Thanks to my friend Vic M. for sharing this. The photo above is his as well. Vic is one of my fellow tricked-out spotting scope enthusiast friends. You have seen his spotting scope in some of my Friday Night Lights articles. Recently he acquired a folding Kestrel mount from Crown Innovations.
Spotting Scope Stuff @ TFB:
- [SHOT 2023] Accufire Omnis Digital Spotting Scope, Red Dots and Thermal
- TFB Review: Horus Optics HoVR 6.5-40×50 MRAD Spotting Scope
- Friday Night Lights: Tricked-Out Spotting Scopes
For those of you who dabble in PRS matches or long-range shooting, a Kestrel is a vital piece of kit. However, mounting a Kestrel to a tripod is a bit tricky especially if you want it near your spotting setup. Badger Ordnance makes a Kestrel mount but it only attaches to side Picatinny rails. The Crown Innovation’s Kestrel mount has an integrated ARCA rail and 1/4-20 tripod hole at the bottom. You can see it below mounted to a QD ARCA mount which is mounted to Crown Innovation’s The Devito tripod table.
Photo by Crown Innovation
Photo by Crown Innovation
Here is an earlier prototype of Crown Innovation’s Kestrel mount.
Photo by Crown Innovation
Crown Innovation also made a folding Picatinny clamp so you can mount your Kestrel to the side of a tricked-out spotting scope, like the Bushnell LMSS above.
Photo by Crown Innovation
Photo by Vic
With the folding Picatinny clamp now the Kestrel mount can fold up against your spotting scope making it easier to store your entire spotting scope without having to remove the Kestrel like the Badger Ordnance setup.
Photo by Vic
Crown Innovation’s Kestrel mount is 3D printed using FDM but appears to be made of a carbon fiber-reinforced filament. It retails for just $35 while their folding Picatinny clamp is an additional $20. However, if you buy the mount with the folding clamp you save $5 and it is just $50 for both. The Devito tripod table is CNC aluminum and costs $100. For more information check out their website.