Just finished about a 800-round outing on the scope @ Angeles... No pictures, but wanted to share. Test gun was a Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22. Was ringing steel at 300 consistently with a very healthy hold-over. I think this speaks more about the M&P than the scope.
TL;DR:
Stay away unless you're only shooting under 200, and only punching paper with a very stable, flat-shooting platform. I ran no bipod or rear bag; just standing and resting on a 30-round mag (I didn't have shorter mags)
Price:
With the current rebate and eBay memorial day sale, it would've been $210 OTD if I wasn't going to return it. For the magnification and glass clarity, I'd say the value is pretty darn incredible!
Glass:
Japanese glass with very good clarity. Nothing to complain about here. Excellent. I did not test low-light for you hunters out there.
Turrets:
Capped with no zero-stop. It requires unscrewing the turret caps to zero the indicator marks. Even Nikon's entry-level Rimfire II $100 scopes have the up-rotate-down instant zero-reset mechanism. Tsk tsk tsk...
Internals:
25 MOA adjustments. Yes... You read that right. 25 MOA; woefully inadequate. I ran out of both elevation and windage at 300 for .22LR. Proper rifle calibers might not run into this problem. So... The 32x at really long ranges is most likely not going to happen. I'll reiterate that this scope is a cheap solution for punching paper or hammers under 200 yards (a la LRSU KYL challenge). Instead of spending a grand on a Sightron SIII 50x, the Bushnell is a VERY economical solution, especially on a bolt or 10/22 platform.
Eye relief:
Three to four inches. Great
Eye box:
VERY unforgiving, even at 8x. If someone were to film my shooting, they'd probably think I was having a seizure trying to center my eye on the glass.
Reticle:
Multi-X (AKA duplex). I could be wrong, but I believe it might be available in Mil-Dot, but I specifically chose duplex because I wasn't competing with it. My holdovers were basically personal guesses, and it worked out okay.
Side focus:
Nice and smooth. Easy to focus.
Tracking and return-to-zero:
I did not test this as it wasn't going to be on a long-range gun, but rather a set-it-and-forget-it optic. No box test or trying to translate the clicks into movement on paper.
Side-note:
Burris Signature Zee rings in "high" is cutting it close. Even with a 40mm objective, the scope only had about one mm of clearance. Next time, I'll probably shoot for extra high.
Conclusion:
If Bushnell's lower-power offerings have a similarly unforgiving eye box, I probably can't recommend the series. Perhaps the AR-style platform is just not the right match for this type of scope. However, if you're shooting silhouette or dime-size groups with a bipod, rear bag, and traditional stock, it is a worthy value competitor to the Sightron. I mean, Japanese glass for $200, you really can't go wrong. Hope this helps.
TL;DR:
Stay away unless you're only shooting under 200, and only punching paper with a very stable, flat-shooting platform. I ran no bipod or rear bag; just standing and resting on a 30-round mag (I didn't have shorter mags)
Price:
With the current rebate and eBay memorial day sale, it would've been $210 OTD if I wasn't going to return it. For the magnification and glass clarity, I'd say the value is pretty darn incredible!
Glass:
Japanese glass with very good clarity. Nothing to complain about here. Excellent. I did not test low-light for you hunters out there.
Turrets:
Capped with no zero-stop. It requires unscrewing the turret caps to zero the indicator marks. Even Nikon's entry-level Rimfire II $100 scopes have the up-rotate-down instant zero-reset mechanism. Tsk tsk tsk...
Internals:
25 MOA adjustments. Yes... You read that right. 25 MOA; woefully inadequate. I ran out of both elevation and windage at 300 for .22LR. Proper rifle calibers might not run into this problem. So... The 32x at really long ranges is most likely not going to happen. I'll reiterate that this scope is a cheap solution for punching paper or hammers under 200 yards (a la LRSU KYL challenge). Instead of spending a grand on a Sightron SIII 50x, the Bushnell is a VERY economical solution, especially on a bolt or 10/22 platform.
Eye relief:
Three to four inches. Great
Eye box:
VERY unforgiving, even at 8x. If someone were to film my shooting, they'd probably think I was having a seizure trying to center my eye on the glass.
Reticle:
Multi-X (AKA duplex). I could be wrong, but I believe it might be available in Mil-Dot, but I specifically chose duplex because I wasn't competing with it. My holdovers were basically personal guesses, and it worked out okay.
Side focus:
Nice and smooth. Easy to focus.
Tracking and return-to-zero:
I did not test this as it wasn't going to be on a long-range gun, but rather a set-it-and-forget-it optic. No box test or trying to translate the clicks into movement on paper.
Side-note:
Burris Signature Zee rings in "high" is cutting it close. Even with a 40mm objective, the scope only had about one mm of clearance. Next time, I'll probably shoot for extra high.
Conclusion:
If Bushnell's lower-power offerings have a similarly unforgiving eye box, I probably can't recommend the series. Perhaps the AR-style platform is just not the right match for this type of scope. However, if you're shooting silhouette or dime-size groups with a bipod, rear bag, and traditional stock, it is a worthy value competitor to the Sightron. I mean, Japanese glass for $200, you really can't go wrong. Hope this helps.
