Forum members have asked “what’s the best option in a spotting scope in the $500 to $1000 price range?” We’d certainly have to include Kowa spotting scopes on the “short list” for value-priced, high-performance spotters. And now Kowa spotting scopes are cheaper than ever, thanks to Bullets.com’s Holiday Kowa Promotion. Kowa Spotting scope and binoculars are on sale at Bullets.com for up to 26% off regular list prices.
If you need an affordable spotting scope for High Power matches or hunting, consider the 66mm or 82mm Kowas. If you want a no-compromise, ultra-low-dispersion glass, category-leading spotting scope, take a look at the 88mm Kowa Prominars. These have been rated among the “best of the best” in a variety of independent spotting scope comparison tests. Bullets.com is also discounting a wide range of Kowa binoculars.
Creedmoor Sports is offering two Holiday Specials with complete Spotting Scope systems, including Spotting Scope (with eyepiece), Scope Cover, and Scope Stand. You can choose between two price levels. If you are on a limited budget, go for the Konus 80mm bundle (item ID Konus-bundle). This includes Konus 80mm spotting scope, Scope Cover, and 3/4″-diameter Polecat Stand with two stand extension rods. These items would normally sell for $607.75, but now you can get them all for $545.00 with Holiday Special Pricing.
Creedmoor Sports also has a Holiday Kowa Scope Package (item ID SCOPEPKG) that can save you $112.65 off the regular $1487.65 price. This is really a nice bundle that should meet the needs of even top High Power competitors.
KOWA SCOPE PACKAGE — For $1375.00 you get all the following:
Kowa TSN-82SV 82mm Angled Spotting Scope
25X Long Eye Relief Eyepiece
Creedmoor Scope Cover in blue
Creedmoor 1″-diameter PoleCat Scope Stand
Two Extension Rods for Stand
Creedmoor Scope Stand Bag
See-Through Objective Lens Cover
Kowa Eyepiece Cover
The regular price for all this hardware is $1487.65, so you save $112.65 with this Kowa Scope Package. That’s a pretty significant savings you can put back into bullets and brass.
Here’s a great deal on an excellent spotting scope. Right now Amazon.com has the Pentax PF80-ED Angled spotting scope body for just $684.95 with FREE Shipping for Prime members. Supplies are very limited, so don’t hesitate. Mind you, this is just for the BODY ONLY — but the PF80-ED body alone sells elsewhere for $899.00 (See: Optics Planet PF-80ED).
The PF-80ED has a large objective lens with high-definition glass. Focusing is fast and precise. You will have to purchase an eyepiece separately — but rest assured, the Pentax eyepieces are some of the best available, with large-diameter, astronomy-style mounts, and wide-angle view with extended eye relief. We use a Pentax PF100-ED and PF80-ED, with both zoom and fixed-focal-length eyepieces. The Pentax eyepieces are outstanding.
We actually prefer the PF80-ED (vs. the PF100) for most duties because it is MUCH more compact, and sits more steady on the tripod. While the PF80-ED has been out for a few years, it still compares favorably with spotting scopes that cost twice as much. To do better, you’ll need to spend over $2000.00 for a Kowa, Leica, Nightforce, Swarovski, or Zeiss spotting scope with low-dispersion glass. And, with most of these brands, that two grand will only get you the spotter body — you’ll then need to spend $400-$700 for the eyepiece. We think it’s hard to beat a PF80-ED at this sales price. Even after purchasing the eyepiece your total cost is about $925.00.
Bushnell Outdoor Products has introduced a new compact, roof prism spotting scope. The new Bushnell Elite Tactical 8-40x60mm Lightweight Modular Spotting Scope (LMSS) features a rubber-armored housing, ED Glass, and an optional (extra cost) H32 ranging reticle. A Picatinny rail is supplied that fits to the bottom of the LMSS.
The Elite Tactical 8-40x 60mm LMSS features ED Prime glass, BAK-4 prisms and fully multi-coated optics. The LMSS is available in both a standard (clear view) model or with the Horus Vision H32 reticle, a highly-regarded ranging reticle. With a minimum 8X magnification, and a maximum of 40 power, the LMSS is extremely versatile.
Sheathed in rubber armor, the LMSS spotting scope is fog-proof and meets IPX7 waterproof standards. It also features the water-repellant RainGuard HD lens coating, a patented Bushnell technology that we have found works very well.
The spotting scope includes a detachable picatinny rail, giving users the ability to quickly and easily mount the spotter to a firearm or tripod system. The Elite Tactical 8-40x 60mm LMSS is available for an estimated retail price of $1699.99 or $2,199.99 with the Horus H32 reticle.
Bushnell Bulletproof 100% Money-Back Guarantee
Every product in the Elite Tactical series is covered by the Bushnell limited lifetime warranty. The entire product line is also backed with the new one-year, no-risk Bushnell Bulletproof Guarantee. The 100% money-back guarantee is valid up until one year from date of purchase.
Gary Eliseo of Competition Machine is now (again) manufacturing adjustable heads for spotting scopes. These work great for High Power, Three Position, Across-the-Course, Prone, and F-Class shooting. The head fits on a scope stand, so it can adjust to any height you need. This is a super-high quality unit according to our buddy Dennis Santiago: “They’re back — the best scope head on the planet is back in production. Direct from Gary Eliseo this time. Uses any 3/4″- or 1″-diameter shaft stand.”
Gary tells us: “I had so many people ask me to bring my scope head back into production I thought I’d try a trial run to see how they were received. Well, the first run nearly sold out just by word of mouth! I do have some still available from the first run, and we’ll do another run. Price is $185.00 plus shipping. You can choose from 12 Cerakote colors.”
Eliseo Universal Scope Head Features
Scope Head can be mounted above or below scope body.
Scope Head works for both right-handed and left-handed shooters. 6.25″ Offset.
Scope Head works with 3/4″-diameter and 1″-diameter uprights.
Integral dovetail mount (saves wear and tear on spotting scope base threads).
Coarse and fine elevation settings require no tools to adjust.
Adjustable windage disc brake friction.
The Competition Machine Universal Scope Head is available right now — a few units are left from the first production run. To order, call 714-630-5734. To see other Competition Machine products, including tube gun chassis kits, visit www.GotXring.com.
Nightforce Optics will unveil new products at the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits this upcoming Friday. The big news is an 82mm spotting scope — the first-ever spotter from Nightforce. We knew Nightforce was planning an important product launch, but frankly this announcement caught us by surprise — Nightforce has always been a riflescope company. This is new territory. Why is Nightforce rolling out a high-magnification spotting scope now? Kyle Brown, Nightforce’s Director of Sales and Marketing, explains: “Our customers have asked for many years when we would introduce a spotting scope. The answer was, ‘at a time when we could produce a spotting scope equivalent in performance and quality to Nightforce riflescopes.’ That time is now.”
The new TS-82™ Xtreme Hi-Def™ spotting scope features a large 82mm objective, plus high-quality, European-made APO Fluorite Glass. The “street price”, including a 20-70X eyepiece, should be $2522.00 ($2600 MSRP). Shown above is the straight-body version, but the TS-82 will also be offered with an angled body for the same price ($2522.00 including 20-70X eyepiece). Nightforce promises that, by the end of 2013, an optional wide-angle 30-60X eyepiece will be available. In addition, Nightforce plans to offer an accessory mount for attaching a red dot sight or a laser rangefinder. This is good news for long-range hunters — you can locate your target through the spotter and then instantly range distance-to-target with an LRF aligned precisely with the spotting scope lens. Nightforce will also offer a handy iPhone accessory mount for digiscoping.
At the NRA Meeting in Houston, Nightforce will also introduce a new, side-focus 2.5-10x42mm NXS riflescope. For years, the Nightforce 2.5-10x32mm NXS Compact has been a popular optic. The new Nightforce 2.5-10x42mm NXS Compact, with its larger objective, should be more effective in low light. Yet the scope is still fairly light-weight (19 oz.–20.5 oz.) and compact (11.9 inches in length). Expect “street price” to be around $1740.00.
The notable feature of the new 2.5-10x42mm NXS is its side parallax adjustment (25 yards to infinity). It’s unusual to find side parallax control on an optic with 10X max magnification. The new 2.5×10 also incorporates red or green reticle illumination with adjustable intensity settings. Six different reticles are available, including the new IHR™ (International Hunting Reticle). The 2.5-10x42mm is offered with .250 MOA Hi-Speed™ or .1 Mil-Radian adjustments on exposed turrets, or, alternately, enclosed (capped) turrets with .250 MOA clicks. For more information, visit NightforceOptics.com
I have been looking for a bag that can securely carry a large spotting scope as well as chronograph hardware, wind meter, and camera gear — all the extra stuff I typically take to the range in addition to the essential cleaning and shooting products that go in my regular range kit. The folks at Grizzly Industrial told me to check out their new 20″ Range Bag by Bald Eagle. These 20″ Range Bags, are very versatile and well-made. With eyepiece removed, my jumbo-sized Pentax PF-100ED spotting scope fit perfectly inside the padded central compartment. At the same time I could haul ALL the peripherals for my PVM-21 chronograph, plus a camera, wind meter, spare Pentax eyepiece, AND a netbook computer. Without the netbook, there is room for four pistols along the side channels. If you don’t need to pack a large spotting scope, the main compartment could easily hold 3 more pistols in Bore-Store socks, plus holsters, ammo boxes, and earmuffs.
Watch the video to see how much stuff will fit in this bag. NOTE: If you carry a tripod or windflag stand using the straps under the case lid, be sure to position the foam padding carefully to prevent any direct contact with a spotting scope in the main compartment. Overall, the 20″ Range Bag is a remarkably capable gear-hauler. With the nicely-padded interior it will safely carry expensive items such as laser rangefinders, and binoculars. There is also a slash pocket on the rear side (not shown in video) that will hold thin items such as target stickers and shooting log-books. The 20″ Range Bag is offered in four (4) different colors: Red, Black, Green, and Camo. Price is $59.95 for solid colors and $61.95 for camo.
Smaller, 15″ Range Bag Offered Also
Grizzly also sells more compact, 15″-wide Bald Eagle Range Bags. There are six (6) color choices for the 15″ Range Bag: Red, Black, Navy Blue, Green, Hot Pink (for ladies), and Camo. Solid colors cost $45.00, while the Camo Bag costs a couple dollars more ($46.95). If you don’t need to haul a spotting scope, you may prefer the smaller version. The 15″ version still offers lot of carrying capacity — it’s big enough to hold ammo, muffs, target stickers, and much more.
REVIEW Disclosure: Grizzly Industrial provided the 20″ Range Bag for testing and evaluation.
Having heard many good things about Vortex spotting scopes from our readers and Forum members, on Day 1 of SHOT Show we headed over to the Vortex Optics booth. On display was the entire line-up of Vortex Viper and Razor spotting scopes (both HD and non-HD), with objective diameters ranging from 50mm to 85mm. We know that the 85mm Razor HD has been very popular with our readers, as it offers excellent “bang for the buck”. This spotter runs $1599.00 complete with 20-60 power eyepiece. That’s about half the cost of the big name Euro-brand spotting scopes with comparable objectives. Making the Razor HD even more attractive this year is the availability of a new 18X/23X long-eye-relief eyepiece for Vortex’s flagship spotting scope.
For 2013, Vortex has added much-requested 65mm and 50mm models to its Razor HD line of spotting scopes. This is good news for guys who prefer a lighter, more compact spotting scope, or who don’t need the extra light-gathering power of a big 85mm objective. The 65mm and 50mm Vortex Razor HD models should be available by mid-spring 2013, and they will be priced quite a bit lower than their 85mm big brother shown above.
Watch Video to See Vortex Spotting Scopes and NEW 2.5-10X FFP Tactical Scope
Watch Factory Video on Vortex Razor 85mm HD Spotting Scope
After reviewing Vortex’s spotting scopes, we checked out an all-new, compact first focal plane scope from Vortex that we predict will be very popular with three-gun and tactical shooters. The New Vortex Viper PSD 2.5-10x32mm tactical scope features an FFP design. This enables rapid ranging with the provided reticles at all magnification levels. This scope with be offered with mil-based clicks and EBR-1 milrad reticle, or with MOA-based clicks and a EBR-1 reticle with MOA-based subtensions. We were also pleased to learn that Vortex will add a 6-24x50mm model to its Viper HS riflescope line.
Following shoulder surgery, our Contributing Editor German Salazar moved to F-TR shooting, replacing his sling and iron sights with bipod and scope. German has done remarkably well for an F-TR newbie, winning his first two 500-yard matches (in F-TR class) at Phoenix-area ranges. German has been shooting his “old Palma rifle with a scope and bipod attached”. This rig features a Gilkes-Ross action in a Robertson/Sitman Highpower Prone stock with an Anschütz 5020 trigger and 30″ 1:11″-twist Krieger barrel. The rifle is fitted with a Canadian-made Rempel “Ski” bipod and a Leupold BR 24X scope.
On his Riflemans’ Journal website, German has crafted a helpful article with advice for “sling shooters contemplating a busman’s holiday into F-Class.” Even seasoned F-Class shooters can learn something from German’s observations in his F-TR: Scoping it Out article. Here are some highlights from the article:
Carpet Under the Bipod
“I quickly learned that a piece of carpet was an essential component under the bipod. Without the carpet, [on dirt surfaces] the bipod tends to dig into the dirt with every shot, resulting in odd elevation shots. On the concrete it isn’t quite as essential, but it smooths the recoil movement appreciably and is worthwhile. [I used] a short-nap carpet remnant for this, but my car floor mat also worked well.”
Clicking vs. Holding Off
“I’ve been shooting iron sights and clicking sight knobs for most of my life; trying to hold off made me very uncomfortable and the reflex pull of the trigger just wasn’t there. Once I returned to holding center and clicking, I was more comfortable and was able to execute my shots more quickly and cleanly. By zeroing the windage knob I can also easily return to a previous setting when conditions warrant.”
Reading Mirage with Spotting Scope
“In conversations with other F-Class shooters in our club, I found that few were using a spotting scope to see mirage; they were largely relying on the rifle scope. However, the rifle scope is focused on the target, as it must be to eliminate parallax, and thus cannot show mirage with the same clarity as a spotting scope that is focused roughly halfway down the range.”
Positioning Your Spotting Scope
“I position the spotting scope in the same manner as I did when shooting from the sling. It is very close to me and can be used without moving the head from the cheekpiece. The object, as always, is to minimize movement in order to maintain a consistent position and to minimize the time lost between the last glance at the mirage and breaking the shot.”
Carl Zeiss Sports Optics has some very attractive promotions in place right now — with rebates from $50 to $500.00. With Zeiss Field Days mail-in rebates you can save money on premium rifle scopes, spotting scopes, laser rangefinders, and rangefinding binoculars. But time’s running out. The 2012 Carl Zeiss Field Days Promotion runs out on December 31, 2012. CLICK HERE for Field Days Rebate Coupon.
Save $500.00 on Zeiss Diascope Spotting Scopes
Zeiss produces a very high-quality spotting scope. We did a three-way test with a Pentax PF-100ED, 2010-model (one piece) Swarovski 80mm, and 2012 Zeiss 85mm Diascope. Compared to the big Pentax, the Zeiss could resolve very fine lines better and the Zeiss had less chromatic aberration. The Diascope was very, very close to the Swaro in resolution, but it had a slight edge in low light given its larger front objective. Most of our testers gave a slight edge to the Swaro for contrast. The dual-rate focus system on the Zeiss does take a while to master, but it allows faster focusing than either the Pentax (which uses two separate knobs for course and fine focus), or the Swaro (which has one large full-diameter focusing ring). If you’re choosing between the Swaro and the Zeiss, the $500.00 rebate can easily settle the argument. Street price for the Zeiss Angled 85mm Diascope (before rebate) is $2999.99 including Vario 20-60x Eyepiece. Do note, however, that anyone considering a high-end spotting scope should also look at the Kowa 88mm TSN-88X Prominar HD series ($2310.00 street price for TSN-883 Angled, BODY ONLY).
How to Get Your Discounts
All purchases must be made from a Carl Zeiss Authorized Dealer in the United States and rebate request forms must be completed and postmarked within 30 days of purchase. Payment will be made by a ZEISS Prepaid Reward Card by American Express. For promotion details, visit the Field Days Promo Page. For faster payment and real-time tracking, register on-line at Zeiss.4myrebate.com. After submitting your rebate forms, check the status of your rebate with the Zeiss Online Rebate Tracker.
$500 rebate on the 65mm and 85mm VICTORY DiaScope (plus free tripod).
$300 rebate on the award-winning VICTORY RF rangefinding binoculars.
$50 rebate on the award-winning VICTORY 8×26 PRF laser rangefinding monocular.
$100 rebate on the NEW Conquest HD 42mm binoculars.
$100 rebate on the NEW Conquest 30mm Duralyt Riflescopes.
$100 rebate on all riflescopes that have any Rapid-Z reticle.
Forum members have asked “what’s the best option in a spotting scope in the $500 to $1000 price range?” We’d certainly have to include Kowa spotting scopes on the “short list” for value-priced, high-performance spotters. And now Kowa spotting scopes are cheaper than ever, thanks to Bullets.com’s Holiday Kowa Promotion. Kowa Spotting scope and binoculars are on sale at Bullets.com for up to 26% off regular list prices.
We actually prefer the PF80-ED (vs. the PF100) for most duties because it is MUCH more compact, and sits more steady on the tripod. While the PF80-ED has been out for a few years, it still compares favorably with spotting scopes that cost twice as much. To do better, you’ll need to spend over $2000.00 for a Kowa, Leica, Nightforce, Swarovski, or Zeiss spotting scope with low-dispersion glass. And, with most of these brands, that two grand will only get you the spotter body — you’ll then need to spend $400-$700 for the eyepiece. We think it’s hard to beat a PF80-ED at this sales price. Even after purchasing the eyepiece your total cost is about $925.00.
Bushnell Outdoor Products has introduced a new compact, roof prism spotting scope. The new Bushnell Elite Tactical 8-40x60mm Lightweight Modular Spotting Scope (LMSS) features a rubber-armored housing, ED Glass, and an optional (extra cost) H32 ranging reticle. A Picatinny rail is supplied that fits to the bottom of the LMSS.
I have been looking for a bag that can securely carry a large spotting scope as well as chronograph hardware, wind meter, and camera gear — all the extra stuff I typically take to the range in addition to the essential cleaning and shooting products that go in my regular range kit. The folks at 
