHOT show. He sells these at great prices. A few years back I picked up a Leica Televid APO 77 with 20-60X eyepiece for about $1200 if I remember correctly. When I received it, I couldn't find even the tiniest scratch. Apparently, looking through them and playing with the knobs will not damage them! At any rate, he sells the brands you are considering and others as well.

Ken

 

[ShootDots]

If you haven't already taken the plunge on a scope, another option you may want to consider is this establishment:
http://cameralandny.com/
I don't know what Doug may have available now but he sometimes can get ahold of display models from the manufacturers after optics and gun shows like the SHOT show. He sells these at great prices. A few years back I picked up a Leica Televid APO 80 with 20-60X eyepiece for about $1200 if I remember correctly. When I received it, I couldn't find even the tiniest scratch. Apparently, looking through them and playing with the knobs will not damage them! At any rate, he sells the brands you are considering and others as well.

Ken

Thank You very much... I have not taken the plunge yet... But I am certainly getting close.. Thanks again for the help!

 

[Erud]

Nothing particularly wrong with the Creedmoor or Eliseo scope heads, but Stallings Machine has built the better mousetrap:

http://www.stallingsmachine.com/gold-standard-scope-head.html

It works on all friction adjustments, so you just push it in the direction you need it to move, and it stays there. No turning a little screw for elevation adjustment, then moving over and turning another screw for your left/right. This is particularly valuable if you happen to shoot with a sling, as getting to the scope to make adjustments while in position can be a somewhat complicated procedure. It is completely intuitive, and very well made. I bought one as soon as they came out (4-5 years ago?) after using a Ray-Vin head for some years before that, and still haven't found anything that works better.

 

[Tahoe Shark]

This is about as stable as it gets for a single pole

http://gearbuggy.com/

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I took another approach and purchased a Manfrotto MT190CXPRO4 carbon fiber tripod on which I added the Manfrotto 327RC2 magnesium head. The tripod weighs 3.5 pounds and the head is another pounds a bit. Call it 5 pounds total. It will hold over 12 pounds, which is plenty sufficient from my Kowa TSN-82SV and its various eyepieces.

https://www.manfrotto.us/products/supports/tripod-legs/190

https://www.manfrotto.us/light-duty-grip-ball-head-327rc2

The tripod collapse all the way to the ground and the center column come out and can be set all the way to 90 degrees in a few seconds. The Kowa has its tripod socket on a ring so you can set it at any angle. The pistol grip allows me to point the Kowa in any direction easily and I don't have to move from position to do that, it's a one-hand operation. You can set the friction control to what you like.

I'm a little worried about using ED glass in my spotting scope as I find that this glass diminishes the effect of the mirage and I want to see the mirage in my spotting scope. On the other hand, since I've been using my March-X, I have noticed that when people complain about too much mirage in their riflescope, I'm not detecting that much at all. The March-X has ED glass. I don't see the mirage as much now and when I was using my NF NXS or even worse, the Weaver.

I believe that the March-X, along with the ED glass, probably has a greater aperture (lower f-number) than the NXS and certainly the T-36, so the corresponding DOF is smaller in the March-X and that probably helps reduce the mirage.

The f-number on the Kowa will be small also, with it's 82mm objective, but I can easily focus it to various distances to pick out the mirage.

So, my thinking is: bring a good quality spotting scope without ED glass to the line, use it to identify the condition and then shoot your condition using a very high quality ED-glass riflescope that minimizes or eliminates the mirage.

The other good thing with the Kowa for those who are interested; they make digiscope attachments that allow you to attach various photographic equipment to it. I got a photo attachment for mine and using the 21-63X zoom eyepiece, I recently recorded a short video that I will post here presently.

 

[praveen]

I've been using the Kowa TSN-883 for a while now and having looked through a lot of other spotting scopes, so far, haven't found anything that surpasses it. The 25-60X eyepiece is very good but the eye relief sucks especially when wearing shooting glasses. So, I've started using the 25X fixed long eye relief eyepiece when shooting.

So far I haven't really liked anything for a prone stand. I've intermittently been using this: http://www.slik.com/DS-SPRINT_MINI_II.html
The tripod legs can go flat and by making one of the legs lower than the other two, this can become a fairly stable platform for shooting prone.

However, I am now considering building the "pistol grip attached to a flat aluminum plate" contraption that was shown in a previous post.

 

[waltk]

Nothing particularly wrong with the Creedmoor or Eliseo scope heads, but Stallings Machine has built the better mousetrap:

http://www.stallingsmachine.com/gold-standard-scope-head.html

It works on all friction adjustments, so you just push it in the direction you need it to move, and it stays there. No turning a little screw for elevation adjustment, then moving over and turning another screw for your left/right. This is particularly valuable if you happen to shoot with a sling, as getting to the scope to make adjustments while in position can be a somewhat complicated procedure. It is completely intuitive, and very well made. I bought one as soon as they came out (4-5 years ago?) after using a Ray-Vin head for some years before that, and still haven't found anything that works better.

This is the same exact set up I use for Service Rifle shooting. I couldn't agreed more.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

The two prior posts, and all the others before those, prove once again that there is not just one right answer.

 

[Scott Harris]

If size is not a concern, I'd recommend the Kowa 82SV with 27X LER eyepiece: $870 before shipping from B&H Photo....quite a bargain. Of the scope heads, I've owned the Stallings Machine Gold Standard, Ray-Vin, Creedmoor Polecat, and the Eliseo: found them all deficient in one way or another except the Eliseo.
http://www.gotxring.com/parts-accesories/ It's a bargain at $195

 

[Jdne5b]

If size is not a concern, I'd recommend the Kowa 82SV with 27X LER eyepiece: $870 before shipping from B&H Photo....quite a bargain. Of the scope heads, I've owned the Stallings Machine Gold Standard, Ray-Vin, Creedmoor Polecat, and the Eliseo: found them all deficient in one way or another except the Eliseo.
http://www.gotxring.com/parts-accesories/ It's a bargain at $195

The Eliseo can also be used as a friction adjustment without turning knobs and such. Love mine.