Bushnell Trophy TRS-25 1xRed Dot Sight Riflescope: Customer Reviews & Product Details

Optics are one of those things where you really do get what you pay for. With that in mind, there is no way this Bushnell red dot is going to be comparable to an Aimpoint sight. In fact, just a few weeks ago, I wouldn't have even considered buying a red dot like this; but I have been pleasantly surprised with the results.

When I got a new 20-gauge shotgun to take my daughter turkey hunting, I was going to pull an Aimpoint T1 Micro off another rifle so I could put it temporarily on the shotgun. Unfortunately, one of the hex head screws that was holding the sight onto a high mount got stripped out and I didn't want to do anything rash that might mess up such a nice optic. That put me unexpectedly into the market for a new red dot.

Spending hundreds of dollars on a new Aimpoint for a 13-year-old's shotgun seemed excessive and I couldn't bring myself to do it - so I bought this Bushnell red dot based on other reviews that I found. The results have been better than I expected.

There are several negative reviews for the Bushnell sight, and I have to admit that they make valid points:
1) The battery life on the Bushnell isn't even close to the Aimpoint and I had to keep remembering to turn it off when not in use; but it is still good enough for what I needed - and it's also better than the EOTech sights.
2) I did notice the orange haze along the top of the screen.
3) The brightness/power knob is hard to turn - my daughter can't do it. However, it does seem to be loosening up a bit and I'm hoping it gets to a point where she can turn it herself.
4) The windage and elevation controls feel cheap and the 'clicks' aren't very positive.
5) The finish isn't even comparable to the Aimpoint sights.

Having said all that, I don't think it even matters in many cases. Once I zero'd it in, the Bushnell stayed on target through lots of light-target shells, almost a dozen magnum turkey loads, and 3 solid days of being handled by a teenager:). We've shot it enough now that I trust it will be on target when needed. It was also easy to see the red dot in all the light conditions that we encountered. Overall, it performed exceptionally well for the price.

As a summary, let me say that if you are getting this sight and expecting it to match the quality and features of an Aimpoint you might as well just keep saving and get the real thing. If you want to spend a fraction of that cost on something that will work just fine for many purposes - then I highly recommend this Bushnell TRS-25.

very clear dot. Very bright at sun and enauph dim at sunset.
3x better than simple bushnell 1x28

The Bushnell TSR-25 looks like a clone of the Aimpoint Micro. Many of us assumed that since it carried the Bushnell name, we'd at least get the Bushnell quality with a compact (and this TSR-25 is a very compact unit) red dot. Unfortunately, a few of us received TSR-25s that were of sub-par quality. I read many glowing reviews on Amazon and [...], but my experiences with the actual sight fell short of my expectations. A friend who also bought a TSR-25 got a sight that was in even worse shape. Where to begin?

My TSR-25 had excessive free floating debris behind the eyepiece lens. I was going to overlook this because my EOTech 512 had a lot of junk behind the lens. EOTech was nice enough to exchange the sight for free, but even a top quality name brand optic had debris in the optics. The TSR-25 lenses were glued in place and the glue was quite visible on the outside. This is a sign of a cheaply made optic. The diode itself was epoxied into the tube and much of the epoxy was flaking away. The rotary knob was extremely stiff, causing the battery lid to keep coming apart while turning the knob. It was only visible at settings 7-11 in outdoor environments, and the dot wasn't very bright overall. The cast aluminum housing felt cheaply made, and the boss for the hex cap screw was very thin at some points. It may fatigue or break under heavy stress or vibrations. My confidence in this sight was very low after I examined and evaluated it. I've seen better made Tasco red dot sights at the local grocery store for a fraction of the TSR-25 price. Overall, the TRS-25 is a "Trash" 25 and its real price should be about one quarter what the retailers are asking based on its poor workmanship and quality. This is not an isolated incident because someone else had similar experiences (his diode wasn't even aligned properly), others have commented on spotty quality control (very dim red dots, etc...)

To give you an idea of how bad the QC was with the TRS-25, I went and checked the battery voltage to make sure it wasn't low. Upon opening the battery compartment, I spotted fingerprints on the battery itself. I guess the factory workers don't believe in strict quality standards. I'm not surprised at how debris got behind the lens, they probably just didn't assemble them in clean environments.

Pros: Small and compact red dot, easy to mount onto a MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail or a Weaver rail.

Cons: Poor quality, overpriced, lots of debris behind lens, overly stiff rotary switch, cheaply cast aluminum housing, bolt may snap housing under heavy stress

Overall: 2/5 stars

I was looking for a cheaper red dot sight for a .22. I usually run Aimpoint scopes on my other rifles but I couldn't see spending that much for a non tactical weapon I was just going to plink with. I mounted it on a Walther Sp22 with a 6" barrel. It has a small dot that I was looking for. Most of the dot scopes I found were 4-8moa dots. This one is a 3moa and if you turn the intensity down a bit it looks like a 2moa for more accuracy. I have only used it a few times but it works very well for my application!

I got the Bushnell TRS-25 in and checked it out. Two things hit me right off the bat:

1. When holding it up to look through it I noticed that there was a orange tone translucent color in the upper left corner. It was mostly visible when moving the sight around while looking through it, but became barely noticeable when aligning for proper viewing angle. It is still annoying though. I took the sight outside just before dark and the lighter environment caused the imagery to be almost undetectable, and that was almost at dusk. So I don't think this is much of a problem. It's very faint when compared to the red dot.

2. There is a notable bump at the bottom right corner protruding up just a bit. This is obviously the projector for the red dot and probably plays a part in the imagery on the top left side. In any case, this bump is solid and black and blocks approximately 7% of the view through the sight. While it doesn't appear to be in the usable part of the view, it's also annoying.

I mounted the sight on a low profile MFI mount. This was on my MP5. Looking through it I found the red dot to be right on the center of the top of the front sight ring. While it's still perfectly functional like that, I decided that I didn't like it at all. But then I noticed something that I liked even less... I attempted to look through the bottom of the sight by lowering my cheek against the A3 retractable stock rail and found that it didn't actually co-witness. It could have, but that bump in the bottom of the sight blocked the rear sight from my view.

Then the fourth annoying thing became visible. Just to the lower left side of the primary red dot, there was a smaller red dot, approximately 5% the size of the primary one. I will have to test it some more to see how distracting this other dot would be but as with the other things... it's still annoying.

After all this, I removed the TRS-25 and installed my EOTech 512. This sight has none of the weird imagery problems that the Bushnell has but it costs over $400 and doesn't co-witness at all.

In any case, for the purposes of the MP5 platform, I think I'll stick with the EOTech if I want a red dot sight... for now.


ETA: The TRS-25 is indeed very light. I think Bushnell lists it in the specs. to be 3.7 oz. That feels about right.