RE: Just got my Bushnell 6500

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my86hd

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RE: Just got my Bushnell 6500

Just got my Bushnell 6500 2.5x16 42mm matt mildot what a nice scope for the money very clear with Great eye relief.This will make a great scope to put on my Pre 64 Model 70 in 220 swift.
Was going to mount a 4-16x40 4200 on it but that was then and this in now.

Has any one used one yet anything to look for

Thanks
 
I did check out the Busnell 6500 VS the Busnell Tactical 6-24X50 4200, and the glass was no different, both look bright and clear out door and indoor, so I Op for the Bushnell4200 6-24X50mm, cost me around $600 plus tax. if you have a change to check out the 4200, do so!
 
i just put a 6500 in 4.5-30x50 with 30mm tube on a bench gun and am very impressed,set on 30 power it was very clear and bright. I prefer a straight power scope on bench guns but this one looked so nice in the shop.
 
i've been looking at the 2.5 and 4.5 models for the last couple of days, and have decided to go ahead and pick up the 2.5-16x42 tomorrow for my new tikka in 223.

btw, i found one thing different that i've never seen before with a scope, with these 6500's, the eye relief stays constant from 2.5x right thru 16x power.

the leupold vx-III's i was comparing them to, all change eye relief as the power goes up, as does my older vari-x III 6.5-20x40, requiring a slight change in face placement on the stock.

anyways, these 6500's definately seem like a nice scope:)
 
I had a brief look at the 6500's a week ago. Everything looks great - except they deleted the reference marks required for elevation and windage. Example - they have the vertical line on the elevation post but no cross marks to indicate the number of revelutions. In long range competitions at various distances you can easily get lost without these reference marks when adding or subtracting large numbers of minutes. We can easily scratch in our own marks but this should have been done at the factory. All other Bushnell long range scopes have these references why not on the 6500's :confused: - very strange.
 
I received the new Cabela’s SIR spring & summer 2008 catalog the other day and on the back cover there is a Bushnell elite 6500 riflescope introductory offer.
A 2.1 megapixel trail sentry camera ($139.99) for free (there is nothing free I know)......
You probably know this already, but if not it's a nice bonus.

wcmd
 
I had a brief look at the 6500's a week ago. Everything looks great - except they deleted the reference marks required for elevation and windage. Example - they have the vertical line on the elevation post but no cross marks to indicate the number of revelutions. In long range competitions at various distances you can easily get lost without these reference marks when adding or subtracting large numbers of minutes. We can easily scratch in our own marks but this should have been done at the factory. All other Bushnell long range scopes have these references why not on the 6500's - very strange
Click to expand...

X2, was looking at one today, same thing.
 
The same day I made my previous post (May 2nd) I sent an email message to Bushnell asking if the omission of the elevation cross marks were accidental or planned. No response. So today I phoned and talked to a rep and asked the same question. He put me on hold to "talk to the designer". When he returned he said the omission of the cross references was planned, that they were unnecessary and you could tell where you were by how high you were on the verticle line?:rolleyes:?:cool:?:confused:?:mad:?:runaway:? I asked to talk with the designer but he was unavailable. Bushnell does some good things but then sometimes they get their head so far up their AXX they hear very little and can't see anything at all.

The 6500's have potential but they need to address the elevation and windage reference problem to make them useable for competition otherwise customers will stay away in droves.
 
That has got to be the dummest thing I have heard. Bushnell has screwed up plain and simple.

Like buying a car and having a speedo with no markings BUT IT HAS A NEEDLE.

They screwed up on their internal elevation movement, now they have screwed up on being able to use what is there.

Again, Bushnell drops the ball when trying to get market share. Instead they just fuel the sentiment against that brand.

They should have just recalled the product until they could meet the specs they hyped. I bet some body didn't do the proper QC.

They lost my business on this product....!

Jerry
 
Yeah, I would say they screwed up. They could have one the best-for-the-money long range scopes in this if they would listen to the shooters. Also, IMHO, the elevation and windage turrets should be replaced with the same ones they use on their excellent Elite 3200 10X40 mildot scope. For a 30mm tube, the total elevation adjustment should be about 100MA as well. The 3200 Elite gets close to that with a 1" tube no less :rolleyes:

Please listen to the end users Bushnell execs!!!
 
i bought a 2.5-16 as well,and must admit it seems alot clearer and crisper than my older leupold vari-x III 6.5-20x40, but did so before reading the previous posts regarding the turrets.

could someone explain to me exactly what they mean?

the missing hash marks are supposed to be on the elevation tube, not the turret correct, in so that when you made a complete revolution of the turret, the turret would rotate up to the next hash mark, signalling that you had already made 1 revolution?

does anyone have a pic of what it should be like?

thanks
hutchster
 
hutchster said:
i bought a 2.5-16 as well,and must admit it seems alot clearer and crisper than my older leupold vari-x III 6.5-20x40
Click to expand...

I had a similar observation.

I tried these three out on a fake rifle stock, and didn't like any of them:
a) Bushnell 3200 3-9x40
b) Bushnell 3200 5-15
c) Bushnell 4200 2.5-10x40

I found it hard to see a round paper target that was 20' away. It was in focus and there, but just hard to see. When I turned the magnification up the lit area of the image got very small. Perhaps I had my head in the wrong place.

Then I tried
d) Bushnell 6500 2.5-16x42 with 30mm tube.
MUCH BETTER. Target was very easy to see. Big and bright and clear at all magnifications.

A few days later I looked at
- Leupold VXIII 3.5-10x40mm
- Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x40mm
- Bushnell 4200 2.5-10x40mm (as a control between two stores)

I didn't see anything that really impressed me.

The Leupolds seemed to have a brown tint.
The Leupold 4.5-14x40 I looked at, had a very thin reticle that disappeared in the vertical striped wall I was looking at.
The Leupolds I found hard to focus when shifting magnification and far/near targets.

As for brightness and visual clarity, there wasn't a stricking difference between the three of them.

I was expecting to be astounded by the Leupolds -- given the way people rave about them.



So I bought a Bushnell 6500 2.5-16x40 mildot
 
i do like my vari-x III and understand its an older scope, but the 1 thing that irks me about it is in regards to focus.
this might be an issue with my vision, but with my leupy, i adjust the focus from one end to the other and can't get rid of a second set of crosshairs that is just off from the "main" crosshair, yet with my 6500, the second set was visible the first time i looked thru it, but the focus adjustment cleared it up prefectly.
yet when my dad looks thru my leupy, he only see's the one reticle:confused:
perhaps i have a warranty issue.

also, is it odd to see one's barrel in the bottom of the scope view?
 
rangebob said:
I had a similar observation.

I tried these three out on a fake rifle stock, and didn't like any of them:
a) Bushnell 3200 3-9x40
b) Bushnell 3200 5-15
c) Bushnell 4200 2.5-10x40

I found it hard to see a round paper target that was 20' away. It was in focus and there, but just hard to see. When I turned the magnification up the lit area of the image got very small. Perhaps I had my head in the wrong place.

Then I tried
d) Bushnell 6500 2.5-16x42 with 30mm tube.
MUCH BETTER. Target was very easy to see. Big and bright and clear at all magnifications.

A few days later I looked at
- Leupold VXIII 3.5-10x40mm
- Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x40mm
- Bushnell 4200 2.5-10x40mm (as a control between two stores)

I didn't see anything that really impressed me.

The Leupolds seemed to have a brown tint.
The Leupold 4.5-14x40 I looked at, had a very thin reticle that disappeared in the vertical striped wall I was looking at.
The Leupolds I found hard to focus when shifting magnification and far/near targets.

As for brightness and visual clarity, there wasn't a stricking difference between the three of them.

I was expecting to be astounded by the Leupolds -- given the way people rave about them.



So I bought a Bushnell 6500 2.5-16x40 mildot
Click to expand...

I think the methodology for your comparison may not be as helpful as you believe. Most scopes intended for center fire rifles may not focus down to twenty feet (unless they have an extended focal adjustment). You should choose a more distant object and if possible do this outside the store you are trying this in (if the staff will let you). Most scopes look pretty good in a store under flourescent lighting but tends to look different under real outdoor conditions. Even inexpensive optics these days look pretty good inside the store or outside on a clear sunny day. There are several things you may want to look at for comparison like eye relief, how much usable room the eye relief the eye gives you, resolution, clarity at the outside edges of the glass under higher magnification etc. The reticle focus adjustment (ocular lense) will have to be adjusted for your eyes to get the sharpest reticle and will differ from person to person. Also there are several different reticles available and depending on your eyes or personal preferences may work better for you even within the same brand and model of scope, Also price, warranty, reliability are things that should influence your choice. A sales person should be able to point out most of these concerns for you to make an informed descision. Phil.
 
P of P Dent:

Probably all true.
I did really like that reticule (mildot's both vertical and horizontal) vs the other ones I looked at both in the stores and on the websites (lots of options on the websites for different vendors having different reticules per scope).
How to use the mildot for range calculation is in the manual that came with the scope, but it seemed a little complex, and the manual didn't seem to be for just this one scope.
I compared the eye relief of the leopolds vs this one on the websites, but not when I held them in my hands. I define 'eye relief' as not being hit in the eye during recoil.
I wasn't aware that there is a reticule focus adjustment in addition to the main focus adjustment. I did notice the reticule does disappear at main focus adjustment under 10' -- but I don't consider that as a problem.
It's certainly clear even at higher magnifications. I've only tried it freehand thus far, so at 16x it was a wobbly test.

Also, the first thing I did when I had it home was put a laser bore sight in and look through the scope. I was surprised how much the crosshares moved as I move my eye from side to side and up and down. I haven't decided/discovered yet if that's a problem with scopes, or just this scope, or my glasses, or all three. But I'm certainly not looking forward to having to put my head in exactly the same position/angle for each shot.
 
hutchster:
Parallax. Hmm. I've read a little on that, but not much. I'll look up parallax again.

I noticed the cross hairs moving relative to the laser dot at about 20'. With any luck it'll be less at 150' (50 yards).
I have some protektor sandbag rests coming this week. When I get them I'll set up in my basement diagonally and fiddle with the scope settings. It still be way less than 50 yards and not much of a test, but it's what I'll do next.
The fellow who attached it to the rifle, said he set it for 100 yards.

If it's just parallax, and a few knob twists to get rid of it, I'll be happy.
 
rangebob said:
P of P Dent:

Probably all true.
I did really like that reticule (mildot's both vertical and horizontal) vs the other ones I looked at both in the stores and on the websites (lots of options on the websites for different vendors having different reticules per scope).
How to use the mildot for range calculation is in the manual that came with the scope, but it seemed a little complex, and the manual didn't seem to be for just this one scope.
I compared the eye relief of the leopolds vs this one on the websites, but not when I held them in my hands. I define 'eye relief' as not being hit in the eye during recoil.
I wasn't aware that there is a reticule focus adjustment in addition to the main focus adjustment. I did notice the reticule does disappear at main focus adjustment under 10' -- but I don't consider that as a problem.
It's certainly clear even at higher magnifications. I've only tried it freehand thus far, so at 16x it was a wobbly test.

Also, the first thing I did when I had it home was put a laser bore sight in and look through the scope. I was surprised how much the crosshares moved as I move my eye from side to side and up and down. I haven't decided/discovered yet if that's a problem with scopes, or just this scope, or my glasses, or all three. But I'm certainly not looking forward to having to put my head in exactly the same position/angle for each shot.
Click to expand...

All rifle scopes have an ocular lense adjustment...some are a quick style that will go from one extreme to the other within one revolution of the eye piece but most of these have no provision for locking the adjustment in place. Other styles like most Leupolds have a locking ring and a fine adjustment that sometimes requires several revolutions of the eye piece to focus the reticle. If the reticle disapears at a short distance it is because the scope was not designed for extreme short ranges. If you require short range focusing for air rifles as an example then choose a scope with an extended focal range (this will be indicated on the scope or box it comes in). When you see the reticle move against the boresighter you are indeed seeing parallax error. You should place your head directly behind the scope at the position you would be shooting from and set your adjustmets at the boresighting stage as carefully as possible. If your scope has a parallax adjustment on the objective lense or side focus then this will set your error to zero...if not then it will only be parallax free at one distance (see specs on your scope to determine what this is). Sorry for long post but there is no quick way of explaining this. Phil.
 
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rangebob said:
hutchster:
Parallax. Hmm. I've read a little on that, but not much. I'll look up parallax again.

I noticed the cross hairs moving relative to the laser dot at about 20'. With any luck it'll be less at 150' (50 yards).
I have some protektor sandbag rests coming this week. When I get them I'll set up in my basement diagonally and fiddle with the scope settings. It still be way less than 50 yards and not much of a test, but it's what I'll do next.
The fellow who attached it to the rifle, said he set it for 100 yards.

If it's just parallax, and a few knob twists to get rid of it, I'll be happy.
Click to expand...



What????

Your parallax has to be adjusted each time you pick a target at the range you wish to engage the target at.

It's NOT a focus knob.

In a nutshell. Rest the rifle so it is supported by itself and you can see the target through the scope. WITHOUT moving the rifle. Start from the bottom of your parallax adjustment and slowly turn the knob while bobbing your head ever so slightly watching your reticle and a reference on your target. When EVERYTHING stop moving, your parallax is set. If you overshoot, and the reticle and your reference point begin to move. Go back to the beginning and start over.

You CANNOT set the parallax at one point and forget about it. And again, it is NOT a focus knob. You can have proper adjustment and not be in total focus.

Another trick is if you have lots of mirage, turn your parallax down a touch and decrease your scope power. Works wonders.

Whoever "set" up your rifle for you is blowing smoke up your A$$!!!

If you think I'm doing the same, try this simple method out. You'll thank me in the end.

Enjoy your nice little groups and I hope this helps.

P
 
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