Spotting Scopes. Diminished Returns?

Atmospheric conditions make a huge difference when it comes to spotting scopes. On a cold, clear day you can realize the full potential of your spotting scope in terms of resolution. When it's hot and mirage is out you are very limited. Good optics helps a little bit but in the end mirage is a limiting factor, period
 
Using too much magnification is a sign that the glass is not of the quality you need. If you bump your optics quality you won't need to zoom so far. Zoom = magnification of mirage. Since that's the case, you have to pick equipment that's of the quality you need for the task at hand. I like Kowa Prominar above everything, Vortex Razor and Hensoldt Spotter 60 just below that and any other Kowa just below those.
 
Borrowing an Athlon Talos
Well there's your first problem. That's probably some of the cheapest Chinese glass there is. When needing to see detail at long range and having to cut through mirage and haze, high quality optics become very important. Really no other way around it. If you can't afford a high end top quality spotting scope then you're just wasting your time even trying to see holes at long range. You'd probably be better off investing in an affordable target camera system like the 1 mile unit from Caldwell. They take a lot longer to set up but will get the job done.

Another piece of advice when using a spotter is to shoot really early in the morning before mirage gets bad. Be set up and ready to go before the sun comes up. You can usually get quite a bit of shooting in before the mirage gets bad. But no matter what time of day or how bad the mirage is, you're never going to get that cheap Chinese glass to work very well for you
 
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I have some of the best glass money can buy but it won't cut through mirage, just the way it is..
What glass is that?

While really heavy mirage can make all high power glass unusable at long range, I have spotting scopes that will cut through a fair amount of mirage and haze on 40-50x. Glass is still so sharp on lower power levels that spotting holes in paper at 500-600 yards with decent amount of mirage is still fairly easy. I shoot and test loads at where it is almost 900 yards and can still spot holes in paper with light mirage. Also have very high quality rifescopes that still do well on fairly high magnification levels.
 
Well there's your first problem. That's probably some of the cheapest Chinese glass there is. When needing to see detail at long range and having to cut through mirage and haze, high quality optics become very important. Really no other way around it. If you can't afford a high end top quality spotting scope then you're just wasting your time even trying to see holes at long range. You'd probably be better off investing in an affordable target camera system like the 1 mile unit from Caldwell. They take a lot longer to set up but will get the job done.

Another piece of advice when using a spotter is to shoot really early in the morning before mirage gets bad. Be set up and ready to go before the sun comes up. You can usually get quite a bit of shooting in before the mirage gets bad. But no matter what time of day or how bad the mirage is, you're never going to get that cheap Chinese glass to work very well for you
Bad thing is I can only shoot East. So I'm able to get set up at 0915 and shoot at 1000-1300 before the heat gets too terrible. Or maybe I just don't shoot when it's ripping hot.

Can't spend more than $1500 on a spotting scope. Looking at the Burris Signature HD that's supposed to be back out end of month.
 
Bad thing is I can only shoot East. So I'm able to get set up at 0915 and shoot at 1000-1300 before the heat gets too terrible. Or maybe I just don't shoot when it's ripping hot.

Can't spend more than $1500 on a spotting scope. Looking at the Burris Signature HD that's supposed to be back out end of month.
Haven't looked thru that spotting scope. But I do have the new Burris Signature HD 5-25x50 riflescope on a 6.5 Rem Mag hunting rifle and the glass is really good. Better than anything else I've looked thru in that price point. In sunny daylight conditions, the Signature HD glass is honestly as good as some of my riflescopes that cost around $2k. Razor sharp and bright all the way to the edges at max 25x. I was actually blown away to see glass that nice on a scope in that price range.

Hopefully the spotting scope will have very nice glass for you as well.
 
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