The Elite scopes are Bushnell's premium offerings, intended for a more upscale market. The Elite scopes first appeared under the prestigious Bausch & Lomb name, but were transferred to the Bushnell brand when B&L withdrew from the riflescope market, sometime shortly after the year 2000.

Based on their MSRP prices, I conclude that the Elite 3200 line is intended to compete with the likes of the Leupold VX-I and VX-II, Nikon Buckmaster, Redfield Golden Five Star, and Simmons Whitetail Expedition lines. This is pretty fast company in scopeland.

Elite 3200 scopes come with a Bushnell Instruction booklet and product registration cards (you can also register online). The Elite Lifetime Limited Warranty states that materials and workmanship are guaranteed for the life of the scope. This warrantee is available to any owner of the scope; a sales receipt or warrantee card is not required. Some models are also supplied with a lens hood/sunshade intended keep glare off of the objective lens unless you aim directly at a light source. It also works pretty well at keeping rain off of the objective.

Elite 3200s are permanently lubricated and sealed. They are fogproof and waterproof. The only maintenance required is to keep the external surfaces clean, including the exposed surfaces of the objective and ocular lenses. Clean the latter as you are supposed to clean a fine camera lens.

An Elite 3200 looks like a premium scope. All markings are in gold against the scope's matte black finish. This includes the "Bushnell Elite 3200" logos at the front of the objective and around the windage adjustment cap, as well as the power settings engraved on the power ring just forward of the ocular bell. "Made in Japan" in small letters is discreetly stamped on the underside of the 1" diameter main tube.

The multi-coated objective and ocular lenses reflect green, blue, and magenta light. Very pretty. (If I were a fortuneteller, I'd have my crystal ball multi-coated!) Note, however, that Bushnell does not claim "fully multicoated" optics. Light transmission is claimed to be 90%.

While we are on lens coatings, a word about Bushnell's proprietary Rainguard external coating is appropriate. Bushnell claims that Rainguard provides a significant improvement in brightness and light transmission in inclement weather. To quote the owner's manual, "Rainguard is a special water repellant coating on which condensation forms in much smaller droplets than on standard coatings . . . These smaller droplets scatter much less light than the larger droplets on other coatings." Rainguard does, in fact, seem to work as claimed.

Another proprietary feature available on selected Elite 3200 scopes is the FireFly reticle. This is an otherwise standard appearing Multi-X (Duplex type) reticle with a special feature. A 10 second exposure to the direct light from a flashlight will "charge" the FireFly reticle so that it glows green. It was developed by Bushnell for the lowest light hunting situations. Activated by light, the FireFly is not battery dependent. It reminds me of the glow in the dark hands and numerals that used to be common on wrist watches.

The main tube of all 3200 scopes is of sturdy, one-piece aluminum construction. Other popular features include the afore-mentioned Rainguard coatings, fast European style eyepiece focus, and 1/4 MOA click fingertip windage and elevation adjustments. The windage and elevation adjustment scale rings can be reset to "0" after the scope is sighted-in.

The standard reticle in most 3200 scopes is Bushnell's Multi-X. This is a good general-purpose reticle, particularly for big game hunting. For a high power scope that will be used on a varmint rifle, where shots at small targets at long range will be the norm, I would prefer a finer reticle, but the Multi-X is still useable.

The eyepiece focus, zoom, and AO rings (when supplied) turn smoothly. The AO ring on scopes so equipped has a positive stop at infinity, a feature I appreciate, and the zoom rings have positive stops at the highest and lowest power settings. The AO focus rings are lightly knurled, and the zoom ring is heavily knurled for a positive grip. There is a rubber ring at the end of the eyepiece to protect eyeglasses and eyebrows.

The Bushnell Elite 3200 line comprises a rather large assortment of scopes. There is one fixed power riflescope, a handgun scope, a riflescope with a 30mm main tube, and several standard variable power riflescopes with 25mm main tubes. As of this writing the line include variable power scopes of 1.5-4.5x32mm (advertised for slug shotguns and muzzleloading rifles), 2-6x32mm (a long eye relief handgun scope), 2-7x32mm (a compact, low profile scope), 3-9x40mm Short Action Compact, 3-9x40mm (the standard, all-around scope), 3-9x50mm (a low light scope with a standard 25mm main tube), 3-9x50mm (with a 30mm main tube), 4-12x40mm AO (a long range hunting, varmint, and target scope), 5-15x40mm AO (another varmint and target scope), and 7-21x40mm AO (ditto). The lone fixed power scope is a 10x40mm target model.

Most of these scopes are supplied with the standard Multi-X reticle, but certain models are available with European, Ballistic, or Mil Dot reticles. The 1.5-4.5x32, 2-6x32, 3-9x40, 3-9x50 (30mm), and 5-15x40 are also available with a Firefly reticle.

With so many models from which to choose, The Elite 3200 line has the bases covered. There ought to be an Elite 3200 for practically everyone, and I am sure that is exactly what the folks at Bushnell had in mind.

Note: Complete individual reviews of the Bushnell Elite 3200 5-15x40mm AO, Elite 3200 4-12x40mm AO, Elite 3200 3-9x40mm, Elite 3200 2-7x32mm and Elite 3200 10x40mm Mil-Dot riflescopes can be found on the Product Review Page.