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Rifle Scopes Reviews after use on the Bushnell lrhs 3-12?

I got one last week and have mounted it and played with it a bunch in low light, but have not shot it yet. Plan on doing that tomorrow. The glass is very good, very close to my Zeiss stuff. Very bright and clear edge to edge. No glare even when looking toward the setting sun. The elevation adjustment is very positive. I really like the zero stop and easy to read markings. Also like that I get 10 mils in one rev and 13 mils before I hit the upper stop. The capped windage turret is very nice and the turret is marked such that you could easily dial windage if you wanted to.

The reticle is very crisp, but it is with the reticle that I have my only concerns. This scope is labeled as the Long Range hunting Scope. Where I hunt, I see most of my animals during the first or last 30 minutes of legal light. With my aging eyes, I find the hold off marks too fine to use against a dark background like a tree line during the last 10 minutes or so of legal light. That is with the scope set on 8 to 12x. At lesser mags, I loose the hold off marks even quicker. The Christmas Tree, for me, is not usable for the last 20 minutes of legal light. Without visible holdoffs, I would hesitate to take a shot beyond 300 or so during the last 10 minutes of legal light because the wind ALWAYS blows here. At 8 -12 power, the donut is easily visible to the end of legal shooting hours and will allow me to bracket vitals if a no wind shot presents itself. I think the reticle will work for low light close range stuff like pigs by setting on about 5x and bracketing the vitals with the post. The post are very visible during any legal shooting light.

If I could make any change to the scope, it would be making the center wire and hold off marks .1 mil sub tension. This may sound too coarse, but this is a hunting scope and it would only subtend 3.6" at 1000 yards and would be visible throughout legal shooting hours against a dark background, which is where I tend to see most of the game I hunt. I wouldn't have big concerns about obscuring too much of the vitals like one might in a tactical application.

All that being said, George, Pat and Bushnell filled a very big void with this scope. Until the LRHS, for long range hunting, "making do" with a tactical scope was the best option. That is no longer the case. The LRHS is a far better solution. I am going to wring it out thoroughly this summer and look forward to hunting with it this fall.

Edited to add that I have shot mine quite a bit now. The tracking, RTZ, and reliability have been spot on. For hunting I would still like to see a little coarser reticle, but over all, this is definitely the best long range hunting optic I have used.

John
 
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It's a very good scope in every aspect except the parallax is 50Y minimum instead of the spec'd 20'.

The glass is a hair under my S&B's set at 12x which is amazing in that Bushnell put such fantastic glass in it.
 
It's a very good scope in every aspect except the parallax is 50Y minimum instead of the spec'd 20'.

Was this issue ever addressed by those that designed it and sold it?
The weight was off too, by 3.6oz on the heavy side.
 
Lrhs

Got mine last week and mounted it and checked out the turrets and they were right on the mark in adjustments. The comments about are spot on. glass, turrets, zero stop, and of course the G2 receive high marks. The cross hairs and .5 and mil marks are thin. Against a wapiti (especially a bull) at dusk they might be fine given his almost white coat. a deer......I will be struggling to find those thin wires. Never had a lit scope before but if these crosswires were lit they may be perfect with the fine hair for accuracy and the light for dusk. I have a 6x24 Bushnell Tactical and they have thicker wires for sure.

All in all it's a impressive package tho and by Dec I'll have some updated infor for ya!

Idahoorion
 
I have three of them and they filled a void in price and practicability I was looking for.
I think you need to define what you will use it for.
If 90% of my shooting was going to be in low light situations which is probably 200 yds and under I would choose an optic that is specific built for such shooting, such as a illuminated 2nd focal plane optic with a strong or lit reticle.

That being said the 3-12x42 LRHS fits what I wanted in an optic, and it fits perfectly. I have zero complaints with the scopes. They deliver all that was promised for me.
I have ran mine side by side with a S&B 3-12x44 Precision Hunter with FFP P3 reticle & a Swarovski 3.5-18x44 Z5 2ndFP BRX reticle and have found the LRHS glass as good or better than either of them.

With any of the FFP scopes I have used in true low light hunting I have had to use 6X magnification to use the reticle. Which I dont consider a problem.
 
Was this issue ever addressed by those that designed it and sold it?
The weight was off too, by 3.6oz on the heavy side.

So I'm not the only one whose scope weighed 25.6 oz? Good to hear, thought my postal scale might have been off.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Scope seems high priced for no illumination. I think illumination should be standard in FFP scopes. FFP reticles quickly get lost on low power in dark backgrounds.
 


Mine leaks red, it's strange...

Function has been great, after shooting/twisting turrets and packing it quite a few miles. I wasn't 100% sold on the reticle at first, but it has grown on me a lot. The glass is very good. I really like the turret arrangement, especially the arrow on top of the ele turret. My one negative is that the ele turret does seem to wander while riding strapped to my pack, the arrow on top helps mitigate this issue, by calling your attention to it.

I want two more.
 
Scope seems high priced for no illumination. I think illumination should be standard in FFP scopes. FFP reticles quickly get lost on low power in dark backgrounds.

There are states (Idaho being one) in which illumination is illegal for big game hunting, so I can understand mfrs making "non-illuminated" their standard for hunting scopes. From the outside looking in, would make sense to offer illumination as an option, but whether it pays for the mfr to do that is probably the big question.
 
Only complaint I have that I think needs addressed is the windage turret. Alignment of marks and honestly it feels real cheap. Sloppy like. Absolutely love everything else about the scope though. Just giving my thoughts.
 
There are states (Idaho being one) in which illumination is illegal for big game hunting, so I can understand mfrs making "non-illuminated" their standard for hunting scopes. From the outside looking in, would make sense to offer illumination as an option, but whether it pays for the mfr to do that is probably the big question.
Actually, battery powered lit reticles are legal in Idaho
 
Would somebody be kind enough to post a couple of pics "through the scope" ?
I have been disapointed before buying scopes based on reviews because I have been unable to have on in my hands.
I want a scope suitable for hunting AND for competition. This sounds like the answer but at over 1k, I'm not sure yet. Is it also usable under a spotlight?
 
silhouette, I've seen several through the scope pics in the threads on this forum. Not much risk involved. Here is their warranty.

"For 1 year from purchase if you don't like the scope send it back and with the reason for your dissatisfaction and they will refund the purchase price. After 1 year it has a lifetime warranty on repairs. "
 
Actually, battery powered lit reticles are legal in Idaho

Thanks for that clarification! F&G regs say "no electronic devices on scopes for big game" and when checking out scopes, a local gun/scope dealer mentioned that all illumination was illegal here for big game. It wasn't until your post that I looked for and found the "exception" made by F&G for battery powered illumination.
 
Has anyone used this scope under a spotlight yet?
If so, what power do you find most useful and is the Reticle hard to pick up?