Could somebody help educate me on spotting scopes?

I've been reading all over the place about, "What is the best spotting scope?" I sure would like to know too, along with what is the best pistol, AR, shotgun, etc... it's all relevant...

To better help me pick out what I think is the best for me, could somebody tell me what kind of specs or whatever... I should be lookin for in a spotting scope that will reach out about 200 yds? I need to see .223 rounds in my targets.  

Links, forums, your expertise or anything is cool...


Thanks  -

DeJa Vu
same ?

I use my Bushnell for spotting at 300 yards with some difficulty.  30 cal at 300 no problem, 200 yards with .22 no problem.  You dont need a Kowa or anything expensive for 200 yards.

Asking for spotting scope advice is like asking for scope advice. There will be people who insist that anything less than $1,000 has blurry junk glass..and those with $45 ones that claim they can see .223 holes at 500 yards with mirage.


I've got great eyes and great vision. I have my own opinions. Like the guy above, you don't need to get a Kowa. However, avoid the real cheapo's.


I have a Bushnell spotter, and a Burris one.

There's one exception to the cheap scopes..

The Burris one came "free" with a Burris scope as part of a package deal. It is a fixed 20x with 50mm objective. You can find it for sale for $50. This is perhaps the cheapest, yet still good optics you can get. When I use it to look down the street, the house at the end is 220 yards away. The mailbox is white, and it is secured by screws whose heads are 1/4" in size. I can count the screws at this distance with ease using this scope. A lot of people bash this scope as totally unusable, optically horrible etc..either they are total optics snobs, or have some magical eye power beyond my knowledge. I understand resolution, and  like riflescopes...there's a lot of hype out there about clarity. Don't pay $500 for a spotter, because it will not be much clearer or brighter than one for $200. It's just like riflescopes. People have a need to justify the money they've spent. I've found that there is a significant difference moving up from the cheap stuff to the medium priced stuff....but after that you have to start paying astronomical prices for very, very small gains in performance. IE, for $200 in a spotter, you'll get 95% of the quality possible. To get more and more, the price triples and so on. Same with riflescopes.


Now, those Bushnell, Simmons etc..one's that look like telescopes are very grainy and bad optically. I wouldn't get one of those. They come with a box with a tripod. I did not like those very much. Image at 50 yards wasn't very clear. These are the ultra-low end budget ones. They work fine for up to 100 yards with medium caliber holes at low magnification. Again, with my eyes.


The Bushnell I have is 20-60x. Main reason I got it is for eye relief. In my opinion, eye relief is more important than other features. This scope easily does anything I need it to, and has great optics, and it doesn't cost over $175. It is annoying to have to remove your glasses at the range to use your spotter, especially at a range with nazi range masters. Not with this scope. The free Burris has something like 15mm of eye relief at most. That means the furthest back to get some sight through it. That's pretty close. Most often you feel your eyelashes touching the glass. This is because you really want to get a nice sight picture, not just the bare minium. So when you look through it, you're really more like 5mm away. The same way they advertise horsepower in cars, or wattage in stereos..they are talking about extremes, this is true of "eye relief" in spotters.

This is TRUE of MOST spotters out there. If you want to use your shooting glasses at the same time, seek out an extended eye relief one that gets out to about 25mm or more.


20-30x is the only really practical magnifications, mirage and other factors kills the use of 45-60x in most situations. Remember, divide the objective size by the magnification to get the exit pupil of light. A 60mm objective @ 60x will produce 1mm of light. Your pupil is bigger then that. So you'll be seeing a dark image. Not to mention, even the best of optics fails to transmit all light....

Quoted: DeJa Vu same ?

exactly... I did a search but didn't see your post.  Guess I need to upgrade my account to "Team Member" to be able to view older posts... thanks - seen it now.

Quoted: ........

Awsome write up!  Thanks for all the info -

Quoted: ......You dont need a Kowa or anything expensive for 200 yards.

Thanks -