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Well, I got the konus 20-60x 80mm spotting scope on order.

elfster1234

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
  • Jun 3, 2012
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    I would really like to have the target-cam set up and still might get it, but for now @ 300yards I figured I would start with the konus 20-60x 80mm. I just don't see the target-cam being all that "public range" friendly. It wouldn't be a problem if I had my own land to shoot on with about 500yards, but that is not an option for me living in the city (unless anyone here on SH in the north / west Wisconsin area is cool with me shooting on their farm land!! LOL)..... I do not have a spotting scope and I've been reading loads of good reviews on the konus spotting scopes so I said F#$K it, and got it on order last night. The more and more I get into reloading I've come to the conclusion that my 16x scope with shoot-n-see targets will only go so far. I'm still amazed that my vortex 4-16x50 can see .224 bullet holes on regular white paper @ 100yards. My public range goes out to 300yards so we will see how well this spotting scope does with .224 and .308 bullet holes. I got a gut feeling I will still need shoot-n-see targets @ 300yards & .224 bullet holes, but I'll let you all know in a couple weeks once I get the scope and can test it out. Still learning as I go here peps.

    http://www.midwayusa.com/product/46...pod-photo-adapter-and-soft-case-armored-green

    Midway actually has the konus 20-60x 80mm with cheap ass tripod and bag for $209 with free shipping. Figured the tripod would at least get me going. My next investment will need to be a nice tripod... Anyone have any recommendations for a tripod with a spotting scope of this size?

    Anyone in the Wisconsin north / west area that knows of a place to shoot @ 600yards plus send me a PM!
     
    ohhh wow! just got my konus 20-60x80mm spotting scope today

    LINK: ( Konus Spotting Scope 20-60x 80mm Tripod Photo Adapter Soft Case )

    and the glass is soooooo nice and clear all the way thru to 60x mag. Im amazed this scope is only $210 and comes with a tripod and bag. Glass doesn't dim down at 60x like other brands I've tested @ stores and the focus at 60x is crystal clear (atleast what I've tested it on in my front yard today and it was even overcast with clouds).... I haven't had a chance to take it out to the range yet other than looking thru the glass in the front yard. So far, I'm really happy with it especially for $210 dollars. The tripod is kinda cheap, but I think it should work for what I need it for. The bag that the scope and tripod come in is NOT padded, but I don't see this being a big deal (you pretty much get the tripod / bag for free)... The scope does comes with caps and are just OK. I do not use glasses, but I do have contacts and eye relief is pretty good all the way up to 60x. I'll try the tripod out for now and might upgrade later. Itching to take this to the 300yard range and see if I can see .223 holes. I was looking at a round hole corrugated metal stop sign post about 300yards away from my house that has about ~.308 holes in the metal and could clearly see them. So far, it is looking really good. I'll keep you all updated on .224 @ 300yards in about a week or so. With the little amount that I tested today, the 80mm doesn't appear to suffer any color fringing at max power. Purchase from midwayusa on Monday and was on doorstep Friday / today. The 80mm is damn clear and so far I'm glad I got the smaller 80mm / more compact / less$$ model. Ive also read on serveral forum posts that the 100mm model suffers from a small amount chromatic abberration (color fringing) at max power and to go with the cheaper / smaller / more light weight 80mm model. You would think the 100mm would have a better picture... Maybe at lower light conditions? Not sure. The 80mm actually has a wider field of view than the 100mm at max power. The 100mm is waterproof tho! Even the guy in this video talks about this color fringing at max power with the 100mm model (maybe a design flaw with the 100mm model?).....


    I'll keep you all updated once I can use the konus 80mm spotting scope @ the range!


    100mm model:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVupGY58q4M


    80mm review:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0D3NffB_jw
     
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    Hey elf,

    Checkout a Manfrotto tripod for your spotter. They are heavy and expensive but the sturdiest tripods I've found.

    Unlikely that the 200 dollar scope will find a home on top of the 3-400 dollar tripod... :)
     
    Ive had one for about 3 years now. Bought it used from a generous SH member who had since moved on to bigger and better scopes. All in all I feel it is a great scope for the money. I dont use it to shoot paper that much, just to either view hit marks on steel or to spot trace past 300yds. The most fun thing about it is seeing trace, especially when I get to show it to a new shooter. Its addictive.
     
    Hey Elf, looks like a very good scope - especially for $210. Heck, I might just order one myself. Could use it out when we do some our testing of our TargetCam product etc.

    Our product works well but if your main goal is to see shots out to 300 yards then hopefully that scope will git er done. I always tell people looking at out Target Cam that it starts to make sense at about 300 yards or more.

    keep in touch and let me know how it goes.
     
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    Ive had one for about 3 years now. Bought it used from a generous SH member who had since moved on to bigger and better scopes. All in all I feel it is a great scope for the money. I dont use it to shoot paper that much, just to either view hit marks on steel or to spot trace past 300yds. The most fun thing about it is seeing trace, especially when I get to show it to a new shooter. Its addictive.



    How far out can you spot the trace through this spotter? I am needing a better spotter than we have but I would like to see trace out to 800 yards which is what have maximum access to. Thanks...
     
    Elf... check out optics planet... they have a heavy duty tripod, with a pistol grip already installed. I thnk that mine ran for about 215 minus the shipping and handeling
     
    gunrunner, I actually checked this tripod out at a local big box store and it was friggen awesome!! is this the tripod you're talking about?

    Amazon.com: Vanguard Alta Pro 263AGH Aluminum Tripod with GH-100 Pistol Grip Ball Head: Camera & Photo

    because if it is, then you're totally right..... this tripod is amazing! only thing it costs about $200 but I think it would be totally worth it. I can actually getting cheaper at my local store than on line for a change.

    I see they have a vanguard alta pro, and a vanguard alta plus.... they look same, I wonder what the diff is.


    Elf... check out optics planet... they have a heavy duty tripod, with a pistol grip already installed. I thnk that mine ran for about 215 minus the shipping and handeling
     
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    I was a nice day out so I figured I would get out and test this new spotting scope. It is a nice sunny day with the sun to my back @ 5:10pm central time to give you an idea. I didn't have time to run to the range, but I had an old target with .224 bullet holes on regular white paper and ran it out 300yards from my house. To my amazement I could make out the .224 bullet holes that were in the white, but not on the black magic marker target dot. Don't get me wrong tho, any further distance and there is no way you would make out the .224 bullet holes past 300yards IMO unless they are on shoot-n-see targets. The focus had to be just right to make out the .224 bullet holes @ 300yards with regular white paper with the tripod ultra still / no movement. The .224 group cluster did stand out tho @ 300yards and I could make it out no problem on regular white paper. Make note that this is around 40degrees with no heat mirage. I still have some more testing to do on the actual range once I get more time and some of this snow around here melts, but so far so good. I'm almost sure .308 holes @ 300yards would not be a problem at all on regular white paper (i'll keep you updated once I know for sure on the rifle range with my LMT)..... I'm also rather sure shoot-n-see targets with .224 bullet holes would also not be a problem @ 300yards with this konus spotting scope. I got to give this $200 scope some real credit. The glass is soooo clear and I'm really happy with the purchase. As for the tripod, it is just OK and will need to be something I upgrade down the road but for now i think it will work for what I need to do. For sure, you can't have the scope shaking at all @ 300yards plus as you will not see any bullet holes. I'll keep you all updated when I go to the range next week and I'll have more information at that time.

    As for my .223 rifle practice @ 300yards plus, I know the $1store in town sells huge 2'x3' black / other colored cardboard paper for $1 each obviously (should be able to get 6 stick on targets per 2'x3' cardboard pc),,, and I'm going to test making my own shoot-n-see 2'x3' targets by lightly spray painting the black 2'x3' cardboard with ultra fast dry time WHITE primer & stick six 2" to 3" shoot-n-see cheaper target dots (pack of about 60 for $6 bucks) for 300yard shooting. I'm sure the $2.50 can of white fast dry primer will last a long time. I'll keep you all updated.
     
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    I also own this same Konus, and find it compeltely functional to 300 yards, for both .308 and .264 holes. Having owned a Kowa, I'd say this Konus is nearly as good, for 1/3 the price.

    Nothing overcomes mirage.



    Recommended.
     
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    garandman, thanks for turning me onto this konus 80mm spotting scope! so far it is easy worth the $200 and the glass if friggen amazing!!!.... Especially when it comes with a tripod and bag to get me going until I can afford a better tripod. I think this tripod will work for some time tho. It is not the best tripod on the world, but for what I need it to do it is fine. Thanks again brother!


    I also own this same Konus, and find it compeltely functional to 300 yards, for both .308 and .264 holes. Having owned a Kowa, I'd say this Konus is nearly as good, for 1/3 the price.

    Nothing overcomes mirage.



    Recommended.
     
    garandman, thanks for turning me onto this konus 80mm spotting scope! so far it is easy worth the $200 and the glass if friggen amazing!!!.... Especially when it comes with a tripod and bag to get me going until I can afford a better tripod. I think this tripod will work for some time tho. It is not the best tripod on the world, but for what I need it to do it is fine. Thanks again brother!

    Glad you are liking it. Its always scary when you make a recommendation. Never know what people are accustomed to. But I think this Konus is one of the best deals in glass today...and I'm a glass snob. :)
     
    I had the opportunity to spot for a shooter thru one of these this weekend. I was impressed that a scope of this price range could be so clear. I was able to clearly spot 308 holes on white background at 600 yards. It was on a el-cheapo tripod and the concussion of 308 was making it shake. That part sucked. A poor tripod can make the best spotters do a bad job.
     
    I too like my Konus, but I had an eyepiece lens problem with it. I think the glue delaminated. I managed to shake the lens a couple times and it fell back into place but that's sub-optimal, you know?
     
    I got a $60 low profile (benchtop type) camera tripod from a local camera store. You DEF need to get a quality tripod for any spotter.
     
    NICE! I just got back from the 300yard range today and my new konus 20-60x80 spotting scope had absolutely no problems what so ever seeing .224 bullet holes @ 300yards. I could see every single hit on plain old white paper. BTW, .308 was a walk in the park for this scope @ 300yards. This was even with crappy weather conditions 100% overcast. To my amazement I was getting a lot of mirage coming off the melting snow with temps around ~40degrees.

    Thanks for putting me in the right direction with this scope garandman. It 100% meets my needs for my local 300yard range.

    BTW everyone, this is what I did. I purchased 2'x3' white paper from the dollar store for .50cent each. They also sell 2'x3' foam core BLACK colored cardboard (about 1/4" thick) for $1 each. I used the black colored foam core cardboard as the backer, and stapled the white paper over that. Then sticked 6 total 3" shoot-n-see targets to the white paper. Worked like a dream! Also, the 3" worked better than 2" shoot-n-see for shooting at 300yards FYI. The black foamcore cardboard can be re-used as a backer no problem.

    I might even just use a black magic marker and make a square 3" target myself with fine line crosshairs in the middle of the 3" square and not even use the shoot-n-see targets as they are really not needed with this spotting scope @ 300yards. So far, shoot-n-see is not needed on using my method above on regular white paper.


    I found that making your own 3" square target @ 300yards works best for me. Making the lines of the square target about 1/2" thick with a 1/4" line crosshair in the middle. No point in wasting money on shoot-n-see targets.
     
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    BTW everyone, this is what I did. I purchased 2'x3' white paper from the dollar store for .50cent each. They also sell 2'x3' foam core BLACK colored cardboard (about 1/4" thick) for $1 each. I used the black colored foam core cardboard as the backer, and stapled the white paper over that. Then sticked 6 total 3" shoot-n-see targets to the white paper. Worked like a dream! Also, the 3" worked better than 2" shoot-n-see for shooting at 300yards FYI. The black foamcore cardboard can be re-used as a backer no problem.
    That's such a neat idea. Gonna have to try that! Hope you're well, Elfster!
     
    once again, I took my konus to the 300yard range and was able to see every single .224 bullet hole @ 300yards all on white paper no problem..... was about 80ish today with some mirage. so far, i'm really happy with the purchase.
     
    so any updated news?
    how about 308 rounds up to say 600-800+ range?
     
    nothing yet at 600plus.... 308 @ 300yards is a walk in the park for this scope.... my best guess would be around 400 to 500 for .308

    my best guess would be about 350yards max for .223 on white paper


    so any updated news?
    how about 308 rounds up to say 600-800+ range?