Bushnell Elite Tactical ERS Scope

Quite a lot of scopes like to tag the words ‘Long Range’ onto their name but quite a lot of them fail in that respect when compared against peers using similar nomenclature. To me, a true long range (rather than a pure target) scope needs to have a reticle with subtensions that match the external turrets, a significant amount of internal mechanical adjustment and optical performance weighted towards daylight performance. Second to those, a first focal plane reticle makes a lot of sense, unless tiny targets are to be engaged and as a simple fact, long range is more about the wind than the distance, so the ability to make quick, accurate and repeatable, readable aim offs is a great benefit. The ability to dial back and forth without getting lost and rely on a return to zero is mandatory.

No hype

I have used a couple of Bushnell Elite Tactical scopes over the last three or four years, and generally been extremely pleased with an optic that battles in the financial middle ground, yet doesn’t betray required needs with marketing hype. This Silver/Bronze coloured (Flat Dark Earth) Elite is a moderate 3.5-21x magnification with a daylight suitable 50mm objective lens facing front of the 34mm maintube. This one-piece aluminium build shows a fast-focus eyepiece for a crisp reticle picture and when you attach quite a lot of information to a first focal plane reticle, you do need a very clear focus on the precise etching because those small details are exactly that, small, yet critical in the heat of the moment.

Similarly, functioning 41mm diameter turrets show 10mm@100m clicks (that correspond exactly with 0.01mRad) and its linear metric scale, a whole milliradian is equal to 1m at 1000-metres or 10cm at 10-metres. They exhibit just over three complete turns, with vernier scale markings below to indicate which rotation you are within, each offering 100 clicks/10mRad for a 30mRad total capacity. Windage is clearly marked left and right of ‘zero’ to minimise mistakes and the clicks, partly because of the physically large turrets, have fantastic tactile ergonomics and feel for fast and precise dialling without any overrun. If the dial is pressed down, the turret is locked in position with nothing needed but a silent lift to disengage it. They each have a coin slot atop their cap to release the outer dial and set the scope to ‘visual zero’ after the rifle is initially zeroed on target. This is a blissfully simple arrangement, needs no small Allen keys and it’s almost impossible to get things wrong; if anything clicks, something internal has moved, if it hasn’t clicked, the outer etched markings on the dial are freely moving – simple! My only very minor quibble is the coin slot is quite shallow and matches neither UK coinage or a flat bladed turnscrew, so will show a few marks over time, but, I like to call that Patina, showing the unit has had some life, scars and lived a little!

To infinity and beyond

Parallax on the left side of the saddle shows a similar 41mm dial, with a flatter profile yet aggressive serrations around its outer circumference to grip easily in gloves or with bare hands. It’s etched with black marking like those seen elsewhere from ‘75’ to infinity. This equated empirically to 65m with which I was more than happy for the type of uses and rifles likely to be paired with it. Depth of field was adequate but most importantly, I found a clear image focus easy to find without undesirable backlash from the internal mechanics.

Magnification is altered between 3.5-21 with a tactile 36mm diameter segmented collar at the front of the ocular body, showing a vertical wing at 8x so that you can set approximate location without sightline. A rubbersied buffer sits at the rear of the 38mm fast focus ocular lens sited within a long but parallel body, quite suited to night vision add-ons in fact. At around 4x, the field of view tunnels and reduces very slightly but this is not particularly uncommon; you still retain a flat, crisp image throughout this manoeuvre with a first focal plane reticle swelling or diminishing in size accordingly with its accurately etched mRad markings. These remain in exact relation to the turrets, with visual and mechanical box testing done on 100m targets showing the truth. There is no illumination system and in fairness, I think I would want one ‘just in case’ but the G2 reticle is wellproportioned with acceptable visibility at 3.5x, without getting too overpowering when wound up to 21x. This is a key factor with FFP optics, you have to strike a good balance on the reticle proportions. Illumination does help here at the low end, especially with an illuminated simple central aiming dot but I tend to find most optics like this find themselves used from 10-20x ish anyway. The hash marks on the reticle are sited each half mRad with 2.4.6 etc. marked below for minimal clutter. Too much clutter might look precise but again, it must be balanced against not obscuring or complicating the field of view unnecessarily.

Great value

The external anodised matt texture is durable but slightly abrasive, so does pick up a few finger marks, but I will say this, good optics loaned to me are the ones that rarely stay in my armoury unused for long, even when supplied with one rifle, they often get moved from gun to gun, because I find I can rely on them, I use them professionally with the least fuss. Now I own and use optics of similar specification at 2 and 3x the price of this Bushnell but guess what, I think it offers the one magic factor, great value for money! Quoted RRPs are regularly optimistic, to say the least, so look at what the ‘street price’ is for all optics before you judge between them or buy one. There are similarly higher RRP optics that have lesser value, the Bushnell offers a lot of bang for its buck, whereas seemingly higher-end optics are expensive, for those last few minutes of use in diminishing light conditions when hunting close to dark. Yes, the Bushnell isn’t quite as good in uncomfortable, reflective sunlight or as dusk approaches, but it isn’t a hunting scope, it’s a long-range scope for hitting targets and I think it is actually rather good!

In use, for a full day, I didn’t find my eyes strained or any kind of effort needed to maintain a crisp image from a decent sized exit pupil that was not too critical for slight eye relief changes, affected by positions and recoil, extremely helpful when trying to ‘watch’ your own bullet all the way onto steel at 800-metres.

Conclusion

One of the few scopes that does what it says it will do, ignores excessive marketing hype and will cost less than you think it might