Crimson Trace scopes

**Skaaphaas** · 04-04-2022, 21:46

Anyone have any experience with Crimson Trace’s Hardline or Brushline scopes?

They’re fairly new to the scope market having previously been known as the lazer company.

I ordered a rimfire scope that I’m yet to receive. It was cheap enough on special that I thought I could have a look for myself without being too much out of pocket if it is a dud.

But I see they have higher end scopes as well and since I’ll be in the market for one of those soon I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with them.

**Skaaphaas** · 21-04-2022, 02:52

So first impressions of the Brushline rimfire 3-9x40 are very positive.

Comparing it side-by-side to my Burris Fullfield 2 3-9x40, it has better glass. Brighter and colours are more accurate. Makes me not want to look through the Burris anymore :-)

The reticle is finer than the Burris, perhaps too fine for low light shooting but time will tell.

From what I can tell with a quick look, the FOV at 3x is smaller than the that of the Burris.

Turrets are capped. The caps on this one is plastic but I suppose at the price point (215 AUD) that’s to be expected. The turrets have a nice “zero” feature whereby you can set the numbers on the turret’s dial to the “0” mark after zeroing the scope. Much of a muchness for me but it is a nice feature.

Will do a tracking test on the range and see how it performs.

**1911 Guy** · 21-04-2022, 09:09

Thanks for the write up, I just purchased the Brushline pro 2-7x32 BDC Rimfire, paid just over R4k. I will be doing some comparison with the Hawke Vantage in the weeks to come.

**Skaaphaas** · 21-04-2022, 11:33

After mounting it I’m surprised to see that the reticle seems to be not aligned with the turrets. I’m not sure this is the case and I’ll look tomorrow in proper light. I hope I’m wrong.

Also the eye box is pretty small. I’m not very sensitive to that but I noticed it on this one.

Looking forward to your comparison with the Hawke!

**Skaaphaas** · 18-05-2022, 09:15

Have managed two range sessions with the CT scope now.

When mounted on the rifle the eyebox is okay. Not great, but certainly not bad enough for me to have really noticed it.

Clarity and glass is pretty great for the price. Definitely better than my Burris Fullfield of the same magnification.

The turrets are okay. Plastic. The oversized plastic caps are a ugly but again, at the price point I can live with it.

This is a 0.5 MOA per click scope. Now, to my math, 0.5 MOA at 50m should be around 7mm. Adjusting the scope, I got more like 14mm per click, ie 1 MOA. So I found that pretty frustrating. Maybe I’ll go do a proper adjustment and tracking test some time, for now I had too much fun seeing how the shot lands behind the crosshairs every time, or behind the relevant subtension when taking it out further.

All in all, I’m happy with my purchase. I dislike the red rubber rings around the turrets. It would look at home on a rifle with a synthetic stock or a chassis, but on my walnut-stock .22 it bothers me a little, but not enough that I’d change it out.
Would I recommend the scope? Only if you can get it on special.

**janfred** · 18-05-2022, 09:53

Well, with a name like Crimson Trace, I would expect a red line somewhere on the scope.

**Skaaphaas** · 18-05-2022, 10:43

Originally Posted by janfred

Well, with a name like Crimson Trace, I would expect a red line somewhere on the scope.

Correct. It does, unfortunately, not seem to be user replaceable. At first I thought it was simply a flat o-ring for the turret caps to seal onto, but alas.