long range spotting scope

[flatshooter]

I need a longrange spotting scope for 300 yards.... I'm getting tired of walking back and forth, ya know? :-\

Where and how much without giving the wife a nervous breakdown.

[flatshooter]

Barska 25-125x88 WP Benchmark Straight Spotting Scope

anyone use this one?

[2guard]

keep an eye on ebay, Ive seen a lot of nice sightron spotters go cheap, both SI and SII. I saw an SII 20-50x63 go for $134 about 2 weeks ago. I bought a Eagle Optics raven spotting scope this summer off ebay for $100 shipped (which was a very good deal, as this scope was around $400 new). I bought it mainly because I was told the eyepiece is interchangeable with the kowa ones for their 66/60mm scopes. There have also been good deals on the Nikon sky&earth, some of the minox scopes, and the brunton ed glass. You should be able to find some good glass for under $200, and probably under $150, but if you go out past 300-400 you'll probably want better glass. I'm limited to 400 around here so I saw no need to spend $500 plus for my use (and I think I got a pretty good deal, I really like my Raven, and the price was lower than I thought it would sell for).


oh, and get a good tripod. the ones that usually come in the packages are not very good. Manfotto makes a very nice compact/tabletop model that is great for bench and prone work.

[bpratl]

Barska 25-125x88 WP Benchmark Straight Spotting Scope
anyone use this one?

I do have one. It's good for the price but it is a little blurry when set greater than 75X and I don't like the large front focus ring because, at higher X's and stiff focus, you can easily loose the target. I thought with a 88 mm lens it would have a larger field of view.