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Rifle Scopes what spotting scope to see 30 cal holes at 500yds?

Am180man

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 18, 2008
270
15
61
Missouri
Looking for a good scope to see 30 cal holes to 500yds, maybe 600 and 22 cal holes at say 400yds. Does such a beast exist?
Steve
 
Re: what spotting scope to see 30 cal holes at 500yds?

Birchwood Casey shoot n c targets help heaps

cheaper than a spotting scope

if u must have a spotter just realise that magnification above 25 tends to get sloppier and gets worse as you go... better glass tends to be better further but not by a big difference once you push it high.

Shoot N c plus a good spotting scope would deffinately aid you in what you seek.

my 0.02 aud
 
Re: what spotting scope to see 30 cal holes at 500yds?

I can (sort of) make out holes from .308 on paper with my Zeiss spotter.
 
Re: what spotting scope to see 30 cal holes at 500

I have a Celestron Ultima 100 Spotting Scope 100mm 45° Angle w/ 22-66x Zoom (~$325.00), and a Burris 20-60x80mm Landmark Spotting Scope (~$250.00 w tripod/case). The Celestron is HUGE, but the Burris has better clarity. I probably would have been better off spending the same total on a little bit higher end scope.

Having said that, I can see .223 holes on a Shoot-N-C target at 400 yds. But that's really pushing the limit for either of these scopes. I can't comment on whether a higher end scope is any better, or how far .30 holes are visible. But due to heat mirage and other issues, I'm guessing it would be difficult to spot .223 holes much further than 400 yd, without dropping a lot of $$$.

One of the best suggestions I've seen here on another recent thread (thread listed by ORD above) was the use of steel targets instead of paper. I'm looking into it now for myself.
 
Re: what spotting scope to see 30 cal holes at 500yds?

If you get a good scope, the limiting factor will be the air you are looking through. I have had had two Zeiss scopes and sad to say, they are pretty much crap. Poor resilution and the focus ring breaks frequently.
I am looking for a new one now. I checked out USO and they have a nice one, but not getting rave reviews on the glass. Now I am just setting up the Unertl team scope, which is pretty fair. I think Swaroski (sp) is about the top end. I can actually see more through a NF scope or S&B scope than about anything else if over 20 power. I was thinking of making up a unitizer and mounting a pair of S&B 5.5x25 PM 11's. That would do the trick.
 
Re: what spotting scope to see 30 cal holes at 500yds?

On more than one occasion I have been able to distinguish .308 holes at a 700 measured yards, with either a Sightron Series III 8-32x56 or a Nightforce 8-32x56. This was on white paper that we use as backing. I should add that this was in NC with high temps (80-90's) and high humidity.....not the clearest air. Hope this helps.
 
Re: what spotting scope to see 30 cal holes at 500yds?

The Kowa TSN-883 Prominar spotting scope is excellent glass and is one of the highest rated out there...
 
Re: what spotting scope to see 30 cal holes at 500yds?

A 20-60x60 Bushnell SportView will do the job for like $75. I have this scope myself and I can more than easily see .17 holes on a shoot n c at 300.
 
Re: what spotting scope to see 30 cal holes at 500yds?

You are not going to find that perfect spotting scope that will always see the holes. As the day heats up you will have to look through a mirage. So anyway here is a good review.. http://www.6mmbr.com/spotterreview.html
I have the Pentax 80 because when I was in the market the 100mm was not out yet. I like the scope but a friend has the Zeiss and it's pretty nice too. If you ever get to a range ask the shooters if you can try out their scopes..
Here is a quote from the article above...
(That provided an interesting lesson--namely that, to a great degree, the resolving power of all these scopes may be limited by environmental conditions, especially mirage. In other words, the atmosphere, rather than the glass, is the final limiting factor with scopes of this quality.)
 
Re: what spotting scope to see 30 cal holes at 500yds?

good luck
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