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Spotting scope Vortex, Kowa... Help

Hey guys, I am about to jump in and buy my first Spotting scope. I realistically want to stay under 1K and even more realistically at $600-$800 max. If the step up to 1K gets me that much better of a spotter, Ill do it but, I am not sure I need it.

I live in the Chicago land area so sadly, I have no place to shoot past 600... and realistically the most Ill be shooting is 300. I shoot A LOT of BR .22LR at 50 and 100 and shoot AR 223 loads at 200. That is the majority of my shooting. I will say, I have HORRIBLE eyes so I am not sure if you all think that is impactful.

I am currently considering either a Viper Vortex (I am a huge fan of Vortex optics) but, I am seeing a lot of great things about Kowa. I did see a Kowa TS-611 locally and it seems like a nice deal but... the fact that its an older scope, and it has a smaller objective makes me nervous. Thoughts?

I have read that the Pentax PF80 for 1K is a great buy... the Kowa 82mm TSN-82SV is a fantastic scope, and the Viper HD 20-60 is just something that makes sense as I have a bias to Vortex. Can anyone tell me what the pro and cons are here? What makes most sense for ME? <--- Since this is my first spotter, I am not sure. I do know, I need to make a decision soon though.

I have also thought of buying the used Kowa, and eventually upgrading to the 82SV and just using the eye piece (pretty sure I can do that).

Anyway, all help is so very much appreciated!
 
I was slow to accept the realization until I sampled a friend's against a Kowa 82SV. The price was the deal maker. Also, surprisingly, the Bushnell Elite HD series is one to look at but the Sightron is almost half price. At the end of the day, even the most expensive spotting scope with the latest glass technology will never cut through mirage to see bullet holes on paper at long distance but if you are using it to read mirage and conditions, realistically, there is just no reason to go $1K or more for a spotter. With that Sightron, I can pick up even the slightest mirage off the boards downrange.
 
I just recently bought a Pentax 80ED spotting scope with the 20-60 eyepiece, and it is brilliant--exactly what I wanted. I shoot club-level benchrest from 50-300 yds, both .22 RF and CF (.223 Rem.) and have long wanted a spotter that'd let me see .22 holes in the black out to 300 yds.--not an easy task. With this one I can do it, in good conditions, at least. I've only had it at the 200-300 yd. range once so far. Conditions were good and spotting the .223 holes in the black at both distances was easy, even with my 76-year old eyes. 50 &100 yds. are, of course, a piece of cake in any weather. I won't guarantee that it'll do it at the longer ranges when mirage rears its ugly head, but I wouldn't promise anything else will either. It costs a bit more than $1000, though. I got it from Amazon.com for $1150 delivered to my door. Others had better prices, but they were all out of stock.

Here's a good review I found on Google: http://www.betterviewdesired.com/Pentax-80mm-Ed-Spotting-Scope.php

I couldn't be more pleased with it.

P.S.--I forgot to add that mine has the 45-deg. eyepiece. The scope is available with either this or the straight one.
 
coldboreshot said:
The latest model Sightron. It is equal to a Kowa at a fraction of the price.

I have a sightron and would agree with this as well. I think they are the best bang for your buck in the sub 1k scopes.
 

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