Been using an old $20 Black Friday Simmons but the FOV and clarity is garbage

Intended use: mounting to window so I can glass from my truck.

Question: straight eye piece or offset?

Willing to step up to the plate on good glass but wanting to be mindful of diminishing returns.

All opinions are welcome.

Cheers

I have been using a Leupold Gold Ring 20-60 for many years. I paired it with a Trophy Tools clamp and hung it from the top of doors on various vehicles. I used it for work and sent many rotten criminals to prison with it. It worked perfectly for my use. I figure if it’s good enough for the US Military sniper teams to use it’s good enough for me.

I like a straight eye piece, easier to line up the game or me in the scope.

Decent glass will not be cheap, maybe look at Maven.
Good condition used is fine from companies with good warranty.
Leupold makes a decent one too as stated above.
Personally stay away from Vortex unless going their best glass route then might as well look at Meopta , Maven or Swaro.

Better companies will honor their warranty on a good used scope.
Depending on what you use it for maybe not needing say 60x but it sure comes in handy at great distances.

Talk to gr8fuldoug. Many of us have bought from him and will again.

I have an Athlon Ares G2 UHD 15-45x65 angled. Not fancy. Having used the angled now I'd like to also try a straight simply for comparison, but I don't have a problem with angled and would likely stick with it.

I bought this for .22lr long range F-class. . Hope too try it next week if time permits.. SUPER CHEAP.

I’ve had something similar to this for 20 years. Gold ring Leo(not hd) but mine may be 15 to 45 or so. Maybe it’s my eyes but even on tripod or clamp I just can’t get clarity above about 25x. My camera zooms 125x so I rarely use spotter anymore.

Just looked at mine and its 12 to 40. Dont think I ever crank it to 40 regardless of distance.

Only straight spotters for me.

They are easier to line up on target. And I'd rather have my neck straight than bent over. There are days I spend 4-6 hours looking through my spotting scope.

https://www.milehighshooting.com/swarovski-str-80-spotting-scope-20-60x-eyepiece-mrad-reticle/

this list is in order and only slated for each MFG’s top line offering not their bottom or mid end
swaro
Kowa
lecia
zeiss
meopta
maven/vortex
sig/leupold

as far as straight vs angled- how tall are you?, is weight an issue(straight takes a taller tripod), do you glass alot from truck(angled is do able but not great),

as long as you roll with top of the line from the above MFG you will be happy, sig leupold is as low as I would go go though. Id shop used in the top four first .

most Prone shooters like the angled spotters for looking from their shooting positions.

I am very happy with my Meopta. Use it for long distance shooting; as an added bonus it works good for planetary viewing too. I've looked at Saturns rings and the even made out Jupiters cloud colors.

I'll take straight all day long. I owned the Meopta S2, Kowa 884, and Nikon 82ED (a really great and underrated spotter) at the same time and wound up keeping the Meopta mainly because it was much easier to use at higher mags. The S2 is built like a tank with superb optics. I also have an Athlon Ares 15-45 UHD and it is amazingly good, especially considering what it cost.

The only thing I'd change about my Razor 11-33 is to make it a straight instead of angled eyepiece. It's incredibly sharp and easy to look through.

I have the exact same one and I have no complaints for what I paid for it. There are some very expensive glass out at the competitions that I’ve spotted through at matches and for the price difference I don’t see a huge difference between the two. Now as far as if they’re bomb proof or not I have no clue and will probably never need to find out.

I'm not sure either, but mine has been on four wilderness hunts and still works fine.

Buying one that’s been lightly used is the best way to save some money on them. I have 2 that I got that way.

Lots of great scopes out there right now, way more than say 20+ year ago when we bought our Swaro.
BOBO's list is a good one. I would sure look at some of the other brands now besides Swaro if we needed a new scope.

And used is not a bad idea on the higher end scopes.

I think a straight scope works better on a window mount too.

I also have the Athlon Ares 15-45 that I bought from Doug at NY Cameraland and have no complaints. The only thing that I would change is that I got the angled and like Jgraider wished I had bought the straight. Every salesperson I spoke with said that since I am 6"2' I needed the angled version or it would be too far from the ground. I just got back from a Wyoming antelope hunt and it took me forever to acquire my target with it which was very frustrating. Everybody said I would get better with practice but after a week of hunting that was not the case. For the price, I would highly recommend the glass though.

Buy once, cry once…..Swarvoski, but I was impressed with the NightForce TS-82 a buddy owns.

This is no longer available but I’m pretty sure it’s the Meopta S 82. Same same.

I believe that is correct. Judd owns the NightForce spotter. I’m sure he will see this and chime in.

This is what I use, no issues it's a 20x60.

I looked through Judd's. He had paper at 600 yards, doing a load development. I could see 6mm holes in that paper. I was highly impressed!

I need a Mil reticle. And I have it in my Swarovski. Night Force of all companies should put a Mil reticle in their spotting scope, but they didn't. It makes no sense to me.

That's because it's a hunting scope, and it's a rebadged Meopta S2. Meopta makes/has made OEM equipment for several companies such as Leica, Zeiss, Leupold, and Nightforce.

Apologize for getting a little off OP’s topic but if someone needs a Mil reticle in an application that doesn’t need high magnification check out the Bushnell Pro 15x.
I have been using one for about 2 months at matches and they are very good for money invested.
I tried the 15 SLC ‘s but the interpupillary distance didn’t work for me so then I went to the 12X Pures which are great but I missed the extra power.
Just took a chance on the Bushnell’s and while they are big and heavy which all 15x seem to be they are exactly what I wanted.
I have compared them to several pairs of 15x SLC’s and you do lose a bit of clarity at the edges with the Bushnell but you have too look hard to see those differences.

I got this from Doug at Cameraland, it satisfies my needs.
https://cameralandny.com/shop/brand...0138-91f3-00163e90e196?variation=2725865
Let me know if want to take a look through it.

I’ve been looking at this one. It has a mil reticle which is what I wanted. Sales price in the cart makes it worth the gamble.

https://cameralandny.com/shop/germa...013b-39b6-00163e90e196?variation=3390818

Yeah , no need for a reticle in our spotter at all, it is for hunting and judging animals at distance.

Love our Swaro but it is no longer the best out there, many others are just as good these days. Glass has come a long way recently.

Where do you shop for used ones?

Boards- THF, TBH, 24hrCF, RS, etc

The absolute best most active one is the hide.

Tract has a spotter with a MIL reticle, and the glass is superb.

Thanks for the tip, I have been looking as well.

I like the whole idea of tract. But…. Their reticle is not quick or intuitive. It’s almost useless in my opinion.

Thanks

I got mine at a hole in the wall gun shop. Guy sold it to them cheap so his wife wouldn’t get it in the divorce.

Elk101 had a sale on swaro 65’s last year for think 1800’ish.

OP- A few retailers will sale below map, just have to call around. CameralandNY and Epic outdoors are good places to start

I bought one off of Craigslist a few years ago.

Vortex straight 13-39 x 56 @ $1500