Customer Reviews

Burris FastFire Red-Dot Reflex Sight with Picatinny Mount ( 4 MOA Dot Reticle)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my second fast-fire for a competitive handgun application, so obviously I like the product. It is lightweight and durable, and has a dot that is relatively easy to see in a variety of light conditions, and for it's price range it is the sharpest red dot on the market. Having said that, the adjustments are not the most user friendly. To adjust point of aim, the user must first loosen the locking screws make the adjustment in either horizontal or vertical, then tighten the locking screws. The process must then be repaseted for the remaining axis. All this is done with a micro screw driver (provided with the sight), and itty-bitty screws with tiny little hard-to-see screw heads. In addition, a very small movement of the screw results in a big movement in point of aim. However, after the initial hour or so that it takes to get the sight set up and locked down, it stays on target without the need for readjustment. My problem may be that I like to try my sights on different firearms to see where they balance and feel the best. Comparatively, I have two Eotech's with easy to adjust external controls, and I can freely switch them from one firearm to another, and sight in within five minutes or less. I also have an Ultradot, which exceeds the optic quality and reticle versatility of the fast-fire, and is also much more user friendly to set up, but both the Eotechs and the Ultradot are somewhat bulky, and weigh about 3 to 4 times as much as the fast-fire. If you're a competitive shooter, you know that half way through a long day of competition, a little less weight can make a big difference in your ability to score points. I guess there are always compromises. I like the fast-fire, and I am hopeful that the next generation of the fast-fire has some modifications to make it easier to set up. If the inconvenience of taking additional time to set up your sights is not a concern, then by all means this is a good buy.

C. Lemak-Torres

The Burris FastFire II works as advertised. However, it does have some flaws. The red dot is simply too bright on other than very bright days. The instructions say not to do this, but I find that three layers of masking tape over the automatic eye is just about right on a cloudy day to get the dot brightness down to a useable level. If not for that I would put this unit in a drawer and not use it.

The optional Glock mounting plate is not confidence inspiring. On the standard thin framed models, mine is a Glock 35, the mounting plate is properly sized. It does not work on the large framed Glocks, .45 cal and 10mm, at all. Mounting the base plate on my Glock 35 worked best when the included star washers were used with every screw, something that was not very clear from the instructions. Use loctite on all screws and torque only to the stated torque. The mounting plate is then minimally secure. Don't try and wiggle it--you may succeed!

Now, go shoot, but keep your fingers crossed that the unit will stay attached.

It is small, lightweight, waterproof. It holds recoil of my 12 GA. shotgun. It is not expencive. It looks nice. It is well built. It is Perfect!!!

Represents good value for price and works as advertised. I had mixed feelings about the one year warranty but lifetime or limited lifetime warranties require nearly doubling the price for comparable items from other reputable manufacturers. So far it has held up to 60 rounds of .45/70 caliber recoil and I have had trouble free long term service from several Burris scopes and binnoculars. Note: the adjusting screwdriver in the kit is a force fit through the center hole in the calibrated disk used to zero the Farstfire. It requires tapping the shaft through the hole with a small nylon or brass hammer (which isn't stated in the instructions). Adjustments and calibrations are similar to most hunting scopes. Due to the small size of the adjustment and adjustment lock screws, the process is slightly more tedious and slower than windage and elevation knobs on a scope. The Fastfire can be bore sighted like a rifle scope using the visual method or a bore sighting tool. The zero has so far been reapeatable when the unit is removed and reinstalled.

Pros:

This sight works as advertised and is a good value. It is rugged and has no problem on my 12 Ga and as a gunsmith told me (more about this later) also held up on an American Eagle .50 Ca. pistol that ruined other more expensive sights. The sight is light and the battery lasts for a long, long time.

Cons:

A couple of folks pointed out that the sight is difficult to adjust - it is. Also, there should be more information about "how in **** do I mount this sight on this firearm"?

One person wrote that the dot was too dim for an indoor range. It wasn't too dim for the range, but after I bought it and tried it in a dark house (think personal defense in your house at night) - I have to agree that the dot could be brighter. It is usable for this situation, but an "over-ride" adjustment for brightness would be helpful.

Recommendations:

Rather than go through hours of tedium to figure out how to install and get a zero on the sight, I brought it to a friendly gunsmith who installed and laser sighted the Burris to the gun free. Unless you are familiar with installing optics, I'd suggest this.

Unless you use this sight for competition on a pistol where weight is an issue, I suggest buying Burris Part #410330 with the sight. These are "rabbit ears" made of metal that fit nicely around the sides of the sight and protect it from rugged handling, dropping, etc. My sight went on a Mil. Spec. Mossberg 590A1 shotgun, so the "rabbit ears" made perfect sense.

Overall:

I'm happy with the sight, it improves accuracy and allows for quick target acquisition.

I have a ton of different sights, including an expensive Leupold Deltapoint. I got the FastFire 2 because I thought it would be almost as good for half the price. Well, not quite. While the device shows no signs of disintegrating like some cheaper sights (its mounted on a SIG 556, so it gets a real pounding) the problem is the red dot itself. It is not easy to see. My impression is that the auto dim feature is set to too dim when used in lower light conditions like an indoor range. Read in some forums that outside in the bright sunlight no problem. I briefly had the sight mounted on a pistol. This did not work well at all since with the outstretched arm the dot was even harder to see. For the price it really could come with adjustable brightness.

I did quite a bit of research prior to purchasing. Found the FastFire to be priced in the middle of the field. It has the features that I required/desired. The one issue I discovered was that of mounting. As I began to assemble, I realized that the alignment would not be correct. To resolve, I had to purchase a riser (to the tune of $85). I will admit to a lack of experience here, but it would've been nice to know this or to offer a package to accommodate users with this need.

The FastFire II is too dim for an indoor range. I wanted to use something smaller profile than my Bushnell TRS-25 on a S&W 327 R8 revolver. The FastFire looks great and appears to be well built, but I had a hard time acquiring the dot, and when I did finally see it, it was VERY dim.

I wish it had some kind of manual override of the auto-brightness. I ended up returning and going back to the TRS-25. Also, it was a pain to zero b/c of the additional 2 locking screws that have to be backed out before turning the windage/elevation screws, then tightened back.

I just got my burris fastfire in lastnite I bought it to go on my AR15 as my side mount sight. And I was so surprised by how small this thing is. Its perfect for my purpose. Other red dot sights were bigger and bulker. And some jus to expensive. A lot of other reviews said it has a bad starburst effect for the red dot. It does until u move it further away from you. This sight is made for many diff firearms and a pistol is the main one. Wen u shoot a pistol u extend ur arms out pretty far so imagine how far foward the burris FF has to b on a rifle or shotgun. I gave it 4 stars cuz I haven't got to use it. But I'm sure it deserves 5 stars

I had a tiny bit of trouble installing the battery at first mostly because the spring is very tight but once on it was great. It attached to my picatinny quickly and easily, the flat head is large enough that you can use a coin. It comes with the screwdriver for adjusting windage and elevation which is great. It's also EXTREMELY compact, perfect for pistols if you don't wont a bulky red dot. I would highly recommend this to anyone.