Burris XTR II vs XTR III vs XTR Pro vs XTR PS: The Tactical Line, Explained

XTR — “Xtreme Tactical Riflescope” — is Burris’s serious-dialing line: front-focal options, 34mm tubes, exposed target turrets. Four generations are floating around retail and used listings right now, with four different value propositions. Here’s the map.

The Line at a Glance

XTR II: The Discontinued Workhorse

The XTR II was Burris’s tactical bread and butter for years, and its breadth was the point: everything from a 1-8x24 LPVO to an 8-40x50 benchrest-class magnification, with SCR, G2B Mil-Dot, and Horus reticle options. It’s out of production now — Burris keeps the pages on its legacy site — which makes the used market the whole story. Because the Forever Warranty transfers to second owners, a clean used XTR II is one of the safer used-scope buys there is; the usual checks (turret tracking, glass clarity, zero stop function) still apply.

XTR III: The Modern Core

The III consolidated the line into two do-everything precision formats — 3.3-18x50 and 5.5-30x56 — on 34mm tubes with the SCR 2 “Christmas tree” reticle and, on illuminated models, selectable red or green illumination at 11 levels. If you’re buying your first serious dialing scope and the flagships are out of budget, this is the Burris to shortlist.

XTR Pro: The Competition Build

The Pro takes the 5.5-30x56 format and adds what PRS and NRL shooters kept asking for: the Race Dial, a quick-detach elevation system that lets you swap pre-configured dials between stages, a tool-less zero click stop knob, and a Horus TREMOR5 reticle option alongside the SCR 2s. Burris is explicit that the Pro is designed and manufactured in Greeley, Colorado — it’s the flag-carrier for the US-made side of the catalog. Current MSRP is $2,760.

XTR PS: The Electronic One

The 2025 XTR PS (“Precision Shooter”) is where the XTR line and Burris’s Eliminator rangefinding-scope DNA converge. The centerpiece is the PĒK — a programmable, clickless elevation knob with a digital position sensor reading to 1/30 mil and more than 19 mils in a single rotation. Instead of counting clicks against a dope card, you watch the in-scope heads-up display: eight configurable data zones including a dial-to-distance readout, fed by ballistic profiles built in the BurrisConnect app (each with more than 20 density-altitude curves).

In beginner terms, the XTR PS does not laser-range the target for you. You still determine distance and feed the system a verified ballistic profile; the scope turns that information into a distance-labeled dial and heads-up display. Buyers who want an integrated laser rangefinder are looking for an Eliminator, not an XTR PS.

Under the electronics it’s still a proper scope: 34mm one-piece 6061-T6 chassis, ED glass, SCR 2 illuminated FFP reticle, zero click stop, side parallax. MSRP is $2,400 (3.3-18x50) or $2,640 (5.5-30x56) — notably, at or below the all-mechanical Pro.

Which One?

• First serious precision scope: XTR III. Most of the optic, none of the specialty features you don’t need yet.
• Competition, stage-to-stage dialing: XTR Pro — the Race Dial is its reason to exist.
• Want the tech-forward future: XTR PS, with eyes open that electronic scopes trade some simplicity for capability — and that some hunting jurisdictions restrict electronic optics; check local regulations if it’s doing double duty.
• Budget path to 34mm FFP: a used XTR II, bought with the transferable warranty in mind.

As with everything on this site, these are research-verified comparisons of the platforms — when we get XTR glass on the bench and behind the trigger, this page gets measured tracking results. Here’s how we test.

Primary Sources

• Burris tactical riflescope catalog — current and discontinued XTR model status.
• Burris XTR III product page — model range, tube, reticle, and illumination specifications.
• Burris XTR Pro product page — Race Dial, reticle, and Greeley production details.
• Burris XTR PS 3.3-18x50 product page and XTR PS user guide — PĒK, HUD, BurrisConnect, and chassis specifications.