Just got the new Bushnell 4200 3-12 FFP Illuminated.
First impressions. This thing is a tank. 700 grams, that's a pound and a half, 25 ounces. I don't think there are too many scopes that weigh more than that. Typical Bushnell Elite turrets and solid feel just like any other elite that you may have handled. I used to think that the Bushnell turrets were huge, but the more scopes I see, the more they look average to small. Finish and controls nice, again typical Bushnell. Lettering is black on black, so that you know that you are tacticool. About 22 mils travel in each direction according to turret twists. 5 mils per revolution. No zero stops of course, so that's one in favor of the yet to be released Vortex Viper PST. Illumination is green and it lights up the whole mil dotted part of the reticle. Illumination control is variable, so no discreet settings. The only click is off to on then rotate to increase brightness. Parallax controls are marked for range, and go all the way down to 10 yards! So if your looking for a tacticool rimfire scope, this could fit the bill. Also, the parallax range marks are correct, so set the parallax at 150 yards for example, and at 150 yards the image is clear. So all in all solid and serviceable.
I just received this scope in today and just mounted it to my 20" Sam-R-ish AR-15. So I have not had an opportunity to shoot it yet. However we have been comparing it back and forth with many other midlevel optics. These impressions are from me and my friend and are totally subjective. The scopes I was comparing to today were a super sniper 3-9 variable, Zeiss conquest 6-20 50MM, new Leupold VX-3 6-20 50MM Long Range Target, and Leupold MK4 6-20 50MM.
First off this scope is very similar to the Super sniper in size and weight and dimensions, just with added zoom and illumination, but otherwise they looked like close cousins.
With all the scopes set at 12 power, the glass in the Bushnell was very comparable to the MK4 and the Conquest, nice and clear and definitely bright. The new VX-3 long range 50mm has the nicest glass that I have ever seen. Better then the Zeiss and the MK4 and better then the two nightforces that I have been able to spend time with. I've never had a chance to look through any truly top tier glass, like Premier or S&B or CounterSniper..... jk
, so I have no basis for comparison. Both the Bushnell and the MK4 have some minor edge effects. The Bushnell has a barely noticeable fish eye effect just at the very edge, and the MK4 had a noticeable shadowing at the edge. Both effects not at all distracting, but these effects were not observed on the Zeiss or the VX-3. So the Bushnell defiantly competes at this level. The glass seems better then the last Elite 6500 that I looked through. Has anybody else noticed this, that 4200s look better then 6500s?
For eye relief, that Bushnell had a large non critical eye relief, even at max power. There was also no change in focal distance when changing power. I really have given up on Leupold due to the massive change in eye relief when zooming up or down.
Finally the only disappointment, the illumination. At night time, even the lowest setting is too bright. You can see the green lighting up the inside of the scope, this should definitely be dimmer. I don't know why they made it that bright on "1" when it goes up to "10". I will have to try again at twilight, but this is an easily corrected problem at the manufacturing level. I'm surprised at this flaw. I think they may not be taking into account the human eye's sensitivity to green vs. red. I would think that settings one to about three would be a not visible night vision setting, and then scalling up from there, but I guess if you could afford any sort of quality night vision, you would be spending a lot more on a scope. I do like the green though. I also have an Accupoint 1-4 with green triangle, so call me a green convert. The Bushnell gathers noticeably more light then the Accupoint at night time though. Of course it is a 42mm vs. the Accupoint's 30mm and they do have that whole "Brightest scope made" tag line.
I won't have a chance to shoot till this weekend, so I can't test the tracking until then, but all in all I'm quite happy with this scope. So far without shooting it yet, it absolutely holds it own against the MK4s. Scott from Liberty called the new Vortex Viper PST "Nightforce lite", I think that description fits the Bushnell also. I can absolutely recommend this scope. MSRP is $850 but like I have written before, there is a pretty far dealer mark up, so one of the Hide vendors could probably help you out.
First impressions. This thing is a tank. 700 grams, that's a pound and a half, 25 ounces. I don't think there are too many scopes that weigh more than that. Typical Bushnell Elite turrets and solid feel just like any other elite that you may have handled. I used to think that the Bushnell turrets were huge, but the more scopes I see, the more they look average to small. Finish and controls nice, again typical Bushnell. Lettering is black on black, so that you know that you are tacticool. About 22 mils travel in each direction according to turret twists. 5 mils per revolution. No zero stops of course, so that's one in favor of the yet to be released Vortex Viper PST. Illumination is green and it lights up the whole mil dotted part of the reticle. Illumination control is variable, so no discreet settings. The only click is off to on then rotate to increase brightness. Parallax controls are marked for range, and go all the way down to 10 yards! So if your looking for a tacticool rimfire scope, this could fit the bill. Also, the parallax range marks are correct, so set the parallax at 150 yards for example, and at 150 yards the image is clear. So all in all solid and serviceable.
I just received this scope in today and just mounted it to my 20" Sam-R-ish AR-15. So I have not had an opportunity to shoot it yet. However we have been comparing it back and forth with many other midlevel optics. These impressions are from me and my friend and are totally subjective. The scopes I was comparing to today were a super sniper 3-9 variable, Zeiss conquest 6-20 50MM, new Leupold VX-3 6-20 50MM Long Range Target, and Leupold MK4 6-20 50MM.
First off this scope is very similar to the Super sniper in size and weight and dimensions, just with added zoom and illumination, but otherwise they looked like close cousins.
With all the scopes set at 12 power, the glass in the Bushnell was very comparable to the MK4 and the Conquest, nice and clear and definitely bright. The new VX-3 long range 50mm has the nicest glass that I have ever seen. Better then the Zeiss and the MK4 and better then the two nightforces that I have been able to spend time with. I've never had a chance to look through any truly top tier glass, like Premier or S&B or CounterSniper..... jk
, so I have no basis for comparison. Both the Bushnell and the MK4 have some minor edge effects. The Bushnell has a barely noticeable fish eye effect just at the very edge, and the MK4 had a noticeable shadowing at the edge. Both effects not at all distracting, but these effects were not observed on the Zeiss or the VX-3. So the Bushnell defiantly competes at this level. The glass seems better then the last Elite 6500 that I looked through. Has anybody else noticed this, that 4200s look better then 6500s?For eye relief, that Bushnell had a large non critical eye relief, even at max power. There was also no change in focal distance when changing power. I really have given up on Leupold due to the massive change in eye relief when zooming up or down.
Finally the only disappointment, the illumination. At night time, even the lowest setting is too bright. You can see the green lighting up the inside of the scope, this should definitely be dimmer. I don't know why they made it that bright on "1" when it goes up to "10". I will have to try again at twilight, but this is an easily corrected problem at the manufacturing level. I'm surprised at this flaw. I think they may not be taking into account the human eye's sensitivity to green vs. red. I would think that settings one to about three would be a not visible night vision setting, and then scalling up from there, but I guess if you could afford any sort of quality night vision, you would be spending a lot more on a scope. I do like the green though. I also have an Accupoint 1-4 with green triangle, so call me a green convert. The Bushnell gathers noticeably more light then the Accupoint at night time though. Of course it is a 42mm vs. the Accupoint's 30mm and they do have that whole "Brightest scope made" tag line.
I won't have a chance to shoot till this weekend, so I can't test the tracking until then, but all in all I'm quite happy with this scope. So far without shooting it yet, it absolutely holds it own against the MK4s. Scott from Liberty called the new Vortex Viper PST "Nightforce lite", I think that description fits the Bushnell also. I can absolutely recommend this scope. MSRP is $850 but like I have written before, there is a pretty far dealer mark up, so one of the Hide vendors could probably help you out.
