New at the 2017 Show is a budget-minded optics line from Bushnell, called Engage. It’s a full line of riflescopes and binoculars in the $149 to $449 range, and from what I’ve seen they’re quite nice. I picked up a 4-12x scope and the glass appeared edge-to-edge clear at all zoom levels and the controls … Read more
If you consider ‘long-range’ shooting to be a discipline that starts at 600 yards and ends in a neighboring county, you’ll need a hell of a rifle, of course. But just as important, you’ll need a hell of a scope to aim it with. I’ll spoil the suspense right now: the Bushnell Tactical Elite XRS is one hell of a scope. You may not need all the things it does, but for really long-range shooting, it’s just fantastic . . .
Bushnell’s new XRS (for ‘extreme range scope) 4.5-30×50 is the biggest scope I’ve ever seen bolted to a firearm. It rocks a 34mm main tube, a 50mm objective, locking tactical turrets, and enough magnification to see the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. And it lists for $2149, which isn’t that much when compared to the gi-normous Barrett .50s and Accuracy Int’l .338s it’s going to be mounted to. Anything smaller probably need not apply.
Let the testing begin! Barely two weeks after my ‘pleasepleaseplease send me one’ post, Bushnell has loaned me their newest and hottest tactical/3-gun scope. It will soon take the place of honor atop my heavy-barrel AR. And then maybe my AK. And then probably my .308 Model 700 PSS just for fun. Damn, I wish the weekend were here already. I wish several weekends were here already…
Badass military operators, 3-Gun competitors and Texas hog hunters have something in common: they don’t know if their next target is going to angling in from ten yards or standing still at 250. Bushnell’s SMRS (Short-Medium Range Scope) aims to please all of them. It’s designed to be a do-anything optic that zooms from both-eyes-open 1x up to 6.5x, with two available illuminated reticules in your choice of first or second focal planes.
I wasn’t the most accurate or the fastest, but today was a big improvement over yesterday’s dismal shotgun suckitude.
It’s often said that even the worst day spent shooting is still better than the best day working. If that’s true, then how good is the best day shooting? It would probably be just like today . . .
After a tiring day spent in TSA queues and miniscule airline seats yesterday, the cosmic balance has been restored. I spent an exhausting and awesome day shooting, learning and testing a slew of new gear from Bushnell, at a totally kick-ass shooting resort in southern Kentucky. We did so much shooting today that after an entire day at the range I was actually ready to stop shooting and eat something. That doesn’t happen often . . .
Confession: I’ve wanted a huge-ass Smith & Wesson scoped revolver ever since the first time I saw The Road Warrior in junior high school. I know they shouldn’t have let us in to see an R-rated movie, but money talks and the MPAA sucks. Lord Humongous might have terrorized the Simpson Desert with his .44 Magnum Model 29, but if I owned a Performance Center 686 with a scope like this I wouldn’t swap guns with him for all the opals in Coober Pedy . . .
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