4-30 bushnell elite 6500

[frankmdc49]

guys (and gals),
don't know if i am doing this right. i sort of computer dumb. anyway here goes. how's the quality of the bushnell elite 6500 (4-30). gonna try to get into some long range varmit sil. i hav a 6.5x47 Lapua on a Rem 700 SA and a Broughton Barrel (5R 8 twist). is the bushnell adequate or is the leupold 6.5x20 tact. better quality.
many thanks and God Bless.
frank

 

[RonAKA]

Bushnell Elite scopes are made by LOW (Light Optical Works) in Japan, and are very good quality. LOW made the Bausch and Lomb Elite scopes before Bushnell bought them out. Rumor has it that LOW makes components for Nightforce and Leupold. Leupold really only do assembly in the US now. The 6500 is the top of the Elite line. If it has the features you want, the quality should be there. Here are a couple of links that rank scope quality. There are a lot of choices.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recommended_riflescopes.htm

http://www.opticstalk.com/topic8185.html

 

[1000yardstare]

Looked at a 4-30 Bushnell 6500 last year and was puzzled by the calibration of the windage and elevation knobs. The outer spindle had calibration markings but the inner drum had no calibration. It was blank. Nothing to reference the outer spindle. Maybe this is so you can put your own elevation marks on? But that would only be for one particular load.

Anyway, bought a 6-24x50 Bushnell 4200 with the big tactical knobs and side focus. Am happy with it.

 

[tido250]

Just got my elite 6500 tactical 4.5-30 and so far its awesome,bad news is they discontinued this model so if you don't know of someone who has it stocked you probably won't b able to find it,good news is a gun shop/range in okc has a couple of them.

 

[serial # 001]

This came from another site, but tells something about the 6500.

Well, boys and girls, I have some more reporting on these three optics. Today I took them to two different gunsmiths for their opinions. One looked through them during my lunch break and the other after work. I tried to influence them by saying, "Look though the Bushnell first, then you can see how the Swarovski is better." It didn't work.

At lunch the sky was cloudy with some blue sky showing. The gunsmith looked through the Bush first and then looked through the Swaro. He said, "I don't notice any difference." Then we turned them up to 12X so he could compare them with the NightForce. Again he didn't notice any difference. He said, "The Bushnell seems to be as good as the NightForce." I have noticed that same thing during the day.

After work I went to another gunsmith. I tried the same thing with him about looking through the Bush first. Never the less, he went right for the Swaro. The sky was totally overcast when he started. This is very significant. After he considered each on their lowest setting, he said, "No comparison. The Swaro is much more defined." About that time the sun came out. He looked through each for several seconds and back to the other. Finally he made a rather odd observation. He said, "When the sun is out the Bushnell is brighter. When the sun goes behind the cloud the Swarovski is brighter." I asked him for an overall impression if the Swarovski was brighter. After a pause he finally said, "I would say 'Yes'."

Finally we got to 12X. After he gave them a few minutes observation he said, "Hands down, the NightForce is the brightest and has better definition. This is the finest scope I have ever handled."

The most interesting thing I got from this is the Swaro is brighter in the dim light and the Bush is brighter in the full sun.