Spotters Binoculars or spotter

[CK1.0]

Congratulations on beneficial soil morphology?

I don't know what you think we are up to here? I'm not trying to get into a pissing contest, and wasn't bragging, I just shoot out to a 1000 regularly and don't have issues with self-spotting or picking up splash/impacts at that distance. It's the same for most of the shooters who are really into this that I know, no big deal. It might be easier for me because my club has berms/backstops, and so far, so do the ranges I've shot at that go that far near me, if I was in the middle of a desert it might be different, but I don't think more magnification would necessarily make things any better in that situation either.

 

[CK1.0]

I really like this thread. Lot's of good advice here and a few things that really should be explained in detail.

I think I am going to do my next livecast on these:

-binoculars for shooters,
-binocular magnification,
-binoculars vs spotters,
-why you can use a riflescope as a spotter in a pinch, but it is not ideal.

I am down with some crazy virus again, so my throat hurts as hell. When it is better, this will be the next discussion topic.

In a nutshell:

-for observation, two eyes are much better than one.
-for observation, you do not want too much air between your eye and the eyepiece
-we are shooters, not birders, a reticle is a useful thing to have in a binocular
-just about any binocular, 8x or above, will work much better when mounted on a tripod. It works fine handheld, but you will see better off of a tripod.
-if you are looking for 15x on a budget and you predominantly plan to use it on a tripod, Steiner HX 15x56 and Vortex Kaibab 18x56 should be on your list. Meopta 15x56 and Razor UHD 18x56 are better, but that's a serious step up in price. I wish any of these came with reticles.

ILya

Great points ...sounds like a pair of relatively high power binos, with a usable reticle, on a tripod, would be the shit.

Until about two minutes ago I didn't know binos with reticles were even a thing... now I want a pair hahaha.

 

[koshkin]

Great points ...sounds like a pair of relatively high power binos, with a usable reticle, on a tripod, would be the shit.

Until about two minutes ago I didn't know binos with reticles were even a thing... now I want a pair hahaha.

Unfortunately, they are not a thing. There are a few out there, but not too many. I have been trying to convince a few manufacturers to add them to the line-up.

ILya

 

[CK1.0]

Unfortunately, they are not a thing. There are a few out there, but not too many. I have been trying to convince a few manufacturers to add them to the line-up.

ILya

Ummm yeah, I'm finding that out the hard way while I search for them online... not much around, and a reticle at 10x isn't a whole lot of help realistically, not really enough magnification to give one the ability to measure within ~5mils or so around the center of a .6mil/2moa target at 500 yards (which is ideally what I'd like to be able to do).

Now, I've started going down the weird monocular and "tactical spotter" rabbit hole, seeing a couple things here and there from Vortex and Bushnell that might be worth a try maybe.

Please keep trying to convince them, it's a solid idea, 15-18x binos with a simple mil x-mas tree reticle with hashes at .2mil or at least .2.5mil would be the new hotness and take off in the PRS/NRL scene quickly I'd imagine...

 

[Crews]

Having two eyes trumps the lack of reticle. You can always get the shooter to measure target height/width with reticle and call observations based on that. ( missed on left side by 1/4 target width, etc)

 

[Crews]

would be the new hotness and take off in the PRS/NRL scene quickly I'd imagine...

A grand total of about 2.3% of the overall market I’m sure…

 

[CK1.0]

Having two eyes trumps the lack of reticle. You can always get the shooter to measure target height/width with reticle and call observations based on that. ( missed on left side by 1/4 target width, etc)

Yeah sorta, but I'm talking for competition so no one should really be calling anything other than "impact" unless they're coaching up someone new to it...

Spotting with 2 eyes and no reticle is how we've all been doing it, just think a reticle would be quite valuable and better. Might also make it a little more unfair to the first shooter up, but in a way, it's always like that, if the conditions are challenging, shooting first can suck sometimes.

 

[CK1.0]

A grand total of about 2.3% of the overall market I’m sure…

It wasn't too long ago that guys were saying that about ARCA rails on rifles and red dots on pistols.

 

[Kaveman44]

Went ahead and bought once and will cry once, Got a pair of Swarovski SLC 15x56, so excited!!

I know I said $750 but , sh!t happens lol

 

[CK1.0]

Went ahead and bought one and will cry once, Got a pair of Swarovski SLC 15x56, so excited!!

I know I said $750 but , sh!t happens lol

Sometimes "buy it to try it" is the only way. Funny thing is, like a lot of things in this sport, now you'll know what "the best out there" looks like and if you ever decide to sell them you'll lose less on them than with a pair of Diamondbacks or whatever...

 

[Blue72]

Nice to see the trend of people embracing bino's over scopes. I remember this was sacrilege not so long ago

Now people are not only realizing that bino's are better tools, but realizing lower magnification is all they need

 

[b6graham]

Reticle on binos would benefit smart western big game hunters in a lot of scenarios. Especially if they had a built in LRF at 12-15x

 

[Defender32]

I do use a tripod for NRL22, NRLX & PRS Rimfire matches with Burris Signature 12X. I can spot hits out to 400 on plates easy enough and can get some misses depending on the conditions. I do not feel under glassed and have thought about upgrading to a set with range finder built in just to simplify my tripod plate.

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