As a 3-gunner I am always looking at low power variable scopes with interest. There are not many that impress me as I tend to be picky about what features I like and what I do not like. I have learned that companies are listening to the customer base and are constantly evolving the optics offered with more and more features. Bushnell Elite Tactical is a company that makes some outstanding optics for great prices and I recently had the opportunity to take a look at the 1-6.5×24 with the BTR-1 reticle. The optic comes in a black box packed with lens covers, a manual, and a battery for the illumination. One of the things that I appreciate right away when I opened the box is how simplified and classy Bushnell has made this scope. It is totally blacked out with the “B” logo on the windage knob. The ring around the objective has subdued markings and the only thing that is bright is the rain guard sticker on the back of the ocular. I appreciate the lack of large graphics and bright colors on a scope such as this and think the optic is attractive.
The elevation and windage knobs are capped and once removed the adjustments are locked. This was a surprise for me that I like. If you wanted to dial adjustments you can take the caps off for a stage, lift the locking turrets to adjust and push down to lock. Also, resetting the turrets to zero was a breeze. The design was very well thought out for an optic in this category and the versatility is very appreciated.
The illumination has 9 settings and 2 night vision settings. The real shortfall of this rifle scope is the illumination. In bright Texas sun, the reticle washes out very easily on lighter colored targets and took slightly longer to acquire targets. The reticle is in the second focal plane, and was smaller than I believed it would have been but I found that it allowed for a clear FOV and did not get in the way. I would not recommend this optic in the FFP as the reticle would get too small to be useful on 1x, and in the SFP is not in the way. The center dot and circle are illuminated with hash marks extending below the dot. The center dot is sufficiently small so as to be able to be precise with the optic. With a 100yd zero the hash marks will work from 100yds (center) to 600yds (bottom). Using m855 I found the hash marks to be accurate out to 400 yards (did not shoot past 400) with the 100yd zero on a C-Zone target.
While the illumination during daylight on this optic lacks brightness, something it does well is low light. This optic is at home in low light with good light transmission considering the small objective lens. The lower power illumination settings made for a reticle that did not bloom in the dark and with the night vision settings could be used in conjunction with a night vision device. I found the glass on this optic to very similar to other 1-6x optics I’ve tried such as the Leupold VX-6 and the SWFA SS 1-6x. I like the adjustments of the Bushnell better than the other 2 I mentioned and think this would be a great scope for someone who would use it in low or no light conditions.
I mounted this optic on a 16″ AR-15 and used it as a general purpose carbine. I found that shooting fast targets up close was easy and targets at distance with the fine dot was easy. Making hits on the C-Zone at 400yds was not hard and I found target identification was a breeze at longer distances given the amount of magnification. I mounted the optic in a 1-piece mount and have since transferred it to the Sphur mount seen above. (additional article on the Sphur will be coming soon). Bushnell Elite Tactical has something for every type of shooting. This optic has some short falls with the illumination, but for a general purpose mid-priced low power variable optic this scope is a good deal.
For specs and details see the Bushnell website HERE.
by: Jason
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