long distance spotting scope recomendations

[Flopsweat]

I'll be darned. I just thought my old clunker spotting scope was an old clunker. 25x.
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Permission granted to laugh at the hose clamp replacement mountings. I'm not a long range shooter but this one has worked for me a long time. The range where I'm a member used to have one day a year when we had a member swap meet. I think it came from there for a few dollars. I've absent mindedly left it behind at ranges a few times but it was always there when I'd go back later.



I have a hard enough time looking for or at .224 holes in the black at 100 yards. They are more easily seen on sunny days than gloomy ones.

I have an old Bausch & Lomb 60mm scope that looks similar to that one. Remarkably clear glass in that thing.

 

[gmerkt]

I have an old Bausch & Lomb 60mm scope that looks similar to that one. Remarkably clear glass in that thing.

Not long ago, I acquired one of those Bausch & Lomb rifle scopes with the external adjustments, no turrets on the scope with internal adjustment. It has very good optics, but I doubt I'll be able to find the proper mount base for it. It came with a Rem. Mod. 760 mount; I need one for a Ruger No. 1.

 

[Bobbygun]

Not long ago, I acquired one of those Bausch & Lomb rifle scopes with the external adjustments, no turrets on the scope with internal adjustment. It has very good optics, but I doubt I'll be able to find the proper mount base for it. It came with a Rem. Mod. 760 mount; I need one for a Ruger No. 1.

I have one of those as well, inherited from my dad. He used to move the scope back and forth between a Remington 722 in .222 Rem. and a Mauser 98 in .25-06. It was a solid scope in its day. I remember Dad sending it back in due to black specks building up inside. It is still mounted on the Remington and it is an accurate rifle, if not the tack driver it was before the original barrel wore out and was replaced. I put an internally adjustable scope with Weaver mounts on the Mauser. The mounts I inherited were Kuharsky I believe.

I've never seen mention of Kuharsky mounts for a Ruger No. 1. It might be they were discontinued before the No. 1 was introduced.

 

[gmerkt]

I've never seen mention of Kuharsky mounts for a Ruger No. 1. It might be they were discontinued before the No. 1 was introduced.

I've had the same thoughts. The No. 1 first came out in 1966 or 67, the B&L / Kuharsky set-ups were sold into at least the early 1970's. In any case, not nearly as much time to make mounts for No. 1's as for, say, Rem. 760's.

 

[Bobbygun]

say, Rem. 760's.

Aaaaaand... there's your next purchase! A guy can't just have a scope laying around with nothing under it.

 

[gmerkt]

Aaaaaand... there's your next purchase! A guy can't just have a scope laying around with nothing under it.

Oh yeah, I've been down that road already. Several times. Two each .30-06's, and two each .35 Rems. Here's a cute story I've told here before. The .35 Rems I owned about three decades apart, bought in different states even. When I bought the second one, I noticed that it was a consecutive serial number with the first one.

I also owned a Rem. Model 76, that was the 1980's economy version of the 7600. In .30-06.

I probably won't be owning another of this design. I like the concept of the design. But they can have issues with reloaded ammo. The magazine fit can get wonky for various reasons. I think originally, Remington came out with these for the all-around sportsman. A rifle that was shotgun-like in design. However, in my experience, a Remington pump shotgun is more reliable. What advantage does a pump rifle have that fails to extract after the first shot? In my personal experience, the .35's were less troublesome than the .30-06's.

I would like to have owned one of these in .308 Win. but it never happened. I liked the idea of the much later Model 7615, which was the kind of "tactical" version in .223, and it took an AR15 magazine. I passed on those at the gun shows when they were a $325 rifle, now they are gone.

 

[Flopsweat]

Oh yeah, I've been down that road already. Several times. Two each .30-06's, and two each .35 Rems. Here's a cute story I've told here before. The .35 Rems I owned about three decades apart, bought in different states even. When I bought the second one, I noticed that it was a consecutive serial number with the first one.

I also owned a Rem. Model 76, that was the 1980's economy version of the 7600. In .30-06.

I probably won't be owning another of this design. I like the concept of the design. But they can have issues with reloaded ammo. The magazine fit can get wonky for various reasons. I think originally, Remington came out with these for the all-around sportsman. A rifle that was shotgun-like in design. However, in my experience, a Remington pump shotgun is more reliable. What advantage does a pump rifle have that fails to extract after the first shot? In my personal experience, the .35's were less troublesome than the .30-06's.

I would like to have owned one of these in .308 Win. but it never happened. I liked the idea of the much later Model 7615, which was the kind of "tactical" version in .223, and it took an AR15 magazine. I passed on those at the gun shows when they were a $325 rifle, now they are gone.

This is why I've stopped buying receivers, no matter how cheap they are.

 

[erslll]

I use a Vortex Razor Gen 1 with the fixed 30x eyepiece. Not going to see holes but very good for trace, mirage and steel impacts. Fixed eye piece has a reticle also so you can spot misses for you buddy and give corrections.

 

[Ryanholliday]

Swarovski

 

[rgold1963]

B&H has some great prices on Kowa compared to everywhere else I looked. I have one arriving tomorrow! I'll let you know what I think after it gets here.

 

[ferret427]

Kowa scopes are amazing. I have compared them side by side with a much more exspensive
Swarovski . The Kowa was much clearer. Buy once cry once. I have been told the reason why
the Kowas are so clear is because the Japanese have access to the cleanest sand? I don't know
if I buy that. The Fluorite lens Kowas are at another level.

Kowa TSN 883 Review | Monster Field Tested Spotting Scope Review - Backwoods Pursuit

We love optics here at Backwoods Pursuit, so naturally getting to do a Kowa TSN 883 review was an absolute privilege. When you are trying to decide what the

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I have a Kowa 883 Prolimar with a 25-60x eyepiece. If all you want is clarity, Kowa is about as good as it gets, and while not cheap, it costs less than Swaro scopes of similar objective+eyepiece combos. Absolutely great glass. No reticle available though, and it is a big scope. Kowa's popularity is mainly in the wildlife spotting/digiscoping community.

Strictly speaking, the reason the Kowas are so clear is that the objective lens is made of fluorite crystal. Unfortunately, it is too brittle for rifle scopes. It really is very clear, with high resolution and color fidelity. Birding photographers really love the glass. I use it on the flat range during load development.

Anecdotally, I hear that some spotters who have tried them moved away from them because the clarity supposedly makes it harder to judge mirage at distance when gauging wind...but I suck at judging wind and have never spotted for anybody, so I don't know.

 

[waltermitty]

B&H has some great prices on Kowa compared to everywhere else I looked. I have one arriving tomorrow! I'll let you know what I think after it gets here.

I always keep B&H in mind when I'm shopping as they have their sponsored credit card in which they negate your need to pay sales tax. If your purchased item qualifies (most of mine do) the shipping is free. WA sales tax is over 10% so if the B&H price is competitive, the no-sales-tax can be a huge savings.

 

[rgold1963]

I always keep B&H in mind when I'm shopping as they have their sponsored credit card in which they negate your need to pay sales tax. If your purchased item qualifies (most of mine do) the shipping is free. WA sales tax is over 10% so if the B&H price is competitive, the no-sales-tax can be a huge savings.

Absolutley. Stupid name but great savings with the card. I was honestly surprised to see that B&H was significantly less expensive for the spotting scope. That, free shipping and no sales tax is a huge win!
Haven't had much time to use the scope yet but it's pretty spectacular to look through!

Nice looking GSD!

 

[oneshotkyle]

Never heard the OP post his spending limit. But I'd vouch for kowa and swaro.