What’s the difference between Burris Fastfire 2 and 3?
I wanted to find out, so I bought both red dot sights and hand-tested everything:
- Reticle
- Durability
- Battery life
- Field of view
- And so much more
By the end of this Burris Fastfire 2 vs 3 comparison review, you’ll know which red dot is best for you.
Let’s get started!
Quick Comparison Table
| Features | Burris Fastfire 2 | Burris Fastfire 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Brand | Burris | Burris |
| Color | Matte Black | Matte Black |
| Dimensions | 3 x 5 x 7 inches | 6 x 5 x 2 inches |
| Weight | 1.6 ounces | 4.96 ounces |
| Material | Aluminum | Aluminum |
| Reticle | 4-MOA | 3-MOA |
Burris Fastfire 2 vs 3 Review
The Burris Fastfire 3 costs $50 more than the Fastfire 2.
Question is:
Is it worth it?
After hand-testing both red dot sights for the past few weeks, the short answer is yes, the Fastfire III is better than the Fastfire II.
Here’s why.
Glass clarity & reticle
Both the burris fastfire 2 and the burris fastfire 3 have great glass clarity. However, the glass clarity of the 2 is better than that of the 3. The glass on the Burris Fastfire 2 is also color coded with brown, green, purple, and red for easier visibility in low light. This helps to see your corrections faster than you would with a blacked out reticle on the Burris 3.
The reticles on both Burris offer 16 different settings including 1 graticule for 100 yards. But the reticle on the Fastfire 2 is a little wider than the one on the Fastfire 3, as there is a longer section of the crosshair. Personally I believe this gives you more precision on fine tuning your accuracy.
Quick side note: the Trijicon RMR is better than both. Check out my comparison of the RMR vs. Burris Fastfire III.
Battery life
Both Fastfire 2 and Fastfire 3 have long battery life — lasting about 5,000 hours. You can also purchase an additional lithium ion battery, that will last several years depending on how often you use your sight.
If you want a red dot that’ll last longer, read my Sig Romeo 5 vs. SPARC AR review.
Also, you’d need to unmount the Fastfire 2 to replace the battery, while you don’t with the Fastfire 3.
Eye Relief & Eye Box
The eye relief is the distance from the eye to the objects that you will be viewing. So, if you are wearing glasses or shooting out further than 100 yards, your eye will have more room to see your target. If you are only going to be using the range, then your eye will have more room to see your target without having a long sight picture.
The Fastfire 2 has a longer Eye-Relief for those of us who intend to use it on longer ranges or those of us who wear glasses, or those of us who want a smaller reticle that fits better on our face. The Fastfire 3 has a very nice eye-relief and the reticle is the same size as it’s bigger brother, so you can still use your long range site if you want.
Durability & Weight
Both sights are made of anodized 6061 aluminum. The Fastfire 2 weighs in at 29.5 ounces, so it is very lightweight and you will hardly feel it on your gun, even after hours of shooting. The Fastfire 3 weighs in at 33 ounces, which is comparable to most of the competition, like the Holosun HS510C and Holosun HE508T. Both sights have plastic caps to protect the glass face from being broken or damaged, but the Fastfire 2 has a little bit better-looking cap than that on the Burris 3. The Fastfire 2 also has a more rugged construction with larger knobs for more durability and better adjustment settings.
Windage, Elevation & Brightness Knob
The windage and elevation knobs have a positive click for each click of the sight. This can be adjusted by loosening the 4 screws on the sides. They are made with grade 8 Torx screws for easy accessibility.
The Fastfire 3 has 10 brightness settings that are pre-set at the factory to give you the best picture in low light conditions, but if they are not working for you, you can easily adjust them to your needs. The Fastfire 2 has 6 brightness settings with 6 pre-set modes at the factory setting, not adjustable, but both use tritium to light up your reticle in low light conditions.
More reading: Burris fastfire 3 vs. Vortex Venom.
Mounting
The Fastfire 2 comes with a quick detach mount and a standard picatinny rail to attach the mount to. This is great for those of us who need to go hunting or target shooting out farther than 20 yards. The Fastfire 3 does not come with a mount or base, and requires an additional mount or base.
If you plan on co-witnessing your fastfire with your rifle scope, check out my top Leupold scopes guide.
Price
The Burris Fastfire II costs around $160
- Convenient power button with three levels of brightness and an automatice brightness setting
- Tool-less wind age and elevation adjustments
- Low Battery warning indicator
while the Burris Fastfire III costs roughly $200. Which leads us to the next section…
- Material Type: Aluminum
- Sport Type: Hunting
- 3 MOA Dot Reticle
Which one should I get: Burris Fastfire 2 vs 3?
If you are a weekend gun lover, then I would suggest the Burris Fastfire 3. If you prefer to use a red dot or holographic sight, then I highly recommend the Burris F2. If you want both, but don’t have much experience shooting long range, then go with the Burris Fastfire 2 for now and at a later date when you have more practice shooting at longer ranges with it.
I personally prefer the Burris Fastfire 3 because it offers much more features and customization to fit your needs and abilities.
- Material Type: Aluminum
- Sport Type: Hunting
- 3 MOA Dot Reticle
Now I’d like to hear from you:
Which red dot do you prefer: the Burris fastfire II or III? Let me know in the comments down below. Also, I wrote a Burris 332 vs 536 review here.
Great comparison. I like how you do not have to dismount sight to change out battery on FFIII
Thats is a great feature, but as I am reading reviews its also a big downfall. Alot of ppl are stripping the batter cap while installing battery.
I have both. The FF3 on a single action 44 mag revolver for hunting and the FF2 on a Browning BPS turkey gun. Both have advantages and disadvantages. The 3’s battery can be removed without taking it off the gun…on the 2 the sight must be removed, however this is not a huge deal due to the batteries lasting so long. The 2 has a single on/off switch which I really like on my turkey gun…don’t really need the dot adjustments. After all is said and done, I guess I like the 2 better because it’s simpler and I didn’t really need the dot size adjustment that the 3 has.