Spotting scope on rifle stock a bad idea? (1 Viewer)

[GeorgeL]

I’ve seen cameras mounted on rifle stock and thought a spotting scope should work as well. Just to see, I took my 65mm straight scope mounted on a ballhead monopod, just slightly extended, and held it in a “shooting position“. I was pleasantly surprised at how relatively steady it was. I do have a couple of old airgun stock I can modify and use.
My only concern is I don’t want it to be mistaken for a weapon. And the last thing I want to do is paint the lens shield a bright orange.

 

[billb9430]

Hello George,
Unless you do your birding at a wilderness site with no other folks around, I think it is a matter of courtesy to NOT give others, especially city folks, the perception that you might be pointing a rifle. That pretty well rules out using a repurposed rifle stock or even airgun stock.

A more "socially appropriate" appearing stock, if you worry about such things, is one that can be made from a relatively short 6" wide pine board and finished with varnish, not black or brown paint. This can cut out with a coping saw and smoothed with sandpaper if you don't have power tools. I even printed "Spotting Scope Stock" on the sides of mine to help those nearby who may be slow to recognize what it is. See this post in the Nikon forum from Feb 2018:

https://www.birdforum.net/threads/shoulder-stock-for-nikon-ed50-angled-spotting-scope.357832/

Other excellent "non-firearm-appearing" stocks can be made by 3-D printing parts. Hauksen/Henning posted in the thread linked above and has done outstanding work on these. He will probably be along to link to his latest creations shortly.

A small shoulder-stocked and arm-strap braced relatively low powered spotting scope is handy for those intermediate birding distances that are too far for binoculars but not far enough to need a full tripod scope setup. - Bill

 

[Hauksen]

Hi George,

I’ve seen cameras mounted on rifle stock and thought a spotting scope should work as well. Just to see, I took my 65mm straight scope mounted on a ballhead monopod, just slightly extended, and held it in a “shooting position“. I was pleasantly surprised at how relatively steady it was. I do have a couple of old airgun stock I can modify and use.
My only concern is I don’t want it to be mistaken for a weapon. And the last thing I want to do is paint the lens shield a bright orange.

Here's my solution:

Adjustable Universal Shoulder Stock by Bikecyclist

Adjustable, Universal Shoulder StockUpdate 10 March 2019: Added thumbwheel for M3 x 20 screwsUpdate 01 September 2018: Customizable 3D printable tubing now included.For use with cameras, bincoluars, spotting scopes or other hardware with standard 1/4" tripod threads.Steadies the sight picture...

www.thingiverse.com

While the first photograph shows my shoulder stock in use with an angled Nikon ED50A, it works equally well with straight scopes, and a photograph showing it with the straight ED50 is also available in the collection.

I think my stock looks harmless enough for the setup not to be mistaken for a weapon, which indeed was a design objective! I'm fully with you (and Bill) on avoiding potentially serious misunderstandings.

Regards,

Henning

 

[Kevin Conville]

A bad idea? Short answer- YES.

I've put an ED50 on a carbine stock I had for my own edification and with a 16 or 20x EP worked quite well indeed. But, I never really used it because of the specter of it being mistaken for a rifle. People aren't very good at discerning, with accuracy, what they see sometimes. Hence the notorious unreliability of "eyewitnesses" in court. I would also stay away from any purpose built stock for such use as it would still require the public to know the difference, good luck.

Here's an unpleasant scenario to consider: You're in a public wildlife area, park, beach, etc. You are using your scope/stock and someone, or more than one person, calls the police saying there's a man walking around pointing a rifle. Cops show up in force, pumped up on adrenaline, and one of the famously well trained and well vetted rookies decides to empty his magazine into you before any questioning occurs. After all, he was "In fear of his life".

 

[jmepler]

I had considered a shoulder mount for my scope at one point. There were several manufactures selling them, BrushHawk being the main one. They were aimed (no pun intended) mainly at the photography market. It appears that none of them are still in business, at least not selling shoulder pods. Who knows whether it was lack of demand, or liability concerns that caused them to cease production. Regardless of what the apparatus to hold your scope looks like, when you are looking through the scope you are in a "shooting" stance. The last thing that I would do would be to add an actual rifle stock to the equation.