Bushnell ACOG

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I have searched the forum but it seems like most of the info on these scopes is several years old. http://www.opticsplanet.net/bushnell-trophy-1x32-riflescope-730132p.html

Does anyone have experience with these scopes? I know it is not a real ACOG, I know it is not the best of the best, I know there are better scopes out there, I just want to know how good a deal it is for the money.
I am thinking about putting it on a .308 carbine. Will it work for shots out to 250 yards? maybe 300 at most? Main use will not be precision shooting obviously. This would just be for hunting hogs in brush and then maybe spraying bullets at a coyote on a wheatfield. (that is when the 200-300 yard shots will happen)
Any imput from folks that have used one or even just handled one would be great. Thanks
 
Ok. First thing:

The scope is not an ACOG. Not in name (Trademarked or otherwise) nor in function, as it's a 1x red dot scope that's been shoe-horned into a body that is vaguely ACOG-ish.

I'm not saying that to be snotty, but in order to point out that this scope isn't designed to function like or fill the same niche as an actual ACOG, which is going to have a low level of magnification of around 3.5-4x depending on the model.

At that price, it's probably not a tremendously high-quality piece, and the size of the thing is almost 7 inches long, which is utterly ridiculous for a non-magnified dot scope.

If you're truly hamstrung by price, look at some of the red dot scopes available from Burris or Vortex, both of those companies have reputations for making good quality products at fairly low price-points.

If you want the gold standard in a dot sight, save up your money and buy an AimPoint. They're great scopes with insane battery life.

As for using a red dot at further ranges, it can be done. For that kind of use, I'm a fan of zeroing the scope at 200 yards, which should allow you to put lead on target fairly easily at distances both closer and further without having to compensate a whole lot for hold over. You just have to train yourself to know where to hold at those distances in order to hit your target.
 
I have one on an AR15 in .223.


For what it is, it's a great little red-dot. But it is not an ACOG or could even be compared to one.


It requires a battery for reticle illumination, and battery life can be 8-10 hours. It has 5 adjustable brightness levels for each color. I usually use it on the brightest setting when in direct sunlight, which obviously will affect the battery life.


I have a 3moa dot reticle, and at 50 or 100 yards, it makes for an extremely accurate sight, and would recommend it over the 5moa reticle.


It is also only a 1x, as mentioned above, so keep that in mind for long-range shots.


It does not have a built-in BDC as found in an ACOG.


It's been bounced around the truck, it's been knocked around on an ATV running around camp. It's on the rifle that I let others shoot, and has has never lost zero. For what it is, and for how I use it, I'm happy with it.

My only complaint is that it does not come with flip-up caps, and the covers it does come with are easy to lose.
 
Thanks guys. :) Yes I am aware that it is not truely an acog design. That is just what I have heard most people refer to it as. And it looks like Bushnell was really trying to copy the look. But thanks for making sure I know.

Animator; thanks for the personal review. Good to know, I'll keep your points in mind.

Justin, thanks for the insight. Is there a particular red dot in that price range that you prefer?

To be completely honest, I really would rather have the Trijicon TR-24. But I kinda have trouble justifying a $845 scope on a $500 AK47... atleast at this time. So I guess if anyone knows of a cheaper alternative to the Trijicon TR-24 I would be interested in that also.
 
The Acog sits too high for a good cheek/jaw weld on most Ak mounts except maybe a Texas Weapon Systems receiver mount. I'd suggest the Leatherwood CMR, it's what I have on my AK. Runs about $350, and is excellent quality. The reticle is a circle with a 1moa center dot and it has BDC lines to the 3, 6, and 9 o clock positions on the reticle. It's illuminated too. Perfect little scope for an AK, especially if you get some low rings.

Edit: you said .308 carbine and then said AK. Is it a Saiga 308? If so, I believe the BDC on the leatherwood is calculated for 556 on one side and 308 on the other.
 
I have the Vorte SPARC. At $200 it is a good optic. No it is not an ACOG, but still a lot for the money. I've been well pleased and it suits my needs.
 
I'd steer clear of it for all the reasons Justin mentioned, but I'd recommend the EoTech over the Aimpoint. The EoTech is much faster. But the Aimpoint can probably handle more abuse. I saw one get sheared off the mount when a 5ton truck hit a bump and the rifle slammed into the weapon mount behind the seat. The Aimpoint was fine! I can't understand how the glass didn't break.

The ACOG is peerless for what it does, and until they come up with a better red dot than the EoTech, I'll stick with it. I like the Trijicon reflex better in theory, but in practice it is miles behind the EoTech save the no batteries thing.

You can pick up a good used EoTech for a few hundred. Make sure it is real. Unless you have NOD's, you don't need the more expensive ones.

Mind you I didn't like the EoTech, I thought is was overpriced junk at first, but they won me over through their qualities. Also, if you are patient and look around, you might find an Elcan. I got one of the Canadian style MG scopes in .308, awesome for an FAL, but not the most accurate scope.

The Aimpoint, the Trijicon reflex (and ACOG) and the EoTech are all SOPMOD components too, so you can rest assured you don't have junk. The differences between them are thus: the Aimpoint has a crisp bright red dot dead center. It is tough too. I'd say it is the "best all around". The EoTech is much faster, nothing like it. You can shoot running rabbits with it no problem because of the 65MOA ring. It is bright too, but the difference between it and the Aimpoint is that with the Aimpoint you still feel like you are looking through a scope. With the EoTech, it is a true heads up display. The Trijicon WAS my favorite, but I have problems with lighting. Unless you AND the target are in the same lighting, it just doesn't work so great. But it doesn't take batteries. The ACOG doesn't really have this problem though, just the reflex.

I've used all of these in service, this is from experience, and I still own a few too. My M4 sports an EoTech, the Beowulf has the Trijicon reflex (the Beo is only good to 200m max, 100m is ideal) and the Grendel wears the ACOG. I don't have an Aimpoint, but it is just because I never really was a fan of them in the army. Nothing against them though. And the FAL of course has an Elcan on it.

I'd say the best bang for the buck was that Elcan. Not a MOA scope by any means, but it is really nice. Nice glass.

The best cheap scope I've ever used was an SWFA SS 10x42 fixed power scope on a Whitefeather. Best by far, it is almost as good as some of the expensive ones and even has an NSN number! My buddy took this to Iraq and it came back in one piece. His Whitefeather isn't worth $4000 or whatever anymore though. Some complain the dots are too big, but for $300 are you really gonna complain? We had a couple of ATN's and some other cheapos we were toying with too, the ATN's fell apart pretty quick, both of them, and none were as good as the SS. When I get another ~$600 bolt rifle, I'll definitely use that scope again.

Because you are mounting it on an AK, I think you would be best served by one of the dots I mentioned. An AK isn't exactly an MOA weapon (like the FAL) so I would try to go with fast and durable.
 
I had one. took it back to Cabelas. I didn't think it was high enough quality to keep around. Might be ok on a plinker.
 
I have one of those, mounted it on my 22 cal AR upper hoping to co-witness my iron sights.. no go. Couldn't 'make it work' the way I wanted.

It's neat, but Justin is right its BIG and heavy for a 1x and the t-shaped aiming pip 'floats' unlike reg cross hairs. Haven't decided if I will keep it or not. I might keep it as a 'shotgun sight' or see if I can make it work on another rifle laying around here.
 
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Strykervet said:
I'd steer clear of it for all the reasons Justin mentioned, but I'd recommend the EoTech over the Aimpoint. The EoTech is much faster. But the Aimpoint can probably handle more abuse. I saw one get sheared off the mount when a 5ton truck hit a bump and the rifle slammed into the weapon mount behind the seat. The Aimpoint was fine! I can't understand how the glass didn't break.

The ACOG is peerless for what it does, and until they come up with a better red dot than the EoTech, I'll stick with it. I like the Trijicon reflex better in theory, but in practice it is miles behind the EoTech save the no batteries thing.

You can pick up a good used EoTech for a few hundred. Make sure it is real. Unless you have NOD's, you don't need the more expensive ones.

Mind you I didn't like the EoTech, I thought is was overpriced junk at first, but they won me over through their qualities. Also, if you are patient and look around, you might find an Elcan. I got one of the Canadian style MG scopes in .308, awesome for an FAL, but not the most accurate scope.

The Aimpoint, the Trijicon reflex (and ACOG) and the EoTech are all SOPMOD components too, so you can rest assured you don't have junk. The differences between them are thus: the Aimpoint has a crisp bright red dot dead center. It is tough too. I'd say it is the "best all around". The EoTech is much faster, nothing like it. You can shoot running rabbits with it no problem because of the 65MOA ring. It is bright too, but the difference between it and the Aimpoint is that with the Aimpoint you still feel like you are looking through a scope. With the EoTech, it is a true heads up display. The Trijicon WAS my favorite, but I have problems with lighting. Unless you AND the target are in the same lighting, it just doesn't work so great. But it doesn't take batteries. The ACOG doesn't really have this problem though, just the reflex.

I've used all of these in service, this is from experience, and I still own a few too. My M4 sports an EoTech, the Beowulf has the Trijicon reflex (the Beo is only good to 200m max, 100m is ideal) and the Grendel wears the ACOG. I don't have an Aimpoint, but it is just because I never really was a fan of them in the army. Nothing against them though. And the FAL of course has an Elcan on it.

I'd say the best bang for the buck was that Elcan. Not a MOA scope by any means, but it is really nice. Nice glass.

The best cheap scope I've ever used was an SWFA SS 10x42 fixed power scope on a Whitefeather. Best by far, it is almost as good as some of the expensive ones and even has an NSN number! My buddy took this to Iraq and it came back in one piece. His Whitefeather isn't worth $4000 or whatever anymore though. Some complain the dots are too big, but for $300 are you really gonna complain? We had a couple of ATN's and some other cheapos we were toying with too, the ATN's fell apart pretty quick, both of them, and none were as good as the SS. When I get another ~$600 bolt rifle, I'll definitely use that scope again.

Because you are mounting it on an AK, I think you would be best served by one of the dots I mentioned. An AK isn't exactly an MOA weapon (like the FAL) so I would try to go with fast and durable.
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Eotech, like the ACOG, sits pretty high for most AK mounts, except the TWS rail perhaps. Plus, he mentions shooting at 250-300 yards, which a 1-4x might be better suited to. More bang for your buck with a 1-4x optic like the Millet, as was suggested above. However, I'd still suggest the leatherwood if you can afford a little more, the quality (in my opinion, just from using both on an AK) is miles higher than the millet and the reticle is more useful.
 
More bang for your buck with a 1-4x optic like the Millet, as was suggested above. However, I'd still suggest the leatherwood if you can afford a little more, the quality (in my opinion, just from using both on an AK) is miles higher than the millet and the reticle is more useful.
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I have no experience with the Leatherwood, so I'll default to folks like Cal-gun who do. I've run a Millet DMS on a few AR type rifles, and it's worked quite well. An over-gassed .308 Win AR did knock some internal finish off, but they repaired it beyond the stated warranty, and did so pretty quickly as well. Now that the .308 AR's gas system has been tuned it doesn't cause any problems. It never had any issues on a heavily gassed 5.56 NATO AR though.
 
For a while, I ran a Millet DMS-1 on my AR-15. I found it to be rather big and very heavy. The glass is Chinese and one can tell from the distortion around the edges. During a training course, it took a hard hit and now the illumination no longer works. That didn't bother me much as you couldn't see it in sunlight anyway....it wasn't bright enough. It didn't take too long and it was replaced by a TA11J-G ACOG. The DMS-1 now resides on my M&P 15-22. The 15-22's light weight comes close to a normal AR-15 with the heavy DMS-1 mounted on it.
 
:) Wow. I love this forum. Where else can a guy get this many experienced (and friendly) opinions in 1 day?

First, thanks to all of you guys that provided info on red dots. Now I think that I have a really good feel for what the bushnell is and isn't. All things considered I don't think it is what I need. So... I will give the list of recommended red dots a closer look. As far as the Eotech vs. Aimpoint, I have handled both and I like both. Good to hear a review from overseas. But, the weapon is a converted saiga .308. Not sure I want to drop that much $$ on a cheap rifle. I willingly spend more on my long range rifle, but this is mostly a truck gun and as much as I like the eotech/aimpoint scopes, I just dont think that is what I need.

And regarding the cheek weld on a saiga 308, I am using a tapco T6 stock with a cheek piece. I temporaily installed my friends aimpoint on my gun, and the cheek weld was near perfect. Good point though.

For you guys that recommended the Millet; THANK YOU! The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that something like that is what I need.
Someone pointed out that it is heavy, thanks for the heads up but my saiga already feels like a truck so adding a brick on top shouldn't hurt too much. ;)

So if anyone wants to put in their .02 on the millet scope, I am all ears.
 
Justin, thanks for the insight. Is there a particular red dot in that price range that you prefer?
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I'll be honest; I'm an Aimpoint fanboy. They make great stuff, though it is spendy. The only problem I have my Aimpoint micro is that the dot looks a little smeary due to my astigmatism.

Strykervet's post about the EoTech's rings true, though I have much less time behind an Eotech than I do with my Aimpoint.

As for the Burris and Vortex scopes, I don't have enough first-hand experience with them to be able to make a definitive "yes, buy this one" kind of statement. I've looked through scopes from both, and know good shooters who have used products from both companies, and reported positive experiences. As a result, you could say that they've got a good second-hand reputation with me.

For general plinking, I've also had some reasonable experiences with an ancient Tasco Pro-Point, and terrible experience with a dot scope from ADCO.
 
If you are looking for a less expensive red-dot type sight, you might want to consider the Lucid HD7. After picking up my own AR I was looking for a reasonably priced, but reasonably good, sight and got several recomendations for this one. After reading a couple of positive reviews on-line I went ahead and bought one, and I have been very satisfied with it to date.

L-Prod_HD7.jpg


Despite its appearance, its no ACOG but with a bit of searching you can find them for less than $200. The built in mount is designed to clear the iron sights on a flat top AR, so I don't know how it will fit on an AK but other than that I think its a sound choice at that price.
 
I love my DMS-1. I have it mounted on a custom mini14 unbeleavibly clear with a great field of view at the lower powers and has the ability to zoom to 4X for longer shots.
 
I've had the Bushnell now for about a year mounted on a Beretta CX4 40SW. Use it mainly as a plinker out to 50 yards or so. Its gotten knocked around a bit and has held up to several camping trips and a little hog hunting. One day I'll try something better but so far it lives up to its price point of a $150 optic.
 
I'd not go with the EOTech if battery life is important. The three EOTechs I have all need battery replacement more often that my cheap red dots, despite the bigger batteries on the EOTechs.

I have to open the cover to disconnect the batteries if I want the EOTech to work next time out.
 
The millet is a very nice scope, I liked mine a lot. What mount are you using?
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This mount: http://www.amazon.com/UTG-Quick-Detachable-Double-Mount/dp/B001F0IA1K
Locks up TIGHT. No wobble. Mounts and detaches very quickly. Seems to hold zero well. When I mounted my friends aimpoint on it, it was definately high. But since I have a tapco T6 stock I got this:http://store.a51tactical.com/index...._info&cPath=66_67_79_161_115&products_id=1500
The taller of the two worked perfectly. Brought my head up right where it needed to be.

I plan on using that mount for whatever scope I put on my AK. Although I am considering moving to a TWS dust cover mount.
 
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