Bushnell Elite 6500 vs Sightron SIII

M

Mushroom

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Hi Guys

I am in the process of buying a scope also for F Class and have narrowed it down to these two...I think. The Bushnell Elite 6500 4.5-30x50 and the SIII 8-32x56.

I like the MOA adjustment of both being 80 and 75 respectively.

I am not sure about the Mil dot reticle of the 6500 compared to the target dot reticle of the SIII.

They are priced about $160 different so not enough to make price an issue.

I would really appreciate your opinions. I have not been able to find much on the bushnell at all in terms of reviews, or the SIII for that matter.

Any thoughts?

Matt
 
Matt,

I haven't managed to get the big Sightron yet, but I'm particularly pleased with the tracking on my 36X Big Sky & don't expect any difference, seeing they use the same type of tracking system. For mine, accurate, repeatable tracking is the be all & end all for scopes that are being wound from 300 to 1000 yards (1200 in my case), which is the reason that the Sightron is on my long range gun at the moment & my VXIII back at the factory to get the erector moving consistently.

I'm one of those guys who reckons that christmas lights & scratches on a scope reticule are BS, set there to confuse you into taking the wrong aim. Even if the mil dots are at a suitable spacing for a civilian (MOA, not miliradians), they're still likely to be imprecisely marked, or change value when you crank the power ring. If I can't aim off or crank the wind competently, then figure that I should be shooting in Gene's tunnel. If I need the help, I can download somebody's plot sheet for every distance I shoot which will have the target gridded off in MOA for me.

I can't help you with the Elite - never seen one. Maybe somebody else can help out.

John
 
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I'll second John

i also have a sightron Slll and love it. and sightron's warranty is top notch. can't speak for the Bushnell as all the Bushnell's i have are small, old, and were cheap but they work well for what they are.
 
was just looking through the Sigh. last night at the range and seemed very nice, but what's up with that big fat dot?? 1/4min???
 
Thanks for the assistance of those who have posted.

I ended up settling on the Sightron. Hopefully it will be a good starting point.

Kind regards

Matt
 
He maybe looking through a NF, but he's talking out of his.........:eek:

I have a 4200 8-32 on my 6 BR and I'm very pleased with it. Trash? I don't think so.
 
big ted said:
both junk so just take your pick. just my 2c
Click to expand...

A less helpful comment I have never read on this forum. The scopes mentioned are junk by no intelligent person's standards - they are precision instruments. They most certainly are NOT of the specifications as a Nightforce or U.S. Optics scope but they are NOT at nearly that same cost level, either. With certain exceptions I am not a "cheap scope" fan - I am in my 60's and most of my optics say "Leupold" on them for good reason - but, IMHO, to say that a Bushnell 4200, 6500 or a Sightron SIII are "junk" is to only display sheer ignorance of the facts.
 
I have a 6500

I'm not Bench rest shooter.I own a couple elite 4200s and a 2.5x16x50MM 6500 and I can see the bullets holes better at 100 yards with my elite 4200 then I can with my elite 6500 on power 16. I've looked through NXS s before I didn't see a significant difference between those and my 4200s. Now that's my 2 cents worth.
 
I have NF leupys and sightrons and old bushnells. I like my NF the best. I looked thru a 6500 fri. with mildots. It was nice and clear no distourtion until it got up around 20x. Now I didn't have my NF to compare to so I"m not going to run it down as it was very hot and humid and hazy. Hopefully next week I can compare the 2 sidexside and make an informative decesion.
 
I've got four Leupold 6.5-20s - all 30mm LR models, incl. one 40mm obj., two 50mm target models, and a Mk4 M1 LRT. They're fine scopes, and I'm glad I own them, but with all the new stuff coming out in the past year or so, I decided I'd like to try some of it.

Bought an Elite 6500 2.5-16x42 recently, and put it on a hunting rifle chambered for 250 Ackley Imp. No complaints, and I think the optics are a little better than my SWFA SS 16x42s - somewhere between the SS & the Leupolds. I still think a shooter on a tight budget could do a lot worse than to go with these SWFA SS scopes - though I'd stay with the 16x model instead of the 20x.

More recently, I purchased a Sightron SIII 8-32x56 LR-D for a new LR prone rifle built on a BAT 3LL, with barrels in 6.5x55 AI & 284 Win. So far, with only a little match experience with this scope, I'm very pleased with it. Pleased enough to have just ordered another SIII for a new 1000yd. BR rifle I'm in the process of building. Since there didn't seem to be any of the 8-32s available from wholesale distributors right now, I went with a 6-24x50. I've shot several 1000yd. BR matches with the old SWFA SS16s and had no complaints, so I'm expecting the two SIIIs will be just fine for both LR prone & BR use.
 
This from a guy who wondered whether a shooting stool would work in the field

big ted said:
both junk so just take your pick. just my 2c
Click to expand...

Your posts indicate a certain lack of, um, cognitive thought. Methinks you should spend more time on that stool, in the field or anyplace, pondering like Rodin's famous sculpture, rather than spouting off your mouth like a methane gas pipe from a sewage treatment plant.
 
FWIW I have a 6500. Its a servicable scope but I would not buy another.
My biggest gripe with it concerns parralax. When focused to be clear the amount of parralax at 200-300 yds is astounding.
Not sure how to technically state this but I've never seen so much parralax in any scope. Maybe thats a result of the large magnification range.Yes it can be adjusted parralax free but clarity then suffers. This of course happens with many midrange priced scopes.

It sure would make a good training aid as any beginner would have no problem detecting parralax (with my scope anyway)
Not even fair comparing it to my NF.
 
IMHO the Elite 4200 is better than the 6500. I too found that the 6500 above 20X the picture quality wasn't there. Since they changed from bausch&Lomb to Bushnell they haven't been the same quality scope.JMHO

alan f
 
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elite 6500 performed well for me

Hi guys:) Just registed on the forum so I could share my experience with the Bushnell 6500 in 6.5X30x50 (I think that's right)
I just put it on my new Savage f12 in 6.5/284 norma and took it out to my shooting range. I didn't have the loads worked up cause I was to curious to spent the time I should have to get to know the gun as it was new to me too. In any event, after I got it sighted in I took three shots from 1000 yds. and 2 of them were at target taped to a steel sheet 100 thou. thick, I wanted to see what penitration it had left. The wind was from 3 o'clock at 10 -15 mph so the impacts were seperated about 12-14 in. Now here is the thing, I had another target up on a sheet of cardboard and I took a little more care with the next shot. I drove down to the targets and wow, I got a pleasant surprise, the last of the 3 shots was no more than 1 and 1/4" from the center of the bull. I carry that target in my truck to show off [ I know, what a poser, eh!] but that was a kodac moment! I have also got a target [from 1100 yds] that I put 2 out of three shots on the target with less than 1/2" of paper in between them. I am still trying to figure out what I did right on those shots! Well, I hope this will ease any fears about the capabilitys of the 6500, I could use a bit more clarity at 1100 + yds. but that is the only thing I can say that might be called a neg. with the scope, but, I only paid 900 and change in Canadian dollars, and we KNOW the value of that money eh? LOL Be talkin to ya later, bye.
 
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