Holosights EOTECH vs BUSHNELL pros/con

[djleisure]

Get an aimpoint instead.

There's always one!

[maxicon]

The Bushnell is the same as the older model non-NV Eotech, and has lower max brightness levels, shorter battery life, and no protective hood. Aside from that, they're essentially the same. Most Bushnells take N batteries, which don't come in lithium, and are more troublesome.

Eotech (now owned by L3) makes both Eotech and Bushnell holosights. Either one will work just fine. Whether the price difference is worth it is purely a personal decision.


Here's my standard post on the differences:

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The Bushnell Holosight and the Eotech use the same holographic technologies, and the Bushnells that look like the Eotech are made in America, in the same plant as the Eotechs. There are 2 styles of Bushnell Holosight now - the Eotech style, and the XLP, which is much more futuristic looking, and is made in Japan. The XLP is physically a completely different design, with a lower centerline of about 1.1", but still uses the same reticle. From a reticle perspective, there's very little difference between any of them except for max brightness.

Essentially, the Eotech style Bushnell is a pre Rev F Eotech (Eotech 502) without the hood.

Here are the key differences:

- The Eotech uses their Rev F technology (starting in 2005), which greatly extends battery life and gives a much wider range of reticle brightness, including more brightness at the high end, and has improved buttons. The Bushnells use the pre-Rev F technology still, with shorter battery life and less brightness range. The Rev F Eotechs are marked with an F on the hood, but the hood can be replaced or changed easily, so this isn't always a good indication.

- Battery life:
Eotech N battery version - 200 hours at the 12 (of 20) setting
Eotech AA version - 600 hours (alkaline), 1000 hours (lithium) at the 12 (of 20) setting.
Eotech CR123 version - 1100 hours at the 12 (of 20) setting
Bushnell N battery version - 40 hours life at the 12 (of 20) setting
Bushnell N battery new version (on/off switch) - 60 hours
Bushnell AAA battery version (XLP) - 100 hours life at the 10 (of 15) setting

There's no data I've found on battery life for the Bushnell AA version.

- The Eotech has a protective hood. The Eotech style Bushnell doesn't, and can't be retrofitted, though the hood is available as a replacement part through Eotech. The hood fits on a set of rails with tapped holes on the Eotech base that aren't there on the Bushnell. Both have encapsulated electronics for recoil and impact resistance. The Bushnell XLP has a hood built in to the design, but is not directly comparable to the Eotech design.

- The 55X models of the Eotech have night vision compatible settings in addition to the regular settings. The 51X Eotechs and the Bushnells don't have this.

- The 55X versions of the Eotech are waterproof to 33 feet, while the 51X versions and the Bushnell are waterproof to 10 feet.

- The Eotechs are available using N or AA batteries, and the new 553 uses CR123 version. The Eotech style Bushnells are available using N batteries, and had an AA version that's not available in their current catalog (though there are indications they'll release one as part of their new line). The Bushnell XLP models use AAA batteries.

For all of them, if you use lithium batteries, you dramatically increase battery life, especially at low temperatures, but the low battery indication doesn't work with lithium batteries. Note that N batteries aren't generally available in lithium. Also, there have been a number of problems reported with N battery Eotechs draining the battery rapidly, even while off. The conventional wisdom is to use name brand batteries to help avoid this, but there's little hard data on this problem.

Both brands have a 2 year warranty.