Spotting scope for under $80 (suggestions)

[Clintoon Eastwood 2]

My targets are from 50 yards and up to 100 yards, soon I will be shooting up to 300 max.

 

I know under $80 is not much of a budget..

 

Any suggestions will help.

[Candide 0]

There was one in the marketplace recently.

[Anselmo 87]

I have a scope that I got in the bargain basement at Cabela's up in Hamburg. It cost $50, normally $90. It's great at 50 yards. functional at 100. No way it would be usable at 300yds.

[Clintoon Eastwood 2]

You gentlemen have any names or brands that I can research for?

[DirtyDigz 1,812]

Cabela's frequently has this Simmons spotting scope on sale for ~$50-$60 (but not now, unfortunately):

 

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Simmons-20-60x60-Spotting-Scope/753486.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dsimmons%2Bspotting%2Bscope%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=simmons+spotting+scope&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

[Clintoon Eastwood 2]

Ok, thanks digz. I'm seeing that barska is cheaper. Any info on barska spotting scopes?

[Anselmo 87]

Ok, thanks digz. I'm seeing that barska is cheaper. Any info on barska spotting scopes?

 

I have the Barska. Like I said, it's great at 50 yards fine for up to 100 yards. Not fine for 300yards.

[Clintoon Eastwood 2]

 

 

I have the Barska. Like I said, it's great at 50 yards fine for up to 100 yards. Not fine for 300yards.

 

Which barska is that, I'm looking into the Colorado waterproof one, it has a 5 star rating on cabelas website normally $149 now at $59

[Clintoon Eastwood 2]

http://m.opticsplanet.com/konus-konuspot-80-80mm-3-1-spotting-scope.html

 

 

Also check Dvor.com

 

That's $200 plus, not even close to my budget

[raz-0 1,259]

That's $200 plus, not even close to my budget

 

Even that konus is borderline unless you are shooting a larger caliber. The 100m one works better due to the larger objective.

 

The barska 20-60x80mm is passable. It'll do 100 yards fine even with .223. 200 yards is doable with .223 and mediocre with .30 caliber holes. 300 I ahven't tried, but I doubt it is good enough. It's a good value for the dollar, I jsut don't think there is a cheap way to do what you want. The answer may be "you can't afford it". Even tha barska, you will have to wait for a sale.

 

going for a Maksutov-Cassegrain type scope might work. It'll get you more magnification and light cheaper becuse mirrors cost less than lenses, but mirrors tend towards chromatic abberation more, so with .223 at 300 you probably won't see it for the CA. You might. I know people use the celestron C90 for 300 yars .223 spotting. However, that's 90x magnification and a larger objective, and $240 instead of $75. Even then, you need to put it on a SOLID tripod to not have everything be a jittery mess. The tripod will cost more than $100 unless you can find some giant a** old school video tripod on craigslist for cheap because it's too huge for photography and obsolete for real video work.

 

Here's the cheap 75x. I think it will disappoint at 300 and be too much scope at 100, so...

 

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-52238-Mini-Spotting-Scope/dp/tech-data/B00150XFLU/ref=de_a_smtd

 

Seeing .223 holes at 300 yards is actually asking quite a lot form some optics. It's not a cheap task.

[Clintoon Eastwood 2]

 

 

Even that konus is borderline unless you are shooting a larger caliber. The 100m one works better due to the larger objective.

 

The barska 20-60x80mm is passable. It'll do 100 yards fine even with .223. 200 yards is doable with .223 and mediocre with .30 caliber holes. 300 I ahven't tried, but I doubt it is good enough. It's a good value for the dollar, I jsut don't think there is a cheap way to do what you want. The answer may be "you can't afford it". Even tha barska, you will have to wait for a sale.

 

going for a Maksutov-Cassegrain type scope might work. It'll get you more magnification and light cheaper becuse mirrors cost less than lenses, but mirrors tend towards chromatic abberation more, so with .223 at 300 you probably won't see it for the CA. You might. I know people use the celestron C90 for 300 yars .223 spotting. However, that's 90x magnification and a larger objective, and $240 instead of $75. Even then, you need to put it on a SOLID tripod to not have everything be a jittery mess. The tripod will cost more than $100 unless you can find some giant a** old school video tripod on craigslist for cheap because it's too huge for photography and obsolete for real video work.

 

Here's the cheap 75x. I think it will disappoint at 300 and be too much scope at 100, so...

 

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-52238-Mini-Spotting-Scope/dp/tech-data/B00150XFLU/ref=de_a_smtd

 

Seeing .223 holes at 300 yards is actually asking quite a lot form some optics. It's not a cheap task.

 

Thank you for the very informative suggestion, I needed that. As for now a 20-60x60 will do just fine for a 100 yards, I hope. 300 was more like a later than sooner, so with that being said I will look into celestron and focus on my 100 yards.

[DirtyDigz 1,812]

Hey, that Simmons scope at cabela's is back down to $49.95 - http://www.cabelas.c...Kit/1275158.uts

 

Looks like there is a mail-in rebate for it too.

[Clintoon Eastwood 2]

Hey, that Simmons scope at cabela's is back down to $49.95 - http://www.cabelas.c...Kit/1275158.uts

 

Looks like there is a mail-in rebate for it too.

 

Thank you DirtyDigz, as for now a member from my club and this forum gave me a spotting scope for me to hold or keep, unless I buy a new one. It has seen better days but it does what it's suppose to and I can clearly see .22 holes on my paper target at 100 yards. This will work for me for now and I will keep it until I shoot at farther distances. Thank you though for the link.

[Teky0101 6]

I have this one its about $10 higher than your budget but its a really nice scope! There was another one I found for $15 dollars from BSA that has been discontinued but also looks nice! I hope this helps!

 

http://www.natchezss...60&src=exrbSrch

 

http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=OSDH20X50&src=exrbSrch

[BullzeyeNJ 104]

Don't do it! Save some money and buy the Konus.

[Clintoon Eastwood 2]

Anybody familiar with binoculars, same price range $80. I really want to see a .22 or .223 holes on paper at a 100 yards

[Zell959 40]

I really want to see a .22 or .223 holes on paper at a 100 yards

 

Honestly, with your budget, the better way to do that would be utilizing one of the shoot & see target varieties so that you're looking for a high-contrast color difference instead of a tiny-tiny black hole.

[Clintoon Eastwood 2]

 

 

Honestly, with your budget, the better way to do that would be utilizing one of the shoot & see target varieties so that you're looking for a high-contrast color difference instead of a tiny-tiny black hole.

 

Very true, I have a couple shoot and see left but that gets expensive too if I keep buying those.

[A-Tech 8]

Amazon has 75packs for $25...not too bad.

[Clintoon Eastwood 2]

Amazon has 75packs for $25...not too bad.

 

Sweet, thank you