Spotting Scope for Gun Box

I have a gun-ho box with an interior scope mount. Anyone have any suggestions for a decent scope to mount in the box? Thanks.

Spotting scopes are a bit of a can of worms.

$100 and under,,, Celestron Land Scout
$300ish Kowa TS-501 at CMP shop
$600 Vortex Razor 11-33x50

I had the Land Scout and upgraded to the Razor. Very noticible difference in glass clarity, better focus control and better construction. You can get by with a budget optic but can get tricky at 50 yards.

There are quite a few posts on this forum about spotting scopes.  For what it's worth I have a Minox 15x30x60 and it is very nice and not too expensive.

Thanks guys. The Land Scout is $39 on Amazon right now so I just pulled the trigger on that.

I have the 50mm Landscout and it is surprisingly clear for the money. I went with the 50mm just so I could leave it on my box and still be able to close the lid with removing it.

I am old school.  A good used Bushnell Sentry or Competitor is hard to beat.

I'm with Jack on this. I've bought a couple Bushnell Sentries and one Competitor for myself and my son's. Watch for them on eBay.
I didn't pay more than 50 bucks for any of them. Great little scopes for the pistol box.

Yep the competitor was the bargain scope back then but a good value. I have a Sentry and it's perfect..

I was given an old Sentry II when I bought a used Gun-Ho box and really like it. The 25x eyepiece is easy to look through. I had to disassemble it and clean the lenses inside but it works great,

I am tempted to patiently hunt for two bargains on fleabay and make a set of binoculars from two Sentrys bolted together. If I remember my history right the Japanese company that made these was making good glass for the price-point to get market share.

Does anyone have a NG 20x33 spotting scope for sale?  Or know where I can purchase one?  This scope is small and has a 45 degree eye piece. Perfect for the gun box.

Sorry to resurrect this thread, I need more good advice.

I tried a couple of cheapo scopes first, then got a Minox MD50W which seemed quite adequate when I first peeped through one used by a neighbour on the line. After buying I found that I still had difficulty seeing 22 holes in the black at 50yds on a dull day (I know - the answer is to just put them all in the white - ha, ha!). I will be selling that on in due course - great small format scope for most conditions.

I then bought a Celestron Hummingbird 9-27x56mm ED. It also seemed to be superior initially, but during matches in rainy weather this past weekend it also proved to be not good enough to clearly spot 22 holes in the black at 50yds. Now being returned as new to Amazon.

So where to next? I guess that I have to move up to a bigger objective - 80mm? I made minor changes to my gun box to accommodate the Hummingbird and it is at almost my box space limit - not sure whether I can fit an 80 mm scope.

The next step up at Amazon appears to be a Vortex Optics Diamondback 20-60x80 angled at ~$500 or the Vortex Razor HD Angled 16-48x65 which is significantly more expensive at ~$800.

Or there is the Champions Choice Vanguard Endeavour XF80A 20-60x80mm angled at ~$400

Any advice or suggestions?

I think the CMP still has Kowa 501s for sale.  Not cheap but about the best quality for the price.  

https://estore.thecmp.org/Catalog/Item/832

Here is the cold hard truth about spotting scopes - you aren’t going to get one that will let you see .22LR holes in the paper 100% clearly for your eye no matter the conditions. If you have a lot of overcast it might be dull and hard to see the difference between a hole and the black. If it’s raining you’re gonna have more disturbance in the image. It’s just 22 holes - they’re small. I have a Kowa TSN 501 and love it. Kinda pricey but worth to. Easy to see and use. It’s small/mid sized and fits in the box well and I have a small box. See 22 holes nicely but even on a bad wether day it can be challenging. It’s all about lighting. Cheap scopes won’t let you see what you want to well, and more expensive scopes will be easier to use and see what you want but 22 holes will always be problematic. How much depends on the scope.

Pbmoser1954 wrote:Does anyone have a NG 20x33 spotting scope for sale?  Or know where I can purchase one?  This scope is small and has a 45 degree eye piece. Perfect for the gun box.

Best way to acquire one of these is to watch for them on Ebay. There is a Canadian seller who regularly posts them with about 20 or so in stock and then you watch the count go steadily down. I do not know of anyone who regularly stocks them.

weber1b wrote:

Pbmoser1954 wrote:Does anyone have a NG 20x33 spotting scope for sale?  Or know where I can purchase one?  This scope is small and has a 45 degree eye piece. Perfect for the gun box.

Best way to acquire one of these is to watch for them on Ebay. There is a Canadian seller who regularly posts them with about 20 or so in stock and then you watch the count go steadily down. I do not know of anyone who regularly stocks them.

For instance there is one on Ebay right now although the price is up from what they used to be.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NG20-20x33-Spotting-scope-with-tripod-and-carrying-case-Adaptor/333325578505?hash=item4d9bc0b109:g:1AQAAOSwvlRcq2nd

I use a Kowa 601, the same one I use for rifle shooting.  With the adjustable eyepiece the total cost was over 500 dollars, but the quality is good.  I can usually see .22 impacts in the black, though if lighting is poor and something in the background is the perfect color, it may take a little longer.  Just to ensure your expectations are where they should be - it won't give you superman xray vision.  

And no it doesn't fit in the box, it goes in my range backpack with my ammo, muffs, clipboard, and glasses.

Tim:H11 wrote:Here is the cold hard truth about spotting scopes - you aren’t going to get one that will let you see .22LR holes in the paper 100% clearly for your eye no matter the conditions. If you have a lot of overcast it might be dull and hard to see the difference between a hole and the black. If it’s raining you’re gonna have more disturbance in the image. It’s just 22 holes - they’re small. I have a Kowa TSN 501 and love it. Kinda pricey but worth to. Easy to see and use. It’s small/mid sized and fits in the box well and I have a small box. See 22 holes nicely but even on a bad wether day it can be challenging. It’s all about lighting. Cheap scopes won’t let you see what you want to well, and more expensive scopes will be easier to use and see what you want but 22 holes will always be problematic. How much depends on the scope.

I had no trouble seeing 22 holes at 100 when I shot SB Outdoor Prone.  I used the above mentioned Bushnell Sentry 20X.  Better though was using this

The 50mm Vortex Razor will fit in your box nicely. The CMP Kowa only comes with a 20x fixed eyepiece which is adequate for most uses but sometimes you may want more magnification. I really like the 50mm Razor but as Jason mentioned if its overcast with a black background which darkens the hole it's going to be a challange no matter what you have. I have no intentions of ever upgrading my Razor.

Thanks everyone. I gonna try an 80mm scope. Got an Endeavour coming from Amazon. Will report on performance after the 2700 at EEGC on Sunday.

You didn't say you were open to small telescopes lol. Seriously those are huge, you'll likely need a floor stand.

I'm using angled 85 mm Vortex Razor HD with 27-60x magnification mounted on Velbon DF-10ML desktop tripod.  Tripod attachment base was modified to accept adapter, which in turn has Really Right Stuff BH-40 Ball Head with Screw-Knob Clamp installed. I do not use Range Box, so I'm not limited by its dimensions.  This is not inexpensive setup, - I am a sucker for good optics.  However I can see 22 doubles at 50 yards with this.

AP