Rifle Scopes Is the XTR 3.3-18 the best deal going right now?

[GreenMushroom]

Had a pst2 3-15 for awhile and liked the features but didn't have time to use it much so sold it to fund other things. Having more free time now I'm looking for a replacement. I joined this forum for the NV/ thermal knowledge and am pretty green at longer range shooting so am looking for a good scope to learn on.

I've read up on the Xtr3 and reviews seem overwhelmingly positive with the only real complaints being stiff adjustments. Most if my glass I'd consider solid mid range (g2/g3 LPVOs, acog, slc binos) and the xtr seems to fall in this category.

Eventual host will be a 556 mrp with stainless barrel but my brother who's more versed in longer range suggested a .22 upper if I want to learn to spin turrets and judge wind so thats a possibility. I'd considered getting one of these when they were a lot more and they seem like a lot of scope for 1k.

Eta looking at the US made non illuminated version.

 

[DLS]

I actually did both of what you are looking at the XTR III for. Started mine on a BergaraB14R for last 6 months and I liked it a lot. Really nothing not to like.. good eye box wide FOV glass very solid to my old eyes just a great optic.
Then I got a Sons Of Liberty 18 inch AR semi custom that the plan is for my son and I to run in Carbine matches so I thought the 3-18 XTR III would be perfect for that.
I have only been to the range with it on the Carbine once but it worked well running out to 650 yds and back on steel.
The only bad ….it allowed me to fall victim to the SH sphere of influence and once I saw the post on the new Zeiss S3..… So thanks to MK Machining now the S3 is on my B14 R and I ran it in a PRS 22 match yesterday and it also is quite good and all things I have read in reviews here are what I would say down to the tighter eye box but not something I really noticed in competitio.

 

[bohica17]

I had the 5.5-30 on bergera b14r as well. Loved it but sold it to pay for baby stuff. Got the 3-18 for my ar and love it. I’ll hurt some feelings, get a throw lever and the mag ring is no issue. Everyone saying the knurling is to aggressive is a pussy. I laugh every time I read that shit lol. Like the fact that they come on here and openly admit they have cry baby hands is pure entertainment. Granted I don’t own a zco,tt,nf, I just work with my hands everyday and don’t mind it one bit. Running a jp mount if you’re looking for recommendations for that as well.

And I don’t wanna hear anyones shit I weed whacked after this.

 

[ssc45]

In my opinion, yes. I got one from Doug. The price was quite good. I have it on my 18inch WOA upper.

Cheers, Steve

 

[BiggBeans]

been really undecided between an XTR 3 and the Bushnell DMR 3. anybody here that has handled both?

 

[GreenMushroom]

Thanks guys. Gonna pull the trigger. Seems like a good deal plus it'll be nice having a US made scope.

 

[srt-4_uk]

I’ll hurt some feelings, get a throw lever and the mag ring is no issue. Everyone saying the knurling is to aggressive is a pussy. I laugh every time I read that shit lol. Like the fact that they come on here and openly admit they have cry baby hands is pure entertainment.

This. All of this.

 

[pineoak]

Everyone saying the knurling is to aggressive is a pussy. I laugh every time I read that shit lol. Like the fact that they come on here and openly admit they have cry baby hands is pure entertainment

Yeah, that's me. I have no issues saying that if I'm paying $1k for something, it should work without me wanting to modify it (neoprene cover for the knurling) or having to deal with sharp aggressive knurling like sharp little pyramids. They're not even great in terms of traction/friction. Just a poor design.

I personally think knurling isn't difficult to make appealing for most people. The knurling on this model is simply needlessly sharp. If your calloused hands laugh at keyboard/ledger hands, so be it.

But I'd rather express that opinion to people so they go into purchasing it aware of the issue rather than buying it and discovering that it's not comfortable for them to use having spent $1k. That's a decent amount of money to me and I'd rather spend more getting a scope that isn't knurled like it had gloves in mind.

There is a reason these scopes are discounted so heavily.

The glass is good on the low end, great in the midrange, and soft on the higher end. At least with the sample of one I had. I think I had the higher magnification version.

Again, just one person's opinion.

Do you even moisturize?

 

[srt-4_uk]

Are your fingers ok after typing all of that?

 

[Vivacious Stallion]

For an American made scope and for the general build quality, its a very good deal. The Burris throw lever is very nice, the turret texture is disappointing, but it's not the end of the world. Clearly there are two camps of opinion on this forum, but all I can say is that I have never spent time thinking about how I dislike the turret texture on any other scope I have ever owned.

The reticle (scr2) is very thin, well suited for steel/target use, but not something that I would recommend for hunting unless you get the illuminated version. The picture below is at 13x ish power I think? The lower weight and size of the 3-18x is a definite plus and big reason I put it on my LMT. I haven't noticed anything else really negative besides the reticle being pretty worthless on most of the lower half of the mag range. I don't remember this being such an issue with my XTR2 (scr)?

I had an old XTR2 die on me last month and Burris sent me one of the new illuminated 30x XTR3s, which comes tomorrow (took about a month for the process). I guess I will see how that one compares. They're good scopes with a couple minor negatives, you probably won't regret it and if you do sell it.

 

[Vivacious Stallion]

And I don’t wanna hear anyones shit I weed whacked after this.

Is that your rifle target/backstop, between the house and garage back there?

 

[Jmccracken1214]

Thanks guys. Gonna pull the trigger. Seems like a good deal plus it'll be nice having a US made scope.

I’ve got one for sale

 

[bohica17]

Is that your rifle target/backstop, between the house and garage back there?

Yea benefits of living out of town. Safer than it looks.

 

[bohica17]

Yeah, that's me. I have no issues saying that if I'm paying $1k for something, it should work without me wanting to modify it (neoprene cover for the knurling) or having to deal with sharp aggressive knurling like sharp little pyramids. They're not even great in terms of traction/friction. Just a poor design.

I personally think knurling isn't difficult to make appealing for most people. The knurling on this model is simply needlessly sharp. If your calloused hands laugh at keyboard/ledger hands, so be it.

But I'd rather express that opinion to people so they go into purchasing it aware of the issue rather than buying it and discovering that it's not comfortable for them to use having spent $1k. That's a decent amount of money to me and I'd rather spend more getting a scope that isn't knurled like it had gloves in mind.

There is a reason these scopes are discounted so heavily.

The glass is good on the low end, great in the midrange, and soft on the higher end. At least with the sample of one I had. I think I had the higher magnification version.

Again, just one person's opinion.

Do you even moisturize?

I don’t think the knurling and mag ring killed this line of scope. Illumination was imho. Why make the two versions of the same scope in two different countries? It makes sense to me to just stop production of the first line up.

And no moisturizer lol

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

been really undecided between an XTR 3 and the Bushnell DMR 3. anybody here that has handled both?

XTR3 IMO. Cheaper and better glass/reticle/turrets.

 

[GreenMushroom]

Showed up yesterday and I'm impressed. Good glass and fov. Turrets and magnification are stiff and reticle might be a little thin depending on what you're doing.

Eye box on lower powers is pretty amazing. Very 1-6 razorish. Thinking of perhaps throwing a dot on top and using it for a general purpose optic vrs just punching paper. In a leap 07 weights not much different than my g2 1-6 in a bobro and it's pretty compact for what it is.

Briefly tried my yoterC in front of it and the image was very nice. I'm assuming with adjustable focus I'll be able to run the mag up a little higher than my LPVOs. Camera land has these for 900$ now with the 100$ rebate and it's a lot of scope for the $$.

 

[LibertyOptics]

If you are talking the non-illuminated from CameraLand, then yes. If you are talking the new illuminated from us, then yes.

 

[LibertyOptics]

And, we have two of these on stock. let's make a deal

 

[Birddog6424]

The only reason the non-illuminated version is so heavily discounted is its discontinued in favor of the illuminated version.

Certainly not because the knurling is hard on you fellas who use Palmolive to soften your hands while you do the dishes

 

[ECK]

But Madge, I soaked in it!

 

[LibertyOptics]

Also have one XTR Pro in stock!

 

[Midwestside]

 

[Earnhardt]

Any comparisons between the 3.3-18x and the 5.5-30X XTRIIIs?

 

[Cr1775]

Any comparisons between the 3.3-18x and the 5.5-30X XTRIIIs?

I think the target looks bigger with the 5.5-30.

 

[Earnhardt]

I think the target looks bigger with the 5.5-30.

Ya. Everything looks pretty big a my (2) 5.5-30x’s…FNM

Seriously…glass comparisons, eyebox, parallax…between the 2 scopes?

 

[GreenMushroom]

Ya. Everything looks pretty big a my (2) 5.5-30x’s…FNM

Seriously…glass comparisons, eyebox, parallax…between the 2 scopes?

Having read a bunch of reviews before buying my 3.3-18 the consensus seems to be that the 5.5-30 has better glass and is more forgiving on parallax. If I was doing bench rest I would have gone with that. The 3.3-18 is plenty good in those regards but what makes it stand out is fov and eyebox on lower powers.

 

[Cr1775]

Seriously question i have both but never bothered comparing if you set both scopes on say 10 , would the field of view still be more on the 3-18? As far as glass goes i cant tell the difference, except as mentioned above. Of course the 5-30 is better when you put them both on say 18 and look kind of apple's and oranges.

 

[Birddog6424]

I dont have much glass quality or clarity differences between my 30x versus 18x, but they do have some differences. The 30x is a couple inches longer and 56mm objective versus 50mm, so there are subtle differences created by that. The 18x really shines in FOV, edge to edge clear glass, and eyebox.

 

[Vivacious Stallion]

The glass is pretty comparable from my experience but looking through them is slightly different. I do feel the slight edge goes to the 30x in pretty much all categories.

 

[Baron85]

My 3-18 is slightly not as good as my 5-30. Both are still great.

 

[BiggBeans]

i have a razor g2 3-18 and it seems like that scope has a pretty forgiving eyebox. How is the eyebox on the Xtr III 3-18?

 

[Birddog6424]

i have a razor g2 3-18 and it seems like that scope has a pretty forgiving eyebox. How is the eyebox on the Xtr III 3-18?

I agree with you. The eyebox is good on the 18x Razor. So they are very similar there.

But the FOV is amazing on the 18x Burris.

 

[Vivacious Stallion]

i have a razor g2 3-18 and it seems like that scope has a pretty forgiving eyebox. How is the eyebox on the Xtr III 3-18?

I find the eyebox to be a little tighter on my xtr3 18x than my Razor g2 4.5-27x

 

[Birddog6424]

I find the eyebox to be a little tighter on my xtr3 18x than my Razor g2 4.5-27x

Haha, well I never thought I would ever hear someone say that. With no Burris bias at all I've found the 18x to be the one the easiest scopes to get behind than I've seen anywhere.

Literally, the only scope I've found that looks better is the G2 Razor LPVO in 6x.

So you got something really cool going on with your Razor.

 

[Vivacious Stallion]

Haha, well I never thought I would ever hear someone say that. With no Burris bias at all I've found the 18x to be the one the easiest scopes to get behind than I've seen anywhere.

Literally, the only scope I've found that looks better is the G2 Razor LPVO in 6x.

So you got something really cool going on with your Razor.

It might also be influenced by having less adjustability in my LMT where the xtr3 sits than my bolt gun with the Razor?

Now I'm going to have to go home after work and stare through them both to make sure

 

[Glassaholic]

For those that have the 3.3-18 and find it soft at higher mags I would contact Burris. I had similar issues with an early version and sent it in for warranty and Burris agreed and sent me a new scope the next day, that scope was all I hoped it would be, my only gripe is how thin the SCR2 is on the 3.3-18, my 5.5-30 with SCR2 was just right in thickness. Keep in mind reticle thickness is very much a personal preference issue and plenty of shooters have had no issues with SCR2 and the 3.3-18.

 

[beetroot]

Seriously question i have both but never bothered comparing if you set both scopes on say 10 , would the field of view still be more on the 3-18? As far as glass goes i cant tell the difference, except as mentioned above. Of course the 5-30 is better when you put them both on say 18 and look kind of apple's and oranges.

With both scopes set to the same magnification the FOV should be the same or atleast very very close.

 

[Cr1775]

What i thought when i looked through mine. Just wondering why everyone says the 3-18 has such great field of view but they don't say that about the 5-30. I guess im like no shit lower power basically same scope yes greater field of view, therefore doesn't the 5-30 have excellent field of view also? Sorry just can't figure out why the need to compare the same basic scope. I think first ask yourself how much magnification do you need.

 

[Hickswr]

I’ve compared the illuminated 3-18 & 5.5-30 side by side against a non-illuminated 5.5-30 several times under various conditions.

My observations-

Zero optical performance between the two different 5.5-30 versions.

The 5.5-30s are slightly better in all optical aspects (except FOV which is equal) than the 3-18.

The FOV is amazing is both models.

The 5.5-30 punches well above its price tag.

The 3-18 is an exceptional value If you need a smaller scope.

If size isn’t a concern, buy the 5.5-30.

 

[bigmac55]

Also have one XTR Pro in stock!

do you have a green 3.3 x 18 scr2?

 

[ChrisAU]

do you have a green 3.3 x 18 scr2?

They are all red & green.

 

[bigmac55]

They are all red & green.

Cool what is the price??

 

[ChrisAU]

Cool what is the price??

I am not Liberty, but I do have a used one for sale in the Px

 

[jb0311]

I am not Liberty, but I do have a used one for sale in the Px

The correct answer is “I’m not at ‘liberty’ to discuss”

I’ll show myself out.

 

[jumrobe]

Got notification Thursday that mine form Liberty shipped. Very excited to get my hands on it next week.

 

[Gasgun]

Got notification Thursday that mine form Liberty shipped. Very excited to get my hands on it next week.

When did you order?
Still waiting on mine.

 

[jumrobe]

When did you order?
Still waiting on mine.

I ordered the 3.3-18 on 2/20