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Rifle Scopes Monarch 800 or Elite 1500/1200

reeljob

Pastor
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 10, 2009
736
93
Galax, VA
Need a quick opinion on:
Monarch 800
Bushnell 1500
Bushnell 1200
I realize the Leica and Swarovski are in a league of there own so I am not interested in opions on those. I have a Leupld RX-1 and because of issues with it I am not looking to buy another Leupold though the price is competitive, unless any of you guys can convice me otherwise.
Thanks Guys
 
Re: Monarch 800 or Elite 1500/1200

I've been disappointed with every Bushnell I've had. But thats just me. Its taken me a while to learn that is cheaper to buy better first than to replace a disappointing bargain later.
 
Re: Monarch 800 or Elite 1500/1200

I Bought the Bushnell Elite 1500 and it really does kick ass. It will pick up reflective targets like cars & street signs well past 1500yds, not that I do a lot of shooting in such places. In the brush, I have picked up douglas fir tree tops at 1700yds with the right lighting conditions, however, just two days ago, I had a hard time ranging a power pole that I estimated was 800-900 yds, because the sun was low behind my back.
 
Re: Monarch 800 or Elite 1500/1200

I was getting ready to pull the trigger on the Elite myself last summer. Couple of people talked me into a Nikon Gold 1200 for about the same money, $400 I think. I brought it to work and did a side by side comparison to my bosses Elite 1500. Night and day. I could actually see what I was ranging clearer in mine and I could easily hit small bushes at 870 yds(longest spot I had to range at the time)every time with mine. Out of about 20 tries with the Elite, I got a reading once at a closer target at 785 yds. Might have been a defective unit, but that was a side by side comparison I did. I have ranged a cedar tree since with mine that was about 8' tall and got 980 yds at my house, but I had to steady it on a rest to range the tree. I use a dope chart and didn't need the ballistics holdovers in the Elite and rarely need to use the elevation function for varminting. My boss did say that the hold overs were very close to required dope for his 243 when he was shooting jugs out to 580 yds. The use of a 9V battery is nice in the Elite, but the CR123 lasts a long time in mine and they aren't that expensive. I'm still on the original battery since the beginning of last summer and used it a good bit while groundhog hunting.