During the 1970s, an optical engineer working for Redfield, a riflescope company based in Denver at the time, decided it was time to strike out on his own.
Thinking he could design a better scope than what was currently on the market, Don Burris went searching for a place to start his own company. He came to and found something he liked in Greeley, and in 1971 Burris opened the sporting optics company that bears his name at a small warehouse on 8th Street just east of U.S. 85.
The company enjoyed a modest beginning producing rings, bases and open sights, but it wasn’t long before Burris got the itch to get back at what he did best, designing and manufacturing high-quality sporting optics. In 1975, Burris released the Fullfield riflescope, which remains in production today and is widely touted as the standard in riflescope design.
Burris has undergone a lot of changes in its almost 50 years, growing into an international manufacturing and distribution company.
In 2002, it was purchased by Italian company Beretta Holding and is now one of 26 sporting goods companies among the Beretta Family of Products. Burris also established a partnership with Steiner, an optics company headquartered in Germany. While Burris designs riflescopes, range finders, binoculars and spotting scopes primarily for recreational shooters and hunters, Steiner produces optics geared more for public safety, police and the military.
Following the new partnership, Burris moved some of its corporate employees out of the 331 E. 8th St. factory and into new offices at 1015 39th Ave., said Ryan Hennig, director of marketing. That office oversees marketing and distribution in the U.S. and European markets for both the Burris and Steiner brands.
Although a lot of manufacturing has moved overseas over the years, namely to China and the Philippines, there has been a resurgence in American-made products, Hennig said, particularly on the Steiner side. All of Steiner’s Tactical, Police and Hunting series riflescopes are made in Greeley, including the P4Xi, which was named the National Rifle Association’s Shooting Illustrated Optic of the Year for 2018.
The Greeley plant also produces Burris’ high-end scopes. Right now, it is in production on the Burris XTR III, a new scope designed for long-range competition shooters. It will be released later this year.
With the exception of the scope tubes, which are machine-bored from a single, solid piece of aluminum, everything manufactured by Burris and Steiner is assembled by hand, Hennig said. The average scope has 170 individual pieces and goes through about 400 steps before it is shipped to the customer. Each scope takes on average six hours to manufacture.
Although not every product is made in America, 100% of Burris products are tested and inspected in the 8th Street plant.
“I think the fact that we assemble everything by hand and that we test all of our products in-house really speaks to the precision that needs to be in these optics,” Hennig said. “When you’re shooting at 1,000 yards, the smallest imperfection can really impact where you are going to hit the target down range.”
Burris riflescopes are available at most sporting goods stores and range from about $200 for a Droptine or a Fullfield all the way up to $1,700 for the Eliminator III LaserScope. The jewel of the Burris line, the Eliminator series combines precision optics, a digital inclinometer, smart dope card and a laser range finder all in one riflescope, which essentially eliminates all of the variables commonly encountered in hunting, such as determining distance, windage and trajectory compensation.
Despite the revolutionary innovations, it’s illegal to hunt with an Eliminator III scope in a handful of other states. Although it’s legal in Colorado, the same technology was recently implemented into Burris’ first sight for archery hunters, the Oracle Bow Sight. The Oracle is illegal in Colorado.
“The way we see it, we’re all about ethical hunting,” Hennig said. “If you’re going to take an animal, the Eliminator III provides more information to a hunter so they can make a clean and ethical shot.”
Steiner scopes on the other hand are much more expensive given they are designed for the police and the military. A Steiner scope can cost as much as $5,000 while other products, such as the waterproof AN/PVS-21 night vision goggle, can cost up to $20,000.
Police- and military-grade products are not available to the public, but Steiner does manufacture some civilian-level models, Hennig said. For more information about all of the products offered by both companies, go to BurrisOptics.com and Steiner-Optics.com.
“We’re proud to be a local company and connected to the people of Greeley,” Hennig said. “We’re also proud to see some of the products we’re making right here in town are being used by people all over the world.”
– Joe Moylan covers crime and public safety for The Greeley Tribune. Reach him at jmoylan@greeleytribune.com, (970) 392-4467 or on Twitter @JoeMoylan.
