How much magnification?

[sp6x6]

Had a 30 W for my kowa really liked it Like my 20x50w on my swaro

 

[Pilsner]

Not who you're replying to but if you have a reticle in your spotter you can use it to manually rangefind objects of known size. Like a rangefinder but a lot more magnification

And if your have a reticle in your s-scope then you as a spotter can communicate corrections to the shooter in the same language
For instance:
You hit 1 mil high and 1.5 mil Left. Or whatever.
Also possible but harder to do: you can do the same thing with the reticle in your rifle scope if it's set up for it.

 

[Pilsner]

My front yard range goes to just shy of 700y of shoot-able space. Sadly it faces due West into the setting sun every evening.
I've found glass quality is way better than more X's.
I've also found that on my Maven spotter, especially when the sun is setting, that finding the spot of best visibility was always about the 2/3 mark on my magnifier. That is to say:
My Maven is 15-45x.
It's clearest and most commonly used setting is right around 35-36x.
On the other hand I'm discussing a sub-$1k spotter so YMMV with better glass.

 

[yobuck]

And if your have a reticle in your s-scope then you as a spotter can communicate corrections to the shooter in the same language
For instance:
You hit 1 mil high and 1.5 mil Left. Or whatever.
Also possible but harder to do: you can do the same thing with the reticle in your rifle scope if it's set up for it.

In theory that works better than in real life situations, especially hunting situations.
I have friends who have tried that with matching the spotters scope with the one on the rifle being used.
Can we say the results werent as expected, and the experiment ended after several attempts.
Remember one very important thing, although conditions dont always cooperate with the shooter, targets always do.
Except when the target is a live animal, and more especially when its at a considerable distance where there is abundant cover such as trees.

 

[VLD Pilot]

I've got a range on my property out to a little over 900 yds….what magnification numbers do y'all recommend for a spotting scope? Thanks

Glass quality means more than magnification. An excellent 12-15x Spotter will put perform a 20-24x lesser quality spotter. Same with scopes. A lower mag spotter would be fine for 900 yards

 

[yobuck]

Glass quality means more than magnification. An excellent 12-15x Spotter will put perform a 20-24x lesser quality spotter. Same with scopes. A lower mag spotter would be fine for 900 yards

That is true, but it dosent answer the question as to how much a good quality optic will cost.
Fact is that the quality of good optics hasent changed very much since WW2.
What has changed, is the quality of the coatings on the lenses as compared to years back.
Consider that untill the latter part of WW2, there were no coatings at all being used on any optics from any country.
Yet if you will take a (clean) pair of quality binoculars from that era, such as Bausch & Lomb for example, you might be very surprised as to the quality of the viewing.
In the 50s and 60s one of the best and most popular binoculars were the Bausch & Lomb Zepher model, which was produced in various sizes. Jack O Conner for example could have used any glasses he wanted, but he used B & L zephers.
Today you can find very nice clean ones on E Bay for about a hundred dollars.
Yet people will spend ten times or more for ones having no better quality.
Same goes for spotting scopes, there has never been a better quality scope made than the B & L balscope, made from the late 50s into the 70s. Again, they can be found in good condition on E Bay for very low cost.
We have several sets of them in a twin setup we use for long range glassing. Back in the day, they were offered in a twin setup as a catalog item .
Same goes for the (older) model Bushnell Spacemasters, very good quality at a very low cost when bought on EBay.
And you can select what ever power eyepiece you like with either of those.
Problem is that over time all things need cleaning.
Proper storage can help considerably, but that dosent help internally. They all need cleaning eventually.

 

[VLD Pilot]

That is true, but it dosent answer the question as to how much a good quality optic will cost.
Fact is that the quality of good optics hasent changed very much since WW2.
What has changed, is the quality of the coatings on the lenses as compared to years back.
Consider that untill the latter part of WW2, there were no coatings at all being used on any optics from any country.
Yet if you will take a (clean) pair of quality binoculars from that era, such as Bausch & Lomb for example, you might be very surprised as to the quality of the viewing.
In the 50s and 60s one of the best and most popular binoculars were the Bausch & Lomb Zepher model, which was produced in various sizes. Jack O Conner for example could have used any glasses he wanted, but he used B & L zephers.
Today you can find very nice clean ones on E Bay for about a hundred dollars.
Yet people will spend ten times or more for ones having no better quality.
Same goes for spotting scopes, there has never been a better quality scope made than the B & L balscope, made from the late 50s into the 70s. Again, they can be found in good condition on E Bay for very low cost.
We have several sets of them in a twin setup we use for long range glassing. Back in the day, they were offered in a twin setup as a catalog item .
Same goes for the (older) model Bushnell Spacemasters, very good quality at a very low cost when bought on EBay.
And you can select what ever power eyepiece you like with either of those.
Problem is that over time all things need cleaning.
Proper storage can help considerably, but that dosent help internally. They all need cleaning eventually.

I guess I didn't recall the OP asking about cost. An excellent 12-14X spotter is more than sufficient for out to 1500 yards. I'm pulling the trigger on an HD Vortex spotter in the lower power range myself. It'll do anything I need it too

 

[yobuck]

I guess I didn't recall the OP asking about cost. An excellent 12-14X spotter is more than sufficient for out to 1500 yards. I'm pulling the trigger on an HD Vortex spotter in the lower power range myself. It'll do anything I need it too

Well it will be sufficient for just general viewing, but you will find that 15 power wont cut it for checking for point count for example at anywhere near those distances.
As for the power level, the scope will come with a variable power eyepiece, as all but Kowa scopes do nowdays.

 

[sp6x6]

I loved my 774 kowa scope I should have kept it, had a 554 also,

 

[FEENIX]

The higher the magnification the better glass needed. At that distance, you may think about 12X binoculars in my opinion. Just a thought.

It also depends on an individual's eyesight. I picked up a target (~10" x 10" rock) at 966Y for my son to shoot at, and he hit it at 5X. I had to crank it to 14X to see and hit the target.

 

[VLD Pilot]

Well it will be sufficient for just general viewing, but you will find that 15 power wont cut it for checking for point count for example at anywhere near those distances.
As for the power level, the scope will come with a variable power eyepiece, as all but Kowa scopes do nowdays.

I'm only siting my experience with excellent optics. I have shot ground hogs at 1000 yards with excellent Optics and the cross hairs have been put in the body dead center with quite a bit of ground hog on both sides of the reticle. This was with a 14x magnification. I've done the same with an inferior optic and couldn't do it. Pretty sure point count would be fairly easy with that optic. I've counted whitetail antler points at 800 yards with my VX5HD 3-15 easily but I was hunting mature deer with larger antlers, not 1-2 year old deer. Cheaper optics I'd agree that the magnification would be more important. The lower power option won't cut it. Don't skimp on optics and 12-14X would be more than adequate on a spotter. I'm not saying a higher power wouldn't be a better choice but that at that range, they'd would work fine. I guess I'm saying magnification isn't the number one qualifier for a spotter or even a rifle optic for hunting

 

[sp6x6]

I have a old gold ring spotter 15-45x60,was less than $600 when I bought .You can find used for this price.I was optically equal to my 554 Iowa that twice the price, which I sold for that reason.Its 12'' long, tons of guides etc use it as size fits the bill. I had old Ziess 10x40 classic bino, and they where very close to my swaro,that again 2x the$$.Its a real good spotter for size and quality, My main ia a Swaro, 25x50wx60M,again about 4x$$

 

[yobuck]

I'm only siting my experience with excellent optics. I have shot ground hogs at 1000 yards with excellent Optics and the cross hairs have been put in the body dead center with quite a bit of ground hog on both sides of the reticle. This was with a 14x magnification. I've done the same with an inferior optic and couldn't do it. Pretty sure point count would be fairly easy with that optic. I've counted whitetail antler points at 800 yards with my VX5HD 3-15 easily but I was hunting mature deer with larger antlers, not 1-2 year old deer. Cheaper optics I'd agree that the magnification would be more important. The lower power option won't cut it. Don't skimp on optics and 12-14X would be more than adequate on a spotter. I'm not saying a higher power wouldn't be a better choice but that at that range, they'd would work fine. I guess I'm saying magnification isn't the number one qualifier for a spotter or even a rifle optic for hunting

Well as Feenix has said, individual eyesite will make a difference.
Non the less, power level choice on a rifle scope is one thing, as that will vary from shooter to shooter.
For me personally, i rarely use more than 10 power when shooting regardless of the distance.
I suppose if i were a target shooter that would change.
For glassing for animals at the longer distances however, i prefer a lower power with my twin spotter setup.
Reason being clarity is better with lower power.
I even had a set of 15 power eyepieces custom made for my twin Kowa spotters.
But thats simply for scanning for game, not counting points as is necessary where i hunt.
Conditions will always dictate how much power can be used, at least as for getting a clear image.
There will be very few days in PA. where you will be using anything more than about 30 power and still have a clear image.
Yes the larger objective optics will have some advantage over those having a smaller objective, but if the conditions are poor even they wont work well.
So its a situation where more power is often needed, but at the same time it cant be used to the degree its needed, at least satisfactorily.

 

[Paulstarr]

I think quality of the glass is more important than magnification. Depending on quality, you may find the useable range is not the entire magnification range of the scope itself.

Had a Vortex Viper 15-45x that was alright, but seemed very fuzzy on the upper end. Stepped up to the Razor line (16x-48) and really noticed a difference, especially at the higher magnification.

I'm with you with regard to glass Quality it's everything when it comes to rifle scopes.Most manufactures of lesser scopes try to hide there glass quality with complex reticules with chevrons and other objects around the outside of the glass, high quality scopes do not, they speak for themselves.