Bushnell RXM-300: Big Window Red Dot [Hands-On Review]

MAKE IT BIGGER, THEY SAID!

Red dots started on pistols as huge, clunky things built for rifles. Then we got small with the Trijicon RMR 22x16mm window and really small with dots like the Bushnell RXU-200 Ultra Compact 11x21mm window.

But smaller isn’t always better. For competition guns especially, a larger window means faster dot acquisition and transitions. When speed is the entire name of the game, a big window helps a lot.

The new RXM-300 from Bushnell sports a monster 28x24mm window, perfect for getting on target instantly. 

I’ve been shooting a pre-production loaner from Bushnell for a couple of months now, and I have to say, I’m impressed.

SPECS

• Form Factor: Open Reflex
• Adjustment Range: 100 MOA. Both Windage & Elevation
• Click Value: MOA
• Dot Color: Red
• Magnification x Objective Lens: 1x28x24
• Min Parallax Distance: Parallax free design. Optimized at 50 Yards.
• Brightness Settings: 12
• Reticle: 4 MOA Dot
• Water Proofing: IPX7
• Weight: 1.95 ounces, sight only
• MOA Per Rev: 28
• Mount Direct mount to RMR™ Footprint, or Weaver with included base and riser.
• Battery Life: Up to 35,000 hours.
• Auto Shutoff: Yes, defeatable with Shake-Awake.

ON THE RANGE

My RXM-300 has lived most of its life on top of a SIG P320 build using an Icarus Precision SOCOM Carry grip and Killer Innovations slide, barrel, and Velocity Pro compensator. 

This has been my main training and competition pistol for the past couple of months and has seen at least 3,000 rounds fired, 4 USPSA matches, three 2-Gun matches, a steel match, and a whole lot of range time.

I won’t go easy on the gear I’m testing. I’ve never babied this pistol, I’ve never cared much about trying to protect it from travel or wear. 

Through all of that, the RXM-300 has survived and performed without question. 

12 brightness settings are super bright at the high end. I’m in the Arizona desert, and some red dots struggle to cut through the glare of this hell desert sun, but not this one. 

The dot has a high refresh rate and flows smoothly through each shot. Tracking the dot is super easy with the huge window, even when shooting from weird positions like on my back or prone on my side trying to get a shot off under a barricade with me in rifle plates.

From moon dust that is more like powder than sand to monsoon rains that roll in out of nowhere to dump buckets, the RXM-300 wasn’t stopped by anything.

The large window was also a lot easier to clean than normal red dots. Even though it is an exposed emitter design, the dust, rain, and mud never obscured the dot. 

Something Bushnell is very proud of is their EXO barrier that helps defeat moisture. I find most of these coatings to be little more than marketing, but I’m actually a fan of the EXO barrier because it works a lot better than most others. I wouldn’t call it as good as a fresh coat of RainX on a windshield, but it’s pretty close, and it lasts forever.

The dot itself is 4 MOA and crisp. Mounting is RMR footprint and goes on without worry. I didn’t use any Loctite, and my screws never came loose, and I never had a zero issue.

Buttons on the side are large and easy to push even with gloves on, though I almost never adjusted the brightness once I found my sweet spot.

Shake-Awake worked great — I never knew it was doing its job, so that means it did its job right.

Battery life is quoted at 35,000 hours. I’ve only had the RXM-300 for about 2 and a half months, so that’s at most 1,800 hours. Really, far less since the Shake-Awake turns the dot off most of the time. That said, I’m still on the battery that came in the box. 

Bottom line, I love the dot. It does everything I’ve asked of it and more. It is durable, has a huge window, and comes in at a price that is well under the other options on the market.

Worth A Buy?

The main competition for the RXM-300 with a 28x24mm window is the Trijicon SRO 25×22.5mm and Holosun 507Comp 28x22mm.

Prices are a little hard to nail down at times, but the SRO comes in at around $500 and the Holoson Comp at $400.

Bushnell’s RXM-300 is hitting their store at only $300. That’s a big discount and hard to beat.

Granted, the Holosun Comp has a green dot version for the same price and offers multiple reticles, but the RXM-300 is the biggest window of the bunch.

What matters most to you is a personal choice. For me, I’m a pretty big fan of saving money and having a slightly bigger window. If the RXM-300 had a green dot version, it'd be an easy sale to add one to every pistol I compete with.

LOOSE ROUNDS

Bushnell has been crushing it in the optics world for the last couple of years, and I think the RXM-300 is booking another in the win column. Even with mine being pre-production and missing some of the waterproofing that the final units have, I’m been super impressed and have had zero problems. Knowing the release product is better still, I dig it.

This dot wins my approval.

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