Brunton Eterna 80 ED or Kowa 663?

Joanie K,

For target shooting up to 300 yards (on a good day), I'm torn between the Kowa 663 and the Brunton Eterna 80 ED. I think the name brand, build quality, and the super eyepiece of the 663 make it my gut choice, but the larger ED lens, apparent quality, and much lower price may make the Brunton the logical choice. What are your experienced and impartial thoughts on the matter?

Also, do you think Kowa will upgrade the 663 with two-knob fine focus any time soon? That would definitly be worth waiting on.

Thanks for your advice and the GREAT education you provide on this forum?

Gimp

Hi

At 300 yards, I would opt for the larger objective of the Brunton. It will make the difference in marginal conditions. I own and love my Kowa 663 and I would be the first to tell you it is a great scope, but 300 yards is pushing it for a 66mm lens. I'd feel safer with the larger scope, if it is a good scope and the Eterna certainly is that.

Eterna 80 ordered. Thank you for your valuable help.

You are very welcome and thanks for the order!

I took the Brunton 80mm ED scope to the range today. It was a beautiful day at 81 degrees, clear blue skies with cumulus clouds, no haze, wind 10-12 mph, and light to moderate mirage. For a worst case test, I went to the 500 meter range where a silhouette match was underway. I began observing and zooming and was quickly very pleased with what I was seeing. I could even discern previous bullet strikes on the black steel plates that had been painted over. Nice.

A club acquaintance had a Kowa 88mm Fluorite scope set up. I’ve never looked through one, but I asked, knowing I was taking a chance of ruining my favorable impression of the Brunton. Looking through the Kowa 88 was like… well, it was like watching 1080 HDTV. Crystal clear, bright edge to edge, very sharp, excellent color— what else is there to say?

So, I went back to the Brunton. What did I notice now with such a high-quality comparison? It was a little hazy, not as sharp, and darker, especially at 60mm. Was it bad? No way. I was still very pleased. And what a great buy.

Remember, this was a perfect viewing day. It is not always this clear or bright, and with normal humidity and haze your mileage will vary.

Thank you, Joanie, your advice for my particular application was right on the money. You provide a valuable service for Optics Planet customers.

You are so very welocme, Gimp. Thanks for the nice words.