I purchased my XTR3i 5.5-30x56mm w/ an illuminated SCR2 reticle from
@gr8fuldoug for $1349. I think that's about the scope's fair price & would not pay a penny more (look for lower prices). The XTR3i is definitely NOT worth the $1749 MSRP.
Glass - pretty good for the price, but certainly not excellent. Field of view is great. Depth of field is pretty good, but not excellent... Eyebox is good - very easy to get behind this scope. Absolutely zero tunneling throughout entire magnification range. Contrast isn't great, even at closer ranges. Past 1,200 yards, greys & shadows, greens & yellows, blues & blacks each blend together entirely. Chromatic aberration is noticeable. In 70 degree weather with the sun directly overhead and some light mirage @ 600 yards, a 2/3 IPSC painted "construction safety yellow" and very green early spring grass surroundings were almost exactly the same color. More on this below.
Using the XTR3i in low light and mirage are where the XTR3i falls terribly short. The XTR3i picks up more mirage than I expected & is NOT a good scope for even moderate mirage conditions. I've practiced with it until dusk once in good weather & had a very hard time identifying splash marks (just the impact marks, not the actual impact or plate swinging) on both raw and yellow-painted 2/3 IPSC at 600yds. During a rainy/overcast NRL Hunter One the image significantly darkened whenever the rain picked up. Even @ 15x I had a very difficult time spotting the target @ 650yds, although I was still able to make the hits. On another heavily overcast day @ 9:00 AM, the 500 yard image was very dim. Even on a bright day in clear weather, the XTR3i would struggle through a well set-up NRL Hunter match that had targets hidden in the shade/shadows.
Reticle - SCR2 is great. It's one of the best Xmas tree reticles available for less than $1500 in this magnification range, although I prefer the MIL-XT and EBR-7D. The 3-hour illumination auto shut-off is a good feature, but a 10-min or 30-min auto shut-off w/ shake-to-wake feature would be nicer (see Holosun). Despite the daytime-bright illumination being 100% functional & very effective, Burris' illumination isn't great. I'd describe it as "grainy".
Turrets - I'm not a fan at all. Clicks are fairly crisp & audible, but somewhat stiff with just a touch of roll (not quite what I'd call mushy). They do get a little better with use. Zero stop is solid & very easy to reset. Scope arrives with a covered/capped windage turret,
but it ships with an interchangeable exposed turret as well , if you'd like to dial rather than hold (Burris already stopped shipping them with the exposed turret). I've used it out to 800 yards & it tracks great.
Other - Parallax numbers are close to actual range, but the adjustment is WAY too stiff - this is the worst part of the scope. There is a barley audible "stickiness" when you rotate the magnification ring that I believe is caused by lube, however, this has worn in slightly. Knurling is ridiculously aggressive; the bite of the knurling annoying and distracting. This was a pretty dumb design decision on Burris' part. Also, the knurling machining is surprisingly rough.
It's fair to compare the XTR3i to the Leupold Mark 5 5-25. The XTR3i is easier to get behind, but the XTR3i has much worse turrets. I don't own a Mk5, so I've never used them side by side... contrast is probably better in the Mk5, but from what I remember, not by much. I'd buy the XTR3i over a Mk5 everyday of the week, but that's largely due to price and the Mk5 reticle options. The XTR3i doesn't compare to a Gen3 Razor.
Would I buy it again? Maybe. Despite being serviceable, I moved my XTR3 from a .308 to a .22LR. I need another scope to use on a .223 trainer, but haven't purchased another XTR3 because of how bad the parallax is. It looks like all retailers have increased their XTR3 prices, so they're in the $1,350-1,450 range instead of $1,200. Still, if that's your max budget, definitely consider the XTR3.
UPDATED 
