The Bushnell R5 Riflescope Is Simple, Yet Effective

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Shooting equipment has evolved over the last decade. There’s newfound interest in precision shooting, and as a result more and more guns and optics offer features traditionally found only on tactical rifles.

Bushnell’s new R5 series scopes are something of a throwback. They don’t offer exposed turrets for rapid dialing to extended ranges. The tube measures one inch in diameter, and they are second-focal-plane optics. They’re simply designed for the hunter who wants a robust, reliable scope that’s suitable for most big game hunting and is priced affordably.

The R5 4-12x40mm version—which has a magnification range suitable for most hunting—I tested featured a few extra upgrades. First, it has a side-focus knob and an illuminated DOA-LRH800 reticle. The glass-etched reticle features a center dot that is illuminated and BDC holdover points that range from 2 to 8. There are also horizontal stadia lines.

The R5 doesn’t have any onboard tech such as Bluetooth, but you can download the Bushnell Ballistic App and set up a profile that contains your rifle, scope and ammunition. These data provide yardages for the BDC holdover lines and wind holds depending upon your ballistics. The app even allows you to set up multiple gun profiles and sync with a Bluetooth-enabled rangefinder, and you can obtain environmental data from local weather stations. You can even build DOPE cards and email them to yourself for printing.

Nothing Wrong With Traditional

If that’s more tech than you care to worry about, that’s fine. Perhaps you’re a traditionalist who believes in holdover, knowing your DOPE and sights in every rifle two inches high at 100 yards to zero the gun at 200 and never shoots past 300. The R5 will serve you very well. The reticle is clean and offers a wide enough field of view—nine to 27 feet at 100 yards—for most hunting.

The Bushnell R5’s one-inch tube, relatively small objective lens and lightweight capped turrets (which Bushnell refers to as target-style) keep mass to a minimum. Weight is a manageable 19.6 ounces, which is considerably lighter than other riflescopes available today.

The relatively small main tube and objective also allow you to mount the scope very close to the bore of the rifle, which is not always possible with larger  scopes. Length is 11.5 inches. The scope comes with flip-up lens caps.

The elevation and windage turrets offer 1/4-inch clicks and allow for 70 m.o.a. of adjustment with 15 m.o.a. per revolution. The clicks are pleasantly crisp and clean, none of the mushy feeling associated with inexpensive scope turrets. There’s an audible and tactile click with each adjustment. The threads for the windage and elevation caps are quite fine, which is common for affordably priced scopes, so take care not to cross-thread when replacing the caps.

Illumination

Illumination is powered by the included CR2032 battery. You’ll need to remove the tab that prevents the battery from activating during shipment. The battery housing/illumination control is part of the side-focus knob, and removing the battery compartment cap requires a flat tool, although I used a penny. Rethreading the cap can be a challenge, and again you’ll want to avoid cross-threading.

The Bushnell’s illumination control is simple to operate even though it’s integral to the side-focus knob. The illumination setting—which sits on the outside of the focus knob—has six brightness settings with intermediate off positions. The settings are marked 1 to 6, and the intermediate settings all have a 0.

The focus knob was initially quite tight but seemed to loosen a bit with use. Minimum focus is 10 yards, so this scope will work on rimfires and air rifles. Eye relief on the R5 is a substantial four inches and allows you to mount the scope slightly farther forward than competing optics and also reduces the risk of getting “scoped.”

The R5 is IPX7 waterproof rated and features Bushnell’s EXO coating that prevents dust, rain and smudges from obscuring your view.

Clarity

To someone who grew up with one-inch hunting scopes with capped turrets, the R5 felt familiar and comfortable. Clarity was impressive, especially for an optic in this price range. The lens coatings don’t match those of higher-end optics, but for a hunting optic they’re perfectly suitable.

I tested the R5 in low light, waiting until the traditional end of legal hunting hours here in Ohio (half-hour after sunset) to see how the optic performed. Even in overcast conditions with diffused light the target was clearly visible at last legal shooting light.

There was a bit of chromatic aberration visible when looking at a white target taped to a dark background, but it shouldn’t be an issue when you’re centering your scope on a whitetail buck. Edge clarity was quite good for a budget scope, and I’d judge the quality of the lenses and clarity in this scope to be exceptional for the price.

I conducted a tracking test using Rite in the Rain’s 100/200 m.o.a. targets, which I like because they offer four rows of three targets, and from the center of one bullseye to the next vertically is exactly three inches. This allows me to shoot the bottom bullseye, adjust 12 clicks (for a 1/4 m.o.a. scope) in any direction and easily judge vertical and horizontal tracking—as the groups should land at or near the appropriate bullseye.

Tracking

We assume that a $2,000 target scope will track accurately, but a budget $200 riflescope may not. The Bushnell does track properly, so there will be no guessing when you make adjustments.

Overall the Bushnell R5 was a pleasant surprise, performing better than its price might indicate. While the Bushnell ballistic app doesn’t offer all the bells and whistles you’ll find on some other ballistic apps, it will tell you where your bullet will strike when you hold at a fixed point in the BDC reticle. I plugged in some basic ballistic data, got my holdover data and was able to register a first-shot hit at 400 yards.

Some affordable scopes are complete rip-offs with cheap lenses, middling coatings and the like. Not the R5. If you’re looking for a hunting optic and don’t need fancy features like exposed dials, big main tubes with loads of adjustment and onboard electronic gadgetry, you should consider the Bushnell R5. It’s a scope that hits well above its price point, and it’s guaranteed for life.

Bushnell R5 Riflescope Specs

• Power x OBJ.: 4-12x40mm (tested)
• Length/Weight: 11.5 in., 19.6 oz.
• Main Tube: 1 in.
• Reticle: DOA LRH800 w/holdover marks, second focal plane, illuminated
• Adjustments: 1/4 m.o.a. adjustments; 70 m.o.a. range
• Battery: CR2032
• Eye Relief: 4.0 in.
• MSRP: $269 (as tested)
• Manufacturer: Bushnell, bushnell.com

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