Bushnell AR/6.5 Creedmoor 4.5-18X 40mm

Bushnell is adding new specialized products to its optics line all the time, and one of the most useful recent introductions taps into the immense popularity of the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge. Bushnell's new scope is called the AR/6.5 Creedmoor, and it's designed for the long-range capabilities of this excellent round. The power range is an impressive 4.5 to 18, and the scope has a reticle specifically developed for the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge.

Here's how it works. Along the vertical crosshair are four dots below the intersection; these plus the thick part of the crosshair below the dots give five calibrated aiming points. Sighted-in at 100 yards, the dots, going down from the intersection, are aiming points for 200, 300, 400, and 500 yards respectively. The top of the thick part of the stadia is for 600 yards. These points are designed to correspond pretty closely to the trajectory of full-power 6.5 Creedmoor ammo. On the range, as best as I could measure, the distance between the dots at 100 yards is 1.5, 3.7, 6.4, 9.4, and 12.7 inches for the 200- to 600-yard aiming points. These values should be confirmed with the shooter's loads and rifle, of course. This is a clean reticle, without a lot of distracting hash marks.

The matte black scope is 12.4 inches long, weighs 21.5 ounces, and has crisp 0.25-MOA click adjustments. There are 50 MOA of adjustment for windage and elevation, which ought to be plenty for long-range shooting. It has a side parallax adjustment from 25 yards to infinity. The lenses are fully multicoated, and the field of view is 22 feet at 100 yards at 4.5X and 7.3 feet at 18X. The eye relief is a comfortable 3.7 inches and is relatively constant throughout the power range, although it shrinks a little at the highest powers.

The reticle is in the second focal plane, which means the distances between the dots are only correct at the highest power. However, the clever rifleman can "tweak" this to his own needs by adjusting the power, noting the distances subtended at various ranges, and then making a cheat sheet compatible with the values for his load.

MSRP: $323.45

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