Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting GAP/Sinclair/Bushnell LR Hunter

Post by George Garner at SH:

Scope Details

Just prior to shot show 2013 I talked to Tom Fuller and Tim Tanker from Bushnell, they were interested in doing an Optic for long range hunting, not just a tactical scope or target scope to put on a hunting rifle. They wanted a shot at creating the best Xtreme hunting LR optic covering all the bases. So we set up a meeting for the shot show and I told them I would Invite the Guy to talk to. Pat Sinclair!! I don't know too many people that can hunt 365 days a year in every condition there is but I know Pat does, and has for a long time. Anyhow the meeting was a success and the scope was speced out over a couple hour meeting behind closed doors at the shot show.

Parameters set:

3x12 power no more than 15
30 mm tube
Side focus, keep the knob in tight.
42-44 mm Obj
no more than 13" long
weight under 24 oz
Low profile elevation knob, 10 mils of elevation in one turn, great clicks, with a hard zero stop and elevation stop. Meaning that you get 10 mils and cant be a rev off , ever!
Large letters on elevation knob for salty eyes to see.
Capped windadge knob. But allow the knob to be used if the user wants to uncap it. 5 mils of movement. Keep the knob as small as possible capped.
FFP, Fisrt Focal Plane

Reticle was discussed as initially as being new, And being created to be faster to acquire targets and easy to use as a up close optic for dangerous game in close, IE Brown Bears in the Alder bushes of Alaska. Or a B&C animal that presents itself close.

I later had a meeting with Tom and Tim in Kansas city over a few German Beers and we drew the reticle out. Tim later provided drawings that we tweeked till it was right.

Bushnell got it all done. I actually got the scope the first day of the Wyoming 307 Speedgoat hunt. Bushnell shipped it to Scotts house and we mounted it up the evening of day one. The next morning Pat zero'ed it and by 10:00 am it connected with a Doe antelope at 1268 yards on its very first pull of the trigger on fur! Hopefully this is a sign of its success to come!

Should have a few more to get into testers hands soon. And it will debut at the Shot show in January 2014. My guess there will be units available in Jan -Feb time frame but I am just guessing on that timeline.

The initial prototype is getting a couple little minor tweeks to make it a little better yet.

This scope is also probably the best DMR scope platform for a SPR or 308 carbine as well as its intended use as a LRHS.


Ill post a couple pics now but I need to get this thing photographed better this week and I will update it.










[/QUOTE]

Looks like George and Pat have a real winner here.

Hopefully, the price won't require one to sell a kidney or trade a testicle for funding.

If its "Pat approved" it should be a VERY nice scope!!

That looks like THE new LR-capable, general purpose hunting scope. I'll be very tempted if the price is right.

Interesting to see where they price it. Looks good on paper.

i think it looks great. I'm also guessin'$1,500-$2,000.

George said less expensive than a $1899 MSRP.

If they could keep the price under $1000.00 Bushnell wouldn't be able to build them fast enough.

so ... $1799

this will sound somewhat strange but, I don't think you want it to be TOO cheap. features like the zero stop and repeatable clicks cost money to get right.

Being an LR Hunter/shooter gets SPENT$IVE...

Agree, at $1000 they would fly off the shelves. It'd be nice, but I'm afraid thats wishful thinking.

I'm thinking I could use one of those! Meets my needs better than the 'tactical' scope I currently have. A touch lighter and I could see it as a perfect fit for all my hunting rifles.

Reminds me of the G7 Nightforce scopes. If/when G7 makes a NF 2.5-10x42, you'll have basically the same scope as above.

http://www.gseven.com/products/G7-2-5-10X32-LR

Am I reading it right that you only get 10 Mils total elevation travel due to a stop on both ends?

That's how I read it. I think single turn S&B's work similarly.

That'll get you out there a long ways with most cartridges for sure.

Seems like i've seen that scope somewhere before..

http://marchscopes.com/hunting-25-25-x-42-scopes.html

Options are always a good thing, if they can price it right and it proves reliable. But its sounds like it will be approaching the price of the march.I'd have a hard time parting with 1800 for a bushnell, but it does come with all the features most of us are looking for in a hunting scope, where the march leaves a few key features out.

No jabs meant at the men involved in the design of the scope, I think its awesome that bushnell contacted two of the best and listened.

rosco, I noticed Pat had a March on his rifle earlier in the year. I notice the same rifle now wears the old reliable S&B 10x tactical when it came time to get down to business (hunting season). Wonder what the story is behind that.

The name Bushnell has a stigma to it, I think it will be a hard sell at $1800.

I considered a March back when I was looking for a scope for my 6XC Montana. Also looked at other scopes like the Premier Hunter and S&B's hunting scopes. The March was a definite consideration, but the fact there was no US service center scared me off. The others were all lacking something I considered a necessary feature.

The 2.5-10x32 Nightforce was the best option at the time. Now that the 42mm version is out, that would be my choice. I could care less about mils, FFP, or ranging reticles. Here's my reasoning...

-Odds are if you're shooting far enough out that you need to dial anything, adjust for windage, etc, you're probably going to be shooting at max magnification, negating the whole FFP argument. Especially in a max 10-12 power scope.

-Odds are if you're shooting at any really extended range, you're going to have a rangefinder, so who needs a rangefinding reticle.

-For me, I'm a Land Surveyor, I work in degrees-minutes-seconds. I know that stuff. It makes sense to me, so learning mils would be a waste of time.

The one thing I'd do with the reticle is lose all the crap on the vertical plane. You're dialing, so why do you need it. I would add some 1 or 2 MOA hash marks on the horizontal. Windage is voodoo anyway, and holding off for wind is just as workable for me as dialing for it. Not to mention, wind direction can change. Drop is constant.