Tell us of your experience with decent affordable spotting scopes
- Thread starter BoydAllen
- Start date
Kowa is on sale on Amazon now , about $960 82sv/20X60 eyepiece
BoydAllen
Gold $$ Contributor
Guys,
I am not normally picky about things staying on topic, but some of you might want to reread the original question. The reason that I put it up was because I see a lot of shooters who are on a budget, who have not bought their first spotting scope. These shooters generally are not in the market for the same scopes that serious competitors favor. Some low end scopes are junk, while others are decent values, and allow shooters to see bullet holes, in the black parts of standard targets, at 100 yards. It is this minimum performance that I use to sort out the junk from the usable. I have an older scope that is quite usable for the few times that I need one. Most of my shooting is with rifles that have scopes mounted that are of high enough magnification to see bullet holes. The other reason that I am on this quest is somewhat selfish. If I can point shooters at scopes that they can afford, it will reduce the number of cease fires called, and I can spend more time shooting, and less watching shooters have discussions down by their targets.
I am not normally picky about things staying on topic, but some of you might want to reread the original question. The reason that I put it up was because I see a lot of shooters who are on a budget, who have not bought their first spotting scope. These shooters generally are not in the market for the same scopes that serious competitors favor. Some low end scopes are junk, while others are decent values, and allow shooters to see bullet holes, in the black parts of standard targets, at 100 yards. It is this minimum performance that I use to sort out the junk from the usable. I have an older scope that is quite usable for the few times that I need one. Most of my shooting is with rifles that have scopes mounted that are of high enough magnification to see bullet holes. The other reason that I am on this quest is somewhat selfish. If I can point shooters at scopes that they can afford, it will reduce the number of cease fires called, and I can spend more time shooting, and less watching shooters have discussions down by their targets.
The Konus 80mm with 20-60x eyepiece is $218 on Amazon and is the scope that Jim Owens includes in his new shooter starter package. I have used a Kowa 82mm for years and purchased a Konus 100mm as a spare and after using it the Konus became my primary scope and the Kowa became my spare.
The Konus scopes are a great value for sure, however if you are willing to spend a little more the Vortex Viper HD's can be had in the $400 dollar range used if you keep on the lookout. I'm pretty happy with with mine, the only complaint would be a little bit of chromatic aberration, mainly with color.
Ledd Slinger
Silver $$ Contributor
Yeah id go with older Japanese glass Bushnell spotters before i spent a dime on any of the cheap modern junk coming out of Chinese or Phillipine factories these days. That old Japanese glass is very nice. I had an old Bushnell Sentry (Japanese glass) i took in on trade for a couple trigger jobs. It was a great scope. Nice and clear all the way to the top (believe max was 30X). I got rid of it when i got a nicer spotter. Sure wish i had it back. It was compact and would have made a very nice truck spotter to throw in the center console.
Todays cheaper scopes can be clear on low power, but they often have very poor eye relief and if you look through them continuously throughout a day of shooting, you better have some headache medicine cuz you're gonna need it.
Todays cheaper scopes can be clear on low power, but they often have very poor eye relief and if you look through them continuously throughout a day of shooting, you better have some headache medicine cuz you're gonna need it.
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.