illuminated reticle scope

VaHowler

New member
Can any of you guys recommend an illuminated reticle scope? Not looking for an expensive one right now, just something that works. Was considering the Bushnell Banner 3x9x40. I have 3 or 4 Banners now and think they are a good buy for the money. Will probably go on a .22 Mag for now. If I like I may get another for the .223. Thanks.

Kevin
 
Check out Mueller scopes. I prefer having just the center dot illuminated as opposed to the entire reticle. Just put the dot on your target and bang.
 
I have a banner 3-9-40 red/green reticle mounted on a marlin 922M 22 mag that I use for hogs on wma's. works great.
 
I agree Beagler about having only the center dot lit. Too much light when its pitch black otherwise can be a problem. I don't know much about Mueller other than they are a young U.S. company using Japanese glass with scopes assembled in China I believe. I guess you are satisfied with the quality it sounds like?

tgrif, does the banner turn down low enough for glare not to be a problem at night?

Thanks for the input guys.

Kevin
 
I have had great luck with the Bushnell Firefly scopes. I have 2 and getting ready to buy the 3rd one.
GOOD LUCK HOOVY
 
Kevin, I recommend NcSTAR and here is why . . . I bought a NcSTAR 6-24 50mm lighted reticle scope with an illumination adjustment of 0-24 about 5 years ago. (When hunting at night these bad eyes had trouble seeing the black crosshair.) Recently traveled out west for a hunting trip and due to my improper packing and the airlines rough handling of my gun case, the elevation adjustment knob sustained damage making the scope unusable. NcSTAR has a lifetime warranty on their scopes. I sent the damaged scope back to them and this week received a brand new replacement scope - same model. I also purchased a NcSTAR 10-40 50mm lighted reticle which I will probably mount on my .223 this weekend. I have been really pleased with the performance of these scopes and even more pleased with their customer and warranty service. And the price ain't bad either - around 127.00 for the 10-40 50mm. Just another brand you might want to consider. Good Luck!
Connie
 
I'll go ahead and be the glass snob and recommend you save your money for something good.

I too used to use cheap glass and figured it as "good enough." $200 and less was my price range. That changed when Natchez has a sale on the Weaver Classic Extreme line of scopes for about $300 shipped. It was out of my usual price range but for a $550 optic it was a [beeep] of a deal so I decided to give it a try. There was a night and day difference between it and all of my other scopes. One of those being a Bushnell Banner by the way. The same night that I received my new Weaver I placed another order to get a second in a different power range. I didn't even need the higher powered scope for anything at the time but it was a great deal and I knew that I would put it on something eventually.

Now if this wasn't in the night hunting section I wouldn't have bothered you with this and just said go ahead with the Bushnell Banner. Mine has served me well afterall. However, the big difference with a quality optic comes at night. A good optic will actually function as a light bucket and when you look through it you will get a brighter picture of what you are looking at than what you can see with the naked eye. None of my cheaper scopes did this. The Weaver on the other hand is excellent. It makes finding, identifying, and following your target so much easier. If you use this 22mag with any regularity spend the money on a decent optic for it. You will be a better shooter because of it. At the very least step up to the Elite 3200 line with the firefly reticle.

My Weaver Classic Extreme scopes both have illumination on them and I rarely use it. The one on my AR replaced a Millett DMS-1 and I used the illumination on it every time. With the Weaver I forget to turn it on. I just don't need it because of how bright of an image I get through it. The crosshairs pop on their own with great contrast. The illumination just adds extra weight to the scope.
 
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I've been using a Mueller Multi-Shot (Illuminated 2-7x) on my AR for about 5 years and it's received fairly rough handling in 3-gun competitions and still one of my favorites for about $160. This is it mounted on my DPMS:

DPMSARa.jpg


This is the reticle and it's really fast to get on target:

Mueller2-7Reticle-1.jpg


I have it mounted with Warne Quick Detach rings and swap it with another Mueller 6.5-25x Mil Dot for long range shooting..or, my EO-Tech for really fast, close quarters work..
 
I have been using a Mueller 4x16x50 and it has served me well this season. I just recently upgraded to a Trijicon 3x9x40 and the only real gain is the different Reticle and the quality of the glass, seemed when my power was all the way up on 16 the glass was not the clearest but for the money a good scope.
 
I had a Burris 3-9x40 Electro Dot, but it seemed that the dot was too bright most of the time so I quit using it. On bright nights I think a guy can get buy with quality glass and no illumination, but on the hazy nights I'm looking for a little bit of illumination to help me get on target faster.


Dzl... what reticle did you get in the Trijicon? I'm looking at the same scope with the mil-dot reticle/ green dot. I've looked at all kinds of scopes and I keep coming back to the Trijicon.
 
3x9x40 Green Mil Dot, My friend bought one first around christmas and I really like it so I have one waiting to go on my new R-15 I should be picking up tomorrow.

I did the same thing, looked all around at everyones Illum scopes and kept coming back to that Trijicon, I was just hoping to find something just like it with more power and not weigh twice as much like their 5x20. But I cant have my cake and eat it too. I wanted to keep it light as that R-15 is a pretty light gun.
 
The Burris 4.5-14x42 Fullfield II with LRS Ballistic Plex is a nice mid-range optic. Clean lines & brightness control. About $480.

Burris45-14x42LRS-1.jpg
 
Mueller gets recommended a LOT on rimfirecentral. I see very few folks that own them with any complaints on quality. You might jump over there and ask for some feedback.
 
Myself and all my partners run leupold illuminated reticles. I personally preferr the 3.5x10x50mm. Gander Mountain had them on clearance for 559.00 so look around and you might find one. I CANNOT stress enough on saving your pennies to get a quality scope that will be a lifetime investment.(guess I am a glass snob to!) There is an even more noticable difference at night in good scopes vs cheapys. BTW, I have a Mueller and it is not even in the same ballpark as a leupy, but neither is the price!
 
Originally Posted By: DustykicksThe Burris 4.5-14x42 Fullfield II with LRS Ballistic Plex is a nice mid-range optic. Clean lines & brightness control. About $480.

Burris45-14x42LRS-1.jpg




I second the Burris Fullfield LRS II. The illumination on the ballistic plex is adjustable, and it's nice to be able to make 600 yard shots at night (JUST KIDDING). The whole reticle doesn't illuminate, just the ballistic plex part. I have two of the 3 x 9's, which are a little cheaper than the 4.5 x 14's. I think I got them locally for $320. For daytime, the ballistic plex reticle is great. I have even "stress tested" one by dropping it onto cement from about 4 feet. Did not change the point of impact at all. SWFA has some good prices and good pictures of the reticle.
 
just mounted mueller's 3-9x40 sport dot on my .223 and just with what little time with it so far i'm pretty happy with it $160 to my door.
 
I like the leupold illuminated greman dot. Going to be geting two more. One for the spreadgun and one for the 22mag. Worth the extra $.
 
If you are interested, check out my Youtube channel. I did a review on what I like as the best scopes for night hunting.

Bargain "Best Buy" Scope:



Favorite Scope:


 
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