Mountain Goat
Handloader
- Dec 14, 2010
- 386
- 11
In another thread, I mentioned how a new 3-9x40 Elite 4200 had what I thought were defective qualities to it. Bushnell was quite pro-active in contacting me and making the situation more than right. It was going to be a while before Bushnell had the 3-9 available, so they subbed a new Elite 2.5-10 instead. I'm way ahead at this point. I had a chance to take it out in the woods and give it a decent hunting situations type test. Originally, I wanted to give it a head-to-head with my new VX3, but the VX3 has issues and is being sent back.
My first and biggest concern with the Elite was the specified eye relief distance of 3.3 inches. I really prefer a minimum of 3.5" but not much over 4" since I am a bit of a stock crawler at 6"2" 225# with long arms. Although I didn't measure the actual eye relief, it sure seemed closer to 4" than 3.3". My only complaint is that on 10x the eye relief is much more critical, but since I mounted the scope with that in mind, it worked just fine. The field of view is understated as well, at least on 4x and lower. I could actually see glimpses of the stainless barrel up to almost 4x. This did not distract me in any way and didn't interfere with target aquisition.
I tested tracking while sighting in at the range. The click values were accurate, and it tracked straight up and down which also helped me verify a square reticle and not a canted mount. It returned to zero and has held zero wonderfully.
I set out targets at various distances and locations out to just over 300yds. Some were in the open, othere were in the shadows of the timber or behind objects like logs, stumps, etc to simulate where one might catch a glimpse of a legal buck. I also viewed these targets from various positions and conditions like full sun, shade, against a tree and what not. I also used all power settings to see if there was any noticeable difference. All the targets had a few shots (7mm) in them so I could see if they could be identified through the scope and at what power I could see them, not exactly scientific, but very much a real world hunting situation. Past 200yds or so, it took at least 7x to clearly see the bullet holes in all situations. My Nikon Monarch 2-8 needed 8x to even come close to the Elite. The color resolution in full sun was better with the Monarch, but the image and clarity were both better with the Elite. That's really the only comparison I did since I was simply testing the Elite to see if I noticed any deficientcies. The Elite was fantastic when picking out objects in shadows or dark timber when there was a sunny spot just in front of the shadows. A lot of scopes get flooded out in this situation, and I found the Elite to perform very well. Edge-to-edge clarity was good throughout the power range, but this scope seems to have a sweet spot in the 6-8x range where the reticle seems really dark and the clarity and resolution seem very crisp.
The reticle was no different than any other wire-type reticle. It was nice and dark but did get a bit of a copper look when bright sun was behind you. I'm not aware of any that are better. Even some etched reticles will do the same. What I did like is that the lenses didn't create a reflective spot. My Nikon Buckmasters has a reflective spot at about 2 o'clock in this situation.
The new Elite series does not have the European fast-focus eyepiece. It uses the "older" style locking ring, but is much cleaner in design and operation. This is a huge plus to me since most fast-focus styles never seem to stay in place. They move under flip-ups, while walking and during transportation. The adjustments and eyepiece are of the Ronco influence, "set it and forget it!" Simple, effective and reliable makes perfect sense to me.
As I finished my observations, I was getting anxious to do some shooting, and since 4 targets were in the shadows, it seemed a perfect opportunity to fill my target tags. I decided to shoot from the sitting position with the scope on 4x and shoot quickly, one shot at each target. When I gathered my targets, all shots had hit the 6" black spot with the exception of the close target. I hit about 4" high of center. Still, I was pleased with my performance.
After this day in the woods, the only real concern I have with the Elite 2.5-10x40 is the eye relief on the higher power settings. It seems to be just too critical perhaps, especially if you are shooting off a bi-pod. For shooting over pack or shooting sticks, I don't see it as a big issue.
I'm looking forward to a real good low light comparison and/or test. That will have to wait until I have good reason to be in the woods before or after dark.
My first and biggest concern with the Elite was the specified eye relief distance of 3.3 inches. I really prefer a minimum of 3.5" but not much over 4" since I am a bit of a stock crawler at 6"2" 225# with long arms. Although I didn't measure the actual eye relief, it sure seemed closer to 4" than 3.3". My only complaint is that on 10x the eye relief is much more critical, but since I mounted the scope with that in mind, it worked just fine. The field of view is understated as well, at least on 4x and lower. I could actually see glimpses of the stainless barrel up to almost 4x. This did not distract me in any way and didn't interfere with target aquisition.
I tested tracking while sighting in at the range. The click values were accurate, and it tracked straight up and down which also helped me verify a square reticle and not a canted mount. It returned to zero and has held zero wonderfully.
I set out targets at various distances and locations out to just over 300yds. Some were in the open, othere were in the shadows of the timber or behind objects like logs, stumps, etc to simulate where one might catch a glimpse of a legal buck. I also viewed these targets from various positions and conditions like full sun, shade, against a tree and what not. I also used all power settings to see if there was any noticeable difference. All the targets had a few shots (7mm) in them so I could see if they could be identified through the scope and at what power I could see them, not exactly scientific, but very much a real world hunting situation. Past 200yds or so, it took at least 7x to clearly see the bullet holes in all situations. My Nikon Monarch 2-8 needed 8x to even come close to the Elite. The color resolution in full sun was better with the Monarch, but the image and clarity were both better with the Elite. That's really the only comparison I did since I was simply testing the Elite to see if I noticed any deficientcies. The Elite was fantastic when picking out objects in shadows or dark timber when there was a sunny spot just in front of the shadows. A lot of scopes get flooded out in this situation, and I found the Elite to perform very well. Edge-to-edge clarity was good throughout the power range, but this scope seems to have a sweet spot in the 6-8x range where the reticle seems really dark and the clarity and resolution seem very crisp.
The reticle was no different than any other wire-type reticle. It was nice and dark but did get a bit of a copper look when bright sun was behind you. I'm not aware of any that are better. Even some etched reticles will do the same. What I did like is that the lenses didn't create a reflective spot. My Nikon Buckmasters has a reflective spot at about 2 o'clock in this situation.
The new Elite series does not have the European fast-focus eyepiece. It uses the "older" style locking ring, but is much cleaner in design and operation. This is a huge plus to me since most fast-focus styles never seem to stay in place. They move under flip-ups, while walking and during transportation. The adjustments and eyepiece are of the Ronco influence, "set it and forget it!" Simple, effective and reliable makes perfect sense to me.
As I finished my observations, I was getting anxious to do some shooting, and since 4 targets were in the shadows, it seemed a perfect opportunity to fill my target tags. I decided to shoot from the sitting position with the scope on 4x and shoot quickly, one shot at each target. When I gathered my targets, all shots had hit the 6" black spot with the exception of the close target. I hit about 4" high of center. Still, I was pleased with my performance.
After this day in the woods, the only real concern I have with the Elite 2.5-10x40 is the eye relief on the higher power settings. It seems to be just too critical perhaps, especially if you are shooting off a bi-pod. For shooting over pack or shooting sticks, I don't see it as a big issue.
I'm looking forward to a real good low light comparison and/or test. That will have to wait until I have good reason to be in the woods before or after dark.
