Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Opinions on Burris?

I am a fan (for the most part), but I haven't seen the widespread popularity that some products get. I won't be offended if you tell me they suck, I'm just curious to know if others have had good fortune as I have or if there is a reason they don't seem to be as ubiquitous as I expected. And yes I am a very discriminating user, not just throwing any old scope on a wal-mart special .243, shooting it at 50 yards and saying its awesome

I've not used them in a few years because they were very heavy, many models had weird tube lengths and were difficult to mount and were concerned with fixing problems that don't exist on quality scopes with the Posi-Lock feature. The field of view was very generous, but the eye-relief/eyebox was not and the newer version turned the entire ocular for the power ring--I'd like to hear why that's a good idea. They were better than some and worse than others. I'll not be buying anymore............

Idahoelkaddict,

Everyone I purchased quickly or eventually failed. I switched to Tasco and didn't have anymore problems. Because of the wide magnification range I purchased a Bushnell 6500 4 1/2-30 and then to get a little lighter scope I bought a Swarovski z5 5-25X52.

Burris Signature rings are the only ones I use, though.

Burris Posi Locks are ALL I will use on my serious use big rifles like my 416 Rigby and 340 Tyrannosaur. On those two rifles in particular rhey have been subjected to brutal recoil, rough rides in Zodiacs, boats, LAnd Rover and LAnd Cruisers, Rokons and 4 wheelers, horses and mules, and been dropped, kicked over as well as subjected to extremes of weather. Try as I might I cannot get a Burris Posi Lock to go out of zero. As a contrast, I have personally witenessed three different Leopold Vari X lll's go room temperature/useless due to thier erector assembly coming loose from a blow. Usually a side blow like kicked over off of a tire or tree etc.

Other scopes might have - maybe - slightly better optics, but none have shown themselves to be as tough and resilient. I will take tough every time for my purposes.

I heard it said best by another gunwriter " Rifle scopes are not optical instraments primarily, they are AIMING instraments!" So long as they are clear and bright enough to make precise aiming possible, it is not wise to give up ruggedness for clarity or light gathering etc. Use your binocs and spotting scope as your "Optics" and pick a TOUGH scope for the top of the rifle is my advice. That said, I do have quite a few Leopolds, Nikons and even one Swarovski in the safe, but they go on varmint rifles or not so hard use deer rifles. The biggies all have Burris.

I used to use Burris Scopes almost exclusively.
They were the long Eye relief scopes.
When I started using riflescopes on my specialty handguns I didn't use Burris often anymore.
At that time they did not have as long as eye relief as other riflescopes.
I now have two Burris eliminator scopes and really like them

I've owned 2 Burris scopes & hunted/shot them alot. Very durable & good glass.

I've had good luck with them on a wide range of rifles. Right now I have 3 in service and would have no problems with buying more of them.

Yep

I have been a fan of Burris scopes for the same reason as Safariman... they hold zero and don't break as often as others. A Signature Safari is the only variable that hasn't died on my 416 Rigby.

I use Fullfield IIs, Signatures, EuroDiamonds, and Black Diamonds. The glass is decent. The eye relief is decent. They are heavy and big.

Going forward, I probably will not purchase another. I don't believe the company knows who they are. They have dropped their better lines to focus on the Fullfield. It appears to me that Steiner is the premium end of the former Burris line.

This is probably a bit nit picky, but it matters to me. I was an early adopter of the Ballistic Plex recticle in the 3-9x (thanks, dogzapper), and have done some nice work with it. The problem is when you use the 3.5-10 EuroDiamond (or a number of other higher powered scopes)the recticle is not based on the highest power. What power do they use? Call the company and ask and they DON'T KNOW! They say use the the"dot" on the power ring. They claim that the dot is set on each scope individually without knowing the power. If you are doing some advanced drop work with a ballistic program like Strelok you have to do a fair bit of range work just to figure the power they are basing the recticle on before you start shooting to confirm your program.

I feel if they are not competent enough to know the engineering behind their product, how can they do a good job? Couple this with constantly changing product lines and and 1/4 min clicks that are closer to 1/3 min, I have to look elsewhere for my next purchase.

My rant aside, Natchez has some excellent buys on the now discontinued EuroDiamond and Signature line scopes.

405wcf

I haven't had such good luck with the Burris that I had. It got very unclear and upon sending it back for repair, they sent it back to me and said my eyes were getting bad as I was getting older and there was nothing they would do for me. At the time a had a $25.00 Tasco which put it to shame. That was my only Burris that I had and will never buy another again.

I'm a firm believer in the Sightron Big Sky scopes now. I have been selling all my Leuopld VXlls to buy them. They are a very good scope. 4 clicks is an inch and in the direction you want it to go and great glass.

I have quite a few, I tend to use burris scopes where weight isn't a driving factor and leupold where it is.

I have fullfields, fullfield II's, a fullfield E1, signatures, signature selects and a eurodiamond.

My general feeling is they tend to be tough reliable scopes, and the few that I shot the box with track very well. glass wise I think that you get better glass per $ than a good many scopes. I would say that in my hands the MTBF is better than the leupolds but I find both to be quality units and I have no trouble hunting either.

Eye relief on many models isn't what a leupold is, but has been adaquate on a 416 rigby and a LW 358NM.

I have sent a handful back for service and all have been fixed, the ones I sent in years ago seemed to take a while (4-8 weeks) The last one I sent back in this january (for a paralax change) made the round trip in under three weeks, a couple of days faster than a leupold with a loose reticle mailed on the same day.

My only peave is that they stopped selling some of their line in the US.

First I heard about Burris dropping some of their top line stuff. THAT is some very sad news indeed if correct. I also have not been seeing very many Posi Lock models out in the marketplace of late. I should probably start grabbing up the Posi Locks I see for sale. I wish there had been or were on the market now some Posi Lock models in a gloss finish. Several of my rifles are high gloss blue with nice wood etc and a matte finish scope just does not work. Heck, it seems like almost no one is making many gloss scopes anymore. More proof that I am rapidly approaching Dinosaur/Curmudgeon status in life. Sigh.......

I ony have one Burris- a FF2 3-9, and I like it except for two things. One is the aforementioned fact that whenm adjusting the ocular it also turns the power selector. That's not too much of a problem for me as I usually leave the scope on 5 or 6 power except for range work. The other, much more important to me, is the problem of keeping it in focus for different ranges; if I focus it for 200 yards it's fuzzy at 50, etc. My eyes ain't what they used to be but I don't have this problem with other scopes.

The Burris does have a good quality- it responds to adjustments of windage and elevation very well, which I can't say for most of my older Leupolds.

jmbn,

I think your Burris riflescope needs to make a trip to Greely Colorado and have the nice folks at Burris repair or replace it. It should NOT be that sensitive or finicky about focus. You should be able to focus it at 100 or 200 yards and leave it. That said, a scope focused and parralax set for 200 yards is not, cannot be, perfectly clear and sharp at 50. Such a thing goes against the laws of optics.

I am a fan of Burris scopes. I have a 3-10x40 Signature Select, 3-9x32 Compact and 2 original 3-9x40 FullFields. I like their scopes but am sorry to see that the dropped the higher end models.

I recently bought a Browning Eclipse 30-06 with a Burris FF on it in 3x9, first one I ever owned. I was amazed at how bright and clear it is, similar to my Leupolds. I am having a little difficulty adjusting to the B-Plex reticle. I like the scope a lot.

I have only owned three Burris, a FFII 3-9x40, their 2.75x Scout Scope and a 1.5-6 electro dot Signature Select. All gave me outstanding service. While I believe there are many scopes with better glass if one wanted to spend more money, all the Burris products I've used have seemed to be a very good value for money spent vs performance.

Burris is my favorite bang-for-the-buck scope line. I'm not as fond of the FF line, but I own several of the Signature, Sig Select, and above lines. Glass is extremely clear and bright. Optically not enough difference to mention between them and my VX-3s, and much less expensive. I've spent around $300 used for most of them here on the Fire. Not quite in the Swaro league, but what is? They do tend to be heavy if that matters to you. Not sure if you can have after market turrets put on them, but that's something I may look into.

Been using a 3x9x40 FF II for many years, tougher than nails and no complaints.

Have several. All US made versions. Several compact/mini's.

Only one I don't like is the 4x mini.