Should I have gone to the shooting range today? My schedule definitely wasn’t conducive to spending time at the range. But, the excitement of new shooting equipment won out. As I looked over at the new Meopta MeoPro 80 HD spotting scope, I knew I had to get that thing to the range!
I only had an hour of range time available, but that was certainly enough time for me to begin forming some opinions on the spotting scope.
As I stated in my original MeoPro post, I’m admittedly new to spotting scopes. So for now, I won’t attempt to dazzle you with optic-related terminology. For those of you who are more knowledgeable about such things, check out our earlier post for Meopta MeoPro 80 HD Specs & Features.
Now that I’ve gotten my spotting scope newbie disclaimer out of the way, below is a quick summary of my initial thoughts.
Setting up the MeoPro HD 80
First, I should begin with the carrying case. When I show up at the range, I’m sure I usually look like a chaotic mess. Because the parking is quite a distance from the firing line, I always try to carry all my gear in one trip. The fact that the MeoPod TP-1 tripod’s case attaches to the MeoPro spotting scope case really helps to reduce my gear-carrying struggle. That might seem like something minor, but it is a big plus as far as I’m concerned!
As for setting up the tripod and MeoPro, there really isn’t much to say. It truly only takes a few seconds and isn’t even worth discussing.
Tripod Stability
The shooting benches at my range are made of plywood. So, I was a bit worried that the recoil produced by my rifle might continually alter the position of a spotting scope, possibly leading to the unit falling off of the bench. Well, that wasn’t the case at all. The MeoPod TP-1 tripod is rock solid!
Image Clarity
During this trip, I had the MeoPro focused at paper targets that were 100 yards down range. In all honesty, 100 yards isn’t much of a challenge for the MeoPro. At this distance, the view through the MeoPro was crystal clear. It looked as if I could simply reach out and touch the bullet holes.
Summary
It is true that this was only the first time I had the MeoPro at the range. On top of that, I was only at the range for about an hour. That being said, I can tell you that I have no idea how I’ve managed this long without a good spotting scope. Thanks to the MeoPro, I only made two trips to the 100 yard mark. The first was to set up my targets, the second was to take the targets down. There were absolutely no trips to the end of the range to check out my group size. For me, this was a game-changer. It gave me much more shooting time, and unfortunately, allowed me to go though a lot more ammo. But, there are certainly worse problems to have!
Stay tuned for more on the Meopta MeoPro 80 HD Spotting Scope.
Image Notes:
- Meopta MeoPro 80 HD Spotting Scope
- MeoPod TP-1 Tripod
- Kavod Custom KVD-15 Rifle
- American Eagle .223 Ammo via Lucky Gunner
- Voodoo Tactical Rifle Bag
- AR500 Armor Tactical Emergency Personal Injury Kit
- Howard Leight Impact Sport Hearing Protection