So I've got both of these and have been trying to decide for quite a while as to which one I want to stick with. I've compared them, and compared them and compared them and I still have no idea which one I want to go with. I did have a slight issue with the Burris originally, but Burris sent me a brand new replacement for it. Huge +1 to Burris customer service. So right now I'm leaving this one sealed incase I do sell it.
Anyway, they each have things I like and dislike about them and it's making my decision really hard. The rifle this is going on is a sub moa gun consistently and I shoot it fairly often at the range, but I also hunt with it some. So I'd say 70% range time and 25% deer hunting and 5% varmint hunting. Now I will say the majority of my shots at deer are running shots, but I left my previous 3-9 on 5x all of the time and never had an issue so I'm sure either of these will be fine. I do have some opportunities for shots from a stand where the deer would be standing though, and in this case low light performance would be nice since they usually come out in the evenings or early mornings.
I will also say durability is my #1 most important thing. I want this gun to be able to bounce around in the truck and still stay zeroed year after year after year. I've never done much hunting with this one, but a previous Burris 3-9x40 has held up great to this. I'd also like to not be replacing this 3 years down the road because it does fail.
Now what I like about the Burris. The glass seems slightly and I mean slightly better than the Bushnell. There isn't a big difference, but it just seemed a hair brighter. The Burris also has way better adjustments imo. They seemed to track well, and I just can't say anything bad about them. They felt positive and were easy to adjust with your fingers. The other thing I really like about the Burris is the 42mm objective. Not that it matters much, but it fits the gun better look wise imo. I also thought the adjustable objective was smoother on the Burris, but that's not a huge deal either. Another huge positive in my experience is Burris customer service treated me flat out awesome. I can't say enough good about this. This is always a positive.
Now, what I don't like about the Burris. The eye piece is my biggest turn off. This is where I had an issue originally with it where this loose. Looking over the design I don't see how it can ever be 100% solid and not move at all, but I could be wrong. I've tested several of them since finding this and they have all been able to wiggle slightly if you push on the eye piece. I also don't like that I can't use Butler Creek flip up's on the eye piece as I really like them. The next turn off to me about the Burris is the eye piece takes more effort to turn to change the magnification. Once again this is a small thing though, and not really a big deal. The one last thing I don't like about it is it doesn't include a sunshade with it, and they are fairly expensive to buy separately. Not a huge deal, but I do like using a sun shade on bright days.
Now onto the Bushnell Elite 3200 5-15x40. What I really like about this scope is the magnification ring to adjust the magnification, the power range and even though 15x isn't much more than 14x it does seem to make a little difference and I do like it a little more. I also like the rain guard so when I'm out hunting on rainy days I don't have to worry as much about it fogging up. This scope also came with a sun shade and I like that. The glass while it doesn't seem to be as good as the Burris isn't far behind and it's pretty darn good. The scopes got a solid feel to it, and I just am finding I really like this scope too.
Now my biggest complaint about the Bushnell is the turrets. They use the style found on the cheap $30 Simmons I've used. Not that that's bad, but they don't feel as nice to me as the Burris ones. The problems started when shooting. I noticed they don't track accurately. I never box tested it, but I doubt it would pass. I adjusted it for what should have been 1.25" and it moved more like 1.75" at 100 yards. It just didn't seem to move 1/4" at 100 yards per click like it's labeled. This wasn't a huge deal because I normally sight this gun in and leave it, but it was a turn off. I've read several other complaints about the adjustments also, so it seems to be how the scope is. The one other thing I don't like, is while I've never dealt with Bushnell customer service I've heard a lot of bad things about them. That doesn't make me to eager to deal with them. I've also always thought of Bushnell as a cheaper and honestly, crappy scope, and while I realize this is a nicer scope from them, that thought is always in my head when I look at it.
So all in all, I really like both scopes and the Burris seems to be slightly better in the glass department and the tracking, but the Bushnell seems to be better in everything else. The market value on both of them seems to be higher than what I paid for either so that's not really an issue, but I do think I could get more for the Burris, but I also paid slightly more. So I've compared and compared and compared and I still can't decide. I need to keep one of these things and sell the other and I like them both and just can't decide which one to keep and which one to sell. So I thought I'd come here and see what you guys experiences are with each, and which you like better?
Anyway, they each have things I like and dislike about them and it's making my decision really hard. The rifle this is going on is a sub moa gun consistently and I shoot it fairly often at the range, but I also hunt with it some. So I'd say 70% range time and 25% deer hunting and 5% varmint hunting. Now I will say the majority of my shots at deer are running shots, but I left my previous 3-9 on 5x all of the time and never had an issue so I'm sure either of these will be fine. I do have some opportunities for shots from a stand where the deer would be standing though, and in this case low light performance would be nice since they usually come out in the evenings or early mornings.
I will also say durability is my #1 most important thing. I want this gun to be able to bounce around in the truck and still stay zeroed year after year after year. I've never done much hunting with this one, but a previous Burris 3-9x40 has held up great to this. I'd also like to not be replacing this 3 years down the road because it does fail.
Now what I like about the Burris. The glass seems slightly and I mean slightly better than the Bushnell. There isn't a big difference, but it just seemed a hair brighter. The Burris also has way better adjustments imo. They seemed to track well, and I just can't say anything bad about them. They felt positive and were easy to adjust with your fingers. The other thing I really like about the Burris is the 42mm objective. Not that it matters much, but it fits the gun better look wise imo. I also thought the adjustable objective was smoother on the Burris, but that's not a huge deal either. Another huge positive in my experience is Burris customer service treated me flat out awesome. I can't say enough good about this. This is always a positive.
Now, what I don't like about the Burris. The eye piece is my biggest turn off. This is where I had an issue originally with it where this loose. Looking over the design I don't see how it can ever be 100% solid and not move at all, but I could be wrong. I've tested several of them since finding this and they have all been able to wiggle slightly if you push on the eye piece. I also don't like that I can't use Butler Creek flip up's on the eye piece as I really like them. The next turn off to me about the Burris is the eye piece takes more effort to turn to change the magnification. Once again this is a small thing though, and not really a big deal. The one last thing I don't like about it is it doesn't include a sunshade with it, and they are fairly expensive to buy separately. Not a huge deal, but I do like using a sun shade on bright days.
Now onto the Bushnell Elite 3200 5-15x40. What I really like about this scope is the magnification ring to adjust the magnification, the power range and even though 15x isn't much more than 14x it does seem to make a little difference and I do like it a little more. I also like the rain guard so when I'm out hunting on rainy days I don't have to worry as much about it fogging up. This scope also came with a sun shade and I like that. The glass while it doesn't seem to be as good as the Burris isn't far behind and it's pretty darn good. The scopes got a solid feel to it, and I just am finding I really like this scope too.
Now my biggest complaint about the Bushnell is the turrets. They use the style found on the cheap $30 Simmons I've used. Not that that's bad, but they don't feel as nice to me as the Burris ones. The problems started when shooting. I noticed they don't track accurately. I never box tested it, but I doubt it would pass. I adjusted it for what should have been 1.25" and it moved more like 1.75" at 100 yards. It just didn't seem to move 1/4" at 100 yards per click like it's labeled. This wasn't a huge deal because I normally sight this gun in and leave it, but it was a turn off. I've read several other complaints about the adjustments also, so it seems to be how the scope is. The one other thing I don't like, is while I've never dealt with Bushnell customer service I've heard a lot of bad things about them. That doesn't make me to eager to deal with them. I've also always thought of Bushnell as a cheaper and honestly, crappy scope, and while I realize this is a nicer scope from them, that thought is always in my head when I look at it.
So all in all, I really like both scopes and the Burris seems to be slightly better in the glass department and the tracking, but the Bushnell seems to be better in everything else. The market value on both of them seems to be higher than what I paid for either so that's not really an issue, but I do think I could get more for the Burris, but I also paid slightly more. So I've compared and compared and compared and I still can't decide. I need to keep one of these things and sell the other and I like them both and just can't decide which one to keep and which one to sell. So I thought I'd come here and see what you guys experiences are with each, and which you like better?
