Rifle Scopes Burris XTR2 - is it me or is it the glass?

Bcamos

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Minuteman
Aug 30, 2012
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Okay so here's some background - I used to have a Viper PST Gen2 SFP and I honestly really liked that optic. It was pretty clear and never gave me any issues. But I learned the error of my own ignorance and moved to a FFP scope - the XTR2 5-25.

When I first looked through the Burris, I felt like it was an improvement over the Viper, but that could have just been "buyer's excitement".

As I've now spent more time with it (I bought it in January), I'm starting to notice that it sometimes gives me some image issues. I set the diopter focus while looking up at the sky with parallax set to infinity and max magnification. Looking through it at a blank canvas (the sky or a wall) the reticle is really clear, no issues there at all. But when I start looking at targets, I either get a blurry image or distorted colors (white steel plates look blue/yellow around the edges). Even adjusting the parallax I can never really get rid of it completely. At 100yds, it's hard to make out where my shots are on paper because the image just isn't clear enough. At 25x it's damn near impossible, so I have to back it down to 20 or lower to get a clear image. Everyone once in a while, if I'm looking through the scope for a long time, I can see a "ghost reticle" floating off to the side of the actual reticle. Like my eye is fighting to focus between the reticle and the target. Though this part honestly could just be my eyes, as I wear contacts, but I've never had this issue with any other scope.

My friend has an XTR2 as well that he just bought and it's clearly a newer model than mine. The logos on the scope are a bright white where mine are more of a dull grey. He also has a dark "silver" ring around his ocular housing and mine doesn't. Otherwise, our scopes are identical - same reticle, same magnification, etc. When I look through his, it's noticeably clearer than mine.

So, is my scope busted, or are the adjustments on the XTR2 just more finicky than my old Viper? Is it worth the 5-6 week wait for a warranty check by Burris, or should I just spend more time trying to adjust my focus?

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If you dont have a tungsten grey ring around your ocular housing and the print on the side is FDE, you have one of the early releases. Do you have 10mil or 8mil turrets?

You definitely have some chromatic aberration and parallax issues going on. The early models were useless to guys with an astigmatism, and still difficult for a guy with normal eyesight.

My suggestion would be to contact Burris and tell them the issues.
 
If you dont have a tungsten grey ring around your ocular housing and the print on the side is FDE, you have one of the early releases. Do you have 10mil or 8mil turrets?

You definitely have some chromatic aberration and parallax issues going on. The early models were useless to guys with an astigmatism, and still difficult for a guy with normal eyesight.

My suggestion would be to contact Burris and tell them the issues.
Ah! I definitely have an astigmatism but I only thought that was an issue with red dots. My elevation turret is 10mil and the FDE that's on the scope body is Ceracoat, this wasn't the factory FDE model. Would Burris still warranty it?
 
Your scope came out in the second year of production. Your astigmatism definitely exacerbates the parallax issues those early releases had. They got it fixed and I havent really heard anything about it for years now. It was a weird issue where some people struggled with it and some didnt.

Fortunately, yes, the Burris warranty covers that scope forever. Make sure you go into details with the issues and tell them it's currently unusable for you. Something that has happened in the past is a repair rep looks at it and doesn't see the same problem as you and thinks it's ok. I had a lengthy conversation with the Sales Manager at the time, Sky Leighton, some years ago about this. As it was very difficult for them to pin down the problem.

But stay on them and get it fixed. You'll like that scope much better when you do.
 
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Your scope came out in the second year of production. Your astigmatism definitely exacerbates the parallax issues those early releases had. They got it fixed and I havent really heard anything about it for years now. It was a weird issue where some people struggled with it and some didnt.

Fortunately, yes, the Burris warranty covers that scope forever. Make sure you go into details with the issues and tell them it's currently unusable for you. Something that has happened in the past is a repair rep looks at it and doesn't see the same problem as you and thinks it's ok. I had a lengthy conversation with the Sales Manager at the time, Sky Leighton, some years ago about this. As it was very difficult for them to pin down the problem.

But stay on them and get it fixed. You'll like that scope much better when you do.
Sounds like a plan, thank you so much for the info. I have an RMA open with them that I did the other day just out of curiosity, but I haven't sent it in yet. I'm currently sitting on hold to see if I can talk to someone to explain the issue in detail like you suggested.

What's really pushed me to get it looked at is that my illumination has just recently stopped working. I've tried with 2 brand new batteries and it just won't turn on.
 
Well I spoke with someone over at Burris and gave them all of my detailed information to add to my RMA order. I'll get the scope out whenever I get the chance, but it's going to suck not having it for the next 5-6 weeks.
 
I hope you get it back and all is well I was not as impressed as the sales man who tried to push one on me was . now a days I just see that salesman and laugh a little inside .
 
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Surprise surprise, I'm a lazy piece of shit and just never sent this in to Burris. I finally pulled this gun back out of the safe, fell in love with it again and then ran into this "God this scope is awful" rut all over again. I opened the support case back up with Burris and it's currently en-route to them. I'll let you all know how it goes, just for the sake of documenting this experience.
 
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Burris determined that the inability to fully focus the optic was due to the internal mechanism reaching its maximum range and this caused some "damage" (I don't have the full tech details yet, just the general description email). The scope was in a 0MOA SPUHR mount on a 20MOA EGW base, zero'd at 100yds shooting 6.5CM. I've never had any POI/POA issues out of it and dialing out to 300 and back (haven't taken it off property to shoot further yet) was never a problem. My only performance issue was getting everything focused.

I did notice that the parallax knob had quite a bit of play in it when I was unmounting it to send it in, so maybe the tech notes in the box will shed some light on how that's all connected. The illumination also stopped working right around the same time I started having these issues, so maybe that whole side of the turret mechanism was disconnected internally.

I'll keep you guys updated on how the repaired optic works out.
 
I have a XTR II that suddenly went tits up. I had it on my DPMS SASS which use to shoot consistent 1 moa 5 shot 100 yards groups. Then last Thursday took it out to the range and it was shooting watermelon size groups at 100 yards. It's always been in an ADM mount. Checked all the screws and all are tight as is the levers that lock the mount to the SASS, weird. Talked to Sean? at Burris and got an RMA and it will ship UPS today.
As far as the clarity of the scope, at least to my eyes is about the same as my Vortex 2nd Gen 5-25x50 PST. Never really had a problem seeing 556 holes at 100 yards.
 
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Got it back but haven't mounted it back up yet. Initial impressions are that the glass looks substantially cleaner to me than it did before I sent it. I haven't really checked the parallax at distance yet, just looking at stuff in the back yard around 100yds away. But so far, it looks great. Can't wait to get it mounted back up and really try it out.

On a side note, does anyone know of any companies that make cordura wraps for the XTR2's?
 
Ah! I definitely have an astigmatism but I only thought that was an issue with red dots. My elevation turret is 10mil and the FDE that's on the scope body is Ceracoat, this wasn't the factory FDE model. Would Burris still warranty it?
No sir, I have an astigmatism, as well, and anything that requires my pupil to focus on hard (reticle, red dot, lights, etc…) has trouble. But it also sounds like your scope might have an issue, because my XTR-II 5-25x50’s are not having any issues at full mag.
 
They're not bad, but me neither. I have one I used for a couple of months & then took off. Probably just going to tape them w/ generic scope tape going forward.

I think you're looking for Ranger Wrap though, don't know if anyone sells it precut for Burris products

e: they have enough for different scopes w/ bells, one will probably work for you. Shoot them an email

 
They're not bad, but me neither. I have one I used for a couple of months & then took off. Probably just going to tape them w/ generic scope tape going forward.

I think you're looking for Ranger Wrap though, don't know if anyone sells it precut for Burris products

e: they have enough for different scopes w/ bells, one will probably work for you. Shoot them an email

Yeah I've thought about that, or using their universal sheet to cut up my own. I don't mind using the vet-wrap, I just hate that it breaks down so quickly and if you don't replace it often, it will leave some nasty residue. I may just have to use goontape or something.

I need something with some thickness because the optic was coated with ceracoke and a stencil was used, so there's a thickness difference. If I just rattlecan over it, the thickness difference will still be obvious and the stencil area will still be visible. I was kind of hoping Burris would just replace the optic so I wouldn't have to deal with it lol. I've heard removing ceracote is quite the task and requires abrasives, so I'd rather cover it with something.
 
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Good luck with the replacement but I’ve never found Burris glass … regardless of class … be better than their competition within the price ranges they compete in …
 
Good luck with the replacement but I’ve never found Burris glass … regardless of class … be better than their competition within the price ranges they compete in …

That goes very strongly against the grain of public opinion these days. The XTRIII and Pro are rock solid competitors in their price point. These scopes sell really well for Burris and you'll see bunches of folks here on the Hide recommend them. And quite honestly, the XTRII at the $700 you can find them at is pretty solid there as well. Competing against the Meopta, Strike Eagle, Match Pro, etc, it's right there. And it's a well proven performer in the durability/reliability aspect.

Here's a thread that is a great example of what I commonly see these days.

 
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That goes very strongly against the grain of public opinion these days. The XTRIII and Pro are rock solid competitors in their price point. These scopes sell really well for Burris and you'll see bunches of folks here on the Hide recommend them. And quite honestly, the XTRII at the $700 you can find them at is pretty solid there as well. Competing against the Meopta, Strike Eagle, Match Pro, etc, it's right there. And it's a well proven performer in the durability/reliability aspect.

Here's a thread that is a great example of what I commonly see these days.

In my experience and for my eyes ... Burris glass always felt "muted" ... but that's just me ... I will admit XTRIII optics have been a great upgrade to the XTR2s ...
 
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