I am thinking about purchasing a spotting scope. It will be used for bench rest (100 yards - 1000 yards) and spotting critters (small and large) at all distances. My budget is limited to $400 max. How do Sightrons and Burris brands compare with the "big Boys"?

Ron,

I can't get much information on the forums I visit about spotting scopes either.

I want a new one for range spotting and am looking at the Leupold Wind River 15X-45 60mm. From Midway it's $200 with a tripod but I don't know if it's made in China or what it's qualities are.

Many buy the big Kowa but those are twice the price you mention.

Check out bearbasin.com. Haven't done any business with them yet, but they have what seem to be good prices. I'm looking at the Leopold for about $725, if I ever get "money ahead"

Also do a yahoo search for spotting scopes. You'll find a lot of sites.

Jeff

Kowa also makes a 60mm scope that's very good. I have one and an older 77mm Kowa (I'm a highpower shooter) that I like alot. The smaller one goes afield occasionally too. Costs a bit more than you're describing though.

With glass, you really get what you pay for, in my experience.

Redial

You might want to check out www.betterviewdesired.com , they have some great information on optics.

I ended up getting the Pentax PF80ED, and it is a fantastic scope, but about twice what you said that you wanted to pay ($9XX from adorama incl $275 20-60 zoom eyepiece). The only thing that I don't like about it is that they don't have a universal camera adapter, and I don't want to buy a Pentax camera body just to be able to use it for photography. I have only used it out to 300 yards, but had no trouble seeing .30 bullet holes against white background at that distance (I could just about score targets with it at 300). Based on that, I would guess that I would be able to see them to around 5/600? I don't think that any scope will let you see holes at 1000 yards, but I have no 1000 yard ranges close to me to find out .

Hope this helps, Bill

Ron----I apparently have a different opinion than the preceding posters, and have not seen a significant difference in quality with the variously priced spotting scopes. Bigger Objective lenses do bring in more light (all other things being equal), but are a lot bigger and heavier for the extra 2 minutes of daylight one gains. Note that no spotting scope allows one much use in low light situations, compared to quality binoculars. I have a Burris Landmark 15-45 scope which is currently available with a tripod free for $137.99 at Midway. I have found this to be a good scope for hunting and benchrest shooting. The tripod is plastic, which put me off initially, but the really good adjustments made it okay--and the tripod has held up. Good stuff, especially for such a low price. Now, in other optics, I have found that the more you spend, the more you get. Luke to you, Chuck

This months issue of Outdoor Life has a comparison of spotting scopes, the Kowa TS 502 20-40x50 won the "best buy" category. They list it at $290, maybe you could do better by shopping around. Aparently they were very mpressed with it.

The Zeiss Diascope won "Editors Choice" but at $1599, it is out of your price range, mine too for that matter.

Ron,

I second the opinion on taking a look at the Better View Desired site.

You definitely want to take a look at some of the New York City camera places for pricing. Adorama, Ritz Camera etc. I bought a Nikon 16-47 kit a couple of years ago for $425--I think it's down to $350 now. It's a pretty good scope, although eye relief is a problem if you wear glasses.

Don Martin29,I bought the Wind River scope last year,I beleive its made in the philipines to Leupolds specs,but the good thing is its covered by Leupolds no BS warranty to the original owner.No discernable diference in clarity when compared to scopes costing twice as much.I use their 10X50s also.
Steer clear of the NY camera and optical places!In the the early 70s I bought a camera from Cambridge and a lens from Adorama,I received the lens 3.5 months later and the camera 4 months later.Reading posts around the net this has not changed in the last 30 yrs. I'd just as soon pay a little more and get my stuff in time for the next season.
Jeff

With binos I started with tasco,went to burris,
pentax...scraped 'em all.Brought Leica 8X42 and
never enjoyed glassing as much.
Then I brought a tasco 18X36 spotting scope.
JUNK! Tried leupold which was so,so. Brought a
Leica Televid and have pure pleasure glassing.
My $.02 is to save your pennies,wait and get
something you will not want or need to upgrade.
Jeff

Brent,

I'm only 45 minutes from Champions Choice. Last month I bought one of the "Champions Choice" brand spotting scope with a 30X eyepiece for $210. For the money, it is much brighter and more clear than most in the $400 range. I'm using it to spot .22 cal holes at 200 yards in white paper, with no problem. The guys there are great to deal with. They set up a scope stand on their shipping dock and let me try out a couple of scopes with different eyepieces. They said that they have sold over 500 of their brand of scopes, with only a few returns, most of which had been dropped. The biggest problem is that they don't have a web site yet, but they will send a catalog if you give them a call at 615-793-4070, in LaVergn, TN, just outside of Nashville. They are in their 24th year of supporting the competitive shooting sports, and both the president and general manager have many years of competition experience. When you call them, you talk to a shooter, and not a order clerk.

My two cents
Nashcat

If you are going to be seriously using the spotting scope for hunting, then getting the best optics is well worth it. If you get eye fatique, and can't look through the glass for long periods of time, then what good is having the spotter? There is also the issue of weight. Some spotters that work well on the bench are simply too heavy for mountainous hunts.

In your price range I'd either get the leupold wind river and have some $ left over, or save up for a Leica/Zeiss/Swarovski.