TargetTalk

I got my 11 year old son into a smallbore rifle program. He love it. Maybe I will get back intosmallbore shooting as well.

But, I want to get him a spotting scope and stand. Also, I may want a scope and stand for myself.

I've been looking at the Konus line of scopes. What attracted me to them is their eye relief. With the rubber eye cup folded back, I can see the entire field of view.

But I need a scope stand recommendation. 40 years ago, when I shot smallbore Freeland was the only choice. But, I see thiongs are different today. What does everyone use today?

I would avoid a freeland bipod type stand unless you are shooting prone only. Any scope that is up off the ground for standing on one is destined to hit the floor at some point. We have been using the newer stands that champion shooters sells. It has three legs, is much wider, and has adjustment screws to allow for leveling on uneven ground. There are many options but this is a good one.

There are many option available. I finally decided to have a local machinist make me one. I wanted one with at least a 1" tube because with a scope attached to the pole on the skinner tube models was not good. The scope would actually sway in the standing position from just the movement of air from the blowers in an indoor range. This would be even worse outdoors. However, Creedmore is selling a model similar to the one my machinist friend made for me.

Many high schools in the area have the Freeland bi-pods, and agree ... every match at least one goes over.

Our club has the Freeland Tripods and have never had one topple (my shooters range from 8 years to 19).... even shooting smallbore outdoors in the wind.
If they are going to knock anything over, they seem to prefer to knock over the offhand stands and dump all the pellets on the floor ... ;-)

We have the 5/8" rod stands and my only complaint would be the occasional wobble you'll get in standing ... well, all the time outdoors in the wind. They have a "rod stabilizer" for $25 that I have not tried ... anyone used this yet?

They also now have a HD 1" rod stand ... don't know if it's worth the extra $100 (versus the $25 stabilizer for the 5/8" rod stand...)

My son and I have stands from Ray-vin.com we really like them if you are looking for something a little nicer.The best feature is to stow scope and stand you can just fold scope up along beside shaft.Be sure to get the 60" tall stand for smallbore.Ray is a highpower shooter and likes the 48" for highpower shooting but their offhand style is different.

Ok, I picked one--the Ray-Vin "FStand." The stand is a bit heavy for smallbore but, its scope head is the best that I have found. They use tio make a scope head for 5/8 inch rod, but discontinued the head because of the demand for 1 inch rod stands.

I also bought some extra rods (12 inch and 30 inch) so I have flexability in setting the stand up.

The world of smallbore is drowning in a sea of 5/8 inch rod stands. 5/8 inch rod works extremely well in indoor ranges. Also, junior programs live on hand-me-downs and they will not discard a perfectly usable stands. So I would like to see Ray-Vin either returning to the market place a 5/8 inch head or to license their design to another manufacturer who could produce a replacement head on a cost effective basis. (Scope stands are a very big deal for high power shooters, but far less so for air and smallbore.)