Article: Bushnell Elite 6500 2.5-16x42mm Rifle Scope

[J.Baker]

You can view the page at http://www.savageshooters.com/content.php?254-Bushnell-Elite-6500-2-5-16x42mm-Rifle-Scope

[davemuzz]

I took a quick read at your review. Nice review!! But, I'm short on time right now so I saved in in my shortcuts for a further read at a later time. Thanks for your time spent on the review!!

Dave

[J.Baker]

You trying to tell my I'm long winded Dave? LOL

[davemuzz]

No....It was 6:00am and i was trying to get out the door to bow hunt. Had some time....but not that much time!! Not hunting today so it's still on "my list."

You ......long winded? Who would say such a thing???

Dave

[223 4 me]

Great review....I have a silly question, is it pretty much industry standard that the magnification needs to be at full power for the drop compinsater to be accurate?

[davemuzz]

Nice review! Fair and balanced. I also did a quick google price search and found these scopes....for a mid level product....to be reasonably priced. (You know.....not $3,000!! I think the big one, a 4.5-30X 50mm was $850 plus shipping.

[foxx]

Great review....I have a silly question, is it pretty much industry standard that the magnification needs to be at full power for the drop compinsater to be accurate?

I believe so, assuming it is a second focal plane scope. (reticle does not change size as magnification changes).

First Focal Plane scopes have reticles that change as the magnification changes. (Its size, relative to the target image remains the same. Bigger image of target, bigger image of reticle)

Both have their particular advantages, but for the sake of consistency, when using BDC-type reticles, 2nd plane types only work (for BDC purposes) when they are used at a designated level of magnification.

That being said, one could design a BDC that is accurate at a different power setting, but what's the point in that? I think they all choose (maybe arbitrarily) to set them at whatever the scope's highest setting is for sake of uniformity and simplicity. Made sense once I thought about it.

Of course, these BDC reticles are meant to serve as rough, approximate indicators of proper "hold-over" at various ranges. They cannot possibly be right for all calibers and loads. Might it work on your rifle? Maybe. Is it better than making a wild guess? Most probably. You'd have to test it to see what the different marks actually mean in terms of range. Also, one might find it works well on a .308 at 9X, but needs to be at 7.5 or 8X for a 45-70.

[davemuzz]

What your talking about is the Second Focal Plane (SFP) which most hunting type scopes are, vs a First Focal Plane (FFP) which the reticle actually changes size as you change the zoom setting of the scope.

Vortex has a good explanation of this at http://www.vortexoptics.com/video/first_vs_second_focal_plane

Dave

[Axtell3]

NIkon has that all worked out with their spot on software. And so far for me it has been exactly that. Now with a build getting started I'm looking at this 6500...