The Burris Fastfire 3 Review 101: Learn More about the Burris Fastfire III

Everyone wants the most accurate and fastest sight for their firearm, and with so many options available today, it can be hard to choose the right one for you and your firearm. Red dot sights are a very popular choice because they are very simple, reliable, and easy to use. The Burris Fastfire 3 sight is a very popular choice that may be of interest to you. But, is this the right sight for you and your firearm? This Burris Fastfire 3 review will cover all of the information about this sight that you need to know in order to make the right choice. Read on to find out more…

burris fastfire 3 review, Burris 300234 Fastfire III with Picatinny Mount 3 MOA Sight (Black)

Burris Fastfire 3 Review: The Sight

The Burris Fastfire 3 is a small and lightweight red dot sight which has a 3 MOA dot. Similar to other sights of this type, the design of this sight prioritizes both reliability and efficiency of use. The 3 MOA reticle is small enough to not obscure targets which are at a far distance, and it is also big enough to pick up easily.

The Burris brand is very well-known and so this reassures confidence that this is a reliable piece of equipment. The high-quality materials used to construct this piece of equipment and the solid construction of it are apparent right away from handling the sight.

Although the design of this scoe is rather simple, the Burris Fastfire 3 does have some good features for the user. The sight does not require any tools for elevation or windage adjustments. The reticle can be adjusted for three different lightness settings (for use in various lighting situations) and it also features an automatic brightness adjustment.

In addition, the battery compartment access is at the top of the sight. This means that the user can replace the batteries in the sight without having to remove it from the firearm beforehand.

Intended Uses

The Burris Fastfire 3 has a large number of great uses. It comes included with a Picatinny mounting base, which means that the sight can be mounted to almost any rifle, pistol, or shotgun which has an accessory railing on it.

Shooters tend to prefer the Burris Fastfire 3 to be mounted onto a pistol. Manufacturers and shooters alike have embraced the growing popularity of featuring red dot optics onto pistols for a wide variety of uses. The Burris Fastfire 3 sight represents great value for a pistol in comparison to the other micro red dot sights which are designed for pistols.

There are many advantages to being able to use a red dot sight on a handgun. When being used in self-defense, the red dot sight allows users to very quickly aim at what they need to in order to protect themselves. When using the red dot sight in target shooting, hunting, and competitions, the user’s accuracy is greatly improved and this also improves the speed at which they can take their shots.

The Burris Fastfire 3 sight also works very well on a number of other tactical and defensive firearms. It would work very well on a carbine, short-barreled rifle, or personal defense weapon which needs to remain agile and light. This is also the same for shotguns. Although precise aiming is not a necessity here, the faster target acquisition is often very useful.

Because of the ease of use of this sight, as well as its small size, the Burris Fastfire 3 works rather well as a back-up sight. It can be mounted at the top of a primary scope or can be mounted at a 45-degree angle. This means that it is readily available to be used immediately if the primary scope fails, or if you are within close quarters of a target.

Burris Fastfire 3 Review: Comparisons and Specifications

Here’s what you should expect when it comes to the Burris 300234 Fastfire III with Picatinny Mount 3 MOA Sight (Black). According to Amazon.com, the Burris Fastfire 3 costs around $230 and has a list price nearing $400, so you’re getting a good discount out of the scope. As many a burris fast fire 3 review would take note, the Burris 300234 Fastfire III with Picatinny Mount 3 MOA Sight is the best of its kind, with its closest competitor—probably EOTech—being outdone by leaps and bounds. This is the scope you should get if you’re searching for a holo optic or red dot kind of scope that have the best specs.

In terms of specs comparison, all the advantages swing towards the favor of the Burris 300234 Fastfire III. To wit, the riflescope offers longer battery life when compared to EOTech, with it having 10,000 hours of power versus a mere 1,000. Furthermore, the Burris Fastfire 3 is lighter than EOTech by an ounce. Over at Amazon.com, as quite a lot of burris fast fire iii red dot reflex sight review sites would point out, the Burris 300234 Fastfire III with Picatinny Mount 3 MOA Sight is nearly half the price of an EOTech; that’s $230 versus around $345 (this is the best deal you can get out of the EOTech 512). That’s just the beginning.

Shared Features

The Burris 300234 Fastfire III with Picatinny Mount 3 MOA Sight shares a lot of features not only from the Fastfire line but from Burris scopes in general. This includes easy aiming and fast target acquisition with the help of a bright red dot reticle, compactness and lightweight features to ensure that the scope doesn’t affect the rifle’s handling or balance, and magnification that starts from 1x and goes all the way up to 21x. The unlimited eye relief and the 1x setting, meanwhile, ensures that you have faster target acquisition and enhanced awareness of your surroundings because you can look through the scope with both eyes open while shooting. It even comes with a “Burris Forever” warranty.

Can other scopes even boast of such a feature? Of course, they can’t. This parallax-free precision instrument can mount onto anything thanks to the Burris mounting system, so it’s not only a riflescope but also a shotgun scope and pistol scope as well. Furthermore, it has a sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness to match your surroundings, which also comes in three manual brightness settings if you want to tinker with the controls yourself. As per usual with modern scopes, it’s nitrogen-filled and O-ring-sealed, which means it is fogproof, waterproof, and rainproof. It’s durable enough to be shockproof enough to withstand repeated recoil as well. 

Unique Features

In terms of unique features, the Burris Fastfire 3 is quite small yet packs a huge long-range scope punch, is well-built enough to last you a long time even when used continuously every single day, and it has a good collection of solid components. The Burris FastFire™ III also has picatinny mount for 300234 and 300236 (that can be used for tactical shotguns, handguns, and rifles, a 3-MOA dot size for 300234 and 300235, and an 8-MOA dot size for 300236 and 300237. When doing elevation and windage adjustments, optic fine-tuning has become easy because you don’t need special tools to make them possible. Everything is on the device itself.

The knobs that allow you to adjust your sights are included with the Burris 300234 Fastfire III. What’s more, you get battery access at the top of the scope, which means you don’t have to detach the device from your rifle, pistol, or shotgun if it’s already mounted just to get a battery replacement. If you have low battery, you’ll have an indicator warning you of this fact. You’ll also have clarity and brightness ensured due to the Burris-unique optical glass that enables maximum light transmission every time on your super durable and rugged optics. It’s the propriety Hi-Lume® multicoating that’s index-matched to boot that enables you to see clearly with this scope with zero glare.

Pros or Benefits

Aside from anti-glare multicoated lens that work even in low lighting conditions, the Burris 300234 Fastfire III with Picatinny Mount 3 MOA Sight has loads of benefits that Amazon.com users and buyers of the product, in general, agree upon, such as its good value, user-friendliness, versatility, quality components, quality optics, simple interface, durability, lightweight mobility, and convenient smallness. Those selling points define why Burris Fastfire 3 is such a huge bestseller for Burris in the first place. In regards to its size and weight, it’s perfect. More to the point, only Trijicons can get close to the smallness of the Burris Fastfire 3.

EOTechs, the only real point of comparison specs-wise, is nowhere near as compact and mobile as this scope. It’s also smaller than the Bushnell TRS-25, which is a huge leg up because it allows the scope to be pistol-mountable as well as usable on rifles and shotguns, and only a few other scopes share such a distinction. Certain pistols, like the FN-FNX 45 Tactical, are made to fit a Burris FastFire™ III, for your information. What’s also amazing about the Fastfire is its battery life, which was mentioned to 10,000 hours or 416 days or more than 13 months or more than a year. Meanwhile, EOTech batteries last a little over a month or 41 days. 

Cons or Shortcomings

This isn’t a perfect scope by any means, although it most certainly one of the best of its kind or its price range. First off, it has a terrible cover or lens shade that’s a bit on the oversized side, which probably explains why it has anti-glare lenses. Additionally, the Burris Fastfire 3 also has a relatively high price point, issues with the power switch cycle, cumbersome design, and inadequate brightness during some low-light situations (other scopes might have superior light transmission compared to what’s allowed by Burris’s Hi-Lume® multicoating).

In regards to turning it on, it would’ve been better to have a physical on and off switch rather than a rubber button. It’s because it takes the unit several seconds to get the auto-brightness activated. The dot won’t be brought into view until the delay is over, which means you can’t do snapshot-type rifle or pistol fire from long range. Its smallness might be a detriment as well in terms of its red dot. As durable as it claims to be (and really does handle recoil well), when you drop it directly your gun on top of the red dot, it’s doubtful the scope would remain intact. It’s not fragile by any means but it does have certain aspects of it that’s vulnerable to damage. 

Is the Burris Fastfire 3 Right For You?

Now that you know a little bit about the sight as well as some of the pros and cons of it, how do you decide if this is the right sight for you?

Based on the features of this particular sight, it would be the perfect tool for certain types of shooting. It would make a great tool for hunting, self defense, or for use in competitions such as IDPA shooting or steel challenge shooting. Because of its small size, the Burris Fastfire 3 would also be greatly suited for mounting onto a 9mm carbine, or a small AR-15 pistol for self-defense uses.

On an AR-15 pistol, the Burris Fastfire 3 would be perfect for shooting at shorter distances (within around 100-200 yards). It works great on a lightweight rifle, however, if you are not too concerned about the weight on your rifle then the Burris Fastfire 3 may not be the right choice for you as there are better primary optics which can be used instead. The Burris Fastfire 3 would work great in complementing a primary optic at a 45-degree angle, or above the scope.

Burris Fastfire 3 Review: Conclusion

We’ve compared the Burris FastFire III to EOTech, Bushnell, and Trijicon scopes, but how does it fair against its own sibling and predecessor, the Burris FastFire II? The difference is night and day. As good as the Fastfire II was, the Fastfire III dramatically increases your aim and accuracy by leaps and bounds. It’s like comparing Batman Begins to the Dark Knight, really. Both can be used on all sorts of guns and have low magnification to provide a huge field of view, butBurris 300234 Fastfire III still wins due to its long battery life, three manual brightness settings, automatic brightness adjustment, and accurate windage and elevation adjustment specs.

It’s small, lightweight, and high quality. What more can you ask for from the Burris 300234 Fastfire III with Picatinny Mount 3 MOA Sight? Unless you’ve been around, this is probably the lightest and smallest red dot scope you’ll ever get your hands on. In particular, it’s a well-designed beaut of a scope that fits like nothing on your rifle, pistol, and shotgun that adds to the effectiveness of your firearms in more ways than one. Only the UltraDot can actually compare to the Fastfire when it comes to its utility, especially if you’ve owned red dot optics from Millet, VISM, and Bushnell. No other scope even comes close.

We hope that this Burris Fastfire 3 review has been helpful to you. In this Burris Fastfire 3 review, we have covered all the information that you might need to know before deciding to purchase this sight including the pros and cons and the intended uses of this sight.

What are your thoughts on this sight? Have you ever used it before or are you considering purchasing it? Did you enjoy our Burris Fastfire 3 review? We would love to hear all about your experiences and opinions on this model. Leave us a comment in the comments section below this article!