During SHOT Show 2012 “Media Day” event held out at the Boulder City Rifle and Pistol Club, I came along an optic I’d never before seen or heard of — the Burris Eliminator II Laserscope. The optic was mounted atop a Tikka T3 Lite .30-06 way down toward the very far end of the long-range line.
The optic has in it a tiny computer that contains detailed specs for a variety of cartridges, bullet grains, manufacturers, and whatnot, so once you input the cartridge you’re shooting, you simply to put the crosshairs on your target, at which point the laser gets your range and the on-board computer calculates the drop for you. A red dot appears on the reticle, indicating your aiming point.
After getting a quick précis on the optic and the rifle from one of the Burris folks manning the tent, I sat behind it and chose the target farthest away from me. I’d love to say I nailed it on the first attempt, but a 10-mile-per-hour, left-to-right crosswind put me just inches off target at four o’clock. I made the correction and made the very next attempt — the longest shot I’ve ever made in my life — a 960-meter shot.
Potential Police Application?
I didn’t hang around to congratulate myself though. I kept moving down the line to other vendors I’d wanted to check out, but made a mental note to pay a visit to the Burris booth the following day. It was there I learned that the Eliminator III — which is expected to be available in June 2012 — will sport some additional features that may make the optic worth consideration for the law enforcement market.
First and foremost, the computer will be able to calculate the drop at any magnification setting. This is significant because the Eliminator II will only perform this little act of computerized magic at the highest setting. Furthermore, the new version hitting the market will also enable the operator to input windage information, and the computer will feed back your left-to-right compensation based on values stored in the optic’s memory based on a 10-MPH crosswind.
The windage compensation is not completely automated, so there remains some thinking on the part of the operator. If you have a five mile-per-hour wind, for example, you’ll want to account for (and aim at) half the dot values given to you by the computer.
Granted, most long-range shots taken by a law enforcement officer are well below 100 meters, but the immediate availability of the drop and windage information even on the lowest magnification setting will undoubtedly be of interest to certain police shooters.
This is not the optic for people who love their tables, but for quickly getting on target and putting a round downrange, there is certainly some interesting upside to consider.
I’m told the new Eliminator III will retail for about $1,500.
