Best spotting scope for 25-100 yards

M

marklyftogt

New member
Well, I bought a Win 1892 lever gun in .357 and now I need a spotting scope to help out my old eyes.

What would you guys recommend?

Thanks.....
 
I've used one of these El Cheapo 20x60 telescopes from whatever big-box store costs the least. They work pretty good up to around 35X, maybe 40X. Find a halfway decent camera tripod from Craig's List.
 
I don't know how bad your eyes are, but for my bad vision it's a rare spotting scope that works well. I need enough diopters that most scopes don't give me enough focus range to use without my glasses. So, accordingly, eye relief is my most important stat. I found the Leupold Ventana with a 24mm+ eye relief the best in the few hundred dollar range. The Vortex Nomad (similarly priced) had better optical quality, so you might check it out if your eyes aren't as bad as mine.

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I picked up a cheap ($100) Bushnell last year from Big 5 on sale and it does a good enough job at 100 yards. In hindsight though I wish I would have waited, saved up and got a nicer one.
 
if all you want to see is 35 cal holes at a 100 yards about any one of them will work. If it were me id grab a cheap 3x9 scope or a pair of binoculars and id bet either would work just fine.
 
I don't know if it's the "best", but I recently picked up a Konus Konuspot 20-60x80mm spotting scope for 100 yard shooting and I've been very happy with it. If you look around you can find one online for a little under $200.
 
Konus or Celestron are the "best of the bargain bin." But even a cheap store brand should be more than enough for 100 yards.

Jimro
 
Respectfully, I'd disagree with using a pair of binoculars to see the holes. Maybe in ideal light conditions and if you choose your target for visibility -- a shoot-n-c or something, e.g. I limped along with 8x, 10x, and then 12x binoculars for a long time before breaking down and buying a spotting scope. What convinced me was looking through a bunch of spotting scopes during competition and seeing what a difference it makes.

The one I have is a 15-45x60, which makes it more than sufficient to see holes at 100yds (including the 22s), and keeps the image bright. I don't have a rifle scope lower than 9x, and I find them unusable for looking at a target (for scoring; for shooting is fine!).

Also, I can't emphasize enough the importance of a good tripod. If you have a sucky spotting scope on an awesome tripod, you'll do better than the other way around. If your spotting scope comes with a tripod (and costs less than $500 total), throw the tripod away. I bought a Vortex tripod with a ball head, and will never go back.

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For 100yds, 10x50 binoculars work good enough. You just have to plant both elbows on the table to steady yourself is all. They also double as a hunting aid for glassing game.
 
sc928porsche said:
For 100yds, 10x50 binoculars work good enough. You just have to plant both elbows on the table to steady yourself is all. They also double as a hunting aid for glassing game.
Click to expand...

Since we're talking about something very subjective, I'm assuming that your requirements are very different from mine. For me, there's a world of a difference between 10x binos and a 45x or 60x scope. Since I faked it with binoculars for years because I wanted to avoid the "expense" of the spotting scope, it was begrudgingly that I changed my mind. Having made the switch, I'd never go back.

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At 100 yards a pair of 10X binoculars brings the target to the equivalent of 10 yards. If someone's vision is so bad that they cannot see bullet holes without a 60X scope at that range they probably can't see a target at 100 yards.

I cannot see how a pair of "quality" binoculars wouldn't work for that use. They would also be more versatile. But I have to emphasize buying quality. Cheap glass is a poor investment. I can easily see .30 holes out to 200 yards with a quality scope set on 9X. I struggle to see the same with a cheap 12x scope at 100 yards.

I've tried some of the budget spotting scopes and could see clearer with my $200-$300 Leupold scopes.
 
Second vote for the Konus. Around $200 for a 20-60x80. They are getting quite popular in service rifle shooting. No trouble seeing 30 cal holes at 200 yards. 22 cal when the the light is right. You can see .17 holes at 100 yards.

I'm very happy with mine.
 
As has already been suggested, the most important thing is how steady the optic is on the target.
Even the best optic will be fuzzy if it wiggles or vibrates.
 
I thought I would throw this out there . Make sure it has good eye relief that works when you have your shooting glasses on . I will not buy another spotting scope with out looking through it with my shades on first . For some reason when you said 25 to 100 yards I thought you did not want to spend alot of money . If your in the $200 market this one is real nice http://www.amazon.com/Redfield-Ramp...UTF8&colid=TMARKPBK339L&coliid=I261M8OX5B7F01

This is a really good price right now . It's normally $200 and often $220 + other places . You can keep your glasses on while using this one . I have tested it at the local gun store .
 
I purchased this Celestron 18-55X 65mm Ultima 65 and have used it small bore prone, highpower, and 1000 yard shooting. It is an exceptionally good scope for the money.


DSCF2684Celestron18-55x65mmUltima65.jpg


Freeland stands are purchased separate from the scope!

I have more scopes than common sense and later bought a Celestron 100 mm from Champion Shooters, with their coupon, and compared the 65 mm, 100 mm Ultima and a Pentax 80mm at a 1000 yard match. With all scopes I could read the numbers on the 1000 yard F class target, the larger scopes were much brighter at the upper magnification, but I seldom dial scopes beyond 30 X because mirage wipes everything out. Considering that the Celestron scopes are a third or a fifth what my Pentax cost and I could not tell any differences between images at the lowest, 18X, 20X settings, all were very clear and bright to the edges, I consider the Celestron scope good value for the money. Maybe a teenager would see things that I don’t, there are limitations to old eyeballs.

Champion shooters has a coupon for the 65mm Ultima.


http://www.championshooters.com/store/pages.php?pageid=7
 
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