Over the past 50 years, American-made cars are mainly made in Mexico and Canada. Domestic beers rely on Old World recipes. And some proudly American brands – U.S. Steel, anyone? – are owned by foreign investors.
Given that context, don’t be surprised that as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the iconic American optics brands, the latest iteration of the namesake rifle scope is sourced offshore.
We’re talking about the Burris Fullfield, a revolutionary rifle scope that helped normalize variable-powered scopes, maximize light transmission, and raise the bar of field-ready optics for hunters.
The first Burris Fullfield scopes entered the market in 1975, boasting a 50 percent wider field of view than conventional scopes. Those optics, like the next iterations of the platform for the next two decades, were produced in Burris’s headquarters in Greeley, Colo., where founder Don Burris located his company because of its proximity to good hunting and golf courses.
Burris got his start in the American optics industry with Redfield, whose production facility in nearby Denver put its stamp on the category with its Wide Field and Accu-Trac scopes. But Burris’s Fullfield was introduced just as American hunters were finding new big-game opportunities and a batch of new calibers and rifle models to pair with new scope designs. The Fullfield was a worthy, and slightly more expensive, alternative to the popular Weaver scope that dominated the market at the time.
While the Fullfield boasted an exceptional field of view, it also had durable two-spring erector systems in its turrets, class-leading light transmission thanks to optical coatings, and early models also included bullet-drop reticles. The first flush of Fullfields included models in fixed 4X and variable-magnification models in 2-7X and 3-9X. Scopes offered high performance, rugged construction, and an accessible price.
After Don Burris’s death in 1988, production moved from Greeley to various offshore facilities.
This year’s reintroduced Fullfield shares many of the features of its predecessors, including solid performance at an accessible price as well as offshore production, in this case the Philippines. Models introduced this year include six models that offer features and configurations for various hunting scenarios. They all have a 4-times magnification range and share stylistic flairs such as red turret dials and red exterior accents. And they share their predecessors’ accessible price, with models ranging from under $200 to $600.
Here’s a look at Burris’s new Fullfield line:
A classic small-game configuration, this scope is at home on a plinking .22 or a rabbit or squirrel rifle. It comes with two reticle options, the very capable and versatile illuminated Ballistic E3 reticle (retail $228) and the basic non-illuminated Plex reticle (retail $192). Both models have a rear-plane reticle, 1-inch tubes, 81 MOA of internal adjustment, ¼ MOA turret clicks, and fixed parallax at 100 yards. Field of view is a panoramic 55 feet at lowest magnification and 13.5 feet at the highest power.
Another small-game configuration, this Fullfield pulls double-duty as a capable deer-rifle scope, and the option to add custom elevation turrets give it additional appeal to longer-range hunters and shooters.
Like its 2-8x35 sibling, it has a 100-yard fixed parallax and the choice of either the E3 ballistic reticle or the simple plex, both in the second focal plane.
I tested the standard Knob Synergy dial in this year’s Outdoor Life optics test, and the ¼ MOA clicks turned with authority and precision, unexpectedly tactile for a scope that retails for $216 (the plex reticle) or $264 for the Ballistic E3 version. Both are built on 1-inch tubes, have 81 MOA of total internal adjustment, and 43-11 feet field-of-view from lowest to highest magnifications.
This model starts to add attributes that many big-game hunters are looking for in a scope, with three versions that offer slightly higher magnifications, the choice of the simple plex, Ballistic E3, or illuminated Wind Reticle. All offer the Knob Synergy dial system with optional custom elevation dials. The Wind Reticle version has illumination and 25-yards-to-infinity side focus. The 3-12x42 starts at $300 for the plex version, $312 for the E3 reticle, and $396 for the Wind Ret version with manual focus and illumination.
These 3-12x42 scopes are also built on 1-inch tubes, have 72 MOA of internal adjustment, ¼ MOA click values, and 36 feet field of view at the 3X magnification and 9.5 FOV at the highest magnification.
This stubby scope is a little bit of an oddball, with its big 56mm objective lens seemingly out of proportion to the length of the 30mm tube. But it’s configured for hunters who want to maximize visibility in low-light conditions, making it an excellent choice for whitetail hunters who wait from a stand for deer to emerge from cover.
Internally, the 56mm version is similar to the 42mm version of the 3-12, with a plex reticle (a bold plex instead of the standard plex configuration), the Burris E3 Ballistic reticle, or the illuminated 3P#4, which has an illuminated floating center dot in the crosshairs of a German #4 plex reticle.
All three versions have fixed parallax at 100 yards and capped turrets without the option of the custom turrets of the Knob Synergy system. The heavy plex version retails for $348 while the E3 version sells for $360. The illuminated version retails for $396. All have 95 MOA of internal adjustment, ¼ MOA click values, and fields of view between 36.5 and 9 feet at 100 yards.
This scope should be center-of-mass for most hunters. Not only is its configuration versatile enough for whitetail hunters to Western elk and pronghorn hunters, but its attributes make it a reasonable all-around target, plinking, and predator scope. Like its Fullfield siblings, it comes in three different configurations, all built on 1-inch tubes, with 25-yards-to-infinity side focus, 54 MOA internal travel, and 27-6.75 feet field of view at 100 yards.
The non-illuminated Plex reticle version has Knob Synergy turrets and retails for $420. The non-illuminated Wind Reticle version, which also has the option for custom dials, retails for $456. The Ballistic E3 reticle version features capped turrets, illumination, and retails for $468.
The biggest scope in the Fullfield family should appeal to most Western hunters, and is rated for the highest-recoiling rifles in the field. It’s available in only one configuration, with the non-illuminated Ballistic E3 reticle. The 6-24 Fullfield is built on a 30mm tube and has a 25-yard-to-infinity side focus knob as well as 64 MOA of internal elevation travel (50 MOA of windage travel). Field of view ranges from 17 to 4.8 feet at 100 yards, and the whole package weighs under 19 ounces, making this a good fit for a lightweight mountain rifle.
Whether the new iteration of the Fullfield will capture the hearts — and market share — of American hunters like its predecessors have will be determined over the next few hunting seasons. But just like it did 50 years ago, Burris has a Fullfield for just about any hunting situation or style, and all are worthy of the family name.