TargetTalk

I was looking at spottng scopes for Christmas. Any one got any input on type and power for 3-P 50 feet and 50 yards for SB?

I use a small Bushnell scope that can be mounted to the fitting. It's a variable 12-36x and I can call tens at 10 meters as well as at 50 and even 100yds.

Over the years, I have shot air pistol at 10M, .22 pistols at 50ft, large bore pistols at 25/50yds, and high power rifle out to 200yds. For all of these disciplines I have found 20X to 25X to be ideal. Higher power eyepieces lose too much light and are almost worthless unless you can afford one of the spotting scopes with the really large objective lenses like 80mm. One feature that I highly recommend is an angled eyepiece and some means to rotate the scope, whether that's built into the scope or in your mount. Another recommendation is not to go cheap on optics. If you choose wisely, you will have this scope for the rest of your life. Further, the resale value of a good scope will always be high. Look at the top brands like Bushnell, Kowa, Nikon, Zeiss, etc. Become familiar with the term "relative brightness" which I believe is the square of the objective diameter divided by the eyepiece power. For example: a 20X scope with a 60mm objective lens has a relative brightness of 9, whereas a cheap 40mm scope with a 36X eyepiece has a relative brightness of 1.2. For a really good scope you need light not power, so buy the best scope you can afford and you won't be sorry.

Personally, I have a Kowa and love it, but you probably don't want to spend that much on a scope. It has a fixed eye piece of 20X which I have used on the 10 meter airgun range to the outdoor 50 meter smallbore range. If you don't want to spend alot the latest issue of "The Sportman's Guide" Christmas Sale Catalog has a Skyline 25-75X 75MM Spotting Scope for $69.97 and it has an angled eye piece. As to the quality of the scope I know nothing about the scope, but you can't damaged to much financially by buying this scope.

Our club has several new still in the box BSA spotting scopes that would work fine for you.
I believe they ar 15x45 power with a straight body.
They will not focus down to 10 meters.
We would make you a great deal. Less then half the new price.
raymondodle at yahoo.com