Spotting Scope

Hello all,

I am 53 years old and have prescription glasses.  I am also new to the sport.

Can you recommend a good spotting scope for me?

TIA

When you say shooting scope are you referring to a scope that’s magnified. If so I believe the maximum is a 4 power but other than working up loads I am unaware of anyone that uses one. Most shooters use a tube style red dot. Aim point and Untradot are two of the most popular. As far as eye conditions go I think they both are routinely used by old farts with glasses! Lol

If a spotting scope, look over Champions Choice

http://www.champchoice.com/store/Main.aspx?p=SearchBody&search=Spotting%20scopes

james r chapman wrote:If a spotting scope, look over Champions Choice

http://www.champchoice.com/store/Main.aspx?p=SearchBody&search=Spotting%20scopes

Thanks.  I meant spotting scope.

James Hensler wrote:When you say shooting scope are you referring to a scope that’s magnified. If so I believe the maximum is a 4 power but other than working up loads I am unaware of anyone that uses one. Most shooters use a tube style red dot. Aim point and Untradot are two of the most popular. As far as eye conditions go I think they both are routinely used by old farts with glasses! Lol

Sorry for the confusion.  I meant spotting scope and have edited the OP.

Kowa 50mm from cmp about 300 bucks.

I have a Minox 15x30x50, a nice compact scope with good glass.  I have the straight tube one, if I was going to buy it again I would get the angled eyepiece.

Bushnell spacemaster...they can be had for about $100.00 or so on eBay.

Im in search of a good spotting scope with good focus for .22 holes at 50 yards, im between NG 20x33 or champion choice spotting scope.

SW-52 wrote:Im in search of a good spotting scope with good focus for .22 holes at 50 yards, im between NG 20x33 or champion choice spotting scope.

I own a NG 20x30 and have found it wanting in medium to poor lighting. 

I have also looked through the Champion Choice scope numerous times that are owned by by fellow competitors.  I feel that the CC spotter is a better choice then the NG for the optical quality but not quite good enough. I am picky about optics though.  

The champion choice scope is somewhat better but I just purchased the Minox 15x30x50 angled and am fairly impressed with it.  

It is not the equal to my Kowa 601, 65 mm with the 25 LER eyepiece but that does not fit in my box.  I was using the Kowa for a short period of time while I was searching for a more convenient scope.  

Pros:

Good optics, can see 22 bullet holes in black at 50 yards in most but not all lighting conditions. 
Lightweight and compact, fits in pistol box.
Angled eyepiece with rotating collar to adjust viewing angle. 

Cons:

Insufficient eye relief at 30 power, got to dial it down to 25 power to use with shooting glasses
Focus ring is on body of scope.  Need to lock down rotating collar or you will rotate scope adjusting focus.  
Power adjustment and focus adjustment are a bit stiff but online reviews say that they will loosen up. 
Focus adjustment is a bit coarse, would like a more precise or finer adjustment to dial in focus.  

All in all, I am pretty happy with this scope and do not think that there is a better spotter available with a rotating collar.  Wish it had better eye relief at higher power, finer focus adjustment, and a touch more power but have not found one with a 50 mm objective that will fit in my box.  

While I love the Kowa 601 for the optical quality, I cursed its large size and the non rotating attachment which forced me to bend over to look through it while on the line for slow fire.  Thinking that I will still haul out the Kowa for those 50 yard ranges while using the Minox for the majority of my matches. 

While I purchased mine used on eBay for $200.00, I just got a notification that they are back in stock at CameralandNY and/or BHphoto (cannot remember which outfit).  

Regards, 
Crankster

I would recommend Doug at CameralandNY. Very knowledgeable and honest.

I purchased my first Minox MD 50 spotting scope for $250 in 2016, purchased a used, but actually NIB, for $125 on fleabay in 2019. Prices are higher for new. I saw one used on sold for $150 in July on fleabay.



This scope is compact and fits very well in my box. It is clear out to 50 yards and I can see, depending on conditions, .22lr bullets at distance. There are times I can't see 45 cal shots if they are in the white and the berm is dark, and that is true of my bigger 20-60 scopes too. I prefer a low magnification scope, I think 14 X was great, this is 16X -30X . I tried a 20X scope and hated it, the field of view was too small. I had a 14X bushnell that worked well, and it was cheap, but it was much larger, and I prefer the smaller Minox.

The focus is a ring on the body, the zoom feature on the eye piece. I seldom zoom, 16X is fine out to 50. More important, it focuses down to 50 feet. I had a full sized scope that would not focus at 25 yards, so you need to look through the scope and find the minimum focus distance. It needs to be less than the minimum distance you shoot. The scope has a rotating ring, which I consider essential. I have owned Unertl's and Bushnells that had fixed rings, and they are a struggle to use.

The angled eyepiece is the only way to go. This allows me more clearance between my body and the shooting box. Given the center ring and the angled eyepiece i can easily set this up so I only have to lean a little bit to see what is going on at the target.