spotting scopes

Timid Toad

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what spotting scope do most of you use? I'm reaching the point where I can't afford to waste 6 shots at every distance checking my sight marks. Everyone else seems to have one, and I'm wondering what is good and rubbish, and what do I need to spend?
The techie bit is a bit daunting, with eyepieces for some more expensive scopes costing as much as the scope, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I'm not a bird watcher, so don't need it for any other purpose, and I don't want to look at every arrow I shoot, like some folk seem to. But my eyesight isn't great, and I want something with good brightness ("Sunny" Scotland!) in all conditions, preferably waterproof or with very good protection. I mostly shoot Ladies Fita outdoor, but do do Herefords and am planning to try a Clout later this year. I'm also ditzy and clumsy, so idiotproof built in would be great!

thanks

Cherry
 

geoffretired

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This has been on the forum before, perhaps this will help.
http://www.archery-interchange.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2917&highlight=spotting+scopes
If you will be spotting your arrows when shooting alone, then the quality is not too important. If you want to find your arrows in a target with four archers sharing, then the quality is very important. As for clout, it would cost a fortune and requires binoculars to find long and short arrows(in a scope they appear to be side by side but rarely is that the case)
 

Meddler

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Timid Toad said:
and I'm wondering what is good and rubbish, and what do I need to spend?
The techie bit is a bit daunting, with eyepieces for some more expensive scopes costing as much as the scope, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I mostly shoot Ladies Fita outdoor, but do do Herefords and am planning to try a Clout later this year. I'm also ditzy and clumsy, so idiotproof built in would be great!

thanks

Cherry
Cherry,

Speak to Lana Needham - she had a source of Russian made scopes which were reasionably priced.

Iain
 

pelican

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I use one of the Russian scopes that Lana sells. I bought it two years ago, it's a good scope. It doesn't have an angled eyepiece, so you have to bend round a bit to see through it, took a bit of getting used to, but is just natural now.

It cost me ?55 then, don't know how much they are now, but good value for money. The magnification varies up to 32x50 but I tend to leave it at 26, enough to see the target clearly at 70m.

Cherry, will you be at the Scottish Champs next weekend? If you are, I'll be there, can't miss me, small in stature, big in mouth!!! you could have a good look at mine.

Liz:cheerful:
 

Harlequin-LA

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I've just bought a Seben 20-60 x 60 scope...more than sufficent for my needs--- and a great improvement on my 20-50x50 previous model. The reason for my post though is to pass on something discovered by accident. I looked at Seben's english site and found this scope at about ?80. I paged through ebay's other items and found the self same product on a spanish advert for Eur 57 -about ?36 I think. I bid and won.... same Seben product, good service, and delivery via DHL in 4 days from Berlin. Well worth a look ...unless it's too late of course. It comes rubber coated, with good protection all around, a carrycase, a table top tripod...fairly bomb proof and not too much of a worry if something should happen to it!
 

Big Boy Blue

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I use a 20-60 90mm scope which I got on e-bay for ?75. Optically its not going to set the world on fire but it does do what I need it to do. Having the large aperture also helps when the light starts to fail.
 

Timid Toad

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Liz, thanks for that, I will be at the Scottish Champs next weekend, so I'll find you. (I think we shot together at Ayr in May - I was the enormous twit making all the difficult adding up!)
Failing that, it looks like ebay is a good place to start. Thanks everyone for the help.
Cherry
 

sky_high30

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I got mine second hand from Aardvark - ?50 including a tripod. Not sure of the magnification but I can just about work out my fall of shot at 90m and when focussed right it's crystal clear. It's some sort of BSM thing.
 

wingate_52

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I use a 20 - 60 x 60 scope with an angled eyepiece off ebay. Essential kit. But get a decent tripod and peg it into the groud via a bungee cord for extra stability. I have made a cover from a goretex sleeve to further waterproof it.
 

Swaledale

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I second Pyroarch57.
I had an Opticron HR 66 with angled finder. They aint' cheap but a good gas filled, waterproof scope is a tool for life. You get what you pay for mostly but you could buy a leica at twice the price and you won't get twice the scope. They are bright, very bright, if you are shooting at the end of the day and the light is dropping it is amazing how it seams to be lighter through the scope than it actually is. Don't go mental with the magnification (28 is fine, don't get a zoom though, it spoils the light gathering advantage)they are bullit sharp and you can pick out your own arrows very well while maintaining a fairly wide field of view. This is great when you go up to the line because the last thing you want to be doing is waisting time hunting for your target!
Opticron don't make bad products but try to go for a unit of higher spec than the mighty midget. I shoot field now and have opticron field glasses, half the price of Svarovsky or Leica and very nearly as good!.
The comments about the pod are equally true, a cheap shakey or unstable pod kills any benifit your scope may have and puts it at risk! you are looking at something in the ?100+ region (hey that isn't a lot for a pod really!)
This lot will serve a life time which is more than your bow will!
 
P

pyroarch57

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If you don`t have pots of money the Opticron IS60 is a pretty good scope, i had one for a couple of years, but at 100 yds i was finding it a little difficult spotting my fletchings amongst all the other arrows. I now have the HR80 GA ED and it`s "the nuts" chrystal clear clarity.:veryhappy
 

Swaledale

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Timid toad there you go pyroarch57 has finally come clean! that scope is the cats jim jams!!!
I couldn't sugest any better!
Take your time and look for one on the next shooting line and have a look.
Good luck!
 

Murray

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Hi Cherry - sorry I missed this post or I would have had a chat with you at the champs about scopes... I don't particularly like the scopes Lana sells - the optics, geometry and eye relief are poor for archery IMO, but you can't argue with the price!

For a good sturdy scope, I like these:
http://www.quicksarchery.co.uk/superbasket/product.php?product=1174 (you can get them cheaper) - good optics, good eye relief, good geometry. Only downside is they're not waterproof, but put on a cover and take a little care with it and it's absolutely no problem. Hazel also uses one and loves it.

Well done on your medal by the way!

Murray (Your target companion at the Glasgow American!)

Pyroarch - HR80 GA ED - IMO anyone who spends > ?600 for a scope for archery is nuts anyway :)
 

Timid Toad

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Thanks for the advice, everyone.

Optics is a complicated science, and I'm understanding more and how it can be applied to archery specifically.

While I'm still shooting a second hand bow and cheap arrows at my standard, its hard to justify spending a fiver on a scope, let alone ?600. Around the ?100 - ?150, and it'll have to wait until Birthday/Christmas time.

Its great learning this way. I had a terrific time at yesterday's shoot (apart from letting myself down, again, in competition, I can do much better than that! Thanks, anyway, Murray), chatting with everyone and checking out what they use. You get so much information at these things and its a great way to see how other people have tackled similar problems. I now have a "to do" list of research and shopping! Please pass my thanks to Hazel, who was particularly helpful yesterday.


Cherry
 

bluebow

New member
Swaledale said:
I second Pyroarch57.
I had an Opticron HR 66 with angled finder. They aint' cheap but a good gas filled, waterproof scope is a tool for life. You get what you pay for mostly but you could buy a leica at twice the price and you won't get twice the scope.
Opticron don't make bad products but try to go for a unit of higher spec than the mighty midget. I shoot field now and have opticron field glasses, half the price of Svarovsky or Leica and very nearly as good!.
The comments about the pod are equally true, a cheap shakey or unstable pod kills any benifit your scope may have and puts it at risk! you are looking at something in the ?100+ region (hey that isn't a lot for a pod really!)
This lot will serve a life time which is more than your bow will!
Have to agree Swaledale, your Opticron HR66 was very good.
Might be worth checking out new scopes just announced by Nikon:
http://www.ephotozine.com/news/fullnews.cfm?NewsID=3190
I have the earlier RAII 60mm version of these and find it very good. The new versions have improved waterproofing and seem competitively priced.

It's the law of diminishing returns. Once you get to a certain quality, you don't get twice the scope or binoculars for spending twice the money. I could never justify buying a leica scope just for archery, but I did buy a pair of Leica 8x42 Trinovids binos a couple of years ago, since I knew I would make wider use of them. Looked at cheaper ones, but always knew I would aspire to the Leicas and was fortunate to find a second hand pair (~1 year old) for 2/3 of the new cost. I do feel they are worth the investment. Do check out the s/h market and you might pick up a bargain. Plus companies like Leica will honour the (30 year) warranty.

As Swaledale says, don't skimp on a tripod. I use a Manfrotto 190 series. It's a good compromise between weight and stability - remembering it can get tiring carrying a scope repeated on and off the line. You can pick up a 190 series with a good head for ~?110. Might seem a lot, but do remember you could be placing a ?300+ scope at risk on anything less stable.
 

Timid Toad

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I had a jolly good time having a look at what other people are using at the Scottish Champs a couple of weeks ago...and came home to a nice surprise...a backdated pay rise! So off to Amazon - very cheap and free P+P, and I've bought myself a prezzie! I'll try it out on Sunday at my very first Hereford. Nothing like making yourself an idiot in public!
 
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