2022 Optic Of The Year: Crimson Trace Brushline Pro 4-16x42 mm BDC

Now in their 20th year, the Golden Bullseye Awards are chosen annually to recognize the firearm industry’s best new offerings. Here is this year’s winner as selected by the editors of “The World’s Oldest And Largest Firearm Authority.”

Best known for essentially creating the firearm-mounted laser sight industry back in 1994, Crimson Trace has nonetheless steadily branched out in recent years, adding both red-dots and variable-power riflescopes to its catalog a few years ago. And 2021 was a big year for the company in this regard, as it introduced four new scope lines—the tactically oriented Hardline and Hardline Pro and the hunting-focused Brushline and Brushline Pro. Our staff was able to evaluate the latter in its 4-16X 42 mm BDC guise in the “Dope Bag” section of the magazine, and we determined the scope offered a lot of performance given its reasonable price tag.

Features on the second-focal-plane Brushline Pro include a tool-less zero-reset, the company’s proprietary scratch-resistant Maximum Optical Clarity multicoating and an eyepiece with very effective purchase-enhancing grooves. Our testing found the scope was able to shrug off considerable recoil, was waterproof, offered consistent adjustments and that, “in side-by-side tests, its optical quality was equal to—if not better than—scopes from other long-established brands.” For providing a quality, feature-rich new optic option that doesn’t break the bank, we felt Crimson Trace’s Brushline Pro 4-16X 42 mm BDC earned its place as Optic Of The Year. crimsontrace.com

About the Golden Bullseye Award:
The Golden Bullseye Awards were created two decades ago to recognize quality, innovation and value within the firearm industry, with the editors of the NRA Publications Division convening annually to nominate and select the standout performers from the previous year’s crop of new products. The discussions can get animated at times—as each year there are always more new guns, ammunition, optics and accessories worthy of accolade than we could possibly call out—but consensus eventually results in winners being selected, with the passionate back and forth serving as evidence of the firearm industry’s health and innovative spirit.