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Playing with the Bushnell 3.5-21 x 50 DMR


VarmLR

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Not so long back, I acquired another piece of glass to have a play with. It was intended for the .308 for target duties, with my Delta Titanium reserved for stalking. A month or two in, and I've been using the DMR for stalking, target and plinking.

 

bushnell_elite_tactical_DMR_3.5-21x50_1-

 

The scope's a little unusual in that it is very short compared with similar glass, at around 13 inches. It is still quite a bruiser though at 920g (about 2 lbs)!

 

I was after a good long range scope, and initially hadn't considered it for anything other than target or pinging steel from a distance.

 

Whilst I do have the budget for more premium European optics, I was always curious about this model, as the glass was meant to be very good indeed. The main draw for me though was its internal adjustment, a whopping 14.9 Mils from a 100 yard zero on my rifle (24 inch barrelled .308). That's enough adjustment to get me out to 1150 yards without needing an moa rail. Whilst I don't plan on shooting the .308 to that distance, I do plan on shooting it to 1000, where with a newly developed 190 SMK load, I'll be needing about 11.8 or so Mils elevation.

 

First impressions with this scope were very good indeed. I particularly like the turret system, whilst on this scope having no zero-stop, does have a clearly marked elevation ladder type indicator which with mine, is zero'd with the "0" marker bang on the 4th mark up that indicator, so I always know how to get back to zero. Dials are very positive, much like my Nightforce in fact, and the turrets lock down after adjustment.

 

Focus is very positive and easy with a gloved hand, requiring quite a firm twist of the side parallax dial. Ditto, zoom adjustment is pretty stiff but like a lot of scopes these days, there is a raised key on the adjuster to allow easy reference and adjustment in gloved hands. Build quality seems very good indeed, on a par in fact with the NSX.

 

The model I bought was a simple mill-dot in the FFP, a nice, clear, uncluttered ret which I favour over the more elaborate G2 or horus type rets. Ret thickness has been judged well as it doesn't appear too thick at full zoom, even at 600 yards. Whilst I haven't tried it any further on target, it ought to be fine at 1000, although I seldom use much more than 16x. At 8x it is perfect for hunting, and it's not until you drop it below 5x that the ret gets too small and thin against a dark background such as woodland at duks or dawn.

 

I've mounted this using Tier-One mounts. It is a relatively large 34mm tube and I really rate the Tier Ones having tried them for the first time. They are rock solid and very well made.

 

Using the scope on the rifle for stalking, I took a nice buck recently, and had just left the scope at 8x mag. It provides a good field of view, and I like the fact that you can get to the right picture quite easily without faffing around for the sweet spot too long. Not as good in this respect or FOV as the Delta Titanium which is pretty amazing for FOV and acquisition. Focus is via the Euro-type fast focus ocular which I like.

 

I have tried this at dusk and it performed really well. The glass clarity is really very good indeed. Resolution and clarity at 600 yards is on a par with some premium optics although I haven't tried it further out yet. it doesn't have the brightness of the Delta Titanium, but it does have an edge on resolution, much like the Nightforce. It is a little brighter than the Nightforce too but loses out only fractionally on resolution when the light starts to get difficult.

 

 

I tried a zero test and repeatability is very good indeed, my sample bettering some of the tests that I've read on-line.

 

All in all, this is an absolutely cracking scope and it may just stay on the rifle for stalking duties! Whilst I do like the Delta a great deal, the Bushnell DMR has proved itself to be a genuine do-it-all scope which has, quite frankly, astonishingly good glass and build at the price. It only differs from the more expensive 34mm tubed Elite series by virtue of having no zero stop, but if you can live with that and want a long range scope that will do woodland hunting too, perform well in poor light and are prepared to pay the weight penalty, I'd highly recommend this one...it's a cracker of a scope, much better in fact than I was expecting.

 

The obvious comparison at this point is with the Sightron top range of S3 scopes or Vortext PSTs. I've tried all of them, and the DMR, to my mind anyway, is definitely my pick of the bunch.

 

The only penalty that I can so far see is weight. My stalking outfit is also used for target and with this scope on board is a 12lb outfit. Whilst that doesn't bother me for stalking, those looing for a lightweight alternative might want to look elsewhere. Similarly for weight restricted target classes, you'll have to account for the 2 lbs mass plus scope rings.

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I believe that the newer Vortex PST's have better glass than the older ones (possibly using similar glass to the previous generation Razors?). However, the few PST's that I've looked at or used weren't as good imho as the DMR. They were a few years old, so were the older models. Turrets on this thing are much better imho, as is the glass. I did try out both an S3 and a PST. I preferred the DMR.

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