Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Japan made fixed 10x banner

I picked up a used one recently online and it showed up as new. It has adjustable objective and is extremely clear with great eye relief. Only thing I don't care for is the gloss but that's easily forgiven due to how impressed I am with it. Got it sitting in talley lows on a sps varmint sitting on a bdl varmint stock and original walker trigger I also picked up. Got it shooting 1/4" groups with 40 gr vmax in .22-250. What a great scope!
Anybody now much about these scopes? How old are they and when they ran?
Did they make other powers?
I can see myself pursuing these scopes for other rifles. How could bushnell discontinue such a great scope?
Rob.

I used one in the early-mid 80's for a high-power rifle silhouette scope. At the time they were around an $80 scope if I recall correctly, I used it for a couple of years and twisted the knobs a lot and it was still working fine when I sold it. You are right about the clarity and eye relief, I don't know why they dropped them either, I would buy one today if they were still available at a reasonable price. IMO they were a better scope than the current 10 power that Bushnell is offering, in both looks and clarity.

drover

I got it for 100 bucks to my door in canadian pesos.
Making handloads right now for it as I'm typing.
35.5 gr imr 4064 under a 40 gr vmax at 2.380 oal. Shooting like a house on fire at 100. Making 40 rounds and try her out at 300 when the breeze lays down a bit.

I love the idea of a good 10X scope with AO for a reasonable price. Would be a great .22 target scope.

I have a Japanese Banner 4x32 with a post crosshair reticule. Probably dates to 1980 +or- 5 yr. it is still clear and holds its zero just like it did when new. If memory serves I had a 3-9 and a 2 1/2 x20 as well . The 2 1/2 was especially handy. It ended up serving on a friends 30/30 for years and eventually the crosshairs fell out of place. I sent it back to bushnell and when I got it back the reticule was back in place but one of the legs was broken. I didn't know if they did it when they fixed it or if it was done in shipping as they returned it loose in a box about 4x4x14 w/o any packing materials , just rattling around loose. Needless to say my opinion of bushnell and their CS went to zero. I would have understood if they said they couldn't fix a 30 y.o. scope but that packing job was inexcuseable . I have enjoyed bushnell products over the years and still have both scopes andbinoculars but consider their products throw aways now.

I just put 3 old Japanese Banners on rifles that I gave away, 1.5-4x20s on a pair of Marlin 336s and a 3-8x32 on an RAR in 243. The optics were clear and the windage and elevation adjustments allowed me to hit where I was trying to hit, but I doubt that any of the three will be particularly bright in low light situations due to the quality of their lens coatings. Time has marched on and optics technology has evolved since these scopes were made, but they are still serviceable under most low demand hunting situations a person is likely to encounter.

I have a 10x banner I bought in early 80s for 70 bucks , still have it on my win 70 featherweight in 223 very accurate.