(All images are from Jon Wayne Taylor for Shooting News Weekly.)
If you’re looking through a rifle scope for just a few minutes, the quality of your scope is nowhere near as apparent as if you’re looking through it all day, especially if you’re scouring small objects far away. While teaching a recent long range precision course, the other instructors and I spent hours behind the new Winchester Optics Supreme W20-60x80mm Spotting Scope. Especially for a spotting scope under $400 — placing it very squarely in the budget end of the market! — it did not disappoint.
Given its price point, the Winchester Supreme Spotting Scope has great glass. Take a look at the image above. That was taken through my phone, without digiscoping (just holding the phone up to the eyepiece), which means the clarity and brightness is significantly degraded compared to what is presented to the eyeball. That telephone pole is about 750 yards away.
The scope is featured packed. Nitrogen filled with a twist out eye cup, it’s also got a built-in sunshade, and the entire body rotates 180 degrees. There’s also a small compass inside the included lens cap. It’s not graduated or precise enough to use for calculating fire solutions, but it’s handy if you just want to use the spotting scope as a nighttime telescope or to know where the sun is going to be on your range days.
Given its sub-$400 price, the multi coated lens was also a surprise. Dust blew right off and I experienced no glare and good light transmission at dawn and dusk. Very good, but not amazing, at least not when compared to other optics from ZeroTech and Leupold. Then again, those scopes were at least 5X the price. That extra little bit of light at near dark is great, but it comes at a very steep price.
The body of the spotting scope is made of ABS plastic. It will hold up to bumps and dings, but I’d be concerned about its ability to withstand heavy falls onto rocks, like I have unfortunately experienced on some hunts. Winchester advertises the spotting scope as waterproof, so I dunked it in the tub for a full minute without ill effect.
Winchester sells the 2-60X80 spotting scope as a complete system. Included with the package is a small metal tripod as well as a stout cover/carrying case. What’s particularly nice is that cover/case provides a good deal of protection all around the scope and is built so that all of the functions of the optic can be operated with the case on.
The case, included tripod, and spotting scope add up to roughly 3-and-a-half-pounds of weight, meaning that this scope is particularly easy to grab and take to the range. That’s where this particular scope really shines. With a 60X zoom, spotting hits on steel even at a mile, or seeing .22-inch holes in paper at 100 yards, is pretty easy, and it’s really just nothing to grab the whole thing in its case and head out.
The Winchester Optics Supreme W20-60x80mm Spotting Scope is one of the first in a brand-new line of budget priced optics from one of the most venerable names in shooting and hunting. Although I love extreme quality optics, the industry doesn’t really need another $2,500 spotting scope. The gap right now is quality optics at a price newer shooters can actually afford. If their spotting scope is any indication of what Winchester Supreme Optics has in store for the rest of their line, they’re going to have trouble keeping up with the demand.
Specifications:
WINCHESTER® SUPREME® SPOTTING SCOPE 20-60×80 mm
Angled Eyepiece
POWER: 20x 60x
OBJECTIVE LENS DIAMETER: 80 mm
OCULAR LENS DIAMETER: 25 mm
EXIT PUPIL DIAMETER: 4.0 mm/1.3 mm
OCULAR LENS OUTSIDE DIAMETER: 28 mm
OBJECTIVE LENS OUTSIDE DIAMETER: 82 mm
EYE RELIEF: 17 mm/ 15 mm
WATER PROOF: IPX7 (1m/30min) IPX7 (1m/30min)
WEIGHT: 59.97 oz
SKU: WQ-SS-SPRM13-20-60×80
UPC: 840369204349
Price: $386.99
— Jon Wayne Taylor, Shooting News Weekly
This feature originally appeared in our Shooting News Weekly (SNW). If you would like to receive a weekly rundown of tip stories from Shooting News Weekly you can subscribe here to the Friday newsletter.