Will a reasonably priced Spotting Scope see the bullet holes?
- Thread starter kwgman
- Start date
Kittitas George
Gold $$ Contributor
I use an older Bausch & Lomb Discoverer, 15 to 60 X 60mm. I never have any trouble seeing bullet holes in white paper. I use the white paper targets with the four black 1" squares and 1" grid lines. My aim point is the lower corner of the black square. I can see the 17 caliber holes at 200yds, if the holes are in the black it can be hard if the lite is bad. We compared this scope and a newer very expensive scope that used the different eye pieces. We could not see a significant difference, with our not so scientific trial. I've seen the B & L scopes for sale on different web sites for $200 and less. When setting up your spotting scope, set it so you are comfortable, not standing on your tippy toes or all bent out of shape, also be sure the distance from your eye to the scope doesn't change, that will change the focus. Don't focus wearing your glasses then look without them. Use a solid tripod. I use a surveyors tripod, with a piece of aluminum angle and a window mount for adjustment.
centershot
Silver $$ Contributor
If I may interject into this posting, I have, what I believe is a Kowa TS-1 scope which I purchased at a gun show in the '70s. There are no markings on it or the eye piece. The magnification seems to be about 25x. My question is, is there anyway I can get a more powerful eye piece for it? It is a screw in design. It is quite clear.
hogpatrol
Gold $$ Contributor
I use the fluorescent red stickers on fluorescent chartreuse poster paper and with the sun shining on them can see 6.5 and larger holes at 500 meters with 20x and up rifle scopes. Closer ranges, it's easy to see .22 holes. I do wear cheaters for real close work but no corrective glasses for distance or shooting. This link is for a pack of 25 but they can be purchased individually at Walmart and some drug stores for around a buck each. Use individually or cut up in to smaller targets.
Amazon.com : Royal Consumer Brites Neon Green Poster Board, 22 x 28 Inches, 25 Sheets/Pack (23304B) Fluorescent Green : Ordinary Display Boards : Office Products
Amazon.com : Royal Consumer Brites Neon Green Poster Board, 22 x 28 Inches, 25 Sheets/Pack (23304B) Fluorescent Green : Ordinary Display Boards : Office Products
www.amazon.com
You might want to check out the "High End Spotting Scope review in the "Optics" section of this forum. It covers several top-quality brands (including 2 Pentaxes) and is one of the sources I used several years ago when I was looking for a quality spotter at a reasonable price. I chose The Pentax 80ED and have never regretted it. It uses standard eyepieces from any manufacturer, but I went with The Pentax 20-60 variable (the scope is sold with and without eyepieces). For some reason, the Pentax seems to get little attention from shooters but is highly regarded among bird watchers. Try this link: spotting-scopes
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Ledd Slinger
Silver $$ Contributor
Not a fan of Pentax but to each their own.
Interesting fact regarding the review link you provided: The Zeiss Diascope was actually made by Meopta.
Meopta also made all of the original Zeiss Conquest riflescopes that everyone loved so much back in the day. If you ever see a box from the Diascopes or old style conquest scope, you should find a sticker that says “Made in Czeck Republik” (spelled wrong because Germans can’t spell in English)
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Just out of curiosity, what is it that you don't like about the Pentax?
what scope magnification is needed for this
CharlieNC
Gold $$ Contributor
20X works for me. A low cost scope that performs well for the 100-200yd range is the old Weaver T36, which should still be available at good closeout price. At 300+ mirage sometimes becomes bothersome. For relatively fixed style shooting as noted by the OP most moderate fixed power scopes of this description are a good fit. I use the T36 on my 22lr for this purpose.
Ledd Slinger
Silver $$ Contributor
Pentax is not bad glass, but it’s not impressive either. Kind of like Leupold, pretty good but nothing impressive about any of their glass their when considering the competition in the same price point
Pentax can’t compete with top end European glass but they always seem to be trying to compare Pentax to Swarovski, Leica, and Zeiss. Just not gonna happen. The old Japanese Nikon glass can compete with top European glass at a much lower price point but Pentax cannot.
Meopta is also one of my favorite optics companies. You get a lot more quality than what you would expect for the price paid and Meopta glass will run with the big dogs.
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Funny to hear you say this about Pentax it is one of the few that can resolve bullet holes at 1000 .... And these bird watchers rave about them..... jim
@jpx2rk
Hope you have better luck than me. Mine died.
I had the 30x90 Celestron mini mak spotting scope, that I purchased 15+ years ago. I also have poor eyesight. In January of this year as I was placing it on the bench, I heard a clunk. Peered thru it. Nothing.
Considering it had a limited lifetime warranty, I called Celestron. I was told by customer service that they discontinued this model. If I could show them proof of purchase, they would replace it with the model still in production (20x60 power).
I asked about the warranty card I mailed in. The rep related that the policy was proof of purchase. I asked to speak to the service manager. She related the same thing, "proof of purchase". Needless to say, after a long search, I could not find it. Irony is I did find my purchase receipt for my Dillon 450 reloading press from 1984.
I tried to calling back many times. I just got placed on the tele-go round. Call, leave voice message, no call back. But they have an operator. Press 0, you receive the message that the "voice mailbox is full" and are returned to the customer service queue, which wants you to leave a message. To date the mailbox is still full.
I did try the e-mail route. Needless to say, they called back a week later, while I was at a scheduled shooting event. Also tried the place of purchase, but they purge their records that are over ten years ago.
As to date, I am still trying to get in touch with someone above their customer service department.
I feel sorry for the customers that have much larger investments in their high end spotting & telescopes.
This info is to assist anyone considering purchasing a Celestron product...
P.S. If they ever do honor their warranty. I will update this post !!!
Hope you have better luck than me. Mine died.
I had the 30x90 Celestron mini mak spotting scope, that I purchased 15+ years ago. I also have poor eyesight. In January of this year as I was placing it on the bench, I heard a clunk. Peered thru it. Nothing.
Considering it had a limited lifetime warranty, I called Celestron. I was told by customer service that they discontinued this model. If I could show them proof of purchase, they would replace it with the model still in production (20x60 power).
I asked about the warranty card I mailed in. The rep related that the policy was proof of purchase. I asked to speak to the service manager. She related the same thing, "proof of purchase". Needless to say, after a long search, I could not find it. Irony is I did find my purchase receipt for my Dillon 450 reloading press from 1984.
I tried to calling back many times. I just got placed on the tele-go round. Call, leave voice message, no call back. But they have an operator. Press 0, you receive the message that the "voice mailbox is full" and are returned to the customer service queue, which wants you to leave a message. To date the mailbox is still full.
I did try the e-mail route. Needless to say, they called back a week later, while I was at a scheduled shooting event. Also tried the place of purchase, but they purge their records that are over ten years ago.
As to date, I am still trying to get in touch with someone above their customer service department.
I feel sorry for the customers that have much larger investments in their high end spotting & telescopes.
This info is to assist anyone considering purchasing a Celestron product...
P.S. If they ever do honor their warranty. I will update this post !!!
I have a Bushnell Legend spotter that has served me well for a number of years on a good day I can spot my 20 cal holes at 300 on white paper. I bought a inexpensive Athlon Talos 20-60x80mm for the angled eyepiece, I can set it up on a tripod alongside the bench and not clutter up the bench. It does almost as well, most of the time I zero my coyote rifles at 200 and I have no problems even with brown craft paper.
New Member, first post. I just went through a spotting scope saga so I thought I'd share. Started with a celestron ultima 100, read good reviews spent $300+...it was decent for 100-200 yds but couldn't be focused well above 40X (it was a 62X). Eventually decided to upgrade...read bread reviews on a Vanguard Endeavor 82A....best for the money ($400+). Was disappointed to find the "ED glass" was only slightly better than the celestron and still couldn't focus above 40x. Sold the both on ebay which gave me $500ish to spent on an Athlon Ares 15-45x65 and wow. Clear enough to not just read the bottom row of the eye chart at 100 yds....could read the made in USA fine print and part number. I highly recommend this spotter, small compact and clear. Spend good money on a solid heavy duty tripod. I take photos of my shots free hand with my cell phone through this spotter at the range. I saw somebody mentioned a Bushnell Space Master. I bought one of these on eBay for $85 based on a video that claimed it was the spotting scope issued to Navy Seal teams (I believe in the 90s maybe)....so I thought...what the heck. I'll be honest, it's a very clear scope. Certainly blows my old celestron and vanguard away. Not as nice as the Athlon though. I've also got a couple straight Bushnell Elite spotters, a 15-45x60 and a 20-60x80. Very nice scopes, very clear although the eye relief is tight on high power. If you wear glasses they will be pressed against the eyepiece.
That's my $0.02
That's my $0.02
After reading this thread, I started watching fleabay for a nikon spotter. A couple days before Christmas I found an 82 ED(old one) at a price I thought I could live with. It was fair enough that I figured if I didn't like it I could at least get my money back or not be out too much. It showed up today and it was like Christmas again. It doesn't even have a mark on the mounting base. It looks as if it had never been used. I put the 30X eyepiece on and took it outside. There is an abandoned building across the road probably a little over 200 yds. away. I didn't put it on a tripod as I didn't have time. I sat in a chair and just put it on my knee just for a quick look. All I can say is...WOW ! It's an impressive piece of glass! I'm planning on taking to the range tomorrow to see if I can spot .22 holes at 300 yds. and do a side by side with my Leica. If it stands up, the Leica may go. It's overkill for what I use a spotter for and then I could build another rifle.
Ledd Slinger
Silver $$ Contributor
Nice. Yeah the glass in the old Nikons is pretty amazing. Will run with the best glass out there.
The only thing you give up with the old Nikons is field of view. Modern high end Alpha level European spotters will have a wider field of view, but their glass won’t outperform the old Nikon ED with resolution, contrast, or edge sharpness.
Let us know how the trip to the range goes with the Nikon
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