Just wondering if anyone owns one? Would you recommend them. How do they copare to EO Tech?

http://bestopticsunlimited.com/library/bushpic510021.jpg

Unless something has changed recently - the only difference is the bushnell does NOT have the protective shroud.. Otherwise they are pretty much the same..

BTW - I think the bushnell only has a 2 yr warranty - the eotech has a lifetime IIRC.

I do love the way they come up to your eye

Brian

is there a place to buy a protective shroud for a bushnell ?

i hace a couple of these bushnells..they have a protective shroud. they sit a little lower on the rifle than the eotech's..thats why i love them...also mucho cheaper

Thas the first time i see someone with a gen 2 bushnell. Now u have to give us a quick review of it

Ability to hold zero
Durability
Any problems
Eye relief
Battery life( its the aaa model right?)

I want to get one, but with the very limited info on the web about em, i was gonna wait till i read more on them, if you say they are good to go, ill order one as soon as i finish reading your review
Cheers

holds zero fine..unlimited eye relief..yes..aaa batteries..awesome sight
i have one in the box for sale...im me

Quoted: i hace a couple of these bushnells..they have a protective shroud. they sit a little lower on the rifle than the eotech's..thats why i love them...also mucho cheaper i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/reddot223/002.jpg

That is the scope/mount for a shotgun isnt it???  did you have to do anything special to get it to mount on the upper?

thanks

Brian

mounts right to your rail like any other eotech

Thanks.. I didnt realize they made two versions of this sight.. one that has a drop down bracket for Remingtion 870 use and one without the bracket..


brian

thats the old model.  the new one is identical to an eotech in size and shape.  i had one for about 6 months. . . it was great, no problems at all.  if you dont care so much about the shield then the holosight is a good way to save $100.

Just an FYI - that holosight in the picture is not the gen II holosight that is similar to the eotech.  It is a different model all together.

Quoted: Just an FYI - that holosight in the picture is not the gen II holosight that is similar to the eotech.  It is a different model all together.

actually that is the Gen 2 Bushnell sight build especially for Bushnell by EOTech....

The older EOTech like sight are still longer in production, just a different offering.

this is different than the latest generation EOTech in the forms of 553-557

That's not a Gen II Holosight, it's a Holosight XLP.  It's got a hood, but is a completely different sight from the Eotech style, and is made in Japan, rather than in the L3 factory in the US.  It's also too low for an AR, at about 1" centerline, rather than 1.4".  It's made for weapons that use a lower sight centerline.  It's a good bit less sturdy than the Eotech style, due to the way it's mounted on the zeroing screws.

The so-called Bushnell Holosight Gen II looks like an N battery Eotech.  Technically, it's a Gen III, as there was a generation of Holosight before the current style with removable reticles and side buttons.

The new Bushnell 51-0023 (called a Gen II at some web sites) has a dedicated on-off button in about the same position as the Eotech NV button, and an intensity setting memory, returning it to the last setting when you turn it on, rather than the 12 (of 20) setting like the previous Holosight and the Eotech.  Auto-shutdown is 8 hours, rather than the 4/8 hours with the older models, due to the single on/off button instead of using the up/down buttons for power.  The older N battery Bushnell is a 51-0021.


The Bushnell Holosight and the Eotech use the same holographic technologies, and the Bushnells that look like the Eotech are made in America, in the same plant as the Eotechs.  There are 2 styles of Bushnell Holosight now - the Eotech style, and the XLP, which is much more futuristic looking, and is made in Japan. The XLP is physically a completely different design, with a lower centerline of about 1", but still uses the same reticle.  From a reticle perspective, there's very little difference between any of them except for max brightness.

Essentially, the Eotech style Bushnell is a pre Rev F Eotech without the hood.

Here are the key differences:

- The Eotech uses their Rev F technology (starting in 2005), which greatly extends battery life and gives a much wider range of reticle brightness, including more brightness at the high end, and has improved buttons. The Bushnells use the pre-Rev F technology still, with shorter battery life and less brightness range.  The Rev F Eotechs are marked with an F on the hood, but the hood can be replaced or changed easily, so this isn't always a good indication.

- Battery life:
Eotech N battery version - 200 hours at the 12 (of 20) setting
Eotech AA version - 600 hours (alkaline), 1000 hours (lithium) at the 12 (of 20) setting.
Eotech CR123 version - 1100 hours at the 12 (of 20) setting
Bushnell N battery version - 40 hours life at the 12 (of 20) setting
Bushnell AAA battery version (XLP) - 100 hours life at the 10 (of 15) setting

There's no data I've found on battery life for the Bushnell AA version.

- The Eotech has a protective hood. The Eotech style Bushnell doesn't, and can't be retrofitted, though the hood is available as a replacement part through Eotech.  The hood fits on a set of rails with tapped holes on the Eotech base that aren't there on the Bushnell.  Both have encapsulated electronics for recoil and impact resistance.  The Bushnell XLP has a hood built in to the design, but is not directly comparable to the Eotech design.

- The 55X models of the Eotech have night vision compatible settings in addition to the regular settings. The 51X Eotechs and the Bushnells don't have this.

- The 55X versions of the Eotech are waterproof to 33 feet, while the 51X versions and the Bushnell are waterproof to 10 feet.

- The Eotechs are available using N or AA batteries, and the new 553 uses CR123 version. The Eotech style Bushnells are available using N batteries, and had an AA version that's not available in their current catalog (though there are indications they'll release one as part of their new line). The Bushnell XLP models use AAA batteries.

For all of them, if you use lithium batteries, you dramatically increase battery life, especially at low temperatures, but the low battery indication doesn't work with lithium batteries.  Note that N batteries aren't generally available in lithium.  Also, there have been a number of problems reported with N battery Eotechs draining the battery rapidly, even while off.  The conventional wisdom is to use name brand batteries to help avoid this, but there's little hard data on this problem.

Both brands have a 2 year warranty.  Bushnell uses the manufacture date to determine the warranty period, according to some users who have requested warranty repairs.

Excellent write-up, above. Great work!

Question, if I may . . .

The Bushnell "EOTech" . . . can it be drilled so as to make an EOTech shroud work with it?

If they're basically the same . . . ?

I wonder (if you don't happen to know), if the Bushnell "people" would admit it -if it would. Needless to say, screwing the pooch by drilling it off my a even mm would be a costly mistake. But, I wonder if I could take the shroud off my EOTech, measure carefully, then line up the holes . . . use it as a template of sorts! Hmmmm . . .

That's the only thing that's really stopping me from getting a Bushnell for my other carbine.
*It's too bad those flip-up dust-covers are so ridiculously priced. They'd be nice to have too. Ooo! Ooo! And a magnifier . . . and an NV tube . . . and a ___________, etc, etc, etc!!!!

It's a common question (as is the Eotech vs Bushnell), which is why I put together a blurb on it.

Unfortunately, you can't easily put the Eotech shroud on a Bushnell.  The Eotech body has a rail with the mount holes drilled and tapped, providing some extra meat for the screws, and the Bushnell doesn't.  Someone enterprising could work around this, I'm sure, but it wouldn't have the strength of the hood mounting directly on the body.

Here's a pic showing the rails where the hood mounts.  I don't have a Bushnell pic, but it's smooth there.