Burris AR-332 Review- A Compact and Fast Gun Sight
Gun sights come in various types. There are the very basic ones with simple optics that help to view closer target better. These come in handy for better focusing. Then there are the sophisticated ones that can make even the farther targets appear clearly in sight. This Burris ar-332 review would give you a preview of what this compact gun sight really offers. Placed in the $400 to $600 price segment this one has quite a few strong competitors. Does it really manage to outperform the competition? Is it something you would like to hold on to for your competitive shooting events? Read to find out more about this gun sight.
With a little magnification capacity added to the regular red dot sight, this one is pretty tough in its build. You also get a carry case along with the product so that you would not have to worry about damaging the lens when you throw this along with your shooting paraphernalia.
The strongest positive of this sight is the speed of target acquisition. But that is not all. Small and handy yet powerful this one has a lot to offer for competitive shooters, military applications, and the likes.
Burris ar-332 Features and Specs
- Comes with 3x magnification
- 32mm wide objective lens
- Has a comfortable eye relief of 2.5in which is pretty good for short range targets
- Click value graduations ½ MOA
- The variants in this range weigh either 14.2oz or 15.70oz
- Comes in a compact 5.3in design
- 10 illumination settings given- 5 green and 5 red
- Picatinny rail mounting
Is Burris ar-332 the best compact gun sight on the market?
The Burris ar-332 stands out in the crowd for the consistent accuracy it boasts of. And one other aspect that you would be impressed with is how well this one performs in a low light. And given the short range of the target, this would be able to utilize the available light to produce a sharp image to help the shooter focus in no time. So to save your time and to help you remove ambiguities or assumptions in the target position this would be a great companion. Thus every shot can be framed with precision without any doubts.You get to choose from 3 options. Two are with varying reticle choices and the other option is a value pack that comes with some additional accessories. The additional items you would get in the package are AR sight, ARD and FastFire 3.
So if you are on a tight budget and still you need a good gun sight then this one is pretty good. It works neatly for the beginners and pros alike. Unless you are looking for longer range and more advanced features this one is a perfect choice.
Reticle choices
The two types of reticles provided for the Burris ar-332 are the Ballistic CQ and the Ballistic AR (3x). The former is designed intuitively for short distance tactical operations. To complement the close range performance this one comes with a circular center. The Ballistic AR (3x) is designed for the 3x magnification setting. There is a horseshoes shaped center for locking the target. With a bright center illumination, this one works great even on a sunny day where harsh sunlight might cause a glare in other gun sights. To improve the accuracy of the aim there is also a red dot at the center of the horseshoe design on the reticle. All the variants come with a glare-free matte finish to avoid any distracting reflections from hindering your aim. And they all come equipped with a 32mm diameter objective lens.
A solid feel on a compact design
The rugged build can be felt when you hold this gun sight. It features a waterproof casing for protecting the lenses from water seepage. So weather elements would not harm your gun sight at any point. And then there is the robust build that can take shocks like a pro. So be it the recoil vibrations or the impact shock nothing would damage the gun sight. While the outside casing protects the lens from damage due to water, the inside chamber comes filled with nitrogen to avoid fogging of the lens on the inside. Because on a cold day lens fogging on the inside would be a bigger trouble than the lens getting wet itself. This is a feature that is generally provided on most gun sights and riflescopes these days and this feature works as promised on the Burris ar-332.
A versatile mounting design
The default mounting design provided is the Picatinny rail mount. There are 3 mounting points provided. This helps attain a snug fit. The screws stay intact even when the rifle is being used for a long time. This mount is intentionally provided to make it easy to stack more tac lights or lasers or even other sights along with this one for added precision or for range extension. If you wish to switch the mount because your rifle doesn’t allow the Picatinny then this rail could be removed as well.
Low light performance
The illuminated reticle with the green and red color choices makes this one a great choice for low light applications. The green stays pretty sharp in bright light where red fails. And the red does its job pretty well in the dark. And to make things simpler the illumination settings could also be easily varied to suit the light available in the ambiance and help save power. The controls for illumination level adjustment is easily accessible.
Reliable optic elements
The reticles are both very fast in their operation. The focusing takes very little time and it is as good as viewing with the naked eye. The AR reticle helps add a little range to the gun sight with its 3x magnification without compromising on the clarity and definition of the image. And the etching on the reticle is an interesting detail added. This makes the black color setting on the reticle sensible so you would be able to view it even when the reticle is turned off. There are more such finer details that you would notice once you start exploring this gun sight.
Pros
- As a neat feature, this one comes with an additional screw that allows this sight to be mounted on an AR platform rifle. The base should be removed first to mount this.
- The easily removable Picatinny mounting rails make it easy to fit this sight with a variety of rifles. And with many other gun sights in this price segment, you might have to hunt for rails separately. But this one comes with a rail attached. So it is good to mount straight out of the box and saves the money spent on buying a rail.
- The lens on this gun sight comes with Hi-Lume multi-coating. These index matched lenses are known their superior light optimisation and their high sensitivity that makes them deliver sharp images in low light conditions
- The gun sight is pretty efficient in terms of the battery life. For those days where you would like to save power the green and red light, settings can be turned off and the black color setting on the reticle can be used instead.
Cons
- The canted appearance of the reticle on this gun sight is something that most users complain about. But that is a part of the design. This would be rectified when the bolts mounting are precisely torqued to 65 pounds. This is a tricky feature for the first timers particularly
Conclusion
Do not get baffled by the performance of this one by merely looking at its compact body. This is a stunner that delivers exactly what it was designed for. Talk about target engagement the Burris ar-332 has very little competition. The eye relief is something that might not be the best in this segment but in terms of the other features, this is a scope that is built to give a stiff competition to other gun sights, even the pricier ones.
As a fixed power optic this one is pretty hassling free. There is nothing complicated about this and so even for those who are total newbie’s to gunsights would find this one pretty convenient to handle. There is nothing fancy about the design. It is pretty minimalist with a matte finish to blend with the looks of any rifle. For trajectory compensation, you have the small dots on the reticle. For battery saving, there are a couple of features added. For easier and secure windage and elevation adjustments, there are caps provided. Like this, you would find several handy features that really make this a useful little accessory for your rifle.