[SamG.]

Most people think "cheap Chinese crap! "when they think of BSA. I've heard people say that the red-dots are worse than Irons. I wanted to conduct a torture test with the following things: Freezing in a solid block of ice, heating it up in 150+ degree water, kicking it around, and blunt impact with a hammer. I used a 1 1/2 year old #RD30 = It looks beat up because I had previously painted it (and scraped it off)

Please comment if you have any questions or things that you would like me to test. ENJOY!

[SamG.]

Frozen in Ice. left overnight and busted out on the ground. Still works as normal.

[SamG.]

I then put it on the stove in about 155 degree water. Still works fine. I took it outside and beat the crap out of it. Slammed it on the ground, kicked it, dropped it from various heights onto concrete. It still works as normal.

[SamG.]

After that it fogged up. Not good at all, but it still is usable. I noticed that the dot is now lower than it should be. lost its' zero. not good. The end loosened up and scewed off but it still works. not good either:uhoh:

[SamG.]

Now time to give it heck. The hammer dented its' extremely tough sides. The dot grew strangely big. The glass shattered. bad. It still turns on but it is unusable.

[SRT1]

Yeah, but all of that is unrealistic. If you want to "real world" test it, have my pet elephant step on it. He does it to mine all the time. :eek: :D
That's pretty tough stuff right there. I think it goes above and beyond normal use parameters by a long way. Very interesting, thanks for doing it!
SRT

[Schofield3]

Quite the testing, you definitely put it through some harsh conditions. Conclusion? Tough as nails!! :D

[Cougfan2]

I ate one and.......... Oh, never mind. Sometimes my warped sense of humor gets the best of me.

Seriously; interesting test. Thanks for the report.

[SamG.]

Conclusion, I would probably buy one to put it on a plinker rifle/shotgun for range shooting or hunting. I had it mounted on my Ak for a time and I was able to hit a coke cap a 100 yrds on a bench rest. It's definatly not an Aimpoint!, but it is a good buy for $30. The aluminum construction is amazingly strong, but the lense glass is easlily broken (with a hammer) The 8 hour battery life is also a major drawback.

[f4t9r]

It is not right to torture a scope. :neener:
I have a couple and they are functional. Pretty good for the price.
Now go buy a Eotech and try the same test. We will wait for the results.
If you have to save some money up first we understand.

[SamG.]

I'd never hurt a real scope! :eek:

[CAPTAIN MIKE]

Sorry, but when many of us see the initials BSA - we think of the Boy Scouts of America - where many like me first learned how to shoot.

[MisterPX]

;)You coulda sent it to me and had me do a test similar to teh SPOT test ;)

[Geno]

I have 2 BSA scopes, a 36X and a Sweet .22 in 3-9, with AO. Both are worth the money. However, the 3-9 is excellent. I have had that scope for about a month or so. It tracks extremely well, and has great returnability to the original zero.

[krs]

Yeah but, recoil shakes them apart inside.

[easyrider6042004@yahoo.ca]

just wondering why anybody would do that to a scope. :evil::D

[SamG.]

Well I just happened to have one that I was replacing with a Vortex Strikefire (and I was also very bored). I decided that it wasn't such a loss, if I could prove something (Durability is what I'm trying to prove) :)

[mkonops]

I've got one on my Ruger MK3 .22, and it functions well enough. You can tell its cheap and made in China by looking at it, and certainly by holding it - but it serves its purpose well and my wallet barely noticed it. I would recommend it for range use any day.

Thanks for the test results. I'm glad (I guess) to know it can stand up to a good bit more abuse than it gets from me.

[easyrider6042004@yahoo.ca]

Thank you for performing those tests. You helped me decide to buy what looks to be the same scope sold under a different name, TM/Gunney's Garage, for $25.00 shipped.

I'm getting two of them, mainly to use for my range guns. I'll reserve my 1980s vintage Aimpoint 3000s and Tasco Propoints for more serious applications.

[SamG.]

You're welcome! I'm happy to help people choose!

[Browning]

Interesting test.

How many rounds had you put through it even before this test? That's kind of where the real evidence of a decent dot scope is (whether it'll hold up to moderate recoil over an extended period of time while exposing it to real world wear and tear).

It's interesting to see how it'll perform under extreme conditions, but I don't think most of us freeze or boil our dot scopes. However mine has fallen before from a few feet from a standing position or fallen off the bed of a truck onto concrete or onto dirt and/or been struck with something and gotten generally kind of dinged up.

[SamG.]

I had put about 1,000+ rounds of 7.62x39 through it. I originally mounted it on my AK, but upgraded to a Vortex Strikefire red-dot.

[Browning]

SamG. : I had put about 1,000+ rounds of 7.62x39 through it. I originally mounted it on my AK,...

Well that's not a whole lot of rounds, but an AK's certainly a large enough caliber and that's certainly enough rounds to uncover any defects in the dot scopes manufacture if were are any.

Good enough for me.

Thanks.

[easyrider6042004@yahoo.ca]

Ditto

[MartinS]

You get useful when you're bored. Cancel the cable.

[Dave Markowitz]

I had a BSA red dot on a Marlin Camp 45. It failed after about 110 rounds.

[dogrunner]

Had one that the reostat failed on....sent it back & they replaced it.

Number two failed when the internal lens detached itself. I just turned the front housing off and epoxied that glass back....so far its held up.

Mine's mounted on a .22 Hornet/.410 M/6.

[SamG.]

That's a shame!

[Clipper]

You give a flat no as one choice, but only a conditional yes, as a plinker. That's not an honest poll...

I have one on a carbine that I use for whatever I use that carbine for. I sure wouldn't limit it to plinking.

[LJH]

I really liked your testing, do you by chance work for American Tourister?

[SamG.]

Thanks! I don't work for them though.

[SamG.]

They're pretty good scopes but for something serious I would get an Aimpiont, EOtech or a Vortex Strikefire.

[SamG.]

Pretty DEcent

[CHEVELLE427]

I PICKED UP a new BSA red dot at a flea market for $5.00. Put it on my DESERT EAGLE 50 (only had 5 bucks to lose) it held up good. put around 50 rounds through it no problems took it off because it looked dumb on the DE.
HAD ANOTHER (SQ.) RED DOT forget the brand but it looked high $$$ .put it on the 50 and it lasted 5 rounds. Still lights up but the power dial free spins.

so the BSA red dot can hold its own for the price :D

[SamG.]

I agree, it's not an aimpoint but it's great for the range:)

[testify4]

I picked up a couple cheap BSA Holosights on a deep discount. I've been happy with their performance on my 10/22. I figure "you get what you pay for" and the reviews on the website I bought it from back that up. I wouldn't be awed that a $30 sight lasted for one shot from a .454 Casull like some of the disappointed reviewers are. ;)

[rondog]

I just bought a Hi-Point .40 carbine for fun plinking. I noticed on their accessories site they offer a BSA red-dot sight that looks to be the same thing as this...is it? It was priced around $35, would that be a good thing to have?

I haven't fired the carbine yet, nor have I ever used a red-dot sight, so I'm not sure what to look for. Again, this gun is just for cans and targets, all under 100 yards.

Thanks! I'm still quite a newbie actually.

[SamG.]

It would probably be pretty good for what you're using it for.

[rondog]

I just ordered a 50mm BSA red-dot sight from Sportsman's Guide this morning. I think it was $34.95 total, on sale. I'm not a member, so didn't get the discount.

Guess I'll find out how good it is.

[SamG.]

I think that you will be happy with it. Please reply about it when you recieve it, thank's

[Caimlas]

I'm pretty sure that the "abuseability" of the optics isn't the problem. It's the QC and consistency. 4 out of 5 might be able to withstand that, but it's the 1 out of 10 that's crap out of the box, or the 1 out of ten that goes out of zero at the most inconvenient time that's the problem.

Though, compared to (say) a Tasco, they seem like they're decent enough quality!

[SageMonkey]

I would be more worried about loss of zero than how it stands up to a beating with a hammer. And I would worry that over time recoil would shake the innards enough to cause a loss of zero. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the majority of them never lose their zero or otherwise fail, but I could never trust it not to... see that a lot with Chinese junk- quality varies too much between samples to really ever trust the whole lot of it.

I guess maybe for a really cheap plinker in a low recoiling caliber, but I wouldn't put junk glass on a good gun. And I wouldn't put it on a gun I might ever have to rely on.

[heather2046]

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[smee781]

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[SamG.]

I agree with both "Sagemonkey" and "Caimlas" I was only doing this test to see how much a cheep scope could withstand and still be operable, I don't know the longterm strengh of it.

[Valkman]

Many of the guys I know who have very expensive full auto stuff have the cheapest red dots they can find on top of them.

I sheepishly told a guy one day that the red dot on my $7k Uzi cost like $30 and he said he's never spent THAT much! We were laughing about it as he was shooting a M16 at the time. :)

[carrottop432]

I had a BSA 3-9x40 on my 45-70 for a long time. Held up to hundreds of factory loads. Once I started handloading 500 grain bullets, however, the strain was more than it could bear. I'd happily buy another one, though.

[HGUNHNTR]

My problem with BSA is not neccesarily durability, it is poor quality. I don't like their performance new out of the box, let alone in an abused condition. You can do a lot better than BSA.

[rondog]

I think that you will be happy with it. Please reply about it when you receive it.

Sorry, didn't see this. I have received it, and it seems to be quite cool! I haven't shot with it yet though. I'm wondering if I should have got the smaller one rather than the 50mm, it's pretty damn big. I'm going to have to get a different gun case.

My problem with BSA is not neccesarily durability, it is poor quality. I don't like their performance new out of the box, let alone in an abused condition. You can do a lot better than BSA.

Yes, I'm sure I could do a lot better than BSA. But I wanted it for a $190 Hi-Point .40 carbine, just for target and can shooting. I'm not using it for hunting or close quarters urban combat.

[SamG.]

I just wanted to clear some things up on my thread;
I only did this test to show the durability of a $30, cheap red-dot scope. I do NOT reccomend this for any use other than sporting, if you want something more get a scope that costs more.
Please post if you have any experiences /comments with BSA scopes we would love to hear some stories:)
Thank's,
Sam

[HGUNHNTR]

Why spend ANY money on a scope if it is crap? Wouldn't it be better to buy quality equipment if it will provide more value long term/more enjoyment/and perform its intended function to a higher degree?
I have never understood why people are willing to buy an item that is sub par quality just because it is cheaper. What are you really saving?

[SamG.]

Yeah, that may be true for gun/gear that you trust your life to, but i'm just talking about a cheap plinker scope, and how tough they can be.
Sam

[Loggerlee]

I've got one,thought it was inaccurate,put a real scope on the 597 and found out it was the rifle...going to put the handy little red dot back on.