Good Inexpensive Spotting Scope Smith & Wesson SWS60

J

jaburford

Guest
I currently have a pentax 80mm spotting scope, which I love. However it is to big and heavy for my hunt out west. I have been search for a less expensive spotting scope that has decent optics and is waterproof/fogproof. I have looked at:

Eagle Optics Denali 60
Bushnell Spacemeaster 60
Burris landmark 60
Nikon Sky & Earth 60
Alpen 60

The sky and earth had the best resolution at long distance (1/2 mile +). The burris landmark was very good as well. The down side of these scopes are they are not waterproof or fogproof. My next choice would have been the alpen, mainly because of the price.

I took a gamble and bought a Smith & Wesson 60mm spotting scope off ebay for about $200. I was pleasantly suprised at the quality. The scope is extremely bright and sharp (For its price range). The images were alot bighter than the Sky and earth. It is not quite as sharp as the Nikon Sky and Earth but very close. I highly recommend this scope for someone on a budget. It came with hard case, window mount, soft case and table tripod.
 
For what it's worth " Outdoor Life" magazine did a comparison on a bunch of spotting scopes. They rated the Alpen as a best buy. They said for the quality they were underpriced. All the guys who tried it were very impressed. I tried to find one here locally to see for myself, but couldn't find one though.

Steve
 

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