Hensoldt 60 vs. Kowa 88 Prominar - Please Advise

[beb0541]

Gents,

I am torn! I have spoken with several people who say go with Hensoldt and others that have said that the Kowa has more optical horsepower.

I am looking for the best scope available. As Triad puts its, I am looking to buy once and cry once.

Use: shooting out to a mile and want to be able to see impacts on small steel targets

Judging by feedback it sounds like the Kowa with the mil-dot reticle would be the ideal unit (a unicorn), but that is not an option.

Please weigh in here. I would love to hear the pros and cons of both units and which you would go with and why.

I feel the Hensoldt with the reticle would be tremendously helpful in calling out adjustments for the shooter.
On the other hand, if I can not see the target as well (clarity, picture quality, brightness etc...) its going to be a wash.

Cheers,
Clark

 

[Javelin]

Kowa 883 with promar HD glass is a bird watchers dream. But can you live without the mildot? That's a decision you will have to make between these two pieces of glass. An alternative could be the new swaro HD 80mm with digital mil reticle that will be released next year for under $4k; or get the really massive swaro 95mm 30-70x atx modular system ($4.5k retail) that once again no reticle but amazing glass and probably the pinnacle of spotting scopes.

And..... I've heard folks get a simple swaro HD 65 or 80mm non modular scope & add a razor 30x power mil eye piece with some luck & that package isn't so expensive.

 

[beb0541]

Thanks Javelin! Anyone else have some feedback?

 

[Lowlight]

It really depends on the conditions and where you shoot.

More magnification is not always the answer, if you have any kind of mirage you are magnifying that distortion, so in most cases, less is better.

I use the Spotter60 and I have looked through the new Swarovski w/ reticle, the Swarovski is awesome as expected and you can remove (turn off) the reticle to get it out of the way. My Spotter60 has been through hell and back, out in the rain, broken eye cup, cracked front cover, and still out performs many lower costs spotters.

If you want a reticle consider the Vortex Razor HD, it has a reticle and I would consider it over the Kowa, they are really nice. I like it better than most.

Still, the conditions, the size of the steel, etc, all factor in at ELR distances

 

[beb0541]

Lowlight,

I am shooting in South Florida at sea level. Steel ranges in size from 12x16 to 32x24. I know there are a ton of factors at play. That being said I just want to scope that's going to be the most versatile and perform best for my needs (shooting out to a mile and everything in between).

Cheers,
Clark

It really depends on the conditions and where you shoot.

More magnification is not always the answer, if you have any kind of mirage you are magnifying that distortion, so in most cases, less is better.

I use the Spotter60 and I have looked through the new Swarovski w/ reticle, the Swarovski is awesome as expected and you can remove (turn off) the reticle to get it out of the way. My Spotter60 has been through hell and back, out in the rain, broken eye cup, cracked front cover, and still out performs many lower costs spotters.

If you want a reticle consider the Vortex Razor HD, it has a reticle and I would consider it over the Kowa, they are really nice. I like it better than most.

Still, the conditions, the size of the steel, etc, all factor in at ELR distances

 

[Lowlight]

The Spotter60 is certainly more versatile ... and it's clarity has never been called into question

 

[Aqua Mark]

I can give you 1st hand experience with the Kowa, have never looked through the other one you mentioned. I had a Kowa with Flourite Lens, I never should have sold it. The below info is about 10 years old, but I remember the distances.

Example 1, urban area (Las Vegas) I observed the Palms Tower being built at various stages, at approx 1 mile away. With a NF 22x-56mm, I could see the construction workers walking around, the crane loading materials, etc. When I switched over to the Kowa, I could see the worker had stickers, including a USA Flag on his white hard-hat. Pretty good for a mile...

Example 2, Shooting rural (desert) area, BLM land near NV/CA border we were shooting to the west. I looked around a large arc with Kowa to make sure no one was downrange. I saw a guy on a bicycle in this little village in CA, and I described his clothes to the shooter, off-white polo shirt, dark trousers. The shooter had no idea what I was looking at, as he could not see that far. I told shooter the guy was nowhere near the line of fire, he was a good 60 degrees to the south at over a mile. I then described a car he rode past, it had tinted windows and a bondo repair job on one fneder. Needless to say, the Kowa did the job again.

I sold it cause it didn't have a reticle. I want another one....

PS If you need more accurate measurements, I can get the GPS coords and do a real yardage calc.

 

[Tburkes]

I have no experience with the Swaro scope but I've had my Spotter 60 for about four years and love it every time I look through it. I've had it blow over and land on a wood deck from a full size tripod and it had no ill effects. I place a lot of importance on having the reticle in my 60 and personally would not want to depend on only an electric reticle.

My Spotter 60 has been some of the best money I've ever spent.

 

[smoothy8500]

I have the TSN-663 Prominar with the 27x Long Eye Relief. The 20-60 zoom is great, but mirage and atmosphere affect the higher magnification. The 27 LER allows me to see thru the eyepiece without having to put my eye all the way up to the lens. Works great for me NRA 600yd MidRange and 1,000yd Long Range matches. The Prominar XD Fluorite lens treatment is more for color correction with digiscoping and birdwatching. It not really needed, but nice.

 

[vivo]

Anyone who has looked through a Spotter 60 knows that the glass is second to none and once you have a spotter with a reticle in it you will never be without one again, IMO. It is a tough thing to be without once you've had one.