MONTHS ago I posted a question concerning spotting scopes on several forums. The replies were few and far between. My thoughts that most of you do not have a spotting scope. It is pathetic to admit but I have done without a spotting scope for YEARS, always taking a rifle with a 6-24 varmint/target scope to do my spotting. Or WORSE, WALKING the 100-200 yards to see where I'm hitting! Well enough is enough. My INTENTION was to buy one scope and be done with it. I ended up buying THREE and decided to do a little informal comparison. The scopes are a Leupold Wind River 15-45X60 LEU53546, a Baush and Lomb Elite 15-45X60 62-1548P, and a Swarovski STS-80/20-60 eyepiece. That's a pretty broad segment of the marketplace. To test I used targets with .177, .22, and .25 bullet holes, targets groups with a 6PPC, and a Snellen eye chart.
First, these are ALL great scopes! ANY of the three would do what I need a scope to do which is mainly looking at bullet holes. Comparions began in good light(2PM). At 200yds with the scopes set on 20X I could easily see the .177 holes and read to line 7 on the Snellen chart. When turned up to 40X I could read line 9 with the Wind River and B&L and lines 10 and some 11 with the Swarovski. Backing off to 300yds I could STILL see the .177 holes and easily count them with all three scopes set on 40X. I could read line 8 on the Snellen chart with the Wind River and B&L and line 9 with the Swarovski. Folks, this is a MINUTE difference. Only after 7PM did the .177 holes turn into a blury mess using the Wind River and B&L. I could still PLAINLY see the .177 holes with the Swarovski at that time. Only then did the MUCH more expensive Swarovski show a worthwhile improvement.
The B&L MAIN problem was focusing. The adjustment is a little too course and the adjustment is the eyepiece and that's the most leverage against the scope/tripod. So, while focusing ,the image is constantly moving. This does not make for easy focusing. Initially, I believed the Wind River to be better optically. Once focused, the B&L is optically as good as the Wind River. At 7pm it SEEMED the B&L optics might be somewhat better than the Wind River but truthfully not enough to matter. The Swarovski focusing adjustment is a black ring around the scope in the center. MUCH easier to focus than the B&L. I prefer the focusing adjustment of the Wind River. It was the easiest to focus. I REALLY like this scope. It will do EVERTHING I want a scope to do for just over $200.00. That is a BARGAIN. For those who want a good compact scope, the B&L Elite is hard to beat. I was actually disappointed there wasn't more difference between a $220 scope, $400 scope, and a $1400 scope.
