spotting scope suggestions

yoteblaster

Active member
I am looking for a reasonably priced spotting scope that I will be able to see 22 caliber holes at 300 yards. Let me know what has worked and the scope power. Not looking to spend a ton but looking for what will work at that distance. I will only be using it for target shooting.
 
I picked up one of the Redfield (made by Leupold) 20-60x spotting scopes last year for $229 and couldn't be happier with it..

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It comes with the padded carry cover shown in the photo and a decent tripod...The padded case saved me on my first day of use since I accidentally knocked it off the shooting bench onto the concrete pad and had no damage...

I have no problems seeing .223 holes (and even .204) holes at 300 yards, as long as they are on a light colored background (my eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be)...I looked at some that were more expensive, but couldn't justify the cost relative to the little improvement that was claimed, since I just didn't see it...

If you think more money equates to more quality, you might consider one of the Vortex spotters..They have an excellent reputation and warranty as well...I looked and was impressed, just not another $150+ worth...
 
Something that doesn't get mentioned much when talking about a scope that will go up to 60x is the stand. A budget scope will have a budget stand which means they are really hard to acquire the image. Good stands that have smooth micro adjusters for up/down and right/left positioning cost a couple of hundred bucks.

I got the Vortex Skyline and it came with a very nice stand that has super smooth micro adjustments. I paid $389 for it at Cameraland and the stand came with it, so if you tried to buy a cheaper spotting scope and had to upgrade the stand you'll be out there.

Something to think about, because the stands I've had on budget scopes sucked.

That extra $150 is well worth it just for the stand, and you get better optics on top of that.
 
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I got a Celestron 100mm objective. It's 22 to 68 power and works great. It's a little bit bigger than the usual spotting scope and I use a surveyors tripod for it. Fine for target shooting but a little big for packing around.
 
I have a Kowa Tsn-822 and a Leupold 12x40-60 both will get the job done, although they have a little age on them. The Leupold is more compact which is nice if you were going to use it hunting also. The quality off some of the more reasonible priced optics have come a long way in the last 2-3 years. You could learn a lot if you could go to one of the rifle matches and ask to look through some of the spotting scopes, and ask about the likes and dislikes.
Also have you considered a used scope? Could get a higher quality scope for less.
 
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