Burris XTR II 5-25 540.00 and 3-15 499.00 at Eurooptic

Im2bent

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Minuteman
  • Jun 30, 2020
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    I bought an XTRII 4-20 back in december for 600.
    Its not bad for the $$$.
    I figured what was good enough 4 years ago at $1300 was good enough for my beginner arse.

    I wasnt impressed with the glass when looking through it at home (Chromatic Abberition or whatever), but it has been good at the range so far.
     
    How does the glass in these later production XTRII's compare to other optics like the LRHS, Razor G2, etc.? I heard the later production glass was much better than the early scopes but it's still pretty meh?
     
    How does the glass in these later production XTRII's compare to other optics like the LRHS, Razor G2, etc.? I heard the later production glass was much better than the early scopes but it's still pretty meh?
    I have several of the recent production XTR-II 5-25x50's and they're pretty solid. Especially for the sales price. Once you get past the weird 4.5" eye relief, it's a nice scope.
     
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    I have several of the recent production XTR-II 5-25x50's and they're pretty solid. Especially for the sales price. Once you get past the weird 4.5" eye relief, it's a nice scope.
    That's really good to hear. Could you compare them to some other market scopes as far as glass quality? Like against the Strike Eagle, PST2, LRHS, etc?
     
    That's really good to hear. Could you compare them to some other market scopes as far as glass quality? Like against the Strike Eagle, PST2, LRHS, etc?
    I pulled off a Strike Eagle 5-25x56 EBR-7C MRAD to replace it with the XTR-II 5-25x50 SCR MIL, because the glass in mine was better, and the overall mechanicals on the scope felt exponentially more solid and higher quality. But we're also comparing a Philippines scope with Japanese ED glass (Burris) vs. a Chinesium scope with Chinesium HD glass (Strike Eagle).

    I ended up swapping a few things around, and put one of my Kahles K624i's on that rifle instead, and put the XTR-II on another rifle. The Strike Eagle collects dust in the "I probably should sell this stuff because I'll most-likely never use it again" box.

    The 3 XTR-II's that I have are all solid examples. I'd say optically on par with a PST G2, and slightly better than the Arken EP5 and Strike Eagle that I had. Apparently the early models aren't that great, but the 3 I have are good to go. My XTR-IIIi 5.5-30x56 SCR2 is phenomenal, as well. None of my 4 Burris scopes were cherry-picked...They were all straight from EuroOptic and sealed in the plastic from Burris. 🤷🏼

    What makes it difficult is everyone's experiences differ. What might be acceptable to someone's eyes, might look like shit to someone else. And some people's eyes are so terrible they can't tell the difference in a $100 Tasco or a $10,000 Hensoldt. I own alpha-tier glass. And I'm not going to tell you it's on par with that, because that would be a flat-out lie. But remember, the XTR-II 5-25x50 SCR was a scope with a $1,499 MSRP back in the day. So it was not a cheap scope by any means, just because the sales price is low. But they are better than a lot of people give them credit for. I'd pick an XTR-II 5-25x50 over any Arken any day of the week...And I've owned 5 Arken scopes, and still have 4 of them...Only 1 still sits on a rifle, the rest are in that junk pile bin collecting dust.
     
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    I pulled off a Strike Eagle 5-25x56 EBR-7C MRAD to replace it with the XTR-II 5-25x50 SCR MIL, because the glass in mine was better, and the overall mechanicals on the scope felt exponentially more solid and higher quality. But we're also comparing a Philippines scope with Japanese ED glass (Burris) vs. a Chinesium scope with Chinesium HD glass (Strike Eagle).

    I ended up swapping a few things around, and put one of my Kahles K624i's on that rifle instead, and put the XTR-II on another rifle. The Strike Eagle collects dust in the "I probably should sell this stuff because I'll most-likely never use it again" box.

    The 3 XTR-II's that I have are all solid examples. I'd say optically on par with a PST G2, and slightly better than the Arken EP5 and Strike Eagle that I had. Apparently the early models aren't that great, but the 3 I have are good to go. My XTR-IIIi 5.5-30x56 SCR2 is phenomenal, as well. None of my 4 Burris scopes were cherry-picked...They were all straight from EuroOptic and sealed in the plastic from Burris. 🤷🏼

    What makes it difficult is everyone's experiences differ. What might be acceptable to someone's eyes, might look like shit to someone else. And some people's eyes are so terrible they can't tell the difference in a $100 Tasco or a $10,000 Hensoldt. I own alpha-tier glass. And I'm not going to tell you it's on par with that, because that would be a flat-out lie. But remember, the XTR-II 5-25x50 SCR was a scope with a $1,499 MSRP back in the day. So it was not a cheap scope by any means, just because the sales price is low. But they are better than a lot of people give them credit for. I'd pick an XTR-II 5-25x50 over any Arken any day of the week...And I've owned 5 Arken scopes, and still have 4 of them...Only 1 still sits on a rifle, the rest are in that junk pile bin collecting dust.
    Thank you very much dude, I really appreciate it. I have a US made XTR3 5.5-30 that I'm waiting for an action to come in for and had a 3.3-18 illum model. I love both, a heck of a lot of scope for the money. I was considering grabbing a strike eagle since they're about that price range with my service discount but the XTR2 sounds like a sweet deal.

    I wonder if the opposing experiences with these scopes across their mag ranges is due to the rolling improvement in glass it sounds like they made? I've heard the 4-20 is the best, and then other guys say that one was the worst.
     
    My 3-15 XTR II has been a workhorse, being on at least 3 different rifles. It found its current and long-term home on a Grendel of mine. Last year, when I was ripping a rifle out of the safe to shoot at a coyote, it hooked on the Grendel and pulled it out and onto my concrete floor - landing directly on that XTRII. The plastic flip up ocular lens cover shattered, but the scope didn't lose zero.

    Glass in mine is not quite there compared to my LRTS. Actually, I probably wouldn't run an XTR II on a first/last light hunting rifle unless I had to. However they have been dead-nuts reliable, and I've given them more rough use than any other scope.

    At less than $600, I think it is a great option for those limited by budget.
     
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    I pulled off a Strike Eagle 5-25x56 EBR-7C MRAD to replace it with the XTR-II 5-25x50 SCR MIL, because the glass in mine was better, and the overall mechanicals on the scope felt exponentially more solid and higher quality. But we're also comparing a Philippines scope with Japanese ED glass (Burris) vs. a Chinesium scope with Chinesium HD glass (Strike Eagle).

    I ended up swapping a few things around, and put one of my Kahles K624i's on that rifle instead, and put the XTR-II on another rifle. The Strike Eagle collects dust in the "I probably should sell this stuff because I'll most-likely never use it again" box.

    The 3 XTR-II's that I have are all solid examples. I'd say optically on par with a PST G2, and slightly better than the Arken EP5 and Strike Eagle that I had. Apparently the early models aren't that great, but the 3 I have are good to go. My XTR-IIIi 5.5-30x56 SCR2 is phenomenal, as well. None of my 4 Burris scopes were cherry-picked...They were all straight from EuroOptic and sealed in the plastic from Burris. 🤷🏼

    What makes it difficult is everyone's experiences differ. What might be acceptable to someone's eyes, might look like shit to someone else. And some people's eyes are so terrible they can't tell the difference in a $100 Tasco or a $10,000 Hensoldt. I own alpha-tier glass. And I'm not going to tell you it's on par with that, because that would be a flat-out lie. But remember, the XTR-II 5-25x50 SCR was a scope with a $1,499 MSRP back in the day. So it was not a cheap scope by any means, just because the sales price is low. But they are better than a lot of people give them credit for. I'd pick an XTR-II 5-25x50 over any Arken any day of the week...And I've owned 5 Arken scopes, and still have 4 of them...Only 1 still sits on a rifle, the rest are in that junk pile bin collecting dust.
    You have stated multiple times that the XTR II has Japanese ED glass.
    Where do you get this information from, I don't see it on their website. Typically, they would use that as a marketing tool.
    Besides, the Arken's have Japanese glass as well, they are solid scopes, but no one is claiming that the glass is exceptional.
    The 2-10, which they discontinued a long time ago, was always regarded very well for the glass.
    Funny, it didn't sell that well, now everyone wants an MPVO in the 2-10 or 2-12 range.
    Wish I would have picked up the 2-10 when it was available.
     
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    The xtr2 2-10 weighed 29oz. It was bound to fail. I would Aldo say the xtr2 glass is about like the pst2 or px4 steiner. Not great but ok. A step down from the ERS DMR2 or LRHS/LRTS.
     
    I am debating between those two for shooting to 1000 on steel loaner rifle, which one is the functionally "better" model with the easier to get behind eyebox, glass quality etc?

    The 5-25 will be a pretty easy one to get behind. Glass is good enough for sure to put somebody on at 1K. Reliability and tracking are going to be a home run at the price point that these are going for at the moment regarding your intended use as a "loaner" optic.
     
    You have stated multiple times that the XTR II has Japanese ED glass.
    Where do you get this information from, I don't see it on their website. Typically, they would use that as a marketing tool.
    Besides, the Arken's have Japanese glass as well, they are solid scopes, but no one is claiming that the glass is exceptional.
    The 2-10, which they discontinued a long time ago, was always regarded very well for the glass.
    Funny, it didn't sell that well, now everyone wants an MPVO in the 2-10 or 2-12 range.
    Wish I would have picked up the 2-10 when it was available.
    Straight from Burris’ website…


    Scroll to the very bottom of the first page, at the questions… Here’s what you will see…

    IMG_4118.jpeg
     
    I've never seen Burris specify HD or ED. The Japanese glass is a very late edition to the model, it certainly didn't start out that way 11 or so years ago when the model rolled out.

    At 500 bucks though... a scope with a decade of history of being a tank, reliable and dependant as any scope on the market..., it's pretty hard to get hurt. Regardless of HD or ED.
     
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    All I know is the glass is sharper than my Strike Eagle 5-25x56, and was sharper than my Arken EP-5…. The Arken has “ED” glass. The ironic thing, the Strike Eagle’s Chinese HD glass has LESS CA than my Arken’s Japanese “ED” glass. And the Burris had less CA than both of them. Maybe I just lucked-up and got 3 excellent samples. 🤷🏼
     
    All I know is the glass is sharper than my Strike Eagle 5-25x56, and was sharper than my Arken EP-5…. The Arken has “ED” glass. The ironic thing, the Strike Eagle’s Chinese HD glass has LESS CA than my Arken’s Japanese “ED” glass. And the Burris had less CA than both of them. Maybe I just lucked-up and got 3 excellent samples. 🤷🏼

    Better to be lucky than good 😉
     
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    I have the 3-15 in front of me right now.

    Eyebox is extremely tight and the glass quality is the worst I've ever seen. Thought maybe something was wrong with it but after playing with it I think it just sucks. Gonna email eurooptic and see if they will give me a refund or a credit. Super disappointing.

    Optically I'd put it around the 4-16 PST (old model) but with a worse eyebox. It's that bad. Poor resolution, smaller objects are blurred, lots of chromatic aberration, you'd have to pay me to use this thing.
     
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    I have the 3-15 in front of me right now.

    Eyebox is extremely tight and the glass quality is the worst I've ever seen. Thought maybe something was wrong with it but after playing with it I think it just sucks. Gonna email eurooptic and see if they will give me a refund or a credit. Super disappointing.

    Optically I'd put it around the 4-16 PST (old model) but with a worse eyebox. It's that bad. Poor resolution, smaller objects are blurred, lots of chromatic aberration, you'd have to pay me to use this thing.
    That's disappointing. The 15x is usually pretty good optically. Europtics should send it back to Burris to get it fixed. That's not a realistic or healthy version of the line up.