Anybody heard anything about these? Euro Optic has them on their site for around $800-$900 but no pics or specs yet. Looks like a 3-18 model and a 4.5-27 model.
Rifle Scopes New Bushnell Forge Scopes
- Thread starter wareagle700
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First I've heard of it. Thanks for the heads up. I also see a new F-class scope too. interesting..
Following this as I am thinking of the DMR II or LRTS
Buy one of the LRHS 4.5-18's scopes that GA Precision has on sale for $800ish. That's the best deal going right now on a new scope.
800 is with a multi tool, just the scope is 750?! Thats 150 cheaper than when I got my lrts for 35% off a year ago! https://www.gaprecision.net/ga-store/optics/bushnell-lrhs-4-5-18x44-g2h-illum.html
That said, Ive only been able to find where someone asked doug from camerland to look into the forge on another forum in addition to the europtic page. I wonder if at the price point its not the replacement for these lrhs Ive read about?
I don’t know if I’d buy a Bushnell after reading some past comments from hide members about their customer service “Bushnell's work great until they break. They have horrible CS and will try and wiggle out from underneath their warranty.” To name a few. I’ve never had any experience with Bushnell customer service so I can’t say either way.
https://www.eurooptic.com/Bushnell-...xposed-Locking-Turrets-w-Zero-Stop-Rifle.aspx
Very interesting and price point obviously put it under their DMR/LRTS line...
Very interesting and price point obviously put it under their DMR/LRTS line...
The mag range and pricing makes me wonder if they’re used nag the same OEM as Athlon. Also doesn’t Primary Arms have a 3-18 in the works? I’m guessing Chinese or Philippine manufactured, priced just below their Japanese scopes to compete with Athlon and Vortex PST Gen2.
I hope they aren't getting into the "feature packed Chinese optic with amazing warranty" game but the price and features certainly sound that way.
I wouldn't mind. I had an Athlon BTR 4.5-27, pretty impressive for the money. I just got in one the new Nikon FX 1000 4-16s as well. The clicks are pretty solid, the glass is surprisingly good. I need to get it mounted and see if tracks well enough. After that I guess its a waiting game to see if it lasts. Its nice to have some lower priced options that work well enough.
I am going to go mount it, just came in today while I was at work.
My experience with bushnell CS was positive. As well as a buddy of mine. The rebate fiasco is a different story.. The LRHS scopes are very good at the price point being offered by GAP. Best optics under 1k IMO.
Didn't realize there was an existing thread on this topic. Went ahead and deleted mine. I'm interested to see how they turn out features are certainly there at an affordable price.
I see some Chronus resemblance. Damn.
I'm all for a lower priced offering but I won't buy anything from Bushnell without Elite in the name.
I'm all for a lower priced offering but I won't buy anything from Bushnell without Elite in the name.
That seems like a really good deal on the LRHSi. Its a couple months after you initially posted this... has anyone figured out if its because the Forge is replacing it?
The LRST replaced the LRHS. I have both. The LRHSi is a great deal fro the $$.
You sure about that?
I purchased one of their new Engage line of scopes several months back. It arrived with some of the viewing area obscured due to some film or lining having come loose within the optic. When I contacted their CS, they wanted $40 or $50 to return the scope to them. Mind you, I'd just purchased it, and this was basically 1/3 the price of the optic. So thats all to say I will be steering clear of Bushnell going forward.
I had one of my scope sent in for warranty repair. I paid for usps shipping myself and it was less than $10. Don’t think you need to pay $50 for shipping.
Their Engage lineup is not covered under the "no questions asked" warranty.
I shot at a match with George Gardner this spring when he announced that he was going to get the LRHSi. The LRST is still being made, but not the LRHS. Someone in Bushnell messed up and ordered the LRHS scopes by mistake and George is selling them cheaper than I paid for mine with a pretty good discount. They are also coming out with a DMR Pro model that I got to look thru. Glass equal to the XRS II in the DMR.
biggest problem with bushnell is the company has been horse traded by various private equity companies who suck the blood out of the company then pedal off whats left. Vista outdoors appears to be the last company with no chair to sit in at the end of musical chairs. If you look at all the other companies vista outdoors owns it looks like a place companies go to die. its sad I love the better bushnell stuff. They have been replaced in the stores around me by vortex. I will only buy bushnell if the scopes are japanese built. the philipeno stuff isn't quite there yet.
Where did you see the fclass scope
That pic looks a LOT like an Athlon. Turrets especially.
Turrets are really similar, but the objective bell slope is much more gentler/longer. Probably to get away with a less technical grind (lower refractive index) on the lens or fewer corrective lenses like an ultrashort would require; ultimately to hit a price point. After all, it's competing in a really cutthroat segment where the PST II occupies.
Thanks for the info. I pulled the trigger.
I was going to buy an XRS II, but this should hold me over until I see what the DMR II Pro is all about. If the glass is the same as the ED glass in the XRS II, it should be a winner at that price point.
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/new-bushnell-forge-scopes.6874351/
Bushnell previews 2 new F-Class scopes
Bushnell previews 2 new F-Class scopes
Interesting. So the forge is their new premium hunting lineup but only the binocs and spotter have what I’m assuming is ED prime glass.
Scratch that some of the forge scopes will have ED prime glass. This might be going on my dads rifle if he decides to retire the Zeiss
The turrets and overall design language reminds me of the Engage. It wouldn't surprise me then if this is a Chinese optic as well.
More info I saw:
http://www.shotbusiness.com/bushnell-forge-lines/
https://www.americanhunter.org/arti...-bushnell-forge-nitro-and-prime-optics-lines/
Forge
Engage 2.5-10x44
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Here is the sell sheet with specs for various models:
http://media.vistaoutdoor.com/presskit/NPS/bushnell/Forge/Bushnell Forge riflescope sell sheet.pdf
I'll be interested to see what the specs are for the Nitro line as well and if they get rid of the Engage now.
http://media.vistaoutdoor.com/presskit/NPS/bushnell/Forge/Bushnell Forge riflescope sell sheet.pdf
I'll be interested to see what the specs are for the Nitro line as well and if they get rid of the Engage now.
Are they just copy-pasta-ing Athlon's lineup? ODM industry and all...
Is your argument/implication that China is worse than the Philippines?
Yes.
I currently own a Chinese-made Bushnell scope and it's great. But it didn't cost anywhere near $800. And the Philippine-made scopes in the Forge's price range that I've used (PST2 and XTR II) are quite good IMHO. I've heard nothing but good things about the Nikon X1000 and FX1000, both Philippine-made IIRC, but I've never seen one in person. I've also looked through a number of Athlons at the range and never really been impressed with any of them for the price range, and they're all Chinese-made except for the Cronus, as far as I've heard. The only one that I've heard enough good stuff about for the price for me to recommend is the Midas, which I've heard is quite good and is reasonably priced. But once again, it's much cheaper than the Forge and I think that's the right market segment for Chinese scopes, at least IMHO.
This might be great, but costing this much and being made in china is a strike against it in my book. It's like a $1500 Phillipine scope. At that price point, you expect Japan/Germany/etc. I hope this new bushnell Forge is fantastic, but I have my doubts on glass quality and build quality given the country of manufacture.
But I'm hardly an expert. Just a guy who likes to read a ton and bugs everyone at the range to let me try out their stuff.
Heres my experiance, had a HDMR gen I rode hard and put up wet after many years of punishment. I noticed last year that my reticle was slightly canted and sent it in to see if they could repair it. Two weeks later they told me they were replacing it with a new HDMRII. That went far and beyond my expectation.
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I have received excellent customer service from Bushnell on 2 occations. Both occasions I had a problem with elite tactical scopes. Both times the scopes were immediately replaced and on one occasion they gave me a free rangefinder for my trouble.
Great to see them roll out ED Prime across multiple products. I've been nothing but impressed by the XRS II, though that is a Japanese made optic
Similar experience for me as well
I ordered an 2.5-10x Engage for an old 22lr rifle that my kids use; it got boxed up and sent back the same day it arrived. The glass was excellent, I mean really quite nice, as in pretty much on par with my PST II or Tango 6. It was far better than a Tango 4. The problem was the turrets were horrible. The windage turret was especially bad...the locking feature simply didn't work and the turret would turn in both up/down positions. So I'm hoping that the Forge, or maybe even the one step lower Nitro, will address the build quality issues.
You should take an opportunity if it affords itself to look through a Celestron or Vanguard spotter, or better yet a set of Vanguard EDII or EDIV bino's. I have owned all of these at one point and still own the Vanguard EDII 10x42's and they punch WAY above their street price, and are certainly better than what any of the popular American/Euro brands offer at 1.5-2x the price.
These are Chinese made products that at the time of their release were a lot better than the Philippine produced stuff selling for more money by their competitors. I havent looked for binos in this price range in about 2 yrs, so things could have changed.
BTW, I am not saying all Chinese stuff will be better... but in todays world its all about manufacturing tolerances and QC. Anyone can source decent glass. I am definetely open to Bushnell finding a producer for cheaper in China.
On another note, Athlon was started by a group of ex-Bushnell guys. I am not surprised Bushnell is now making optics that look like Athlon's, lol.
You guys familiar with Maven? Its all the guys that left Brunton when Brunton shut down their foray into high end optics.
IIRC the guys that run the Sig optics division are ex-Leupold guys.
I'm rambling... but my point is there is a lot of co-mingling in every industry. If Bushnell found a good producer in China, I'm fine with it and I dont think it means inherently lower quality optics.
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I didn't know that about Bushnell employees starting Athlon, but that makes sense.
I will also add a caveat that I have much less of an issue with spotters and binos made in China than scopes. The build quality doesn't play nearly as big of a part in performance on something that doesn't have to withstand recoil and doesn't have precision mechanisms like turrets. My spotter is a Razor 11-33x50, and I believe it's Chinese IIRC. Great unit, but I wouldn't trust it to withstand being mounted to a rifle either. This opinion, as always, is worth what you paid for it. So if you guys are happy with them, then that's great. I think my opinion is in the significant minority when it comes to Athlon. But it does come from having looked through quite a few of them at the range.
I will also add a caveat that I have much less of an issue with spotters and binos made in China than scopes. The build quality doesn't play nearly as big of a part in performance on something that doesn't have to withstand recoil and doesn't have precision mechanisms like turrets. My spotter is a Razor 11-33x50, and I believe it's Chinese IIRC. Great unit, but I wouldn't trust it to withstand being mounted to a rifle either. This opinion, as always, is worth what you paid for it. So if you guys are happy with them, then that's great. I think my opinion is in the significant minority when it comes to Athlon. But it does come from having looked through quite a few of them at the range.
There are different factories in China that makes riflescopes and other optics.
One known for making the higher quality scopes just bought at least one super expensive and precise CNC multi axis machine. That's why I think the Athlon Midas TAC series turned out so well. The one I have I can't imagine someone complaining about??!! Everything is really nice on it, especially the turrets. At $589 MAP it's a screamer!
One known for making the higher quality scopes just bought at least one super expensive and precise CNC multi axis machine. That's why I think the Athlon Midas TAC series turned out so well. The one I have I can't imagine someone complaining about??!! Everything is really nice on it, especially the turrets. At $589 MAP it's a screamer!
Unless I'm mistaken, Eurooptic is starting to ship these now.
I had the chance to play with one of the 4.5-27x50 ffp moa models today at Cal Ranch of all places. The turrets are audible and tacticle with minimal lash. The glass is surprisingly good, as I was looking through it I thought to myself "damn I'm going to need one of these". I have a feeling that these will be a strong contender in the sub $1k market.
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