Bushnell Scope Trouble

I've mentioned this before but a few years ago I had a Bushnell Trophy fail on an African safari, which prompted me to replace it with a Leupold and be done with it. That's by far not the only Bushnell that has failed on me but by far the most drastic one as far as consequences are concerned. Leupold has a rather mediocre glass compared to European high-end brands but they have a reputation of being bombproof, for a good reason.

I wouldn't avoid Bushnell altogether, but as they say, once bitten twice shy...
 
Haven’t heard back from Bushnell on my scope. I did decide to go ahead and pull the plug on a Leupold VX®-3HD 4.5-14x50mm. When I get my other scope back that will go on another rifle as a backup. Since my wife has a lot of backup shoes, I do believe I should have another scope.
 
I have a Bushnell Elite 4200 3-9x40 I bought new in 2010, it’s been mounted on a 700 ADL the whole time. When it bought it I thought the glass was very good and I still think it’s good for shooting game out to 300 yards. Which is as far as I shoot. My understanding is that Burris puts out excellent scopes at the upper end and not so excellent at the lower end.

I’ve pretty much quit purchasing Leupold scopes for the simple reason they discontinued everything I like in the VX-3 line down. I have a VX-3 1.75-6x32 on a 336W 30-30, a VX-R 2-7x33 on an AR and a VX-2 3-9x40 on my son’s Vanguard 30-06. All three scopes have been discontinued I haven’t found anything else Leupold that I care for unless it is VX-5 and up but with the Custom Shop demise I can’t get German #4 Illuminated and non Illuminated reticles either.

I’ve switched to Meopta. In the prices I can afford they best suit my needs. I’m not running down Leupold, they just don’t have what I want anymore with one exception, the VX Freedom EFR 3-9X33, but I feel the Clearidge Ultra RM 3-9x32 AO’s I have are just as good.
 
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cdb1 said:
I’ve switched to Meopta. In the prices I can afford they best suit my needs.
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As a sidenote, Meopta glass is far superior to that of Leupold. Probably the best bang for the buck in mid-price scopes on the market. Some Meostar models rival even high end Zeiss.
 
How do the Meopta Optika 5 & 6 scopes that I have no experience with compare to the Meopta Meopro scopes I do have experience with?
 
All I have are MeoPro 3.5-10s so the only I can do is regurgitate what I’ve read on the net. Mine were purchased from Doug. I’ve never seen any Meopta product in a store other than the Cabela’s branded Meoptas.
 
Walkalong said:
How do the Meopta Optika 5 & 6 scopes that I have no experience with compare to the Meopta Meopro scopes I do have experience with?
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The only first hand experience I have is comparing them side by side at a gun store so I can't say anything definitive, but my first impression was that there seems to be no discernible difference in brightness and resolution. Nowhere near the difference you can tell right away when you compare Meopro to VX3 or Meostar to VX5.

I've been looking for an excuse to buy one to try it out properly and now that my Rem 7600 needs a better driven/treestand combo scope for upcoming season, an Optika5 2-10x42 or Optika6 1-6x24 may well be in order.
 
Bushnell sent an email stating they finished their evaluation and found the item to be covered under warranty and that a new item was ordered. Not sure exactly what that means. I’m assuming that they have ordered a new scope. ‍ We will see what happens next.
 
Since your old scope was a discontinued model, they should send you an upgrade to a current model of similar specs. When Bushnell replaced my range finder under warranty a couple months ago I got a similar email and the box simply showed up a couple days later. They did not send me any tracking or details on the replacement chosen.
 
Well I received a new scope from Bushnell. They sent a Banner 2, 6-18x50. Definitely an upgrade from what I had originally. Just can’t beat it. This will more than work for one of my other rifles. Next sunny day off from work, a shooting I will go!! Thanks to everyone for all of your input!!
 
Smoky1 said:
Well I received a new scope from Bushnell. They sent a Banner 2, 6-18x50. Definitely an upgrade from what I had originally. Just can’t beat it. This will more than work for one of my other rifles. Next sunny day off from work, a shooting I will go!! Thanks to everyone for all of your input!!
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I've got one of those on my 223 savage m11. Decent low end optic. I do get a little edge distortion at 18x.
 
I'm glad I searched and found this thread. I have a Bushnell Nitro 6-24x50 scope on my .308 Savage Axis II that has been great in my opinion. Until today that is. All of the sudden the crosshairs were tilted and shots off the mark. I thought maybe the rings were loose but what had actually happened was the rear part of the scope behind the power adjusting ring was so loose you could see the separation from the tube that holds the eyepiece. You can wiggle it all around. No way for the customer to tighten that back up that I could see so I started a warranty claim.

Before I sent the scope back I googled Bushnell customer service reviews and just about every site had them listed as horrible.I really want to get this scope fixed so I'm glad that some of you have had positive experiences with their customer service. My scope was never abused in any way. I don't hunt so it's only used shooting paper and steels from the bench and not even out in bad weather. And it's certainly never been dropped.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I'll also have a good experience as I'm sending it in tomorrow.
 
I don't know if the Banner of 40 years ago is the same as today's Banner, but it is their lower-tier scope. I've owned several Bushnell scopes...Elites, Nitro, etc., all midrange scopes and have been decent scopes. I sold all but one of my Bushies and upgraded to Meopta. WOW! They are superb scopes. I have 5 of them now. When I decide which .204 to buy to replace the one I have, the last Bushnell will go too. I'll buy another Meopta. For those of you who want to consider a Meopta, try the Dichrotech reticle. DichroTech is remarkable technology. I have two of them, both Optika6 3-18X56mm. I shoot long range prairie dogs and coyotes with a Rem 700 VSF .223 and a Tikka T3X Super Varmint .223. Haven't found the .204 I want yet.
Bottomline for me is that a really good scope will greatly enhance the rifle shooting experience. Certainly an inexpensive yet reliable scope on an accurate deer rifle will put venison in the freezer, but I spend many hours looking thru a scope at prairie dogs, coyotes, squirrels, and deer. Spending the extra dough is worth it to me.
 
I sent my scope back to Bushnell and was notified that they received it last Monday, and they will notify me again once a technician has evaluated the product. I'll give them a few more days then see if I can get a status report. I'm hoping to have this resolved before the nice spring weather arrives here.
 
I just got an email from Bushnell saying the defect is covered under warranty and a replacement will be sent out. No other details were given. Looking at their website that model Nitro 6-24x50 scope is still available so hopefully the replacement they send will be that same model as I really liked the scope. That is assuming the problem I had was a one off and not common with the line in general.



I let you know when I get the replacement but so far I can't complain about the customer service I've received.
 
Smoky1 said:
Well I received a new scope from Bushnell. They sent a Banner 2, 6-18x50. Definitely an upgrade from what I had originally. Just can’t beat it. This will more than work for one of my other rifles. Next sunny day off from work, a shooting I will go!! Thanks to everyone for all of your input!!
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Glad you got your new scope. Hope it works out for you.

Sniper66 said:
I don't know if the Banner of 40 years ago is the same as today's Banner,
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I don't know if they are any better but I still have the one that came with my rifle mounted on a 30-06 more than 40 years. I was surprise to learn that the Banner was a low tier scope, but than 40+ years ago most manufactures took pride in their product.
 
Since we are discussing the Bushnell Banner scopes I'll add my input. When I bought my Savage Axis 2 it was a package deal that included a 3-9x40 Banner scope. I switched that out for the Nitro 6-24x50 as I intended to use the .308 for longer range shooting, and put the Banner on my AR that I usually only shoot out to 100 yds. I was pleasantly surprised at how good that Banner scope is. I know it retails for less than $100 and I didn't expect it to work as well as it does.
 
mmb617 said:
Since we are discussing the Bushnell Banner scopes ... 3-9x40 Banner ... on my AR that I usually only shoot out to 100 yds. I was pleasantly surprised at how good that Banner scope is. I know it retails for less than $100 and I didn't expect it to work as well as it does.
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I have used Banner Dusk & Dawn 6-18x50mm for several years and it has held up well to various 22LR/9mm PCC testing at 100 yards and may be the only "non-China" option around $100 as it is made in South Korea - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...4x50mm-scope-comparison.901816/#post-12216619

And if I have any issues, I can use the lifetime warranty that many THR members posted as having good experience with.

Sniper66 said:
I don't know if the Banner of 40 years ago is the same as today's Banner
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It's not even the same as Banner of 15 years ago. Bought a 3-9x40mm Banner on special for around $39 and it was "OK" mainly used for 22LR but when Banner "Dusk & Dawn" models came out, it was literally night and day.

I bought my Dusk & Dawn 6-18x50mm from Walmart for $129 and it has been my lowest price reference scope until durable Bushnell Trophy 3-9x40mm that surprisingly has clear and bright field of view which I now recommend as lowest price scope for durable use (BTW, Trophy is also made in South Korea).

Only other non-China scope option under $200 I would recommend is Burris FF 6.5-20x50mm for $157 for mil-dot and $188 for E1 reticle with $9 shipping from Dack Outdoors made in the Philippines - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...20x-50mm-169-9-shipping.893341/#post-12023578
 
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I got my scope back from Bushnell (Vista Outdoor) today. They replaced the Nitro with an Engage which seems to be an equivalent level scope with the same magnification range and objective lens size. Turnaround time was just under two weeks which I think is very good. I haven't had the chance to try it yet but have no reason to think it won't be just as good as the one it's replacing.
 
Sent a Leupold back for evaluation a month or so back and they sent me a new replacement. But the whole thing got me to thinking just how it is a scope goes bad? Where and how? Unless damaged to the point stuff gets out of alignment or is no longer sealed up, what gives?

So it turns out that in most cases the windage and elevation adjustments are controlled by vertical and horizontal screws, 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock, which are opposed by a leaf spring set at around 7:30. One side has a dimple, the other a nipple. If the nipple jumps out of the dimple, all bets are off. Reticle is just flopping around.

Would be curious to know how many times that is the source of the problem and if it's just cheaper for them to replace it than to take a chance on breaking it down, putting it back together and sealing it back up?
 
Smoky1 said:
The model is a 71-4164D (Banner)
Made is China, hence the problem.
Can I even get a good scope for hunting for $800 or less? Average shooting distance 100 yards. Top distance probably no more than 200 yards. Been looking at the Vortex. I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can but I just don’t have enough knowledge to make a sound decision.
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Yes, you can still get a decent affordable scope. Even has free shipping for Prime members:
https://www.amazon.com/Burris-Fullfield-Hunting-Ballistic-Reticle/dp/B0941TPNGF
Made in the Philippines, lifetime warranty (that you probably will not have to use). okay clarity and a useful ballistic plex reticle. I had two of the 3-9X models that served me well for years and are still being used by a couple younger shooters that needed decent optics. They also offer higher powered models for under $200.
 
Today I got to try out the Engage scope that Bushnell sent me as a replacement for the discontinued Nitro. I had really liked the Nitro and hoped the replacement would be as good. No worry though as I think this Engage is as good or maybe even a little better. The clarity at max 24x is good for a scope in this price range. I was able to see the holes my .308 made at 300 yds using splatterburst targets without using my spotting scope even with my not so great eyes.

A couple other differences were that the Nitro adjustments were 1/4 MOA per click and the Engage is 1/8 MOA per click. That probably comes in handy for fine tuning to someone who's a better shot than I am. And the adjustment knobs are easily reset to zero without any tools on the Engage which I think is nice.

I don't know where all the negative reviews about Bushnell customer service came from as my experience couldn't have been any better. I am completely satisfied with the service I got.
 
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