Heres one i did....
Alright guys, here is a preliminary review, more will follow, and some pictures of the new PCL from Bushnell.
Starting it off, the Throw Down PCL is a new optic in the AR Optics series from Bushnell that has more features than you would ever think to find in a scope at this price point. 30mm tube with about 60’’ of internal travel at 100 yards, roughly 60 ‘shooters’ MOA of travel, Illuminated reticle with 11 positions on the rheostat, Bushnell’s new BTR-1 reticle, First Focal Plane reticle, fully multicoated optics, folding power control lever, .1 mil click adjustments, roughly 9.5’’ in length, less than $300 retail!!
Usually a 30mm tube at this magnification would give you much more adjustment. I counted it out and I got about 11 full revolutions at 60 .1 mil clicks per revolution with 45 clicks left on the last. Looking like around 700 +/- clicks, so you will have about 70’’ of travel at 100 yards, so not bad, especially because of the reticle’s holdover ability. Every click was solid, audible, and tactile. Horizontal indicators to show elevation travel on the turret as well. Not lockable however.
Optics were clear and bright. Obviously you’re not getting Vortex PST 50mm brightness, but compared to the PST 1-4x24mm, it is on the same playing field in regards to the brightness. I didn’t notice much spherical aberration and looking at a brick wall with white mortar about 100 yards away, no real noticeable chromatic aberration.
The BTR-1 reticle works well. Due to the scope being FFP, at 1x the reticle size reminds me that of an 1.5x Acog with horseshoe reticle, easy to pick up but not be too busy. Also, at 1x I could use my front iron with minimal noticed distortion. As the magnification was dialed up, the reticles drop features became more clear and easy to pick up. 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 yard drops designed for the 223. Now, as in any drop reticle, this feature follows a generic trajectory so there will be variances. If you’re a true shooter, range time and dope cure all. As for the illumination, I kept it at 3-4 indoors, but outdoors on the higher end. Illumination was crisp and no bleeding out. Didn’t put off any glare. A very well designed and engineered illuminated reticle with plenty of positions on the rheostat (11). One feature I do like on an illuminated reticle that isn’t preset is a off position between each setting, however, for a sub $300 scope, I’m not complaining. No battery life report as of yet, I’ll run it out myself to verify and report back. If you don’t like an illuminated reticle? Leave it off.
I like the PCL, power control lever. In various shooting positions it is comfortable and easy to get to. Muscle memory was quick with it and it’s easy to feel what magnification setting you are at if you are more selective. Folds down and does not inhibit the vision in the non-dominant eye if shooting with both eyes open. A rubber o-ring on the lever makes sure to not have a metal on metal contact when throwing the lever back down. Now, I’ve never used a power control lever before this scope, never really had the need. But, like my Magpul BAD lever, it’s one of those nice features that I can certainly enjoy that has its place and it very useful.
Eye relief is listed at about 3.6’’ and I would call that about right. I have a DD 6 position tube with a Magpul ACS stock and I run it at position 4 usually, so you can see where head placement to scope placement is for me at least. Mounted in a Burris PEPR and my Magpul MBUS rear fits perfectly under it.
At the Range.
Bushnell 1-4x24mm Throw Down PCL mounted on a Rock River AR with a Burris PEPR 30mm mount. All torqued down to specification and ready to go.
This was a fun shoot in that I was trying out not only a new scope but a new build as well. So there is always that excitement in the very first round down the pipe. Complete virgin build, every spring, detent, and screw. Needless to say, first shot went off perfectly. As always, I stick to Winchester Ammunition. Never have had an issue and it’s always my go to. Had 62 gr., 55 gr. and for some other testing I was doing, 45 gr Winchester varmint loads at 3600 fps. Now to the scope…
I will usually do a traditional bore sight with an AR, pop the upper off, and set it in a rest and adjust the scope to my sight picture through the bore and barrel. After that I’ll usually throw on a laser bore sighter, Sightmark Triple duty boresighter in green works amazing, then line it up at around 50 yards. This will generally get you on paper and pretty darn close. Did something a little different this time, no bore sighting, just took the first shot at 50 yards and wanted to see it I would hit paper. If not, easily throw the laser on. I used the Champion Visicolor targets with 4 extra bulls, absolutely love them and they are great. Easy to see shot placement through your optic alone. 1st shot at 1x, about 6’’ low and 2’’ right. More so luck to hit paper without bore sighting, but it almost felt like an omen to start to the day.
Now to the turrets. My initial impression was nice and solid but that was just a firsthand observation. Truth lies in the repeatability and precision of them. The PCL has .1 Mil turrets, so at 50 yards 10 clicks should give me 1.8’’. Instead of going right away with 33 clicks to get me up 6’’ in elevation, I wanted to check for that repeatability. Sub $300 scope, makes you wonder how that erector housing really functions. I went 10 clicks, 1.8’’ is what it should shoot…and it did. Second shot, third, fourth, all touching. 10 more clicks up in elevation, 1.8’’ higher and 3 shots touching again. Finished it off and at 14 more clicks it was hitting center with 5 shot groups, all touching. Going to windage, I clicked 10 left and shot out the center. Both elevation and windage turrets were repeatable and had solid audible clicks, but there seems to be a slight amount of play in them, but that doesn’t effect, or at least didn’t affect my sighting in.
Next to confirm the turrets, I like to shoot a box. Dialed up to 4x, still at 50 yards for this. If you’re not familiar with shooting a box, it’s shooting one round, then using your elevation turret to adjust up a set amount that you will stay constant to, in my case, I stuck with 10 clicks. Shooting once more, then proceeding to adjust your windage turret to the right 10 clicks (or whatever amount you choose) shot, 10 more clicks back down, shot, then 10 clicks to the left, which should bring you back to center and your original shot. If you make a near perfect box by solely using your elevation and windage, it’s one more test to show repeatability. The PCL shot the box. It wasn’t quite perfect, but I attribute that to human error. Off bipod, not bags. This confirmed to me that the Bushnell PCL has a well-made and designed erector housing that you can count on.
The reticle. Looking through it in hand, nice, on rifle, nice, and shooting it, very nice. At 1x it is similar to that of a horseshoe Trijicon reticle and the BDC is a non-factor for my style. You are going for close quarter and center dot is easy to acquire. Reticle did not obscure any the target and there was well enough sight picture around the center dot to easily pick up the bullseye. Being a FFP scope, as I dialed up the magnification, it became clear to me that the BDC features I could only pick out at 3x and 4x. At 2x magnification they can be seen, but not utilized as efficiently for holdover. At 4x, the holdovers were easily acquired and used. Glass wise, pretty bright image and clear. Remember, its not a Zeiss, but it certainly is quality glass for the price. I also noticed very minor spherical aberration, nothing that will pop up unless you’re looking for it.
Walking out to 100 yards stopping at every 10 yard increment and shooting groups became boring. Sub MOA all day with consistent .6’’-.75’’ groups at 100 yards. 5 shot groups. My barrel has a 1:8 twist and I stuck with 62 gr.’rs for the rest of the shoot. After I knew the scope was staying true, I felt the need to try to induce a slight failure. Easy way to test the scope, drop the rifle. My rifles are tools, they are not safe queens. They have scratches and get used. Unloaded and cleared, dropped on the butt from about handguard at chest height. Then dropped on the side from about 3 feet, somewhat simulate falling off a bench or rack…and repeat that 3 times. Once more back at 100 yards, still holding zero. Me trying to elicit a failure had no effect…and I was thankful because I am really liking this scope.
I must say that I really do like the throw lever having used it more. It’s a smooth transition and the PCL is by no means stiff in the magnification ring but not loose either. Muscle memory began setting in near the end of the shoot which made for an even quicker transition. Also, switching back and forth from illuminated to non-illuminated to give that a test. Good and bad. Good being that the reticle did not bleed out at all. Number one thing that drives me crazy about illuminated reticles is how they are overly bright and hard to find a good setting and bleeding out. Not the case here. 11 positions which allow for a nice choice per your light conditions. Now the bad, really prefer the detents between each setting. I know it’s a luxury, but it’s still a nice feature. Also, I can’t tell you what the battery life is, but I can say it’s less than a week. I’ve drained it once already because I thought I had flipped the rheostat back to zero from the 8 setting but I guess I was off. Having the detents to keep me near my setting of choice and ease of on and off it’s a nice feature that I would like to see, if possible, but hey, for sub $300, I’ll live without it.
One regret I have and is that I live in Illinois, land of corruption and lack of long ranges and was not able to really stretch out the distance and give the holdovers a workout. I’ll have a chance for that soon and will update.
You know it’s always something cool when other shooters come up to see what you have, and that day was no different. They look and test it out and I always enjoy asking them what they think something like that runs. All guessed $500 or higher and all were shocked when I said what the retail is. This scope is a well built and designed and above all it reliable. It’s repeatable, tough, and has quality glass and coatings. Bushnell answered with a scope that put many features that shooters are asking for in a package that can be an impulse buy with any buyer’s remorse. Great for an entry shooter trying out .1 mil turrets or an FFP, or even an advanced shooter. Plenty of features that you want and need in a scope that won’t break the bank.
Feel free to send any questions!
Trevor B.