Burris XTRII 1.5-8

Thebear_78 · Jan 19, 2019

After seeing how well my 450 bushmaster was shooting with the red dot I decided to try out a variable optic.

I looked at many different scopes in the 1-8 range and settled on the XTRII 1.5-8. The real selling feature that sealed the deal was the reticle. The ballistic CQ MIL. The XTRII has a dual focal plane reticle. I found this to be very functional idea. It has the lighted portion of the reticle in the second focal plane and the milling portion of the reticle in the first focal plane. It almost acts like two separate reticles in one scope.

At 1.5x it really functions like a red dot.

At 8x it is more of a conventional milling reticle.

The hardest part was finding 34mm rings. Luckily I found a set of warne Q/D rings. Leaving the option open to switch between the BUIS, red dot and low power variable.

I’m looking forward to giving it a bit more of a workout tomorrow.

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Thebear_78 · Jan 20, 2019

It was a touch chilly but I gave the 1.5-8 XTRII a run thru it’s paces. To say I’m impressed would be an understatement.

This scope addresses all the flaws in the current trend of FFP variables. The current FFP, lower powered variables on the market all suffer from the same issues. At lower power the reticles are too small to really distinguish or if thick enough to decipher at the low end they are too thick when zoomed in. For this reason I have stayed away from any FFP scopes under 5-6 power, and even those are difficult to use at the low end.

The dual focal plane is definitely the way to go. At 1.5 the circle dot is easy to pick up and quick to get on target. The milling reticle at the low end really isn’t distinguishable. Once you get up to 4-5 you can pick up the milling reticle and at 6-8 it’s easily distinguishable and easy to aim with, the circle dot nestling in the center.

It was great off the bench for precision shooting and quick for offhand close range shots. I set up my swingers at 100 and 200 yards, and had some clays on the 25 and 50 yard berms. It was very easy to start at 1.5, clear the pigeons, turn up the magnification and hit the swings, 4” at 100 8” at 200. As centered as I was on the 200 yard swinger I bet the 4” wouldn’t have been too difficult. The 250hr FXT was hitting 1.5” high at 100 and 5” low at 200. At 200 the top of the vertical reticle was hitting dead on.

I liked it so much I wish they made low 34mm rings for Ruger as I think it would be an ideal scope on my 338 RCM.

The adjustments were accurate but I didn’t really do any dialing to check repeatability. It has an excellent zero stop also.

I didn’t get any pictures as my phone kept dying in the 3° cold.

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SJB358 · Jan 21, 2019

That’s pretty cool Bear. Burris is making some good stuff nowadays. Thanks for the read.

How’s the eye relief?

Thebear_78 · Jan 21, 2019

4”@1.5x - 3.75”@8x

There is ample room to keep it out of your eyebrow!

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SJB358 · Jan 21, 2019

Thebear_78":1fbiawg9 said:
4”@1.5x - 3.75”@8x

There is ample room to keep it out of your eyebrow!

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Yeah that’s darned good! Gives it a lot of usefulness on many different rifles. 3.75” is pretty danged good.

Thebear_78 · Jan 21, 2019

SJB358":xf64sy4v said:
Yeah that’s darned good! Gives it a lot of usefulness on many different rifles. 3.75” is pretty danged good.

It would make an ideal hunting scope for any hunting rifle where close range speed and med/long range precision could come in handy. The limiting factor is rings at the moment. If they made a set of low Ruger 34mm rings I’d get another one in a heartbeat for my 338 RCM. The 1-5 wouldn’t be half bad either.

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SJB358 · Jan 21, 2019

Thebear_78":ef8h5lcn said:
SJB358":ef8h5lcn said:

Yeah that’s darned good! Gives it a lot of usefulness on many different rifles. 3.75” is pretty danged good.

Click to expand...

It would make an ideal hunting scope for any hunting rifle where close range speed and med/long range precision could come in handy. The limiting factor is rings at the moment. If they made a set of low Ruger 34mm rings I’d get another one in a heartbeat for my 338 RCM. The 1-5 wouldn’t be half bad either.

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That is the downer. 34mm rings would be a pain. No big deal for the ARs though.

Guy Miner · Jan 21, 2019

Nice. I like low powered scopes. That Burris has a lot going for it!

Guy

5shot · Jan 21, 2019

Looks good, but is it just me or is that scope longggg...

Blkram · Jan 21, 2019

Interesting scope!
Thanks for the review.
Would be a good option for my 338 Federal...only downside as mentioned is those 34mm rings.

Thebear_78 · Jan 21, 2019

Blkram":2bijzt7s said:
Interesting scope!
Thanks for the review.
Would be a good option for my 338 Federal...only downside as mentioned is those 34mm rings.

There are several ring options out there. Warne, Burris, spuhr, and nightforce all make a variety of 34mm rings in various heights. The problem is no low Ruger style rings everything out there is Picatinny style.

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Thebear_78 · Jan 21, 2019

5shot":2mmygwhp said:
Looks good, but is it just me or is that scope longggg...

It just looks long because it’s a straight tube. It’s only an inch longer than my 2.5-8x33 VX3 and a couple inches shorter than my nightforce 4-14x50

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salmonchaser · Jan 22, 2019

Excellent report, have you started loading for the 450 yet?

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Thebear_78 · Jan 22, 2019

I have started loading for it. I started with hornady 250 FXT and 275gr TSX.

I tried some h110 but was not impressed. The accuracy was no where near the hornady black loading. The hornady 250 FXT factory ammonwas shooting 3 shots into a jagged hole at 100 yards clocking in at 2130fps.

The 250 FXT and 40gr H110 was 2210fps but closer to 4” groups 7” higher than factory ammo.

The 275gr TSX And 37gr H110 Was 1980fps shooting a 2.5” group 5” higher than factory ammo.

I’m going to try some more with Lil’Gun, I hear a lot more favorable results with the Lil’Gun than any other powder.

I also increased the crimp. From what I read the 450 does much better with a very firm crimp. A lot of guys are modifying Lee 45/70 FCD to get a plunge crimp midway down the barrel for best results.

Ideally I’d like to get a load that will shoot close to the factory hornady ammo.

I saw a box of underwood ammo with the Lehigh defense 245gr extreme penetrator ammo at the store. Looks pretty interesting. Might be worth a look for bear defense. I’ve heard pretty good reports on them for hogs and bears. Penetrates like a hardcast with much more soft tissue damage.

I’d start a post in the reloading section but there isn’t much interest in black rifles or cartridges on here.

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salmonchaser · Jan 22, 2019

Copy that,
Where are you finding ammo?

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Thebear_78 · Jan 22, 2019

Alaska ammo had it here in anchorage. It was pretty pricy, $70 a box. I think I would try loading them first. Almost the same price as the TSX. When you buy the components.

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truck driver · Jan 23, 2019

Thebear_78":1ys4hs6l said:
It was a touch chilly but I gave the 1.5-8 XTRII a run thru it’s paces. To say I’m impressed would be an understatement.

This scope addresses all the flaws in the current trend of FFP variables. The current FFP, lower powered variables on the market all suffer from the same issues. At lower power the reticles are too small to really distinguish or if thick enough to decipher at the low end they are too thick when zoomed in. For this reason I have stayed away from any FFP scopes under 5-6 power, and even those are difficult to use at the low end.

The dual focal plane is definitely the way to go. At 1.5 the circle dot is easy to pick up and quick to get on target. The milling reticle at the low end really isn’t distinguishable. Once you get up to 4-5 you can pick up the milling reticle and at 6-8 it’s easily distinguishable and easy to aim with, the circle dot nestling in the center.

It was great off the bench for precision shooting and quick for offhand close range shots. I set up my swingers at 100 and 200 yards, and had some clays on the 25 and 50 yard berms. It was very easy to start at 1.5, clear the pigeons, turn up the magnification and hit the swings, 4” at 100 8” at 200. As centered as I was on the 200 yard swinger I bet the 4” wouldn’t have been too difficult. The 250hr FXT was hitting 1.5” high at 100 and 5” low at 200. At 200 the top of the vertical reticle was hitting dead on.

I liked it so much I wish they made low 34mm rings for Ruger as I think it would be an ideal scope on my 338 RCM.

The adjustments were accurate but I didn’t really do any dialing to check repeatability. It has an excellent zero stop also.

I didn’t get any pictures as my phone kept dying in the 3° cold.

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Have you seen these ? Midway has them on sale.

grry10 · Jan 24, 2019

I've be using rings from this company for all my picatinny and weaver style bases. I've used the TRW on a 30mm Nightforce but normally purchase the HRT for 1" and 30mm. I keep a couple of extra sets of cross bolts (picatinny and weaver) and switch them out on the HRT rings as needed.

https://www.tpsproducts.com/product-cat ... ope-rings/

Thebear_78 · Jan 24, 2019

Good looking rings

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gerry · Jan 28, 2019

Seems like an interesting scope going to be watching how it works for you. Looks like so far so good.

Burris XTRII 1.5-8

Handloader

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Ballistician

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Ballistician

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Ballistician

Master Loader

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Handloader

Handloader

Handloader

Ammo Smith

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