Burris AR-FFL: What It Was, Why It Disappeared, and What to Run Instead

Search for “Burris AR-FFL” today and you’ll find a strange landscape: retailer pages that say “no longer available,” forum threads from 2013, and a lone YouTube review that’s over a decade old. Even Google’s AI summary of the product cheerfully suggests you shop for it at stores that haven’t stocked one in years.

Here’s what the AR-FFL actually was, why it went away, and what actually solves the same problem now.

What the AR-FFL Was

In 2013, Burris introduced the AR-FFL as a single stacked module for flattop AR-15s: a FastFire III reflex sight (the 3 MOA red dot Burris still sells today) mounted directly on top of a mil-spec aiming laser, sharing one Picatinny mount. The idea was one unit that handled both fast daytime aiming and — with the infrared version and night vision — aiming in the dark.

Burris sold four versions, differing on two axes:

The inline models centered the laser over the bore for flattop rifles; the offset models kicked it to the side to clear a fixed front sight on M4-style carbines. All versions included a remote pressure pad, high and low intensity settings, and Burris’s single-tap (momentary) and double-tap (constant-on) activation scheme. The unit ran about 3.8 inches long and roughly 7.5 ounces, rated waterproof to 66 feet and tested to MIL-STD-810G. Street price at launch was around $550.

One detail most coverage missed: Burris didn’t build the laser. It came from Laser Devices Inc., the Monterey, California company whose aiming lasers had already been adopted by the U.S. military. That partnership wasn’t an accident — Steiner acquired Laser Devices in 2012, and Steiner, like Burris, belongs to the Beretta Group. The AR-FFL was an in-family collaboration.

Why It Disappeared

Burris never published an obituary for the AR-FFL — it simply stopped appearing in the catalog. But the market forces aren’t hard to read:

Visible lasers lost their job to weapon lights. In 2013 a visible red laser was a plausible close-quarters aiming aid. The years since settled the argument: a red dot is faster and works at any distance, and a weapon light does the target-identification job while working in both directions of a legal claim — you can see what you’re pointing at. The visible-laser AR-FFL variants solved a problem the market stopped having.

IR buyers went to dedicated units. Shooters who actually run night vision — the only people an IR laser serves — standardized on dedicated NV-height laser units: full windage/elevation adjustment, IR illuminators, higher output options. That category is dominated by the DBAL series from Steiner eOptics, which is to say: the descendants of the very company that built the AR-FFL’s laser. The specialist product outcompeted the hybrid.

The stack compromised both halves. Seven and a half ounces is heavy for a red dot; a fixed-position laser under a dot is limited compared to a dedicated unit; and at $550 you were most of the way to buying a good dot and a good light separately. Meanwhile the FastFire 3 on its own kept selling — it’s still one of Burris’s most popular products, more than a decade later.

If You Found One for Sale

Leftover stock and used units surface occasionally. Two things to know before you pay for one:

1. It’s vintage electronics. A 2013-era laser unit may have sat in a safe for a decade. Check the battery compartment for corrosion, cycle every brightness mode, and confirm the pressure pad works before money changes hands. Burris’s Forever Warranty is generous, but electronics and lasers have historically carried different terms than scopes — confirm coverage with Burris before assuming.
2. Know which of the four you’re buying. IR models are useless without night vision, and offset models assume a fixed front sight. The model number matters more than the price.

The Name Confusion: AR-FFL vs. AR FastFire 3

Part of why people still search for this product: Burris currently sells something called the AR FastFire 3 — which is not the AR-FFL. The AR FastFire 3 is simply a FastFire 3 red dot bundled with the AR-F3 riser mount that brings it to co-witness height on an AR flattop. No laser involved. If that’s what you were actually looking for, it’s alive, well, and much cheaper than the old laser combo ever was.

Primary Sources

• Burris FastFire 3 product page — current specifications, mounting notes, and product status.
• Burris current red-dot catalog — the manufacturer’s current FastFire lineup and discontinued-product labels.
• Steiner company history — Laser Devices’ 2012 acquisition and the evolution into Steiner eOptics.
• Steiner DBAL-A3 product page — the current dedicated visible/IR aiming-laser platform discussed above.