Shiny objects!

Burris scope with mount

Burris scope with mount and RDS on top

As well as LVPOs and mounts sold separately. Any of those are doable without breaking my bank, but will have to wait a little.

The Spuhr mount has me curious about the diagonally split rings. I have seen lots of horizontal, a few vertical, but never this. Is there some advantage?

I don't have direct experience with the products linked above. I have used a few Burris products here and there, and they have worked fine.

Spuhr makes nice products, and they work. Other folks manufacture nice products, and they work. I have one-piece mounts on various AR15s and AR10s by Nightforce, Warne, GG&G, JP, and LaRue. I like the NF Unimounts the best, however all have worked without issues. None of my mounts are cheap, but the Warne has the best value for great performance.

You should consider what level of consistency or security you desire from your mount. And the experience of others who recommend given mounts. I suspect that even the value-line Chinese pot-metal mounts will perform adequately for a reasonable time on an AR15 that's only shot from a bench, is never jostled or bumped, stays in a foam- padded hard-sided case, and only travels from the car trunk to the shooting bench.

That's not how it works with my ARs. They've traveled in planes, been tossed around by baggage handlers, been bounced around in the back of vehicles on 4WD roads. Accidentally fell off the back of UTVs and pickup trucks while bouncing across pastures. Kicked over while queued up at matches. Smacked against my heavy precision rifles in 2-rifle matches, while walking/jogging between stages. Bumped from all sides, while shooting from barriers. My mounts hold zeros, year after year. Many have moved between rifles, with different scopes, as my shooting & equipment needs have evolved.

Evaluate your needs and stay within your budget. Buy quality gear and it will serve you well over the long run. Nevertheless, think of the complete rifle system -- it's only as strong as its weakest link. It makes little sense to have a links rated for 2000 pounds, it there are others rated for only 200 pounds.

When it comes to optics (and mounts), you generally get exactly what you pay for. I’d buy quality used items over new junk.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Shiny objects!

Burris scope with mount

Burris scope with mount and RDS on top

As well as LVPOs and mounts sold separately. Any of those are doable without breaking my bank, but will have to wait a little.

The Spuhr mount has me curious about the diagonally split rings. I have seen lots of horizontal, a few vertical, but never this. Is there some advantage?

I have a Burris RT-6. In the price point, there aren't many optics I like better.

Turrets are a little mushy, but this isn't a scope to be dialed, and I had no issues getting it zeroed. Glass is pretty darn good for the cost and the reticle is simple but useful.

Illumination is ok... but while some people insist on nuclear bright daylight illumination, I don't find it to be a necessity IF the reticle is good without it on 1x. Some FFP require it because of the way that the reticle shrinks in a FFP optic.

Personally I would buy that scope without the Burris mount and put it in a Warne mount.

posted by IndianaBoy

quote:

I have a Burris RT-6. In the price point, there aren't many optics I like better.

Agreed. I have had a couple of their products before.

A couple of others I ran across were Primary Arms and Vortex. How are those? The medium- and higher-priced Vortex seem to get OK reviews on here.

Between the pending refund for the first scope and a tax overpayment refund coming, I think that should go a long way toward better glass in the "good value" range.

Posted by fritz

quote:

I suspect that even the value-line Chinese pot-metal mounts will perform adequately for a reasonable time on an AR15 that's only shot from a bench, is never jostled or bumped, stays in a foam- padded hard-sided case, and only travels from the car trunk to the shooting bench.

That's not how it works with my ARs. They've traveled in planes, been tossed around by baggage handlers, been bounced around in the back of vehicles on 4WD roads. ...

A lot closer to the former than the latter. I'd still rather the scope not shoot loose after, say, a long day at the range.

I have a Vortex Venom 1-6 still sitting new in box that I haven't mounted yet. Handheld next to the Burris RT6, the glass is a better. At 1x it gives a flatter image, less bending or 'fish eye' at the edges of the image. Not enough to discount the Burris, but the Venom looks better. From initial feel, the turrets on the Venom are substantially better. More tactile and positive. Clicks are loudly audible and clearly defined. The Burris clicks are barely audible and you can barely feel them.

Some friends of mine have Strike Eagles and get along well with them, I have never owned one so I can't really comment.

I haven't mounted or shot with the Vortex Venom yet. So I can't really comment on tracking or zero retention.

The higher end Vortex offerings are definitely good to go. I have a pair of their UHD binos and the image is truly incredible. I have a smattering of their Razor gen2 and gen3 optics. Rock solid and excellent glass. I have been beating the snot out of the same Razor 1-6 at 3 gun matches for more than ten years now and it holds zero, tracks perfectly, and is simply excellent, albeit a bit heavy.


People like to shit on Vortex. "Good thing they have that warranty, you are going to need it." May or may not be true on some of their lower end products. I had a SparcAR fail because the battery leaked, thats on the battery, not the optic. And they took it right back and sent me a new one.

For me, their warranty allows you to really use their high and low end optics hard, with the confidence that if you break something expensive, they will absolutely take care of you.

I have gravitated towards higher end optics for competition, but for most people something in the $4-500 price range is going to be perfectly serviceable.

I used a PST Gen2 for PRS for 3 years and after a LOT of turret twisting, it developed a tracking issue and they are fixing it right now and it will go on a 22lr for training for centerfire PRS as well as some NRL22 type matches.


I can't comment on the Primary Arms stuff as I have never owned any. But a lot of people get on well with it.

Dark Lord of Optics has a great youtube channel. He is an optical engineer and gives well thought out and unbiased reviews on his channel. Worth a look, he may or may not have a review on some of the optics you are looking at. He tends to focus on high end optics but I know for sure he has looked at some of the mid-range stuff as well.