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By Randy Wakeman
Many ofthe top manufacturers of riflescopes have products in their line-up that aretruly exceptional. Optics designers will tell you that riflescope design isboth science and art. There are many variables in riflescope design and seldomis there a free lunch. To get some attributes means you may well have tocompromise on others. If you want a very high magnification scope that can bemade clear at the high end, you might need an adjustable objective that addslength, weight, cost and complexity to the system. In large measure, we havebecome under scoped and over magnified.
I havementioned this before. If I asked someone if they could hit a target with arifle equipped with iron sights at 75 yards, perhaps they might take offense.Consider that with a six-power scope, we have the same 75 yard image sizepresented to our eyes at 450 yards. For years, fixed power scope buffs haveused four power scopes for their all-around glass. The fundamental advantage ofa scope is its single sighting plane. Too small of a field of view can behindrance. Unfortunately, the truly superb magnification range of 1.5-6x is notuniversal, with fewer offerings all the time. For this year's bear hunt, forexample, I wanted a bigger field of view than a 3-9x scope could provide.
Whenoutstanding scopes come along in their category, I try to note them. Twopreviously evaluated Burris scopes have really lit up their respectivebrackets. One, the recently introduced Burris Fullfield II 2-7x35mm BallisticPlex, remains all the scope most hunters will ever need and is as good a valueas can be found in a riflescope, discount priced at about $170. The BurrisSignature Select 3-10x40 is the other. The Signature Select 3-10x remains one ofthe brightest, clearest and most impressive scopes I have ever tested. For theultimate in a one inch tube main tube, low-light brush scope, I tried to get myhands on a Signature Select 1.5-6x for this review. However, I ended up withthe 30mm version, a scope with very similar specifications.
Thetested scope is Burris #200962, the Euro Diamond Electro-Dot with a Germanthree-post #4 reticle. In either flavor, the scope nets you up to a whoppingsixty foot field of view at 100 yards, with an exit pupil from 27 to 6.7 mm.With the larger, stronger 30mm tube, you might think that this scope would be areal heavyweight, but it isn't. It weighs seventeen ounces, hardly the twopounder you might expect.
One thingthat has been a bit of a bummer when it comes to illuminated reticle scopes isan unsightly, bulbous analog switch mounted on top of the ocular bell of thescope. Spinning dials and playing merry-go-round with a rheostat scope dial isjust about the last thing I'd like to be doing in the quiet hunting woods whenit gets to the critical time that an illuminated dot becomes of value.
Burrishas introduced a tremendous improvement, present on this scope. On the left sideof the scope is the brown digital dimmer switch. It is located on the oppositeside of the from the windage adjustment turret. It is instant and it is silent.Just push the brown rubber membrane and the precise, orange dot appears at thesame intensity you last set. That is all there is to it. The lowest intensity levelis bright enough for my eyes. Due to improved circuitry, Burris claims abattery life from the supplied CR2032 battery of between 120 and 200 hours.Cycling through intensity levels, though typically not needed, is performed byadditional presses on the button and it remembers where you left it. To turnthe illuminated dot off, hold the button down for five seconds. Even if youforget to turn it off, no worries. It shuts itself off after two hours. Thiseliminates another common issue with dial switches and several red dot orilluminated reticle scopes in general. It is easy to forget to turn off yourscope.
In general,I disdain illuminated reticles. Too many of them are overwhelming, doing moreto blind you than anything else, particular the ones that light up the entirereticle like a Christmas tree or give you video-game type HUD grids. The new BurrisElectro-Dot is the best I have personally used. It essentially works like theWeaver, Leupold, Nikon and Zeiss safari scopes recently reviewed on Guns and Shooting Online. (See theScopes and Optics page for details.) The last half hour of hunting, turn on theillumination and you have a precise dot that adds functionality without detractingfrom the scope's image. The three post reticle itself is outstanding for deepwoods hunting, eliminating a thick top post in favor of a thinner example togive you a less cluttered view. As the main three posts are generously thick,your eye is drawn to the center of the image. With the Electro-Dot on, as youmight imagine, it is instinctive.
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The twoprimary benefits of the 30mm tube have nothing to do with image quality. Youget a stronger tube and a tube with more room for internal adjustments. TheEuro Diamond gives one hundred and ten inches of adjustment at 100 yards. Asyou might expect from a top-of-the line Burris scope, it offers consistent,generous eye relief and a crisp edge to edge image throughout the power range.Supplied along with the scope are the traditional Burris Storm Queen typecovers along with a pull-over, Scope Coat style of neoprene protector.
As isstandard on all Burris riflescopes, the Euro Diamond is purged twenty-fourtimes with lab grade dry nitrogen and has quad rings as its seals. Also standardon Burris scopes, the adjustments are tensioned with double springs and aresteel on steel. Like all premium Burris scopes, the Euro Diamond has largeinternal lenses at 15.4mm diameter, a feature shared with the Signature Selectand Black Diamond series. The Euro Diamond is made in the USA and comes withthe Burris Forever Warranty. To give you an idea of what a good value thisscope is, the Burris sells for a stunning $1550 less than the equivalent Zeiss VaripointVictory, with a street price around $650.
It is the most impressive deepwoods riflescope I have tested in recent memory. If the overall build and imagequality isn't enough (I think it is),the new digital Electro-Dot puts this scope over the top. All I can say iscongratulations to Burris Optics. The Burris Euro Diamond 1.5-6x40 E*Dot is mychoice for the best hunting scope of 2010.