BUSHNELL 1 MILE ARC 10X42 LRF binos

[Litehiker]

I bought a pair of Bushnell's new 1 MILE ARC LRF binoculsrs for deer hunting this fall.

As I backpacked into Nevada's Ruby Mountains I wondered if I really needed these big boys hung around my neck. In backpacking every ounce counts, literally.


But once I began to hunt the value of these excellent binos became apparent. Glassing across the canyon I ranged rocks to get distance and was surprised that I always greatly overestimated distances.

Also these binos have built-in ballistic inclination compensation (rifle and bow modes) as well as ballistic tables. Reading a typical ranging readout gave me:
"482 yds" "+ 2.3 mil"
The mil reading was for scope adjustment up or down. It can be set to MOA if desired and the distance readout can also be set in meters.

With the internal binocular ballistic chart setting you can get "in the ballpark" with your cartridge/bullet weight but you need to actually shoot at binocular ranged targets to discover just how close the binos are getting you. In my case the mil reading was off by only 0.2 mils. For another brand of 180 gr. .300 Win mag cartridge it may have been right on the money. But 0.2 mils is certainly "in the ballpark".

No, these binos will not enter temperature and atsmopheric pressure into the mil or MOA drop like Leica Geovid HD-B LRF binos but then again you are "only" paying around $900. for them, not $3,000. the Geovids cost. No they don't have the great Geovid glass but it's very good glass with excellent color correction and edge-to-edge clarity. These binos would also be very good for birding.

I'm glad I carried these binos for the information they gave me. My Browning A-Bolt in .300 Win mag with Hornady 180 gr. SST bullets were the right combo for long range shooting and these binos help me take advantage of that cartridge.

(No, I didn't get my doe. Saw them at night in groups of up to 8 but couldn't bust into the thick aspen sapling growths to find them during the day.)

 

[Scot E]

Considering that you really don't need to worry much about atmospheric conditions until you get out past 600 yards, these guys fit a niche that many guys are likely overlooking. I have always had very good luck with Bushnell products and their glass is very good like you mentioned. Anymore glass quality is almost a moot point for me because almost everything out there is good enough.

Curious if they will give you the distance and angle compensated distance without giving you MOA or MIL outputs?

Scot E.

 

[Litehiker]

The 1 Mile ARC binos do give angle compensated distance and either the MIL or MOA adjustment needed based on your cartridge and zero distance.

You have to enter not only your cartridge class (A through G) but your zero distance. My zero distance is 200 yds. By pressing the MODE button on the left you page through to find you input page and scroll to enter cartridge class or zero distance. Fairly easy to do.

But as I said in my original post you should range a paper target with the binos and shoot according to the bino recommendation for holdover or under to see just how close you really are. This is because the 7 cartridge clasifications are merely ballpark ballistics, though very good "ballpark" .

Even with the same ammo different rifles will have slightly different ballistics based on many variables such as barrel length/velocity, rate of twist, etc. And then of course ther are atmospherics such as air density.

To get very precise targeting info one needs a Kestrel-Horus 4500 weather meter/ballistic calculator. This little item is beyond doubt the best item for long range shooting available. Yes it takes a bit of time, maybe two minutes, to set up but it can be done while a partner is glassing for you. This instrument takes into consideration a list of variables as long as your arm. If you are doing truly long range hunting beyond 400 yards it's only sportsman-like to be as ballistically precise as possible at extended ranges. Maybe Santa will give me one of these for Christmas.

 

[Scot E]

So do they give line of sight distance and angle adjusted distance both?

Thanks,

Scot E.

 

[royinidaho]

what is beam divergence on those things?

 

[Litehiker]

1 MILE ARC Beam Dispersion

Reading an article by Big Jim Fish on the Bushnell 1 Mile ARC on Sniper's Hide it appears the beam dispersion at 100 yards is somewhere around 10 inches, making it about 100 inches at 1,000 yards.

His article states that there is no other LRF binocular that will do as much or as well as the Bushnell 1 Mile ARC at anywhere near its price point which is usually around $900. on internet gear sites. I got mine for considerably less on a direct discount from Bushnell because my old Yardage Pro 1000 LRF crapped out. It was out of garantee but Bushnell customer service gave me a lot of consideration anyway.

But I had to pay market price for my ERS 3.5 - 21 tactical riflescope. At least I found it for about $200. less than retail. Now those scopes with the H59 reticle are no longer being supplied to retailers supposedly due to military contracts.

 

[royinidaho]

1 MILE ARC Beam Dispersion

Reading an article by Big Jim Fish on the Bushnell 1 Mile ARC on Sniper's Hide it appears the beam dispersion at 100 yards is somewhere around 10 inches, making it about 100 inches at 1,000 yards.

His article states that there is no other LRF binocular that will do as much or as well as the Bushnell 1 Mile ARC at anywhere near its price point.

If my calcs are correct that's around 70 square feet @ 1000.

Pretty darn good if your shootin' a wooly mamoths or bigger.

Or maybe its Pie R^2 or 3.143 *(50/12)*(50/12) or 54 Ft Square Feet better but not good enough to shoot over hmmmmmm I'd guess maybe 350 yards.

Great for ranging a mountain. Poor for ranging any animal that walks on this planet ...... if my calcs are worth a darn.

Ask good old Big Jim Fish to give a bit better detail on that divergence, 1000 ft radius, diameter?????????

Just sayin'...

 

[Litehiker]

The laser dispersion for the Bushnell 1 Mile ARC 10 X 42 binoculars is a vertical box about the same ratio as a new flat screen TV but set on end so the vertical dispersion is greater than the horizontal dispersion.

Yeah, it's a big dispersion at 1,000 meters but by repeatedly pressing the ranging button you get a good idea of the distance with the same or similar range numbers displayed. I've ranged out to 1,300 meters with these binocs on large rocks. Rocks are sort of "medium" in reflectivity.

 

[bigngreen]

When these first came out I spent some considerable time on the phone tracking down beam divergence which was difficult because no one knew what it was and why it was important. In the end they had a beam of 2 mil x 4 mil, the largest on the market!! I was bummed cause with glasses it's so much nicer for me to use a bino, the only misses on elk at long range I've witnessed were due to Bushnell and G7 beam divergence issues, you can not over come a large beam with software and modes cause eventually you will get caught by it, that's why Leica dominates with the 1600, beam divergence is KING!