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Burris Scopes #70976 06/13/2010 3:40 AM
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Black Forest HP Offline OP
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What is the current quaility of Burris handgun scopes. I have used some older models and have not had any problems. However i have hear that some have been having problems recently. Have the quaility issues been resolved?

I was intetrested in the ballistic plex reticle, but if the quality is not there I do not know if that is the way I want to go.

Re: Burris Scopes [Re: Black Forest HP] #70997 06/13/2010 3:27 PM
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430man Offline
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Depends on recoil. I put one on my .44 SBH and could not keep it from skidding through the rings. I ruined the tube. Tried all kinds and amounts of rings, rosin, tape, etc but the tube is so soft even tightening rings with a torque wrench will squeeze it.
I have a cheap Tasco that will not move on a .475 with two rings and the tube is so tough it has not a single mark on it.
My experience with Burris is that they are also much darker then other scopes.
They made a rifle scope with a front iris to regulate light. It was super bright but the rest have been dark.
I had a flier about Swift scopes that had several pages about how tough it is. I fell for it and bought a little 2X---gutted it with 3 shots. The replacement now resides on a .22.
I have a little Loopy that has been on and off more guns since 1958 or so, can't remember when, but it is still going strong, even on the .475 and a .500 JRH.
The Ultra Dot, red dot takes almost any recoil you can imagine.

Re: Burris Scopes [Re: 430man] #71015 06/13/2010 6:23 PM
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Darrell H Offline
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Black Forest,

I have many Burris handgun scopes. IMHO, they are a great value. I just purchased a new 2-7X with Ballistic Plex about 3-4 months ago to install on a custom XP-100. Like you, I have "heard" about issues with Burris but have yet to experience if myself.

Re: Burris Scopes [Re: Darrell H] #71016 06/13/2010 6:48 PM
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KRal Offline
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 Originally Posted By: Darrell H
I have many Burris handgun scopes. IMHO, they are a great value.................. Like you, I have "heard" about issues with Burris but have yet to experience if myself.


X's 2!


It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile, but only 3 for proper trigger squeeze.
Re: Burris Scopes [Re: KRal] #71020 06/13/2010 7:30 PM
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hardtimes Offline
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I also have many Burris scopes. Have them on everything from 22's to my 500 S&W. Only every had a problem with one, and it was fixed and back to me within a week.

Re: Burris Scopes [Re: hardtimes] #71025 06/13/2010 9:59 PM
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14cm Offline
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i made L hairs out of my crosshairs. they sent me a loaner until mine was fixed 2 weeks. i have had 4 or 5 of them and they are fine scopes.

Re: Burris Scopes [Re: 14cm] #71029 06/14/2010 12:15 AM
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wtroper Offline
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I have had several Burris fixed power scopes on revolvers. No issue with them. I do not like the change in eye relief that associates with their variables. Thus, I have used the variables very sparingly.


It's more important where you hit 'em, than what you hit 'em with.
Re: Burris Scopes [Re: wtroper] #71038 06/14/2010 1:39 AM
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Carpe Diem Offline
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I have used Burris scopes on numerous handguns for over two decades without a single problem. Wish I could say that about Leupold - although the latter's service is second to none.

I haven't had scope slippage in handgun rings since I gave up on the Redfield-type rings thirty years ago. This includes .45-70s and .50-70s so recoil was....heavy enough. Three rings and sand paper between the rings and scope tube do the trick, and no need to tighten the rings enough to collapse the tube either. Sometimes working smart beats working hard...



.


Based on total trigger pull weight, my trigger finger has lifted well over 200 tons....
Re: Burris Scopes [Re: Carpe Diem] #71067 06/14/2010 4:22 PM
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aimingpoint Offline
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I've got half a dozen of them mounted on my .500 and on down I haven't had any issues to date. The only thing I will say I do is a check on the mounting hardware each time I head out and when I'm done with a day of shooting, not that I've ever had them loosen but more of a sense of security than anything else.


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Re: Burris Scopes [Re: aimingpoint] #71074 06/14/2010 5:27 PM
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430man Offline
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I may have gotten a lemon. It is the old 2X7 variable and is very heavy. The tube is like pure aluminum, dead soft. Even lapped rings would not hold it.
Been a gunsmith since the early 50's and never seen anything like it.
I never had a problem mounting them to rifles, no damage but this pistol scope drove me nuts. Drove me away from Burris too.
These are just a portion of my scopes and have been on and off so many guns I can't count them from big bore rifles to .475 and 45-70 revolvers. The little Loopy has been in use testing revolvers since the scope first came out and has recently withstood the .500 JRH.
The second from right is the Burris, look at the tube. It was used on a .44 mag, pipsqueak gun with a 10" barrel.
You can get scratches from rings but I never seen a tube squeeze like this and then slip with every shot.
SANDPAPER ON RINGS? What is that about? Rosin would not hold this thing.

Re: Burris Scopes [Re: 430man] #71079 06/14/2010 8:44 PM
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wapitirod Offline
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I prefer Leupold but they are much costlier and having been on this sight for over five years now I've seen in the posts made that burris failures outnumber Leupold failures 10 to 1 and I've also noticed that is primarily with scopes bought new within that time and the big spike in posts on failures started between two and three years ago. The other thing I don't like about them is compared to their equals in other brands they are bulky and heavy. The one exception to my thoughts is the 3-12 but that's only because no one else is making a long eye relief in that high of power. I actually prefer Nikon, Bushnell Elite and Weaver over the Burris. I'm the same with rifles right now on the long guns I have scoped I have 9 Leupolds, 1 Nikon, and 1 Simmons Aetec, 3 Bushnell's (2 on 22's). At one time I had as many as 14 Leupold handgun scopes on revolvers and various barrels but after getting rid of my X frames and their Leupold which Tig now has and my single shot stuff I only have three revolvers scoped, 2 have Leupold 2X's and 1 has a Bushnell red dot that had survived my 45-70BFR. Those scopes set on rifle calibers up to 458 Lott and T/C's to two 375JDJ's and 45-70's and in revolvers the 500 and 460 Xframes and custom Rugers 475 and 500 Linebaugh and out of the three dozen or four dozen I've owned in my lifetime I've had one failure and that was after the third time my 475 sheared the mounting screws and the scope hit the ground for the third time knocking the ocular lens loose. In my opinion if you can't afford the Leupold the Nikon, Bushnell Elite and especially the Weaver are the better deals for the money although I have to admit other than with rifles I haven't used Nikon or Weaver variables on handguns.JMHO

Last edited by wapitirod; 06/14/2010 8:46 PM.

I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them. John Wayne-The Shootist


Re: Burris Scopes [Re: wapitirod] #71096 06/15/2010 12:31 AM
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BBwheelgunner Offline
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I currently shoot a Burris 2-7 without posi lock. It is mounted on a Ruger SBH hunter in .45 Colt. within the first hundred rounds of cowboy loads (hadn't even started on the hot stuff) the cross hairs tilted(im assuming that the objective lense became loose and un-threaded some?) After I concluded that it was not my scope mounting skills, I sent it in and got it back within a week. It has since taken a lickin, and kept on tickin with lots of hot colt rounds. The customer service was great, and I don't have any concerns now, but I must say I was a bit disappointed in a brand new scope acting like that.


"If you are going to go through all the trouble to put a hole in something, why not make it a big one?"
Re: Burris Scopes [Re: BBwheelgunner] #71132 06/15/2010 1:45 PM
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430man Offline
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One thing I forgot to mention was I bought two Burris scopes at the time. One for my varmint rifle and the pistol scope. Both had to be sent back because I could not adjust parallax on either. The adjustments on both objectives had to be regulated. If I remember I had to use the 200 yard setting for 50 yards, or the other way around, been a while.
The varmint scope was so dark I sold it and bought a Loopy. Still going strong.


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