burris spotting scopes

[lurcher]

looking at a spotting scope for occasional use, can get a burris 12-24X50 on special. How would you rate this scope?

What other spotting scopes in the cheaper range would be worth considering? Wind-river, bushnell?

Thanks for your input in advance

john
New Zealand

[Zachary]

I personally like the Elite spotting scopes, but they are certainly more expesnive than the Burris you are looking at.  Same goes for the Nikons too.

When you say occassional use, what exactly do you mean?  And for what use?  For use at the shooting range, I wouldn't mind buying one, although the resolution is not as great as the other makes I mentioned (which can be important when trying to look at smaller caliber holes at longer distances).

Keep in mind that resolution is everything with spotting scopes and binos (well, almost everything).  I say this because I have heard, and found out for myself, than using bad glass over extended periods of time causes eye strain.  With good optics, your eyes don't strain as much.

Even for use for hunting, the Burris should be fine, but if your eyes start straining, then you need to look for better optics (no pun intended.)

Zachary

[centershot]

I have a 20X50 burris compact spotter, I thought it was pretty cool until I bought some Pentax DCF SP 10X43's - I can see more detail at the same distance with the 10X less magnification binoculars. If you are serious about a spotter you'll need to spend a few more bucks.