Spotting scope recommendations

[Matt]

I am in need a small spotting scope. It needs to be able to fit inside my gun box which is a the Pelican 1550 case. My gun box has four guns in it and other shooting supplies, so space is fairly limited. I shoot Free Pistol and Standard Pistol on a 50 foot range so I need a scope that has a good focus range as well. At most I would like to spend $250 for the scope.
.42792.0

[Art]

45 degree fixed or variable eyepiece. $177 from Neil Johnson's with fixed eyepiece. Can't do better for the money.

bluewatertoller-at-netscape.net.42805.42792

[pdeal]

or $157 from champion's Choice

pdeal-at-mylanlabs.com.42808.42805

[geo. anderson]

Champion Shooters Supply was cheapest when I bought mine. I bought the more expensive variable eyepiece because it has a longer eye relief & I wear glasses. Under $200 as I recall.

george-at-willowlane.net.42814.42808

[3d]

I can't agree more with everyone so far. I keep mine mounted with a C-type photo clamp on a door in the rear of the house for daily practice. Sharp as a tack with great contrast. Considering it's has a varifocal eyepiece, it has sufficient eye relief to see most of the frame with my shooting glasses. It's a pretty decent performer outdoors as well. No problem seeing the .22 holes at 50m. You certainly won't do better for the price. If you're just going to use it for AP at 10m, you can save about 50$USD by opting for the fixed,20x eyepiece which covers the black nicely and would probably be an even better optic.
3d
.42817.42792

[pdeal]

I was up at Camp Perry a few weeks ago for the day. One of the things I wanted to get was another spotting scope. My second daughter is shooting now so I need a third. I currently have an old B&L balscope SR 20x (super crisp and clear) and a champion's choice scope (the older 45 degree one they sold). I am very satisfied with both. Since I am so satisfied with the champion's choice used to sell I figured the new one ought to be good too. I looked at the low end scope (GYAH i think) that champion's shooters supply sells and the new one that champ. choice sells. The GYAH was so light I am pretty sure it has a plastic objective lens. It just felt too much like something that came from Walmart to me. I wound up buying the scope that Champ. Choice sells for $150. I looked through it some before buying but did not really check it out too good. When I got it home I set it on my bench at my home range. I could just barely pick out .22 bullet holes at 50yds at 20x. Any power setting above this and the scope was totally worthless. I sent the thing back to exchange it for the Kowa 501. This is only a sample of one and maybe I got a bad one. Anybody else tried any of these scopes?
pdeal-at-mylanlabs.com.42818.42814

[Craig F]

: I am in need a small spotting scope. It needs to be able to fit inside my gun box which is a the Pelican 1550 case. My gun box has four guns in it and other shooting supplies, so space is fairly limited. I shoot Free Pistol and Standard Pistol on a 50 foot range so I need a scope that has a good focus range as well. At most I would like to spend $250 for the scope.
You can still find used Unertl's 20X and 24X.......they're not as "pretty" as the newer scopes but drive nails with them and the optics are excellent........look for them on eBay
CraigF-at-tnh-inc.com.42835.42792

[Christian.Taranta]

Sorry you had a bad experience with yours. I picked up the 77MM in 2002 at Perry and I've had great luck with it. I've used it in just about every possible climate condition and it's proven to be reliable. On 30+ Power I can see .22 cal groups fairly well at 300 if the mirage is low. It is very light and I'm the kind of person who likes to break stuff. I do treat it fairly gingerly out of fear of replacement cost...So far so good, I've rucked a few miles with it in my pack without a hard case but I wouldn't want to drop it off the back of a 5 Ton, great for range use watching bullet trace and tracking wind. Get the bigger one, at 400.00 with the eye piece it's a good deal. Works far better than my CC60MM, but not as durable as my old trusty M49, as a mid rank NCO I can't afford the TSN 823 yet, but that will come with the next stripe.
I was up at Camp Perry a few weeks ago for the day. One of the things I wanted to get was another spotting scope. My second daughter is shooting now so I need a third. I currently have an old B&L balscope SR 20x (super crisp and clear) and a champion's choice scope (the older 45 degree one they sold). I am very satisfied with both. Since I am so satisfied with the champion's choice used to sell I figured the new one ought to be good too. I looked at the low end scope (GYAH i think) that champion's shooters supply sells and the new one that champ. choice sells. The GYAH was so light I am pretty sure it has a plastic objective lens. It just felt too much like something that came from Walmart to me. I wound up buying the scope that Champ. Choice sells for $150. I looked through it some before buying but did not really check it out too good. When I got it home I set it on my bench at my home range. I could just barely pick out .22 bullet holes at 50yds at 20x. Any power setting above this and the scope was totally worthless. I sent the thing back to exchange it for the Kowa 501. This is only a sample of one and maybe I got a bad one. Anybody else tried any of these scopes?

Christian.Taranta-at-Spangdahlem.af.mil.43491.42818

[TomBrooklyn]

Hi Christian,
What kind of commercial spotting scope or at what price point would you estimate the M49 is comparable to?
Tom
TomBrooklyn-at-poolgods.com.45492.43491