I was supprised the other day when a friend of mine broke out his AR-15 with a "mystery" red dot sight wrapped in cloth leaving only the front and rear objective visible.  I proceeded to shoot away in low light, bright light, and adjusting my eye relief to try and pose a paralax issue.  I submerged the rag covered sight in water (with his approval of course) trying to induce fogging and other issues onset by exposure to heavy rain and water.  There was no fog and no problems what so ever.  The dot was very crisp and had about a dozen brightness settings.  After I was finished he made me guess what brand of red dot sight it was and I said Aimpoint.  Not only did it appear to be a quality sight but the profile looked a lot like the Aimpoint CompM2.  I was wrong.  He unwrapped the sight to reveal a Burris XTS-135.  I've known Burris to make a quality optic, in fact I have a Burris Tactical Scope on a 7mm Rem Mag but was not savvy on thier red dots.  I asked about the price he said they run about $200 without any rings or cantilever, etc.  I was suprised; it was about $250 less for the comperable (for lack of better words) Aimpoint.  I asked him what he felt the cons were regarding the sight and he informed me that it went through batteries pretty quickly and it was not NV compatible.  I guess these sights get a little more than 200 hours out of a set of batteries (CR123).  I could probably live without the NV compatibility because I have an EOTech 552 and have never used the NV.  Does anyone else have any input regarding the Burris XTS-135?  Aside from the battery life, I was very impressed especially at half the cost of an Aimpoint.  If I were in the market for a red dot, I would strongly consider the XTS-135.

Nice review

AR-15 »  Optics, Mounts, and Sights »  Burris XTS-135 speed dot?

The downsides are exactly as you said:

1.) Battery Life
2.) Not NV compatible.

Most likely they are not quite as stout as an aimpoint as well, but I've never seen any head to head long term testing/ torture testing done.

I was definitely leaning toward one of these for my favorite M4orgery, but ended up going with a Fast Fire with Larue Iron Dot.

From everything I've seen and heard, the Burris is a good optic, well worth the money, just not the best (Aimpoint).

- AG

First, I apologize.  I wan't aware there was already a thread regarding this sight.  I swear, I searched before I started a new thread.  Yeah, I'm sure the XTS-135 is not quite comperable to an Aimpoint.  There is a lot of money involved when it comes to power efficient optics and that is much of the reason the Aimpoints are so much more expensive.  I get a kick out of the folks that show off their high end ACOG's, Aimpoints and EOTechs and they are attached to a S&W M&P15.  They have a mil-spec optic on a sporting class (non mil-spec) AR style rifle.  Would I trust my life to the XTS-135?  No but then again, I cowitness my EOTech as well (therefore don't trust it).  I have a feeling though, based on my experience that the XTS-135 would handle sand, water, extreme temp, fairly agressive impact.  I would probably trust the XTS about as much as my EOTech.  Afterall, Burris is known to manufacture quality products.

Quoted: I get a kick out of the folks that show off their high end ACOG's, Aimpoints and EOTechs and they are attached to a S&W M&P15.  They have a mil-spec optic on a sporting class (non mil-spec) AR style rifle.

I have one on mine
I was thinking about putting one on a spikes 22 - guess i shouldnt because its not mil spec

Sorry had to be sarcastic...

Get the mount that Burris makes for it. It's heavy-duty and a good price too. I have that setup and it co-witnesses (lower 1/3rd) nicely.

The only issue I've had is to make sure the battery cover is screwed on tightly. I lost the dot at the range until I took up on it.

Pro Mag makes a nice cantilever style mount.  I like a center co-witness.

What mount did he have?

Has anyone used either a Larue LT-129 or Larue LT-150 (M2 mount) to mount the Burris 135?

The Burris is 30mm same as the Aimpoint M2.

He is using the promag cantilever.  The height of this mount renders a center co-witness of the Red Dot with the standard height BUIS.  I haven't tried any of the Larue Mounts.  I took the plunge and ordered the Burris XTS-135 (already received it) and the Pro Mag Cantilever (will be here today).  The sight seems to be well made.  We tried a "Freezer Test" (put the sight in a freezer for 3 hours) then took it outside (fairly humid) and had no problems with it.  If Burris can improve the battery efficiency of the sight and perhaps make a Night Vision Compatible version; Aimpoint Beware.  The power efficiency factor is primarily due to the operating batteries.  The Burris is not rated Water Proof to the depths of the Aimpoint however, I usually don't take my AR scuba diving.  I know the Burris can set in a five gallon bucket of water for 30 minutes and have no problems afterwards.

Not sure which Aimpoints use the CR123s.  My M2 uses a DL1/3N and gets changed out on my birthday.  My T-1 uses the same 2032 watch battery.  For five years.

The Burris is probably a great $200 sight.  It sounds like a better deal than the Eotechs that cost twice as much for the same battery life.  I'm looking at one of their scopes for my 6.8 as soon as I sell my ACOG, because it appears that they make a quality product for a reasonable price.  I don't need a "tactical" scope to kill deer and shoot tiny holes in paper to brag about.

I don't think comparing the Burris to an Aimpoint is fair to the Burris.  It's like having the best highschool football team in the country play the worst team in the NFL.  

The Pro Mag Cantilever came in and I am really pretty disappointed.  It should have rendered a center cowitness but the line of sight between the rear sight apature and the front sight post was a bit low and way left of the center of the optic.  It's not a sight problem because the front sight tower is barell pinned and the rifle has been sighted in.  I would seem there was too much material milled off the inside of the picatinny contact surface on the left side therefore, pushing the center of the ring to the right.  I didn't get a good response from Pro Mag's customer service.  Luckily the distributor has an ADM mount on it's way to me and I'm returning the Pro Mag.  I guess you get what you pay for.  The ADM is twice as much $110 but, I bet it works or I certainly hope so because the next step is GG&G at $180.

If you are going to spend that much money on a mount then why not consider one of the Larue mounts, they are only $115 for the standard and $140 for the cantilever mount.
the M2 is 30mm and so is the Burris. This is what I was considering doing. I like all the other Larue mounts that I have.

height=8

Quoted: If you are going to spend that much money on a mount then why not consider one of the Larue mounts, they are only $115 for the standard and $140 for the cantilever mount. the M2 is 30mm and so is the Burris. This is what I was considering doing. I like all the other Larue mounts that I have.

ADM makes a quality mount.  What would be the benfit of buying a Larue instead of a ADM?