Kowa Spotting Scope

Kowa TSN-884 Spotting Scope

On AccurateShooter.com, reviewer Danny Reever stated, “The Kowa Prominar (TSN 88X series) is quite simply the best spotting scope I’ve ever looked through. In all instances the Kowa out-performed everything I was able to compare it to. The Kowa had unrivaled clarity, and I could resolve 6mm bullet holes at 500m with it better than with my 100mm Pentax. After testing the Kowa, I sold my Pentax PF100-ED, and I’m planning to purchase a Kowa TSN-884.”

Featuring a large 88mm objective, the Kowa TSN-844 is an incredibly compact scope slightly exceeding 13 inches in length, excluding eyepiece. The scope body constructed of magnesium alloy, affords a trim weight of 53.6 ounces. Including the 20-60X eyepiece, length is 16 3/8 inches, and weight is 65.1 ounces. When compared to other scopes such as the Pentax PF100-ED, the Kowa is an amazing 3 1/2 pounds (56 ounces) lighter allowing you to use a more compact and lighter tripod if you so desire.

Kowa offers three new eyepieces designed for its 77-88mm family of scopes: a 25X long eye relief; a 30X wide angle; and a 20-60X zoom. These current eyepieces are held securely within the body by means of a locking button on the scope body designed to be pressed while removing an eyepiece preventing accidental detachment. The shortest distance at which the TSN-884 can focus is 16.5 feet — perfect for handgun spotting duties.

Bright, super-sharp, distortion-free images come from superior glass. The objective lens of the TSN 884 incorporates Pure Fluorite Crystal (PFC) giving you 99% or higher light transmission. One focuses the Kowa via a system of two focus controls along one axis. The Kowa 883/884 is designed to function in all weather conditions with the nitrogen-purged body fully sealed and the “housing” waterproof.

On AccurateShooter.com .’s Daily Bulletin, the Kowa Prominar was rated number one by the Cornell Ornithology lab in its 2008 Scope Quest – a detailed review of 36 spotting scopes.

Shari, as I’ve asked you this before, isn’t your governor a republican, and how can he sit by and let this happen? I don’t know what the makeup of your house and senate are, but since you folks have elected a republican to lead your state, why can’t he, or better yet why wouldn’t he, fight to protect the rights of law abiding gun owners of New Jersey?

Yes James, my personal rights, and my neighbors personal rights and the personal rights of some schmuck on the other side of the country that I will never meet are vastly more important than “security” theater.

Spotting Scope Advice -Kowa or Leupold - M14 Forum

Go to the bird watchers forums and look up their evals on spotting scopes. Those guys are critical on the spotting scopes that double for their digiscoping. The Pentax in the same price range and feature gets excellent reviews. I don't own either what you mentioned nor the Pentax, I have other brands, but if I were buying one I'll give the Pentax a serious look. A fellow shooter who did not want to spend the $ on German optics bought the Pentax. They are impressive for the price, they are above the Kowas. The Kowas are the standard against which all others are judged in the High Power Rifle community, so I would tend to lean towards the 82SV. I wouldn't think you'd be able to use much past 30x anyway, so you may as well get a 25xLER fixed power eyepiece. The Long Eye Relief eyepiece really helps when wearing glasses and looking through the scope. Here's a link to a thread on the National Match forum in which they discuss the 82SV: Kowa 82SV hands down! You can switch eye pieces; 30x Wide Angle, 20-80x zoom and the one most serious shooters use is the 25 Long Eye Relief. Kowa is the most dominant scope on all shooting firing lines. It costs a lot BUT you get what you paid for AND the resale is great! You can sometimes get back 80-100% of what you paid for in the years to come if you want to sell. I went with the Bushnell Excursion HD mildot and am very happy. I can see 308 splash holes in targets shooting in Alaska out there pretty far past 300. But, we do not have much soup to look through. I used a Bushnell Trophy for 30 years that i probably paid around $50 and could see 308 holes out to around 300 and a $150 Alpen seeing the same holes. Moral of the story, its not so much about the glass but the conditions. If I did not want a mildot ret I would still be using my $150 Alpen as it worked out to around 400 with 308 splash targets in very little to no soup of Alaska.

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