Spotting scope with pistol grip head?

[yotebuster]

Hey, I'm looking at getting the outdoorsmans pistol grip for my 15's and tripod use. I messed around with one at their shop with 15's above it and loved it. Is this mount ok for using with a heavier spotter on top of it too, or is a pan head necessary for that? I have a Leica 77mm spotter, so its kind of an ox. Right now I've more or less only used my spotter from the window mount back in ND (most glassing is done from the road there ... anyhow, if I find myself on a hunt where I need to pack the spotter and use it on my tripod will the outdoorsman pistol be sufficient for such a big scope? Any thoughts would be appreciated. YOTE

 

[TrentSwanson]

The Pistol Grip will work just fine. A couple years ago I used it exclusively with the big Vortex Skyline 80mm that I was testing. The Vortex is quite a bit longer and heavier than the Leica and I did not have any problems. I have used it since then with the Swarvoski 80mm. It was designed to handle the weight.

 

A couple other things that might help:

1. Keep the Pistol Grip clean - especially the ball. You can take it apart and clean it or send it back to the Outdoorsmans and they will do it for you. If you let it get all gummed up with dirt and grime, it starts to "creep" on you, especially with the longer, heavier spotting scopes.

2. If you pull the trigger on the Pistol Grip when your spotting scope is not balanced and you don't support it, the scope can fall to the side. Just keep one hand on the scope and one on the pistol grip when you are making big adjustments. I recommend you do that with your 15's, too.

3. If you plan to mostly glass with your 15's, consider getting the Panning Attachment. It allows you to pan along one plane so you don't constantly need to squeeze-move-release, squeeze-move-release. I used my Pistol Grip for years before getting the Panning Attachment and now would not give it up!

 

You will be very happy with the Pistol Grip. Congrats and thanks for supporting the Outdoorsmans!

[youngbuck]

Bear in mind different strokes for different folks. I highly recomend you spend some time with a pistol grip head. I can't use one very well. My glasses tip over alot. I can't find anything in the spotter and on 60x its hard to move it "a little bit" I also get really annoyed by the "click" they make every time you squeeze the lever. I do know some are made better than others. Ive only used the bogen ones, not the outdoorsmans, so my experience you might wanna throw out the window. They usually make great stuff, id really like on of their pan heads.

[oz31p]

im a pan head guy, but if you do like the pistol grip type dont skimp, get the outdoors mans. the bogen while well made and rock solid its much harder to squeeze after an 15 min of glassing your four arm will hit muscle failure, or youll wind up looking like popeye on one arm. on the other hand the outdoorsman is effortless. the only resone i bring it out is i would hate to see you get the bogen because of price and have to hire help to squeeze it all day for you.