Bushnell Legend or Trophy XLT

[FergusonTO35]

Hey folks. Looking for a scope for my Howa 1500 standard length action rebarrelled to .257 Roberts. The rings and bases are standard Leupold steel. Considering two 3-9x40 scopes: a gently used Bushnell Legend and new Bushnell Trophy XLT. Both are within $30.00 of each other price wise. The Legend has the standard duplex reticle, the Trophy has the DOA 600 reticle. Is one of these better than the other? How's the eye relief on them? Would they be good scopes for my rifle? Or should I just save a little more and get a Leupold VX-1?

[USMC87]

Have you checked out Vortex? I started looking at them late winter and bought a Viper 2.5-10x44 out of Cabelas bargain cave and man the glass is excellent and the warranty is bar none the best of any out there. No matter what you do to your scope, If you drop it and break it they replace it no questions asked. Good luck with the purchase.

[Mr Peabody]

I like the Vortex too!

[NSB]

I've got a couple of the Trophy XLTs on some quality rimfire rifles I own. They're lifetime quaranteed and the optical quality is excellent for a scope in this price range. I don't have a Legend scope but it appears to me that the difference between the two is that the Legend has a side focus parallax adjustment rather than an adjustment on the bell. I'm not sure if the Legend has the lifetime warranty but it may. Either should be a good choice for your needs. FYI, the Legend comes with Rainguard. I have this on other Bushnell scopes and it's quite useful in wet weather hunting. You really need to look at both and make a decision. I've been satisfied with mine for several years. I own a lot of high end Leupolds and Bushnells but I'll admit that the Trophy XLT is quite a good scope compared to the others when you factor in the price difference.

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks. I should clarify that the Legend is an older model without the side focus. The consensus on these seems to be that it is more like a low end Elite than a high end Trophy. I ended up putting another gun on layaway Friday so I've got a few paychecks to think about it. I must say that I've always been impressed with the old Japan made Bushnell Banners. Not the brightest scope in the world but they sure hold their zero well and don't weigh much.

[OuchHot!]

I have a couple of older legends that have been very satisfactory. I have used them on spring piston air rifles that destroyed several (not cheap) scopes of another brand starting with "b". I have used vortex and they seem very nice. I have not used a trophy XLT.