bushnell elite 4200 scopes?

[mdd]

I love my Leupold scopes & have never regretted purchasing them after they're in my hands and (quickly) on a rifle. I don't like the price but that's just me being tight with my money. I've been wanting a little more magnification in a quality scope but didn't want to hit or even slighty nudge the four digit mark on price. So I've kept my eyes open & finally bit on something. Midway has a sale on elite 4200 6-24x40 ao scopes for $363 and I ordered one. No shops around here handle elites & none of my friends have any either. Basically I bought it on a whim figuring if I don't like it I can return it.
I'm hoping someone here can put this scope into leupold-ese for me. Is it comparable to a VX-II? VX-III? Somewhere in between? I'm just curious as to what will show up on my front step in a couple days. I did a search on here about it but the only pertinent thread quickly deteriorated into a tangential conversation about wine & wrist watches
I figured this new scope should be explored on top of a new gun so I pony'd up & bought the ruger hawkeye tactical 243 I've been wanting since they came out. Now, between the ruger & the bushnell, almost everyone can hate something about my new rig!

 

[trg42wraglefragle]

Bushnell Elite rifle scopes are viewed quite highly by lots of people, especially the 4200 series.
Theres a good review of one on snipercentral.com it compares it to a leupold.

I've never understood why people love leupolds, they have a great reputation but theyre so dam expensive and you only get a stupid 3 times zoom range.

 

[mikejonestkd]

Almost all of my scopes are bushnell elites and Leupolds. Both are excellent scopes for the money and I do not think you could go wrong with either. IMO, a 4200 is comparable to a VX-II in terms of optical quality.

That being said I am tending to gravitate towards Leupolds lately.

 

[Saltydog235]

I've got a 4200 2.5X10X50 Ill Dot on my .243 Savage 10, a VXIII 3.5X10X50 On my Ruger #1 7Mag and a Ziess 3.5X10X44 on my Sako 7mm-08. They are all on virtually equal levels with the slight nod going to the Ziess. I can say that the 4200 actually seems the brightest in that twilight time that Mr. Big-rack steps out. I don't think there's a better scope for the money right now with the deals that are going on.

 

[Poodleshooter]

4200 Elites are discontinued now. You're seeing good deals on them because Bushnell has consolidated down to the Banner, Trophy XLT, Elite, Elite Tactical and Elite 6500 lines.

It depends on what VXII and VXIIIs you're used to looking at. Prior to 2004 or thereabouts, VXIIs were only multicoated, like Nikon Buckmasters or Bushnell Trophy XLTs. So if you have an older VXII, the Elite 4200 will be somewhat better. It's probably on par/slightly better than a new VXII. Leupold's warranty is better though. Much of what you're paying for with a Leupold is a nice warranty and the fact that they will repair your scope in 30 years, whereas Bushnell may be owned by someone else and the warranty department may say "What's an Elite scope? We don't fix those."

 

[taylorce1]

I've got a Bushnell Elite 4200 4-16X40AO on my .25-06 and a Leupold VX-II 4-12X40 AO on my 6X47. The glass is real similar, biggest thing I can fault the 4200 on is being bulky looking. The Leupold just isn't as large or as heavy as the 4200.

3X power vs. 4X isn't much of a big deal. I really don't use the higher end powers much anyway unless I'm at the range or varmint hunting. I killed my deer with 4200 still on 4X and my Pronghorn with the Leupold on 6X, both scopes had more than enough power to get the job done.