Bushnell 3-12×44 Elite 4200 FFp Review

Bushnell 3-12×44 Elite 4200 FFp mil/mil side parallax 30mm Rifle Scope Review.

My first observation…small, short and lite, small eyebox, small objective and short tube. It does require 30mm rings though. It is very lite and short. compared to a swfa ss 10×42, the bushnell 3-12×44 is about 1 inch shorter. The turrets are the same size, albiet shaped different. Add the 2.5inch sun shade/Butler creek caps to the SS and the 4 inch sun shade/no butler creek caps to the elite 4200, the 4200 is bout 1/8inch longer, not enough to mention I’d say.

The eyebox on the SS is longer in length and larger diameter, very noticeable to me. The 4200 is like looking through a 1inch tube scope. Compared to the Swfa SS 10×42, the diameter is smaller, verses compared to the Falcon, Menace, the eyebox is the same diameter. Though the Falcon, Menace was like looking through a black donut, the glass was bright and clear, side parallax had slack, mag ring was very hard to turn, and has the weight of a brick. Returned it for a full refund. Quality controll for these has went to shit, know and trust your dealer if you buy one, Don’t.

My opinion, the Elite 4200 has the best glass compared to the SWFA SS or Falcon, Menace.

It has sharp bright focus on all magnifications 3-12x with side parallax adjustment down to 10 yards. My verdict on side focus is not good, sofar reaching over the scope to adjust parallax is quite crude at best. Swap the windage and parallax knobs.(set windage and forget it/ Focus about every shot). I like the rear AO or front AO. Sooo am looking for a large Field Target wheel, so I wont need to reach over the scope.

All letters/numbers/hash marks are in a subdued flat olive drab color and are hard to read in any light condition. It has a standard mildot reticle, which is very small on 3x, and large on 12x and usable on all magnifications. Sometimes the mildots seem to have holes in em and sometimes the mildots seem to have white dots on em. This only happens when shooting into the sunset or the sunset is directly behind you.

The turret clicks are audible and crisp, and repeatable. I didn’t do a box test, but the remington .22 long rifle cbees/33gr740fps mv are 1.6mil below zero or 16 clicks above the CCI .22 long rifle Sub-Sonic/40gr1050mv bullets.

I have the scope set for CCI sub-sonic/mini-mag40gr1250fps mv zero @ 40yds and dial up 16 clicks to zero the Remington CBee’s @ 40yds. Needless to say the cbee’s are like throwing rocks. And they sound more like a misfire, than the sonic crack of the Mini-mags.

The one flaw this scope has is with IR bleed. I don’t use the IR as of yet, so maybe in the future. The settings are off, on, continuously variable from no illumination to green bleedout into the tube. There are no detents, just an audable click, when the reticle begins to glow. At about 90% rotation of the knob, green bleed sets in.

My opinion, you will never need (I don’t) that much reticle Illumination at night. This is a night use problem only, I don’t see it in the day. IR was’nt one of my requirement for this scope so it’s of no concern to me. Bushnell is aware and am shure it will be fixed sometime sooner or later and will be warranty repaired.

The flat olive drab letters/number/hash marks has been changed to a flat desert brown according to the rumor mill?

I like this scope and it will be a keeper for me. shure it has flaws, but I can live with em. Not a scope for my condor, why, it’s just not right, thats what my customers say to me, can’t explain that. For now it’s home on my CZ452 varmint. Don’t have much lead to punch holes in paper for now. But it shoots minute of ground hog/beaver @ 100 yards, score 2 and 2.

Would I recommend that you buy one……….”NO”. If you’re looking for the perfect scope, look elsewhere. If you’re looking for a functional, low cost FFp/big game/varmint scope , I say give it a try and let me know what ya think.

Sam 🙂