Bushnell Banner Review: If you have to buy cheap, buy confident

Hunting – and shooting sports in general – is an easy way to spend a lot of money if you’re not careful. For many of us poor, obsessed shooters, there’s always a new rifle, scope, or ammo type just begging for us to turn over our wallets and cards. Whether it’s a Zeiss, Leupold, or Trijicon, many of us dream about the high end optics and accessories we want to go shooting with.

Sometimes, though, life has other plans. Your car needs new tires, your A/C quits during the coldest part of the season. Maybe, like me, you’re working a lower waged job while saving for college and you can only put away a little bit of money for a hunting scope.

I found myself in this situation a little while ago. I had about $100, give or take a small amount, for a scope and mount for my AR-15. I had a hog hunt scheduled, and while I didn’t need a scope to stand up to a heavy task, I felt I would be able to take a more humane shot with a decent scope than with iron sights. With such a low budget, I wanted to know that I would still get something worth the money that wouldn’t fail me when I needed it and that I wouldn’t regret getting later on.

There were lots of brands on the market with an appealing price point. BSA, NCStar, Centerpoint, Simmons, and many others offer hunting style scopes at a price point well under $100. After a poor previous experience with an NCStar scope that I had bought with little research, I wanted to avoid a scope that would let me down and end up just taking more closet space, unable to even find a willing buyer to make some of the cost back.

I looked at cost, power, size, reticle, and warranty as my main qualifiers, and after a couple of hours of research, I had settled on the Bushnell Banner 4X32. It was relatively small with a bold, fast reticle, felt solid on the display rifle, and I would be able to pick it up for about $65 in store. It was mounted, sighted in with 60 gr V-max ammo, and taken on a hog hunt several days later. I took a single standing shot at roughly 40 yards resulting in a clean and instant head shot. The scope had done its job well and aided me in a clean, clear shot. Since then, I’ve had some more opportunities to test it and compiled my thoughts.

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The Sight Picture

One of the first things that caught my eye about the Bushnell was its bold reticle. This particular model has a circle-x reticle that allows you to place it on target very quickly. It’s a simple reticle with very bold lines. There’s no way to describe it other than thick. Although this makes it not necessarily suited for fine target shooting (more on that later), it appealed to me for my intended use. Going after Florida hogs in thick brush with an anticipated shot well under 100 yards, I wanted something that was quick to pick up and center. Precision only needed to be within vital tolerances for a shot of that close range, so it worked out well.

The quality of the picture itself is good, with good light transmission and clarity. Sight picture is definitely clearer than many of the similar options I had the chance to look through. Bushnell’s Dusk & Dawn Coating definitely gives this scope the edge in its price category, but don’t expect it to be as crystal clear as a higher end scope that might run several hundreds of dollars. It does its job and does it well.

I personally mounted the scope on a DPMS AR-15. If you’re planning to put it on a rifle like this, you’ll most likely need a special scope mount. I bought some high rings at first, hoping to get away with them since they were a lower cost. However, these failed to mount the scope far enough forward for my liking, and they didn’t allow the scope to clear the folding rear sight I wanted to keep on the rifle. They went back to the store and I came home with the $50 Nikon M-223 two piece mounting base, almost doubling what I paid for the scope originally. The Nikon mount set the scope up very comfortably for me, and I recommend a base designed for the AR series rifles if you plan on putting one on yours. See our: best scope rings and bases.

The scope focuses easily and has a very comfortable eye relief. I never feel like I have to crank my neck in an odd angle to get a solid view through it. I do notice a little bit of parallax when moving my head side to side. This is likely because I was shooting at 100 yards when I noticed it, and the 4X32 banner — classed by Bushnell as a .22/shotgun scope — is set to be parallax free at 50 yards. Another note for AR-15 owners: I didn’t notice it until my last range trip until very bright sunlight, but if you have a fixed front sight, it is possible you will be seeing some of it. This ranges from a “ghost” blur to a defined front sight post. As I said, it wasn’t noticeable during my early morning overcast hunt, but it did show up when target shooting during a very bright Florida afternoon.

Fit and Finish

Although my focus is more on utility than buying a “pretty” scope, I did look at overall fit and finish of the parts. Plus, it never hurts that the package is well put together. The scope is machined out of a 1 piece tube and feels overall solid but not too heavy. The finish on the scope is smooth and applied evenly. Unlike some others at this price, holding the Banner in your hand doesn’t feel like holding a scope for a toy or an airsoft gun.

The only real negative I have in this regard is the adjustment knobs. Although they are finger adjustable, they move in a way that is best described as “spongy”. The turn is a little difficult to get started and a little too easily to accidentally adjust 4 or 5 clicks when you only mean to adjust one. Single adjustments are solid with a positive click, but turn the knob too hard and you can end up more than a few off.

Accuracy and Use

In the interest of fairness, this section is best prefaced by a proclaimer. I shoot as a hobby and I consider myself a competent, not great, shooter. There are shooters who can probably deliver better results than me with this same scope, so anything stated here is simply a reflection of what I was able to do with the equipment. Testing was done from a bench position off of rested sandbags using HPR 55 grain FMJ ammunition. I always recommend HPR as a great ammunition that is clean burning, accurate, reliable, and made in America.

In testing, I found the scope to provide very good accuracy inside of 100 yards, my intended range. On a whim, I had stopped at the grocery store on the way to the range and picked up a couple of large Fiji apples that were on sale. Measuring about 4” across, I decided they would be a good analog for the vital area of an animal and would provide a good test beyond putting groups into paper.

With my first couple of shots at the fruit, I was hitting a little bit high. Going back to the paper, I was able to approximate a hold under that I was confident with. I will note that, due to the simple nature of the Circle-X reticle, holds of any kind with this scope tend to be approximations at best. Knowing that it may sometimes be more effective to adjust a hold than try to dial in the scope, I decided to try for it anyways.

Holding 2 inches low in the center of the target, my first (adjusted) shot hit nearly dead center, leaving a pencil sized entrance hole and an exit cavity several times larger. I’ll admit I did have a little too much fun and let several more rounds off. Each shot tore the apple into a smaller piece until only little chunks were left. All said, I hit 9 of the 10 rounds I sent. I’m confident in the mechanical ability to see and hit a small target within a pretty good distance. Put another way, at any distance I’m likely to use the scope, it is definitely more accurate than I am and holds a solid zero.

As I mentioned earlier, though, the Bushnell Banner definitely loses points in use as a target shooting scope. Granted, I am using a fixed 4 magnification, and the various scopes with a high end between 9 and 18 might suit this purpose a lot better. Between the relatively low power of the scope and the extremely bold reticles, it was a frustrating experience shooting at a black lined target. The magnification was inadequate for extremely precise group shooting and trying to track the thick reticle against the black targets caused quite a bit of eye fatigue and strain. Groups shot that day typically held around 2-2.5”, with my smallest measuring just over 1.5” and a couple hovering just short of 4”. I am definitely disappointed with these groups as I know I can shoot better with the scope, but aiming consistently at a paper target was not working well for me.

In short, if you are looking for a high-value close range scope, the Bushnell Banner series delivers a lot for its very low cost. Its quality construction and warranty allow me to trust that I have a product that is going to last me a long time. I highly recommend the Banner 4X32mm as a scope for rifles and shotguns inside of brush distances. It’s hard to get any scope at this price range, let alone one with such a solid build. For long range precision or tactical shooting, consider stepping up to a scope with a wider range of magnification like their 3-9X40mm or 6-18X50mm offerings.

Bushnell Banner Review & Ratings

Build 3.5/5

Although well put together and avoiding the “toy” feeling often associated with scopes of this price range, there is a noticeable difference between the Banner and a higher dollar scope made by brands like Vortex and Nikon. The mushy adjustment turrets have a tendency to slip and add too many adjustments, but are otherwise easy to manipulate.

Performance 3/5

This scope is not a high end scope, and it’s not one I would be using in extreme conditions, very long ranges, or demanding tactical uses. It is a simple budget minded scope that will do a job very well within a certain distance. Know what you’re getting with this scope and you’ll be satisfied with its performance.

Value 4/5

For the $65 that I paid for the scope, I find it impossible to beat. For your average hunter or recreational shooter, it is plenty of scope to do a variety of jobs and can fit almost anybody’s budget. It is also flexible, as Bushnell rates it for use on anything from a .22 to shotgun or black powder.

Overall Recommendation 3.5/5

The Banner is a reasonably good scope for a range of uses with a very good price point. It is not a do all scope or the nicest out there. There are many I would rather have on my gun at a higher price point, but with money being a constant consideration, I am very happy with the value provided and would recommend it to others in the same situation.

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Note: All pictures were provided by myself. They were taken with a cellphone camera and I don’t claim to be a professional or even good photographer. The photographs provided are simply for reference and to capture the experience of going to the range for testing. They are not necessarily representative of scope quality or any other features.