Bushnell is one of the big American brands that, to my knowledge, doesn't actually make anything. I'll admit that biases me against them. I prefer brands to actually be manufacturers and therefore have some consistency in standards between their product lines as well as greater control of the product from start to finish. This is not the case with Bushnell: different lines are produced by different companies and cannot be compared to each other. However, the three scopes that I will be talking about today are all Japanese Bushnells. As much as it frustrates me to not be able to know or keep track of who makes what, few of the optics coming out of Japan these days get many complaints. Couple this with the generally good customer service that Bushnell is known for and I have even less to bitch about.
Bushnell 1-8.5x24mm Elite Tactical scope:
As you can see from the photo, the Bushnell 1-8.5x24mm is a rather hefty looking affair. It sports a 34mm tube and big, knobby, adjustments. The adjustments do lock and provide 10 mils per rev, so perhaps they at least announce, if not quite justify, their purpose for their size. However, the big tube does not actually sport an objective any bigger than a 30mm tube (actually, it's 3mm smaller than that of the USO 1-8x) and nobody really thinks that a 30mm 1-8x scope would lack elevation range (Bushnell's 30mm 1-6.5x24mm has more than 40 mils). In short, somebody in marketing thought that their new flagship AR scope ought to sport a big beefy 34mm instead of the more svelte 30. If your wondering, it weighs 23oz to the 1-6.5's 18.5oz, so having a big, knobby, tube is not without its costs, regardless of how you feel about size mattering. I can't help but feel that this scope could have made 20oz without loosing a sliver of functionality.
Bushnell 1-8.5x at 1x with maximum illumination:
Bushnell 1-8.5x at 8x with no illumination:
Bushnell is quite proud of the brightness of the illumination system in the new 1-8.5x. It does not use the beam splitter tech of the USO or S&B or a fiber system like the Leupold VX-6 or Vortex 1-6x, but it is nevertheless bright. The tech used appears to be of the conventional reflection off of the reticle variety and I am surprised how bright they managed to get it. It glares a bit (you can see the stray illumination in the 1x photo), giving you a feeling that they're pushing the limits like an engine running on nitrous, but I would definitely characterize it as daytime bright. I wonder how long the batteries will last, or, rather, not last. The illumination control is analog and has 9 brightness settings + 2 additional night vision settings. The reticle being illuminated is the same as that in last years 1-6.5x. They call it the BTR-2 and it is a horseshoe with a little mil scale below it.
The clarity of the new 1-8.5x is exactly the same as my GRSC reference scope, though its field of view is better than the GRSC. It's good clarity, though at the $2k price point, I expected the next step up in glass. Adding the extra 2.5x in magnification is nice, very nice, but this is a much higher priced optic. I thought last year that the 1-6.5x should have been less expensive and I am leaning that way on this one as well. $2k is really Shott glass territory with scopes like the USO 1-8x.
As for hands on looking about with this scope, I didn't notice any real problems. The eyebox seemed ok and the adjustments felt fine. I just went away feeling that the optic was designed by a marketing department to fit what they thought it ought to look like. I didn't feel that form followed function, but rather the other way around. That, and I thought it cost too much for a scope that does not have dot illumination or, I suspect, Shott glass.
Bushnell 4.5-30x50mm Elite Tactical scope:
Bushnell's other big introduction this year is a 4.5-30x50mm scope, also in their Elite Tactical line. This $2,500 scope is not illuminated at the moment but will be in the future, at which point I think people might start to notice it. Like the 1-8.5x, it features the kind of big, tall knobs that the Bushnell marketing department seems to like, but unlike the 1-8.5x, is actually a bit light for its genre at 24.1 oz, if the literature can be believed. It also features a 34mm tube and .1 mil clicks with 10 mils per turn, but has the added functionality of a zero stop. I have no doubt that this will be much appreciated. The windage is 10 mils per turn and does not have stops. Focus is of the now nearly ubiquitous side focus variety and is good from 50yds onward. Bushnell has also jumped on what seems to be a very crowded bandwagon and will be offering this scope with the Tremor 2 reticle.
Once illuminated, the 4.5-30x50mm will have all the basic features the market seems to be demanding today,along with a better than average power range. I just hope that the illumination doesn't bump the $2,149 price much. It is already an expensive scope being offered by a company that people are not accustomed to buying scopes of that cost from.
Bushnell 4.5-30x50mm at 4.5x:
Bushnell 4.5-30x50mm at 30x:
Bushnell 3-12x44mm Elite Tactical (gen 2):
The last Bushnell I would like to discuss is a lower cost 3-12x44mm gen 2, also in the Elite Tactical line. One of the things that I was on the lookout for this year was a good long range .22lr scope. I wanted close focusing parallax controls, lightweight, a ranging capable reticle, and clicks that match the reticle. This combination is painfully difficult to find. I know that, given the price of ammunition, many folks have been practicing heavily with .22lr. In addition to cutting down on ammunition costs and eliminating reloading time, the .22lr also allows for meaningful practice reading wind at shorter ranges because the subsonic .22lr gets batted around like a Cessna in a hurricane. Living in Columbus OH, with ranges of distance greater than 300 yards a substantial drive away, this is important. I expect the same is true for many other folks across the Midwest and East coast. Because of these factors, as well as my general love of the .22lr cartridge, I wanted to do an article this year on scopes that are well suited for extended range .22lr shooting and this Bushnell is one of the best candidates that I found at Shot.
Bushnell 3-12x44 at 3x:
Bushnell 3-12x44 at 12x:
The 3-12x44 is another Japanese made Bushnell that features good glass and, I expect, good reliability. However, not having flagship features such as 10mil zero stop turrets and a high erector ratio, this scope retails for $899, putting it towards the upper limit of many folks' .22lr budget. The parallax focus is on the side and goes from closer than 15 yards out to infinity, making it usable for winter shooting indoors on a 25 yd or even 50 ft range. The knobs, both windage and elevation, have .1 mil clicks and 5 mils per revolution. Reticle is in the 1st focal plane and is a mil Christmas tree persuasion. All in all, I think that this optic will suit many people's .22lr extended range needs well and few, I mean very few, scopes exist that I can say this for.
Bushnell 1-8.5x24mm Elite Tactical scope:
As you can see from the photo, the Bushnell 1-8.5x24mm is a rather hefty looking affair. It sports a 34mm tube and big, knobby, adjustments. The adjustments do lock and provide 10 mils per rev, so perhaps they at least announce, if not quite justify, their purpose for their size. However, the big tube does not actually sport an objective any bigger than a 30mm tube (actually, it's 3mm smaller than that of the USO 1-8x) and nobody really thinks that a 30mm 1-8x scope would lack elevation range (Bushnell's 30mm 1-6.5x24mm has more than 40 mils). In short, somebody in marketing thought that their new flagship AR scope ought to sport a big beefy 34mm instead of the more svelte 30. If your wondering, it weighs 23oz to the 1-6.5's 18.5oz, so having a big, knobby, tube is not without its costs, regardless of how you feel about size mattering. I can't help but feel that this scope could have made 20oz without loosing a sliver of functionality.
Bushnell 1-8.5x at 1x with maximum illumination:
Bushnell 1-8.5x at 8x with no illumination:
Bushnell is quite proud of the brightness of the illumination system in the new 1-8.5x. It does not use the beam splitter tech of the USO or S&B or a fiber system like the Leupold VX-6 or Vortex 1-6x, but it is nevertheless bright. The tech used appears to be of the conventional reflection off of the reticle variety and I am surprised how bright they managed to get it. It glares a bit (you can see the stray illumination in the 1x photo), giving you a feeling that they're pushing the limits like an engine running on nitrous, but I would definitely characterize it as daytime bright. I wonder how long the batteries will last, or, rather, not last. The illumination control is analog and has 9 brightness settings + 2 additional night vision settings. The reticle being illuminated is the same as that in last years 1-6.5x. They call it the BTR-2 and it is a horseshoe with a little mil scale below it.
The clarity of the new 1-8.5x is exactly the same as my GRSC reference scope, though its field of view is better than the GRSC. It's good clarity, though at the $2k price point, I expected the next step up in glass. Adding the extra 2.5x in magnification is nice, very nice, but this is a much higher priced optic. I thought last year that the 1-6.5x should have been less expensive and I am leaning that way on this one as well. $2k is really Shott glass territory with scopes like the USO 1-8x.
As for hands on looking about with this scope, I didn't notice any real problems. The eyebox seemed ok and the adjustments felt fine. I just went away feeling that the optic was designed by a marketing department to fit what they thought it ought to look like. I didn't feel that form followed function, but rather the other way around. That, and I thought it cost too much for a scope that does not have dot illumination or, I suspect, Shott glass.
Bushnell 4.5-30x50mm Elite Tactical scope:
Bushnell's other big introduction this year is a 4.5-30x50mm scope, also in their Elite Tactical line. This $2,500 scope is not illuminated at the moment but will be in the future, at which point I think people might start to notice it. Like the 1-8.5x, it features the kind of big, tall knobs that the Bushnell marketing department seems to like, but unlike the 1-8.5x, is actually a bit light for its genre at 24.1 oz, if the literature can be believed. It also features a 34mm tube and .1 mil clicks with 10 mils per turn, but has the added functionality of a zero stop. I have no doubt that this will be much appreciated. The windage is 10 mils per turn and does not have stops. Focus is of the now nearly ubiquitous side focus variety and is good from 50yds onward. Bushnell has also jumped on what seems to be a very crowded bandwagon and will be offering this scope with the Tremor 2 reticle.
Once illuminated, the 4.5-30x50mm will have all the basic features the market seems to be demanding today,along with a better than average power range. I just hope that the illumination doesn't bump the $2,149 price much. It is already an expensive scope being offered by a company that people are not accustomed to buying scopes of that cost from.
Bushnell 4.5-30x50mm at 4.5x:
Bushnell 4.5-30x50mm at 30x:
Bushnell 3-12x44mm Elite Tactical (gen 2):
The last Bushnell I would like to discuss is a lower cost 3-12x44mm gen 2, also in the Elite Tactical line. One of the things that I was on the lookout for this year was a good long range .22lr scope. I wanted close focusing parallax controls, lightweight, a ranging capable reticle, and clicks that match the reticle. This combination is painfully difficult to find. I know that, given the price of ammunition, many folks have been practicing heavily with .22lr. In addition to cutting down on ammunition costs and eliminating reloading time, the .22lr also allows for meaningful practice reading wind at shorter ranges because the subsonic .22lr gets batted around like a Cessna in a hurricane. Living in Columbus OH, with ranges of distance greater than 300 yards a substantial drive away, this is important. I expect the same is true for many other folks across the Midwest and East coast. Because of these factors, as well as my general love of the .22lr cartridge, I wanted to do an article this year on scopes that are well suited for extended range .22lr shooting and this Bushnell is one of the best candidates that I found at Shot.
Bushnell 3-12x44 at 3x:
Bushnell 3-12x44 at 12x:
The 3-12x44 is another Japanese made Bushnell that features good glass and, I expect, good reliability. However, not having flagship features such as 10mil zero stop turrets and a high erector ratio, this scope retails for $899, putting it towards the upper limit of many folks' .22lr budget. The parallax focus is on the side and goes from closer than 15 yards out to infinity, making it usable for winter shooting indoors on a 25 yd or even 50 ft range. The knobs, both windage and elevation, have .1 mil clicks and 5 mils per revolution. Reticle is in the 1st focal plane and is a mil Christmas tree persuasion. All in all, I think that this optic will suit many people's .22lr extended range needs well and few, I mean very few, scopes exist that I can say this for.
