Shiloh Rifle Forums

I go with the Kowia 821.


The results speak for themselves.
[attachment=0]EDDE43FD-B0DB-4551-9002-CFA2FE246616.jpeg[/attachment]

KW
The Lunger

http://www.shilohrifle.com/forums/viewt ... 75#p290111

For the last 15years or so I've spotted with the Kowa 821m 27x ler eye piece. It just gets the job done. You can see a full bank of animals without moving the scope. Shooters won't give you the stink eye for not seeing mirage shifts either.

For mirage reading either:
Kowa 82SV with the LER eyepiece, gives you about 25 or 27x
or
Vortex with the LER eyepeice for about 25x

There is better glass in the world, but you don't need it for mirage and both are actually pretty darned good glass. In any case, even if you get higher quality glass I'd suggest a Kowa and their LER eyepeice. Once you shoot with one of the scopes with something like 31mm of eye relief it's really hard to use a scope without it.

If you want something compact and wide angle my traveling scope is a Celestron 56ED hummingbird. I've put a 17mm fixed eyepiece it it, it's not as awesome as my very old Koway LER, but it weighs nothing and packs in my carryon when I fly to matches.

I shoot F class, a lot, like 2000 rounds a yr kind of shooting. I spend a lot of time in a spotter.

Glen

Take a look at the Supper Spotter scope stand by gearbuggy.com. Made in USA 502-558-1043. Great equipment and can be used prone or off hand.

Dave

Dag45-70, XTR, Mre, Rumriver, Grumpybear, Kurt,Jim , Art, BPCR SHOOTER , Del...Thanks for all your input.

Our current spotting scope is a Kowa TSN-1 with the 25x LER eyepiece. The tripod is a Bosch BT-160.
This combo seems good enough and the tripod is heavy. I had to rig the head mount, but it seems stable and steady in the wind.

We are looking for a back-up scope and tripod and all the advice has been greatly appreciated.
There are a lot of options out there that we weren't aware of and now we have Several choices.

Glenn,

If you have the little TSN-1 find another. It's a very sharp scope. Find two and make a binocular with them.

I have several scope, The Kowa 821, Celestron 100mm and a very old 50mm Redfield. 20-60X.
I use the Redfield the most. The scope I use for spotting is the Celestron. It sees conditions above the trees the Kowa does not see where your bullet spends most of the time going down range, but it's a very heavy scope. If I was to get another it would be the 80mm.

Kurt
That is one cool set-up!!

How much does the binocular weigh and how hard is it to set up Kurt? Does it hold sych when moved?

Has VORTEX created something novel that would be useful to the BPCR as well as the BPTR Shooter in the way of a Spotting Scope?

Cabelas has the duo now listed in the online catalog.

Scope: SKU 2495245 85MM objective Eye Piece: SKU 2881486 33.5X 18MM eye relief

I been looking at the straight vortex with that ranging lens and I had a chance to look through that scope in the dark shadows in the trees and it's a scope I will get down the line. I get tired looking at the ground when spotting. I like to see the flags also with out taking my eye off the scope.
The ranging lens is like some of the military binoculars with the bracketing reticles.

mdeland wrote: ↑Sun Feb 07, 2021 6:42 pm How much does the binocular weigh and how hard is it to set up Kurt? Does it hold sych when moved?

Mike, that is not mine. It is used by a guy at Alma Michigan I shoot silhouette at. Yes it's heavy but it's solid when it's setup.

We purchased the strike force stand and are VERY happy with it.
We went to the Leupold SX-2 alpine as our primary spotting scope .

The stand was recommended to us by Lee Burrow and it's the only one we'll ever need.
The Leupold scope was just the ticket to spot for the Grand Son while he was shooting at the White Buffalo's 16 inch center at 1100 yards.

We did opt to put a 10 pound weight on the stand's legs and it made a difference.

The older we get the more magnification we seem to need.

Jim Kidwell wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 12:52 pm I agree with Art on the Celestron (Regal M2 80ED w/LER eyepiece) on a Manfrotto tripod. FWIW...........

Another Celestron user, though I don't see the need for the larger (longer, heavier, more expensive) 80mm spotting scope. The M2 65ED is an excellent piece for about 1/2 to 2/3s the price of the Kowa and provides at least as sharp a view.
That said, we've moved to the 20x60 Pentax binoculars for everything but looking for bullets holes at 300yd or longer. We find it does everything needed and is easier on the eyes. Even dropped it on the road at 20mph and only scuffed the exterior a bit. We shot next to the Chilson's the past two days and we did not hear Debbie calling anything with her considerably larger Kowa bino's that we could not see with the Pentax. Just another (less expensive) way to go.
Many good choices. Pick what fits you and your budget.

Kurt wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 7:38 am

mdeland wrote: ↑Sun Feb 07, 2021 6:42 pm How much does the binocular weigh and how hard is it to set up Kurt? Does it hold sych when moved?

Mike, that is not mine. It is used by a guy at Alma Michigan I shoot silhouette at. Yes it's heavy but it's solid when it's setup.

Believe that is the Decker's (Jody & Steve) rig. Similar to the one used by the Chilsons (Debbie & Brian). They must be pretty rugged as they both haul them to matches from PA to NM and do pretty well (like this past Fri & Sat at Ridgway where they finished 1st & 3rd HOA). Don't recall hearing any complaints from them over the past many years.

I'm pretty new here and just learning BPCR, but I'm not just learning spotting...been doing it with my Long Range Precision buddies for a while and what I'm going to suggest will probably get me labeled a heretic, but since Kurt posted up something very similar....

My setup is this....



Sorry I don't have a better photo that I can quickly get to, but basically it's a pair of Steiner 15x binos mounted on a Benro tripod with a Benro head. Buy the tripod that will carry a minimum of 45 lbs, not the smaller units. I hang a bag of lead ingots (about 15 lbs) off the hook in the center. I prefer standing to spot. I never understood why people would sit hunched over in a chair getting a bad case of squint face. It's easier to stand there and eat sunflower seeds. Also, it is SUPER IMPORTANT to line up directly over the shooter, in line with his rifle bore (within 1 foot either side, but preferably straight over it) never off to the side more than 12" away. With this setup, I am normally able to watch the flight of the bullet from about 100 yards out all the way to the target. This was effective at the Quigley back in June even with the heavy winds, although I did have trouble picking up the vapor trail once the wind got over about 15 mph. I like being able to watch the "whole shot" not just the impact as impacts can be deceiving. It would take very heavy winds to cause me any vibration at all. I did not have any vibration trouble at this years Q.

My total cost for the above setup was about $950. I got the binos used and the tripod and head new off Ebay. I would like to swap out to some Steiner ships binoculars, but those run $2000 so will wait a little bit. I also admit that my eyes correct down to 20-15 or better with my contact lenses. I am normally able to read the smallest lines on the chart fairly easily when I'm at the Dr's office, but it's important to realize that with two eyes doing the work, you have twice as many eyeball cells (rods and cones) doing the looking for you, which makes your vision better/more effective.