Hi, I'm looking to purchase a spotting scope for HP silhouette and I am trying to determine what objective I need. Is a 65mm objective enough. Would bumping up to 80mm make a huge difference? Any info will be greatly appreciated!

If your buying for your use let your wallet then eyes make the decision. Kowa 88's with long eye relief are best in my experience, But my wallet requires a Bushnell 18-36 x 60, Which serves me very well. Harbor Frieght sell a inexpensive 20-60 x 60 that works very well on 20 power. I use their 8x binoculars for cowboy rifles silhouette sucessfully. Steve

I'm hurt..... Emiet......really hurt! You found my $20, 30 year old, Bushnell 25X that I bought in 1989 from a fellow Washington National Guardsman somehow....inadequate..... for your purposes? I am consumed with despair......... btw, you are aware, right, that you won last weekend's match using it?

Erich,

Get a KIWA TSN-82 SV with a 25X LER eyepiece. Totals about $1000 but you'll be glad you have it. Use that cash you just got for your 54.18 MS

Dustin

Mel - It was more than adequate haha.... as you stated, it go the job done. Just remember if I get a new spotting scope, you pretty much do to

Thanks for the advice Dustin, I will check those out. I think I saw a few of those at the last match I was at. I'll see if I can take a peek through one.

Emietenkorte wrote:Mel - It was more than adequate haha.... as you stated, it go the job done. Just remember if I get a new spotting scope, you pretty much do to

Damn.... never thought of that...... get on it!

Lens quality is much more important than power. A 20 to 30 x is plenty of power. If the Kowa 82 costs too much, they make one that is smaller and has great quality. Sometimes I think my 27x eye piece is a little much. I can't see the entire bank without moving the scope.

G'day folks
My suggestion would be to buy the best you can get your hands on. Quality optics are just that. It is a piece of equipment that if looked after will last a lifetime, while some cheap ones look O.K when new, a few years down the track you will regret not spending the extra cash. The big Kowas seem to predominate the line at BPCR matches where the spotter is crucial. Swarovski and Zeiss ( not their economy models ) are also top end players. A lot of $$$ I know but you only have to spend it once. I wish I had. My $500 Leupold is a piece of junk in comparison.

I use a vortex and I think its a 20-45 x 60. Last sat at our match it was overcast but I could still see the bullets coming into the target at the rams and clearly see the hits (and misses). I think it was a $400-$600 scope. The only downside I see is the eye relief is not great, to see it the best I take off my glasses and just about stick my eyeball to it. I think I might get the 80mm version if I was buying a new one now, but I don't think I'd get a $1500 scope. This one has lifetime warranty and pretty good glass.

One semi mistake I made was getting the vortex tripod to go with it. The head is not great and I'm probably going to upgrade it to a manfrotto. The tripod is light so I'm also probably going to have to get a weight to attach to the underside (there is a hook).

But this setup works.

Go with a konus80mm 80mm, price around 300 and best at 20-24 power.

Excellent entry level scope at 1/3 the price of a KOWA (I own two but Konus80mm is a great buy.