Bushnell

Why Bushnell

Bushnell started in 1948, when David Bushnell came home from Japan with two crates of binoculars and sold them by mail. It's based in Overland Park, Kansas now and has changed owners many times, most recently Strategic Value Partners in January 2025.

For AR builders it's a budget optics name. The TRS-25 and First Strike are cheap, simple red dots, and the AR Optics line, which added a 1-4x scope in 2018, is aimed straight at carbines. Bushnell also sold the Holosight under license from EOTech.

The rest of the catalog is huge: riflescopes, spotting scopes, rangefinders, night vision, binoculars and game cameras. Its laser boresighters are handy on the bench for getting a new optic on paper before you head to the range.

Cheap dots are cheap for a reason. A TRS-25 is fine on a range gun or a .22, but it isn't built to the same standard as duty dots that cost several times more.

We'd put a Bushnell dot on a plinker or a first build on a tight budget, and save up for something tougher on a defensive rifle.