Click here to download the catalog as a PDF file. To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. OPTICS • JACOB GOTTFREDSON • CAN YOU SEE IT? Resolving power matters. question often asked by A competitors and long range shooters: “Is there a spotting scope that will allow me to see bullet holes at 400, 600 or 1,000 yards?” The answer to which is: Yes. Sometimes. “Sometimes” is not a hedge. Being able to see fine detail revolves around the quality of the optic’s resolution, contrast, exit pupil, and aberrations as well as the viewer’s visual acuity, the amount of turbulent atmosphere through which you’re trying to see fine detail, and power. That still begs the question: What is required of a spotting scope to allow me to see bullet holes in paper at long range? We can see 30-caliber bullet holes in white paper easily enough at 100 yards with most scopes or binoculars. When we move our bullet hole out to 600 yards, the size of the hole appears to be 1/6th the size it did at 100 yards. If we are using a 10X scope, the image at 100 yards appears to be 10X closer Oneofthenewinnovationshasbeentomarrycamerastospottingscopes,primarilyusedforlongrangephotography.Thisisalsoanexcellentwaytodetermineboththeresolvingpowerandcontrast abilityofthespottingscopeandalsothecamera.Thismethodremovesthevariableofyourvisual acuity.ThisistheexcellentZeissdiascopeandaCanonA2SlR. than it does with just the naked eye, i.e. at 10 yards. Thus a .308 bullet hole at 100 yards appears to be at 10 yards while the 600-yard hole appears to be at 60 yards as seen with the naked eye. So the question is: Is your visual acuity and the scope’s resolving power capable of seeing a .308 bullet hole at 60 yards? The Catch But there’s a couple of catches. The .308 bullet hole at 100 yards does not appear to be .308" with the naked eye, but instead appears to be much less and can’t be seen by most people with the naked eye. So where does a .308 hole appear to be exactly .308" with the naked eye? The other problem is there is much more atmosphere to look through at longer ranges, which is also flattened and magnified by the optic. Many spotting scopes used these days are either 45X or 60X or any increment in between, and their power adjusted by turning the variable ring. Reducing the power increases light transmission, which in turn often allows better viewing of fine detail than additional power does. But what does resolution and contrast have to do with all of this? Isn’t one scope just like another? Optical engineers and physicists turn Forthosewhoprefertheangledlens,thisSwarovskispottingscopewithasimplepointandshoot cameradoesasuperbjob.Usingthepowerofthespottingscopeplusthezoomlensonthecamera, objectsassmallasbulletholescanbeseenatlongrangeastheyareshot. 28 WWW.GUNSMAGAZINE.COM • DECEMBER 2009