Looking back over the articles I have written and thinking about my impressions from Shot, this year was unquestionably the year of the laser rangefinder. In fact, I will be writing a summary article on that technology within the next week or so. For now, lets focus on the Burris Eliminator series.
Burris Eliminator III 4-16x50mm:
Burris is the first major player to integrate a laser rangefinder with the optic in the way the shooter is intuitively looking for. By this I mean that it actually lights up a dot on the reticle to tell you where to aim. In the past, this has been limited to table values, has had a very short maximum range, and has had no windage capabilities. In short, I didn't think it did all the things it needed to do to be very useful. This year, by adding longer range (up to 1,500 yards ideal and will do a deer beyond 750 yards), custom loads, and a windage system; the Eliminator system has become genuinely interesting.
The model with all of these features is designated the Eliminator III 4-16x50mm and, at $1.5k, is pretty pricey for Burris, but seems relatively cheap for the technology involved. It is the technology you are paying for here. You will not be impressed by the glass, I promise you.
To set up the system, you program the scope with the altitude, ballistic coefficient of the round, and the drop at 750 yards (you can use your own or pick one off of the Burris table). The last thing you do is zero at 100 yards. That's it: you're ready to go hunting. The laze function is operated by aiming the crosshairs at the target and pushing a button on the side of the optic. Immediately a red dot will appear on the crosshairs below the zero indicating the aim point. The range will also be displayed as well as a "Dot Value" for windage. This dot value corresponds to how many of the etched dots left or right of the reticle you should hold in a 10mph wind. It is just that simple to set up the scope and just that simple to use it.
Burris Eliminator III 4-16x50mm. I believe this through the scope shot was at 4x. The scope compensates for magnification and will read right at all magnifications. In case you are wondering, it's programmed with ballistic data for an improbably slow round in order to demo at Shot Show indoor distances:
While the Eliminator III does not incorporate an angle of inclination sensor, or pressure / altitude sensor like the Tracking Point or new Trijicon; what it does provide is a ridiculously easy to set up and use system that finally provides hunters with an optic that both ranges and compensates for drop in a manner so intuitive that little knowledge or practice is necessary. In short, it gives them what they really want.
How it's powered, the battery compartment:
I have mentioned in the past that I usually have no interest whatsoever in hunting scopes. The typical hunting scope, almost regardless of price, is just a feature-poor optic that provides little help to the shooter in ranging or compensating for drop and wind. Usually, they don't even have a parallax adjustment. In many ways, the Eliminator III is the opposite of this. It provides effective and easy systems for dealing with the variables most important to making a good long range shot. It also has an adjustable objective from 50 yards out.
I'll admit to being kind of curious as to how one of these would perform at a practical rifle match. It's not designed for that; but then, the tactical rifle scopes that I use for shooting groundhogs and targets aren't really designed for those things either. They are just better than the scopes designed for those purposes at those purposes. I wonder if the Burris might accomplish the same feat in reverse. I may actually have them send one of these to me for review. Features are one thing; I really wonder how well it works in practice.
Burris Eliminator III 4-16x50mm:
Burris is the first major player to integrate a laser rangefinder with the optic in the way the shooter is intuitively looking for. By this I mean that it actually lights up a dot on the reticle to tell you where to aim. In the past, this has been limited to table values, has had a very short maximum range, and has had no windage capabilities. In short, I didn't think it did all the things it needed to do to be very useful. This year, by adding longer range (up to 1,500 yards ideal and will do a deer beyond 750 yards), custom loads, and a windage system; the Eliminator system has become genuinely interesting.
The model with all of these features is designated the Eliminator III 4-16x50mm and, at $1.5k, is pretty pricey for Burris, but seems relatively cheap for the technology involved. It is the technology you are paying for here. You will not be impressed by the glass, I promise you.
To set up the system, you program the scope with the altitude, ballistic coefficient of the round, and the drop at 750 yards (you can use your own or pick one off of the Burris table). The last thing you do is zero at 100 yards. That's it: you're ready to go hunting. The laze function is operated by aiming the crosshairs at the target and pushing a button on the side of the optic. Immediately a red dot will appear on the crosshairs below the zero indicating the aim point. The range will also be displayed as well as a "Dot Value" for windage. This dot value corresponds to how many of the etched dots left or right of the reticle you should hold in a 10mph wind. It is just that simple to set up the scope and just that simple to use it.
Burris Eliminator III 4-16x50mm. I believe this through the scope shot was at 4x. The scope compensates for magnification and will read right at all magnifications. In case you are wondering, it's programmed with ballistic data for an improbably slow round in order to demo at Shot Show indoor distances:
While the Eliminator III does not incorporate an angle of inclination sensor, or pressure / altitude sensor like the Tracking Point or new Trijicon; what it does provide is a ridiculously easy to set up and use system that finally provides hunters with an optic that both ranges and compensates for drop in a manner so intuitive that little knowledge or practice is necessary. In short, it gives them what they really want.
How it's powered, the battery compartment:
I have mentioned in the past that I usually have no interest whatsoever in hunting scopes. The typical hunting scope, almost regardless of price, is just a feature-poor optic that provides little help to the shooter in ranging or compensating for drop and wind. Usually, they don't even have a parallax adjustment. In many ways, the Eliminator III is the opposite of this. It provides effective and easy systems for dealing with the variables most important to making a good long range shot. It also has an adjustable objective from 50 yards out.
I'll admit to being kind of curious as to how one of these would perform at a practical rifle match. It's not designed for that; but then, the tactical rifle scopes that I use for shooting groundhogs and targets aren't really designed for those things either. They are just better than the scopes designed for those purposes at those purposes. I wonder if the Burris might accomplish the same feat in reverse. I may actually have them send one of these to me for review. Features are one thing; I really wonder how well it works in practice.
