I have been tasked with coming up with 5 new spotting scopes for the high School Rifle Team. They shoot both 10 meter Air and 3 position Smallbore. The team doesn't have much of a budget so cost is a concern. So far they were steered towards a Barska Blackhawk 18-36X50. Any input on this scope or other options would be great.
Thanks for any input.
Spotting scope
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ravensedge
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:59 pm
- Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
If someone here doesn't have first hand knowledge on that scope, I would recomend steering clear.
You should definitely test the scope before purchasing, unless the scope states good for 10m. Many times a local retailer will let you have them at cost or just a little over cost.
15x - 20x works good for air; nice big field of view. 36x is not going to show one AR 5/10 much less two of them side by side.
You should definitely test the scope before purchasing, unless the scope states good for 10m. Many times a local retailer will let you have them at cost or just a little over cost.
15x - 20x works good for air; nice big field of view. 36x is not going to show one AR 5/10 much less two of them side by side.
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headwizard
- Posts: 24
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Packrat1947
- Posts: 54
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A few other details here:
Do you need to get stands to go with these scopes or just the scopes? The little tripods that come with some scope kits are just about useless for use by the shooter while on the line so you really need a stand designed for use while shooting rifle.
Also, what is your budget?
10m air is exactly that 10m, however smallbore can be 50ft, 50 yds/meters and 100 yards. Since this is a high school team I am sort of guessing you are shooting smallbore at 50ft only. If that is the case then if you found a fixed power scope at 16X or so that would be a pretty good universal scope, should be able to see the entire AR-5/10 target and enough magnification to see the smallbore target so you can still see what is going on. If you are using 16X at 50 yards that is kind of a stretch.
If this is all indoors or at least in conditions with good lighting, you don't really need a large front lens either. There are scopes out there with 70, 80 and 100mm front lenses, great for collecting more light but that also drives the cost and weight up. For indoors a 50mm front lens is just fine and OK at 50 yards on a clear day.
I have implied it but you get more image quality for your dollar if you can find a fixed power scope. There are lots of scopes that have some pretty impressive zoom numbers, this often comes at greater cost and sacrifice of image quality.
The other consideration is a 45 degree offset eyepiece. The 45 degree eyepiece is like the greatest thing that happened to position rifle shooting since the advent of the metallic cartridge. OK, perhaps a little bit over stated but much easier to work with than the straight through designs.
Having said all of this, you might consider calling SWFA. They deal just with sport optics http://swfa.com/Spotting-Scopes-C430.aspx
Call them, don't just browse the website and tell them what you are looking for and some of the things you are getting here. Be sure to tell them that you are shopping for a school, that can help. I have been in and out of education for 25 years and vendors are usually willing to work with the price for educational institutions. (especially K-12).
Good Luck,
'Dude
Do you need to get stands to go with these scopes or just the scopes? The little tripods that come with some scope kits are just about useless for use by the shooter while on the line so you really need a stand designed for use while shooting rifle.
Also, what is your budget?
10m air is exactly that 10m, however smallbore can be 50ft, 50 yds/meters and 100 yards. Since this is a high school team I am sort of guessing you are shooting smallbore at 50ft only. If that is the case then if you found a fixed power scope at 16X or so that would be a pretty good universal scope, should be able to see the entire AR-5/10 target and enough magnification to see the smallbore target so you can still see what is going on. If you are using 16X at 50 yards that is kind of a stretch.
If this is all indoors or at least in conditions with good lighting, you don't really need a large front lens either. There are scopes out there with 70, 80 and 100mm front lenses, great for collecting more light but that also drives the cost and weight up. For indoors a 50mm front lens is just fine and OK at 50 yards on a clear day.
I have implied it but you get more image quality for your dollar if you can find a fixed power scope. There are lots of scopes that have some pretty impressive zoom numbers, this often comes at greater cost and sacrifice of image quality.
The other consideration is a 45 degree offset eyepiece. The 45 degree eyepiece is like the greatest thing that happened to position rifle shooting since the advent of the metallic cartridge. OK, perhaps a little bit over stated but much easier to work with than the straight through designs.
Having said all of this, you might consider calling SWFA. They deal just with sport optics http://swfa.com/Spotting-Scopes-C430.aspx
Call them, don't just browse the website and tell them what you are looking for and some of the things you are getting here. Be sure to tell them that you are shopping for a school, that can help. I have been in and out of education for 25 years and vendors are usually willing to work with the price for educational institutions. (especially K-12).
Good Luck,
'Dude
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ravensedge
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:59 pm
- Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
I dont know if you have this option available, but my local post office (part of Australia Post) sells randoms stuff every now and then,
One was a cheap $60 spotting scope for bird watching, I grabbed it and did indeed buy a really expensive stand for it. BEST Scope it is crystal clear and works great. At such a cheap price it proved excellent, i use it for my 50m smallbore
and it is fine up to 800m on fullbore. But then again this is all dependant if you have shops like these that happen to sell random goods... Have a good look around youll be amazed at what you find, even if it isnt a known brand or even related to shooting for that matter.
One was a cheap $60 spotting scope for bird watching, I grabbed it and did indeed buy a really expensive stand for it. BEST Scope it is crystal clear and works great. At such a cheap price it proved excellent, i use it for my 50m smallbore
and it is fine up to 800m on fullbore. But then again this is all dependant if you have shops like these that happen to sell random goods... Have a good look around youll be amazed at what you find, even if it isnt a known brand or even related to shooting for that matter.
Here's the perfect spotting scope for your application. I wanted the same for 50' indoor. Creedmoor Sports had one built for them that's 12x36 50mm with an angled eyepiece. Also it rotates like more expensive scopes. Looks like a Konus I see at Champ Choice for more money. I recently bought one and it works great at close range or farther. Very lightweight. I can see my entire smallbore target inside the scope. I was worried it would be dark using it at an indoor range but it's bright as my Kowa. Good thing it's only $75. Don't know how durable it is since I don't have it that long but Creedmoor sells good stuff and stand behind their products.
http://www.creedmoorsports.com/store/pr ... 387&page=1
http://www.creedmoorsports.com/store/pr ... 387&page=1
Last edited by matchguy on Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Only $95
http://www.champchoice.com/prod-CC_12_5 ... -2567.aspx
---or---
http://www.championshooters.com/store/p ... 338&page=1
We use the CSS scopes at 10m air and 50ft thru 100m smallbore
If one gets toppled, yeah, I grit my teeth, but I don't go non-linear as I would over a $400-$600 scope ... and yeah, they do get toppled every once in a while .. they're kids.
The no-fault warranty is VERY nice. If it gets toppled, send it back w/ $20 and get a new one.
http://www.champchoice.com/prod-CC_12_5 ... -2567.aspx
---or---
http://www.championshooters.com/store/p ... 338&page=1
We use the CSS scopes at 10m air and 50ft thru 100m smallbore
If one gets toppled, yeah, I grit my teeth, but I don't go non-linear as I would over a $400-$600 scope ... and yeah, they do get toppled every once in a while .. they're kids.
The no-fault warranty is VERY nice. If it gets toppled, send it back w/ $20 and get a new one.
The CSS scope looks just like the one I bought from Pilk 10 years ago. I only used it for air rifle but I was very happy with it. I kept using my old 1970's B&L for smallbore so I can't swear how the scope would be for 50 foot but I suspect it will be just fine.
"Where the heck did that 8 come from?!"