NRL22 XTR IIIi 3.3-18 vs 5.5-30

[Jaydee1445]

Recovering Leupold Fanboi new to .22lr looking for input between these 2 scopes. It was easy to drink the big L cool-aid when I was Pro-staff and got XX% off distributor, with Leupold firing my employer and moving distribution in house now not so much.

Son and I sold off our Luppy 2nd FF scopes and we really like the new XTR IIIi and Pro. Picked up a XTR Pro Tremor5 for his Howa 308 build. If we had not used 1 of my 3 yearly insider purchases on a set of signature rings I would buy of both of the 3s. Going to have to pick one and wait for the year to reset.

Looking for better glass for my Savage MKII FV-SR in a MDT LSS-RF chassis. I’M 66 this month and I find eye strain sets in quicker shooting the Arken SH4 GEN2 6-24x50 than behind a MK5 or MK6. Shooting is mostly pinking until we extend our home range out to 250Yds. most of the small bore competition is silhouette near me in North Central Florida. Hoping NLR22 will catch on up here on the Fl. Ga. line

Plan is to move the Arken to a Wally World Zombie Boyd’s MKII for the grandson to shoot base class and run the XTR3 on the open MDT gun.

The specs for exit pupil and eye relief seem to be equal on both scopes.

Larger FOV, lower Weight, shorter length, and 30 more MOA elevation with closer to bore mounting of a 50 mm Obj. are pluses to me on paper for the 18X.

The only ting I see I’m giving up would be resolution 30x for really far small targets and another 5 yd. lower parallax and possibly a bit more low light performance. Some would argue 56mm “Gathers” more light but my Luppy brainwashing says “light gathering” is a myth and low light performance is a function of coatings and exit pupil. In theory same exit pupil and same coating the low light performance should be the same. Meatspace results may be different. (flamesuit on)

A bunch of BS to ask will if I miss the higher magnification of the 30x? is it worth the other trade offs??

 

[TheSunPope]

I have a 3-18 XTR3 on one of my rimfires, it's been great for NRL22 use. With the current setup I have a usable 31 mils of elevation I can dial. Which is pretty awesome for shooting way too far out with a .22

 

[Birddog6424]

I ran one in rimfire for two years. Never missed the 30x, loved having 31mils of elevation in my turret.

 

[lash]

Hey @Jaydee1445, come shoot my PRS22 matches. Next one is June 3 in Volusia. While some will vote for max mag, I shoot an 18x and actually use mostly 10-12x except on fairly stationary stages at 300y plus. You’d be surprised how well a 1/4” target resolves on 10x when it’s only at 30y or so.

I’ve found that field of view trumps magnification while on the clock in the majority of instances during a match. Having the additional elevation is always a plus.

 

[FuhQ]

Recovering Leupold Fanboi new to .22lr looking for input between these 2 scopes. It was easy to drink the big L cool-aid when I was Pro-staff and got XX% off distributor, with Leupold firing my employer and moving distribution in house now not so much.

Son and I sold off our Luppy 2nd FF scopes and we really like the new XTR IIIi and Pro. Picked up a XTR Pro Tremor5 for his Howa 308 build. If we had not used 1 of my 3 yearly insider purchases on a set of signature rings I would buy of both of the 3s. Going to have to pick one and wait for the year to reset.

Looking for better glass for my Savage MKII FV-SR in a MDT LSS-RF chassis. I’M 66 this month and I find eye strain sets in quicker shooting the Arken SH4 GEN2 6-24x50 than behind a MK5 or MK6. Shooting is mostly pinking until we extend our home range out to 250Yds. most of the small bore competition is silhouette near me in North Central Florida. Hoping NLR22 will catch on up here on the Fl. Ga. line

Plan is to move the Arken to a Wally World Zombie Boyd’s MKII for the grandson to shoot base class and run the XTR3 on the open MDT gun.

The specs for exit pupil and eye relief seem to be equal on both scopes.

Larger FOV, lower Weight, shorter length, and 30 more MOA elevation with closer to bore mounting of a 50 mm Obj. are pluses to me on paper for the 18X.

The only ting I see I’m giving up would be resolution 30x for really far small targets and another 5 yd. lower parallax and possibly a bit more low light performance. Some would argue 56mm “Gathers” more light but my Luppy brainwashing says “light gathering” is a myth and low light performance is a function of coatings and exit pupil. In theory same exit pupil and same coating the low light performance should be the same. Meatspace results may be different. (flamesuit on)

At first I doubted the elevation specs being higher for the smaller tube with both being a 5x plus erector. I’m guessing it is a function of the diameter of the magnifying lenses in erector tube assembly. Can someone elaborate on how more elevation is possible out of a smaller tube?

A bunch of BS to ask will if I miss the higher magnification of the 30x? is it worth the other trade offs??

Think of scopes like engines... There's no replacement for displacement. It's better to have all that power and not need it, than to need it, and not have it.

I had an Arken EPL4 6-24x50 on my Ranger 22 since they released the EPL4. While the glass certainly has some CA, it's plenty clear and useable, and I shoot to 200 yards every time I go the range. I recently replaced the EPL4 with a Burris XTR-II 5-25x50 SCR MIL FFP scope. Other than the weirdly-long 4.5" eye relief of the scope, and the very picky parallax, I really like it. Mechanically, it's solid. I sight everything in at 100 yards, and with my zero, the EPL4 6-24x50 had an extra 9.3 MILs of up-travel available. The Burris XTR-II 5-25x50 has 13 MILs. So, that's a pretty big difference when shooting .22's.

It's the illuminated model (MSRP is $1,500, Street Price $900-$1,250), but EuroOptic has them on sale right now for $650... I bought 2. Might buy 2 more to replace cheaper scopes (Arkens) on some of my lesser-used rigs that mostly live in the safe and rarely see daylight these days.

 

[Jaydee1445]

Hey @Jaydee1445, come shoot my PRS22 matches. Next one is June 3 in Volusia. While some will vote for max mag, I shoot an 18x and actually use mostly 10-12x except on fairly stationary stages at 300y plus. You’d be surprised how well a 1/4” target resolves on 10x when it’s only at 30y or so.

I’ve found that field of view trumps magnification while on the clock in the majority of instances during a match. Having the additional elevation is always a plus.

I used to shoot @ Volusia back in the day. I was even a RSO for a while. I may make it back one day but it is a 3 hour drive one way for me.
FOV is at the top of my list.

 

[Jaydee1445]

@Birddog6424 after rereading @Glassaholic review of the 3.3-18 vs the NX8 another question comes too mind. Hows does DOF and eyebox compare between the 18x and 30x? Does the 2.1" longer tube = more DOF and a more forgiving eyebox?
Would taller rings help with getting into the eyebox on off position shots?
Also not much info on the zero stop, is it like the II reset by loosening the set screws and zeroing and bottoming dial?

 

[spife7980]

My 3-18 xtr3 is a refurb but the eye box is pretty tight. If you’re not just perfectly in the right zone then you lose it pretty quick. If I didn’t have an adjustable cheek to put me just in the right place I could never spot a shot with it.

 

[Birddog6424]

@Birddog6424 after rereading @Glassaholic review of the 3.3-18 vs the NX8 another question comes too mind. Hows does DOF and eyebox compare between the 18x and 30x? Does the 2.1" longer tube = more DOF and a more forgiving eyebox?
Would taller rings help with getting into the eyebox on off position shots?
Also not much info on the zero stop, is it like the II reset by loosening the set screws and zeroing and bottoming dial?

DOF is very similar. They both resolve through mirage very similarly.

I use high rings on mine as I have a handguard. They work great.

I've never looked through one with a tight eyebox, ever . The XTRIII is pretty easy to get behind, as are most 18x optics in general. The Burris has very nice edge to edge glass that I know impressed some Leupy shooters running 18x MK5s at the PRS Rimfire Finale in Texas a couple years back. It's definitely nicer than the Leupold.

Anytime you toss in higher magnification the eyebox becomes more difficult. You start seeing 2mm and 1.8mm exit pupils at 25 and 30x. So an 18x will always be more forgiving that that.

Resetting zero is identical to the XTRII, but slightly easier by putting marks on the top of the turret to show you where the Allen screws are.

 

[Jaydee1445]

I traded my 18X MK5 for a BMW Airhead Motorcycle, I miss the MK5 more than I do the airhead.
Going to pull the trigger on the XTR3 before I talk myself into blowing all my mad money on another XTR Pro.

 

[FuhQ]

My 3-18 xtr3 is a refurb but the eye box is pretty tight. If you’re not just perfectly in the right zone then you lose it pretty quick. If I didn’t have an adjustable cheek to put me just in the right place I could never spot a shot with it.

My XTR-II's are pretty tight at the top-end, as well. But I'm used to that with pretty much all my sub-Alpha tier scopes.

All my Kahles & Zeiss scopes with SCHOTT glass, and Zeiss LOW built scopes (LRP S3 & V4's) seem to have more forgiving eye boxes...Even at max mag.

My Zeiss LRP S3 6-36 has a super forgiving eye box at 36x (comparatively, IMO), the glass is amazing, too. Look through one, if you get a chance...It's a lot of scope for the price.

 

[FuhQ]

Well... Bye bye Strike Eagle 5-25x56 (it will be getting moved to a different rifle).

I bought an XTR-III 5.5-30x56 SCR 2 MIL reticle this afternoon... Should be in next week. Also picked up another XTR-II 5-25x50 SCR while they still have them for $650. I'll be interested to compare the XTR-III and XTR-II glass, and Philippines vs. Colorado-built, since everything else seem to be nearly the exact same scope.

Burris Xtreme Tactical XTR III 5.5-30x56mm 34mm SCR 2 Mil Riflescope 201214

FREE SHIPPING on Burris Xtreme Tactical XTR III 5.5-30x56mm 34mm SCR 2 Mil Riflescope 201214

www.eurooptic.com

 

[Jaydee1445]

Decided to go against my "closest to bore mounting" training and opted for the high rings this time to ease the neck strain. I used my last insider deal for the year for a 3.3-18x50 so I used gun.deals to find Gritrsports. They had the Burris 420211 sig rings for $104.25 and an EGW base for $35.99 $8.47 Priority shipping and a $4.21 discount code. Shipped to my for $154.61
Their website acts a bit funky and I skipped them a couple of times in the past but it seems to have been upgraded. They had the best price on Ebay and 99.5% positive feed back on 154k items. They were even cheaper on their website and have a brick and motor in Texas so I gave them a shot.

https://gritrsports.com/burris-xtr-signature-34mm-high-rings-420211​

 

[srt-4_uk]

Well... Bye bye Strike Eagle 5-25x56 (it will be getting moved to a different rifle).

I bought an XTR-III 5.5-30x56 SCR 2 MIL reticle this afternoon... Should be in next week. Also picked up another XTR-II 5-25x50 SCR while they still have them for $650. I'll be interested to compare the XTR-III and XTR-II glass, and Philippines vs. Colorado-built, since everything else seem to be nearly the exact same scope.

Burris Xtreme Tactical XTR III 5.5-30x56mm 34mm SCR 2 Mil Riflescope 201214

FREE SHIPPING on Burris Xtreme Tactical XTR III 5.5-30x56mm 34mm SCR 2 Mil Riflescope 201214

www.eurooptic.com

The scope you linked was made in the Philippines

 

[FuhQ]

The scope you linked was made in the Philippines

A simple google search proves that wrong... The XTR-II is/was made in the Philippines.

 

[TheSunPope]

A simple google search proves that wrong... The XTR-II is/was made in the Philippines.

View attachment 8149965

View attachment 8149967
View attachment 8149970

If it's an illuminated XTR III, it's made in the Philippines. They stopped making the XTR III in the US when they changed to the XTR IIIi models and started making the XTR Pro in the US. Not necessarily a bad thing, I've heard they're just as good or even a little better in the case of the 3-18 model. I just don't like that it's not disclosed more obviously.

 

[srt-4_uk]

A simple google search proves that wrong... The XTR-II is/was made in the Philippines.

But a correct Google search proves it right.

 

[FuhQ]

If it's an illuminated XTR III, it's made in the Philippines. They stopped making the XTR III in the US when they changed to the XTR IIIi models and started making the XTR Pro in the US. Not necessarily a bad thing, I've heard they're just as good or even a little better in the case of the 3-18 model. I just don't like that it's not disclosed more obviously.

Well that's fucked up... They really need to disclose that better, because pretty much every piece of info you find on the XTR-III shows that they're made in the USA. I guess they figured it might hurt sales to be upfront about it... Oh well, so is the quality the same on the 5.5-30x56? Or is it better, like you said the 3.3-18x50 is?

 

[cypriss32]

Ohh poor you not getting “distributor pricing” while the rest of us have to pay full retail .

But onto your question, I have the XTR 3-18 actually 4 of them, 2 of the 5.5-30x and now 2x pro Tremor 5. I am not using any of them on my 22lr I’m building. I had a 4.5-27x razor gen2 that focuses a little better up close than any of the Burris. But that’s being extremely picky. And I absolutely love the PRO with the Tremor 5 (especially at industry pricing).

I recommend spending the extra money and getting the pro. It’s Seriously a surprisingly good scope. I compared it next to my Gen3 razor and let’s just say everyone had trouble picking one over the over.

 

[TheSunPope]

Well that's fucked up... They really need to disclose that better, because pretty much every piece of info you find on the XTR-III shows that they're made in the USA. I guess they figured it might hurt sales to be upfront about it... Oh well, so is the quality the same on the 5.5-30x56? Or is it better, like you said the 3.3-18x50 is?

I've handled a few of the new 5.5-30x56's in stores and they seem really nice. I don't have any real world experience with the new ones yet sadly. I've heard a lot of good things, I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

 

[cypriss32]

I've handled a few of the new 5.5-30x56's in stores and they seem really nice. I don't have any real world experience with the new ones yet sadly. I've heard a lot of good things, I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

The 5.5-30 is nice, one of my regular ones sit on my 224 Valk. After the last few range sessions with the pro. It’s a serious scope, I recommend looking into that one. I run the Tremor5, but I recommend people getting the SCR 1/4 mil.

 

[Scopeye]

Personally prefer to go a bit overkill on magnification so I can just back it down to the lower 1/2 - 2/3 for a much sweeter eyebox and crisper image quality instead of maxing out an 18x or 20x scope where their eyeboxes get really tight and IQ not perfect if not using a March or ZCO TBH. IQ and overall shooting experience is more heavenly when their magnification aren't maxed out. The Arken SH4 in 6-24x is pretty terrible IMHO and it's much better to get their 4-16x version where it's glass is still within reasonable acceptability relative to it's much lower max magnification. The only Arkens worth buying are their 4-16s and EP5 and specifically used as a 5-20x as it's IQ starts to gets bad past 20x.

I'd sure like to see a comparison of the newly released Primary Arms GLx 34mm 3-18x and 4.5-27x with their new improved ED glass compared to the much higher priced 3.3-18x and 5.5-30x Burris XTRIIIs which are also made in the Philippines aside from already knowing the Primary Arms GLx's have a lot more total elevation travel 180MOA and 120MOA and have much cheaper MSRP's or even way cheaper way less than half the price by comparison when buying from price friendly dealers who can offer the best prices.

 

[Gohring65]

Well that's fucked up... They really need to disclose that better, because pretty much every piece of info you find on the XTR-III shows that they're made in the USA. I guess they figured it might hurt sales to be upfront about it... Oh well, so is the quality the same on the 5.5-30x56? Or is it better, like you said the 3.3-18x50 is?

I got the American made 5.5-30 and I’ll probably pick up another one since they can be had for 1k$ used. I haven’t handled a scope in that price range that I like better. Don’t let the Philippine made scare you, their factory over there has been putting out rock solid xtr2s for years. Aside from some shity glass in the beginning of production, the xtr2 has a great track record for reliability.

 

[Birddog6424]

Well that's fucked up... They really need to disclose that better, because pretty much every piece of info you find on the XTR-III shows that they're made in the USA. I guess they figured it might hurt sales to be upfront about it... Oh well, so is the quality the same on the 5.5-30x56? Or is it better, like you said the 3.3-18x50 is?

It's not a marketing scheme, Burris has had a great relationship with their Phillipines manufacturer and are pretty proud of it. They've had that relationship for well over a decade.

It's just website maintenance, which is only periodic.

The Phillipines made XTRIII is actually a bit of an improvement to my mind. They made some nice updates. Toned down the knurling on the turrets and smoothed out the tension on the magnification ring and parallax. And the price came down a bit instead of them increasing their profit margin. Win win.

 

[Birddog6424]

I'd sure like to see a comparison of the newly released Primary Arms GLx 34mm 3-18x and 4.5-27x with their new improved ED glass compared to the much higher priced 3.3-18x and 5.5-30x Burris XTRIIIs which are also made in the Philippines aside from already knowing the Primary Arms GLx's have a lot more total elevation travel 180MOA and 120MOA and have much cheaper MSRP's or even way cheaper way less than half the price by comparison when buying from price friendly dealers who can offer the best prices.

I've seen the GLx. The glass isn't as nice as the XTRIII.

It would be more realistic to compare it to the XTRII. Much more similar optic in features and quality.

 

[Scopeye]

I've seen the GLx. The glass isn't as nice as the XTRIII.

It would be more realistic to compare it to the XTRII. Much more similar optic in features and quality.

Also just found out that the much cheaper currently $565 on sale Chinese Athlon Ares BTR Gen 2 4.5-27x50 has better glass as well and It should since it's a $1087.49 MSRP scope that typically sells for $869.99 street price.

 

[Jaydee1445]

I believe it’s official, I’m no longer a Luppy fan boi

 

[Jaydee1445]

Time for a range comparison XTR VS MK5

 

[FuhQ]

I believe it’s official, I’m no longer a Luppy fan boi
View attachment 8156928

Told you...

 

[Jaydee1445]

I have a 3-18 XTR3 on one of my rimfires, it's been great for NRL22 use. With the current setup I have a usable 31 mils of elevation I can dial. Which is pretty awesome for shooting way too far out with a .22

I got 31 mils also with the Burris Signature rings and a 20 moa rail.