Burris Black Diamond

[model70fan]

Anyone out there have any experience with Burris's Black Diamond scopes? How do they compare to other high power scopes? How do they compare to Burris's XTR scopes? I'm looking at either the XTR in the 6-24 50mm or the BD in the 8-32 50mm as a little cheaper alternative but am willing to pay for the XTR if it's that much better. I really want a nightforce but what can ya do eh? Any info or other scopes to consider would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[tINY]

US Optics, Schmitt & Baender, IOR - Valdada....

Black dimaond is nice - never owned one, though.



-tINY

 

[moredes15]

I've never looked through an XTR, so I can't help you there. I used to have two BD's. I preferred them over Leupold Vari-X III's. The edges were just a little sharper, and the view was just a bit brighter. In a side-by-side test a couple other shooters chose the BD over the Leupold, too--for the same reasons I preferred the BD. We were all quite surprised.

Some folks bash the Burris line with Leupold's 'famous' warranty, but my BD's held up to .308 recoil with no problems. In the "under $800" range (street price), I don't think they can be beaten. I ended up selling them after I bought my first Nightforce. At longer distances or on hot days, the NF stays clearer. I wouldn't go to NF for 100yd only, though.

 

[Horseman]

moredes15,

I used to have the 8-32 Black Diamond with ballistic reticle. I thought is was a great scope in general. The optical clarity and adjustments were very good. I sold it after a couple of prairie dog shoots where I noticed the extra magnification wasn't needed. Also after about 25x it's like someone turned out the lights. This is a symptom of any scope I've looked through with that much magnification and not a fault of Burris. I would recommend staying with the 6 x 24 unless you do extreme long range shooting. I find for varmint hunting it is often more valuable to have less mag. on the low end and I really never need anything more than 24x(even prairie dogs @600yds). I also have moved to the 30mm Leupold VXIII's because I can get the laser etched varmint hunter reticle for less money ($655 vs. $700)as the Black Diamond and I personally feel it is a better scope all around with better resale. The ballistic plex reticle on the Burris is a little on the thick side for fine work if you're into benchrest as well. Hope this helps.

 

[moredes15]

I agree; 8-32 is a lot of magnification. Mine were 6-24x50mm fine (duplex?; I can't remember what Burris called their fine crosshairs with ); 24x wasn't much good except early in the morning on the 100-300yd line. I wouldn't recommend >10x for any shooting above 70*; the mirage is just too much at longer distances anyway, and 10x is good enough for any distance past 300yd.

 

[model70fan]

I also looked into the 24x, I shoot prairie dogs at 500+ with my VX-L in 3.5-14 x50 pretty profficiently, I was just wondering about the sort of things that have been mentioned; sight picture, relevence of that high of power, etc... I shot with a 9x top magnification for a lot of years for long range prairie dogs and got up to a 14x and that increased my effective range significantly (out to 500+ regularly), maybe i'll try out the 24x and go from there (gonna put it on an extreme long range rifle i've been building). Thanks

 

[tINY]

Just remember that mirage is a big issue somewhere out past about 14 or 18 x on warm days. A 32x scope would be unuseable across 500 yards of field on most 80 degree days.




-tINY