All posts tagged Stargazing

Looking for binoculars?

binoculars In the advent of extremely powerful and reliable combat rifle scopes and optics, many people have erroneously moved away from thinking they need binoculars.  All I have to tell you is go look at some of our troops serving in sniper teams and you’ll see that each of them is using a pair of binoculars.  Sure there are some of you that are bird watchers and stargazing astronomers, but Tasco binoculars, Konus binoculars, Leupold binoculars, and Bushnell binoculars still make binoculars that are very practical to the target shooter or hunter amongst us.

The need for using binoculars that have a power of more than 10x is not recommended due to the fact that it is harder to see magnified optics in a stable manor when magnified at high powers.   Using binoculars will give you a much wider FOV or field of view that will help you notice things you won’t normal notice if you are just staring through a rifle scope.  Binoculars will help identify movement in bushes and trees and will help you watch bullet vapor trails to identify where a bullet is going for your shooting partner.  Tasco and Bushnell binoculars will give you a good starting point without burning a hole in your pocket.

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Target identification and scanner terrain

There are many reasons to have a good pair of binoculars around whether you are boating, camping, stargazing or hunting, being able to identify things in the water can help you in many ways.   Bushnell Binoculars come in compact or large objective lenses and the Leupold binoculars have the same quality as the Leupold rifle scopes. Zeiss binoculars and Konus binoculars give you a different style and it’s up to you on what you think you need.  There are differences in clarity and light gathering abilities, but it will depend on how much you need and what your budget is.  The real differences are noticed on cloudy days or low light.   There are many smaller compact optics that are very good and have a wide field of view.

I do think it is a good idea for anyone that is serious about hunting to bring a small pair of binoculars.  Many binoculars like Zeiss binoculars may seem expensive at first but peering through binoculars to identify a target is easy and safer to do than using your rifle scope.   Yes, you will be bringing slightly more weight with you but being able to constantly scan your territory might mean more opportunity for taking game.   If you use a good pair of binoculars you may see things in the sky that were just out of  your naked eyes visibility and you may see passing satellites or shooting stars.

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Binoculars in your range bag

I have a pretty good range bag that I keep all of  my sight in tools and magazine conversion kits in it.  All of my hearing protection and sometimes a few loaded magazines.   The one thing I have always kept in there were my binoculars.   I have taught so many people to shoot firearms and there have been times that I totally forgot to bring a rifle with magnification on it when I was teaching new shooters to shoot with a 22LR and iron sights.  It’s good to start people out on iron sights whether it’s with a 22 bolt action or an AR15 A2 style rifle.   If the shooter is old enough and can handle the nose and the recoil the AR15 is a good starting point.

When you try to see those groups at 100yds, sure you can hit a once inch square at those distances and accurately group them, but if your sights are off or you are trying to determine where your novice shooter is hitting, you don’t want to have to call cease fires and check paper.  There are many differences in the light gathering abilities of optics but Bushnell binoculars are reasonable priced and for most practical purposes, they get the job done and won’t cost you hundreds of dollars.  It’s always a good idea to keep your lense clean and this can have a big impact on your light gathering and clarity.

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Are there still reasons to carry binoculars?

I’ve questioned whether or not it was worth packing up my binoculars for range trips from time to time, and now that most of my rifles have some level of magnification, I really don’t have to guess if I’m hitting my target anymore.   Shoot N C targets help, but sometimes even magnification doesn’t help you in those regards.   I learned my lesson the hard way when I took a 6.5x50mm Zeiss Conquest scope to a 500yd rifle range and thought that I was going to have a fun day shooting because I wouldn’t need to do as many target changes since I had high magnification on my rifle.   Does anyone know what a mirage is?   When that hot sun starts beating down, you might as well have zero magnification because you won’t see you’re holes on paper beyond 200yds even with high magnification.

The real reason to still pack a pair of binoculars in your hunting or shooting bag is for target identification and field of view.   If you are using a rifle to identify targets you may be violating some of the basic firearms safety rules of not pointing a firearm at anything you don’t want to destroy.  I have had very good experience with Nikon binoculars and their rifle scopes are top notch.   The 7×35 Nikon Action are still my favorite because they don’t cost very much, aren’t very big and still give a good field of view.   There are better binoculars, but I have always had a hard time spending more on a scope than the actual rifle costs, some people don’t have that issue, but I do.

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Looking up and beyond

Bushnell BinocularsI picked up a pair of 10×42 H2O Binocular 10X 42 Standard Water-Proof, Porro Prism Black Rubber this year and I’m reliving my childhood explorations.   A good pair of binoculars can be used for anything from 4th of July viewing, hunting, bird watching, Stargazing or being a part of the neighborhood watch.    I know a neighbor that was able to bust a drug dealer with a pair of binoculars and he used it to help relay info to a 911 dispatcher which helped the arresting police officer know where a weapon was hidden.   Would you pay $80 to do all of that?

When I was a kid I use to look at the stars through some of the cheapest optics around.   I remember the first time I looked through my Uncle’s Bushnell Binoculars and I was amazed at how clear the stars and the sky could be seen.    There’s a big difference between all of the differing brands and levels of optics, but for most practical purposes there is a pretty broad middle of the road.   My Uncles optics were a pair of Bushnell binoculars and he’s had them for decades

 

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