Barska Gladiator 25-75x100 Waterproof Straight Spotting Scope w/Tripod: Customer Reviews & Product Details

Scope works great, Tripod was broke when I received it. I tried to register via their web site also to notify them of the broken tripod but web site was down. I was unable to contact them. Cheap tripod! Scope itself 5 stars tripod 2 stars

The low power images are fine. As the magnification increases the crispness of the images deteriorate but not to unacceptable levels for the shooting range. The problem with the scope is it's too big and too heavy and the tripod is not up to the task. It's embarressing to whip out the Hubble Space Telescope and have it topple over.

I purchased this just before a 2 week trip to Yellowstone, based on the high recommendations at Amazon, and the relatively low price.

I was very pleased with the clarity and the sharpness, especially in dim light, because of the large 100mm lens. In the Lamar Valley I could see a wolf scratch it's belly with it's right hind leg at 75x at over a half a mile away. (could barely make out the wolf with normal eyesight). At Canyon I set it up on an Osprey nest with two chicks on a rock pinnacle. The nest and chicks and sometimes mother Osprey filled up the viewfinder. Many people came by and looked through the scope, and I liked watching their excited reaction. Some people couldn't speak English, but patted me on the back or said it was 'magnifique.'

In the Hayden valley at dusk I was able to pick out elk across the valley that we definitely could not see unaided. I also set up the scope on Grizzly in the Lamar Valley and on Dunraven Pass.

The scope is very large - definitely not a field scope. You need a heavy tripod to put it on. The one that comes with it does not do the job.

This is one of the best purchases I have ever made. It added much more enjoyment to my wildlife viewing in Wyoming and Montana.

Eye relief is long enough for me to see the entire field of view while wearing my glasses. Zoom plays well with the exit pupil diameter. Focus knob requires lots of turning but allows for some fine adjustments. The action is very smooth and precise. Optics are top notch.

This is a straight line scope, so it is not the best for pointing upwards at the sky. Best for the terrestrial viewing it is designed for. You can still view objects near the horizon pretty conveniently, however. The lens gathers so much light it is almost hard to look at the full moon on a clear night.

I am not an expert in consumer optics; however, I am uncompromising when it comes to what I take to the rifle bench. I bought this spotting scope specifically to do the job of eliminating the waste of time and annoying necessity of manually checking target paper out, and it is capable of that and much more. I have since completely stopped using my clunky, annoying to setup and calibrate telescope for my casual astronomy hobby as this big honking scope captures amazing amounts of light in pure darkness. You just can't beat a 100mm objective lens. I should note I have only used this scope at 50 and 100 yards - and if it's pertinent, I was observing at 75x, shooting a Savage .22 bolt action and a Mosin Nagant M91/30. Even the .22 caliber holes were very clearly visible at 100 yards with full magnification. I have read someone complaining of Barskas having problems resolving fuzzy edges of the image at full magnification but it is possible this problem is exclusively isolated to other hobby applications such as birdwatching. I have not encountered it thus far.

The ONLY serious defect in the total package that leads me to write it down to 4 stars are the accessories. Barska has seriously under-anchored this product with a light, unwieldy tripod. It was clearly not designed for a spotting scope of this weight, length and objective. It would probably be rock solid on a 20-60x60, and perhaps they just decided to save time and money not sourcing a bulkier tripod. But I have bad news about it. One of the tightening screws broke the first day I took it to the range, but luckily I haven't quite figured out what it tightened, so it hasn't been an issue. Unfortunately, just today, while experimenting with a little airliner watching (which it does fantastically even at 25x, if a bit hard to track the aircraft), I actually broke the critical y-axis tightening rod -- the tilt grip. This is probably the most important part on the tripod to work well because it's your only tool to keep the MONSTROSITY of an objective from tipping forward. This thing is SERIOUSLY front heavy. I apologize for not having current information about customer support in this area yet, as I have not yet contacted Barska. I'm not sure if I even intend to request a replacement or spend high dollar on an after market tripod of superior quality.

I'm not sure what they are referring to as "micro-adjustment capable" but you really just have to wiggle it around the right way until it is fixed on the target you want. Luckily, an extreme advantage the optics give you over the limitations of the tripod is that the field of view is quite impressive.

Last and unfortunately least, they provide you with a soft carry case instead of the hard carry case that comes with the 25-125x88 and the 20-60x60 Benchmarks and other slightly smaller spotting scopes. Initially, I sought to get a carrying case separately simply for aesthetic and convenience concerns. However, the fit and organization of the interior is troublesome, with lots of strange velcroing subcompartments. I'm sure someone at Barska R&D thought, "People will love this, they can add and remove this compartment!" But the compartment is used to separate the crap-tripod from the awesome-spotting scope. Why would you want to remove the compartment and clunk it around w/ the tripod banging on top of the scope with no protective layer between them? Perhaps they prophesied that people would just dump the tripod and get a new one.

I cannot downplay the quality of the optics. I had concerns about resolving the tiny image of a .22 caliber hole in the paper at 100 yards, but it was crystal clear. I am anxious to push this scope to the limits of its range and clarity. Unfortunately, the extremely impressive cost on Amazon is offset by the fact that the accessories are somewhat worthless.

I have contacted Barska to request individual sale of a carrying case and they are getting back to me while looking into whether one of the Benchmark hard cases will fit a Gladiator series scope. It seems that the Benchmark is several inches shorter than the Gladiator (Naturally, as I said, this thing is gigantic), so they do not believe their smaller carrying case will fit it.

It's too bad. With even a functionally acceptable tripod, this would be one HELL of a total optical package to fit anyone's hobby needs - bird and wildlife watching, astronomy, shooting. If it's far away and you need to see it, it'll do it.