JackHughs wrote on Feb 19^th, 2014 at 3:21pm:


Jack I will look forward to your camera description . I have tried using a Very good B&L  36X Benchrest scope on a solid mount I made at our Tool & Die shop as a spotting scope, and it wasnt good at all It aways seemed to be quivering a bit .   looking thru the same scope on a rifle in the bags was MUCH better , but a hassle to keep switching guns in the bags

My biggest criteria and expectations are seeing the holes in the black @ 300 M, especially smaller cal holes in bad visibility conditions. I usually have to concentrate my groups in practice sessions in the white corners of the target outside the large black Bull I need to align Circle aperture sights ,even with a  good spotting scope,  visibility is only possible in the white

I have found an angled Kowa spotting scope on the net but the guy doesn't know what power it is,
He says its got 60 mm on the front lens and TS-1 and TS2 on the rear.
Hasn't any lens caps to go with it.
Do they normally have caps?
Anybody got any idea what the power would be ? 
I am interested in buying it as most people seem to recommend these scopes here.
I have tried several spotting scopes over the years including a Swarovski for spotting 22 calibre holes at two hundred metres but have trouble seeing the hits when in the black. Never tried a Kowa.
I now have a 60 mm 22 power Greencat which I bought for fifty dollars and with a 22 power eyepiece is as good as any I have tried.
I have two other higher power eye pieces for it which I managed to later buy thinking it would help and although they  will magnify the target more, the clarity is nor there.
Regards.

I agree with what Dave says.  Bigger lens is better.  Seeing small caliber holes at 300m in all conditions is a tall order.  I use a scope with an 80mm objective and there have been times in very high mirage where I couldn't make out .45 cal holes in the black at 200m.  Normally it's not a problem and .22lr is workable at that distance when the light is good.

Chris.

jack;  you are the best.  art

Nero wrote on Feb 19^th, 2014 at 9:35pm:

Shoot high power with someone who recently purchased a used Kowa TSN-1. It wasn't very good, but it is an old model (20yr?), so no great surprise. He sent it back to Kowa and for $93 plus shipping they cleaned and collimated it and it is now working up-to-snuff. But, being 20yr old technology he ended up with an old scope for the price of new and it is not as clear/sharp as the Celestron. As for lens caps, probably lost along the way. Call Kowa. They may still sell them. There is no magic bullet in "seeing". Just like looking at the heavens, bigger is better (that is lens diameter and not magnification), but when conditions are bad a $3K scope won't see through it.

Thoughts on spotting scopes --  Depends on what  you are doing, of course.  For Silhouettes, you need a pretty good glass because you are looking for bullet impacts, both on the steel and in the dirt.   For looking at bullet holes, resolution is the thing.  Two ways to get at that -- really good smaller optics or really BIG objective lenses.   
 
When you want to go further than 200 yd, you run into the problem of atmospheric clarity.  Under many conditions, NO telescope will see the bullet holes.   If the "seeing" is good, 25X or so will show them up.  Variable eyepieces generally involve optical compromises, so don't often give much better resolution, but if your eyes are not all that great, going up to 45x-60x will give you a bigger picture to look at.
I have had recently to resort to that.

CHRIS
RGChristensen