Burris Veracity PH 4-20X50 Review: All Aboard Technology

Introduction

Being a sucker for nice optics, I enjoy exceptional riflescopes from both solid manufacturers. But I really want to buy optics from American companies.

Burris is a well-known American optics brand that is out of Greeley, CO. They have recently teamed up with optics stalwart Steiner Optics. Being a fan of both, I was excited to review the new Burris Veracity PH 4-20X50.

The Veracity is Burris’s premier hunting scope line, and the PH model is at the top of that line.

The Veracity PH incorporates Burris’s PĒK elevation turret, an electronic programmable and mechanical hybrid adjustment turret. Housed inside the 30mm tube of the PH, you will also find a digital Heads-up-display (HUD) that gives you all the information as you look through the scope.

The reticle is in the first focal plane, which always represents the indicated values regardless of magnification.
A traditional side-focus/parallax adjustment is on the scope’s left side; on the right, you will find a capped windage knob. Since hunters typically utilize the MOA scale instead of the MRAD one, it makes sense to have built the Veracity PH in MOA.

The reticle inside the Veracity was built for holding wind corrections with graduated windage marks.

The Veracity PH promises to give hunters a rapid and accurate firing solution for long-range hunting scenarios. Often when pursuing animals, there is little time to make corrections for distance. The PH allows users to use either MOA come-ups or have the actual distance shown rapidly in the internal HUD.

I can think of several scenarios over the past couple decades of hunting where that would have been very helpful. Hunting open country and long-range has been my bread and butter for at least that long, so I figured it would be a good place to put this scope to the test.

My initial impressions of the Veracity PH are pretty positive, it looks good, feels solid, and the optical quality seemed on par for its price.

I was pleased with the simplicity of the Bluetooth intercourse and integration with the Burris Connect app used to control the Veracity PH.

Burris Veracity PH Review

As a hunting scope for long-range hunters, the Veracity PH provides fast information for making quick shots.

Technology like rangefinders and ballistic computers have greatly increased the potential for making longer shots with predictability. The Burris Veracity PH was made to capitalize on those advances, and bring some of this technology aboard your riflescope.

With uploadable ballistic profiles, you can put the data right into your scope. These profiles carry bullet drop and windage deflection rates.

This is necessary when making longer shots to correct for distance and atmospheric changes around you. Having this data in your scope is a great advantage for long-range hunters in wide-open country.

If you are more of a bean-field hunter, where shots may not exceed two to three hundred yards, it’s probably more of a novelty than a necessity.

Specifications

Pros & Cons

Fielding the Veracity PH

I’ve had a few experiences with Burris optics over the years, and they have all been good ones. So I was eager to open up the Veracity PH package and get it into shooting condition as soon as possible.

My plan was to replace the Steiner T6X that I was currently running on my Desert Tech SRS M2. It is essentially the big brother to the Veracity, made in the same Colorado factory.

I mounted the Veracity in a Nightforce scope mount and leveled it on the rifle. It was during this process that I discovered one of the technological gadgets on the Burris scope; the internal level was not showing level compared to my bubble level, or my eye for that matter.

I assumed something was wrong, but after booting up the Burris connect app, I found the calibration procedure for the internal bubble level. You can zero the level on the scope physically using traditional procedures and then zero the internal digital level.

Before I’d even done that, I of course installed the two CR2450 lithium batteries that power the Veracity by loosening the battery cap on the side of the scope.

With the scope leveled and torqued down, I bore-sighted it looking out the window at the mountains above. Like most scopes, the PH turrets have three allen screws around the top to loosen the turret and reset them back to zero after getting the rifle sighted in.

I appreciated the capped windage turret since I rarely dial wind; I prefer to hold it instead. The Wind MOA reticle inside the scope was perfect for that.

Once I was on my range, I fired a few shots to adjust the zero of the rifle, and then it was time to see how this thing performed.

Before leaving the house, I had downloaded the ballistic profile of the ammunition I planned on shooting. It was easily added to the PH’s heads-up display, and using the app, I could select to have the HUD show either the actual MOA correction or the equivalent distance to the MOA dialed.

Again this seems like a very handy tool for hunters since you can upload your data, and after proofing it with the scope, it’s as easy as dialing the distance.

I’m not always a fan of “just dial the number” systems such as caliber/ballistic custom turrets because, typically, they do not allow for atmospheric changes and other common variations. The Veracity PH system, however, when used with the Connect App, allows you to update density altitude (DA) and other important factors to increase the accuracy of the firing solution.

It was time to stretch the rifle and scope combo out and see how all this tech lined up in an actual shot. The first thing I noticed when dialing the scope out for a longer shot was how stiff the elevation turret was.

I might have blamed it on the extreme cold that day, but it was just as stiff sitting on my kitchen table earlier that morning. I guess you could consider this a positive in some ways because the turret is unlikely to get accidentally turned before you make a shot. But even if it did, as you looked through the scope to make the shot, you could see if the elevation had been moved via the HUD inside.

I also noticed, to my surprise, that there were no clicks on the turret, a feature so common on riflescopes that it startled me. But due to the 1/10 MOA sensitivity of the turret, the clicks are unnecessary. You can see either on the turret housing or by the HUD inside what the turret is set to.

The focus/parallax adjustment on the side of the scope on the other hand is very smooth and easy to adjust. The variable 4-20 power magnification is an excellent choice for hunting and long-range hunting in my opinion, allowing for close up shots under one hundred yards or long shots as far as you have the skill to make.

Twenty power magnification is plenty for making shots as far as a thousand yards in my opinion, and it wasn’t long before we were doing just that with the Veracity PH.

The magnification adjustment ring was also easy to adjust, adding to my ability to zoom out to find targets, and right back in to engage them. With the scoped zoomed out to the four power setting, the reticle detail became quite fine, almost fine enough to lose its value.

Not a huge concern in my opinion because chances are if you are shooting at an animal at four power, it is likely going to be quite close and won’t require using reticle subtensions. The tapered reticle posts that thin as they approach the center also create a very natural point of aim that also reduces the importance of the center reticle details.

We fired a bunch of shots that afternoon, closely mimicking the same kinds of shots we would have taken on deer in these very same canyons. The Veracity PH made it very easy to move from one target to the next, and not much was getting away from me at that point.

Reliability

The Veracity PH was quite reliable during my tests.

If I were to anticipate a failure it would likely be of the electronic portions of the scope simply because it is new technology being used for the first time. It’s good to know that even if the electronic features of the scope were to fail completely from something like a dead battery, everything you need to make a good shot is still there.

And should something fail, it’s nice to know that Burris stands behind their product with an excellent warranty.

Accuracy

The PĒK elevation turret measures movement of the turret down to 1/10th of an MOA, making it much more sensitive to movement than what we are used to.

I mounted the scope to a solid base, and measured the actual movement vs. what it said it was moving and it was quite accurate in its movement.

Overall Feel

The Veracity PH feels like a great little scope. It keeps the handsome looks of a classic riflescope while incorporating some really cool technology inside.

Other scopes that have incorporated electronics like this have resulted in a turd looking finished product. I applaud Burris for not making that mistake here.

Features

PĒK Turret

Probably the most defining feature of the Veracity PH, I found the turret to be very handy other than the resistance mentioned earlier.

The ability to use the solid zero-stop is very handy for those in stressful shooting situations like hunting. Connected to the HUD inside, these features can make shooting far on the fly quite doable.

Heads Up Display

The internal Heads Up Display is an outstanding little feature, allowing you to see all the pertinent data from the shooting position without taking your eyes off your target which will likely be moving.

You can get an estimated wind hold, the elevation or distance setting to hit the target, and level up your rifle all without taking your eyes off the scope. The only outside information needed would come from a rangefinder.

Burris Connect App

The Burris Connect App allows you to connect to and update data within your Veracity PH riflescope.

It is easily downloaded for free, and I found it pretty easy to navigate and update information with the app. Ballistic profiles for various bullets could be selected and adjusted with real data after shooting, and you could true the data by adjusting data points in the app.
Once you had a good profile for your ammunition, it was as easy as turning on the bluetooth connection on the Veracity PH and tapping the “upload settings” button in the app. This uploads that profile to the scope which then lines up perfectly with the displayed information in the HUD.

You can also use the connect app to adjust other settings like zeroing the level indicator once installed. Other functions like selecting incline compensation, zeroing the elevation turret, the timeout for the HUD, and the auto-off time for the scope to save battery life.

How We Tested

After uploading my ammunition profile to the Veracity PH, it was easy to shoot the rifle at various distances.

I’m typically a guy who simply dials corrections for distance, but with the ability to true the drop-chart in the app, I actually found it quite pleasant to use the scope in the impact distance setting.

Much like the custom turrets were sold to us years ago as a; just dial the distance and shoot, you actually can just dial the distance and shoot with this scope.

After truing up the ballistic data in the app, it was deadly close at most ranges I shot. I could simply hit the target with my rangefinder and dial the distance it came back with.

While this might be a change for some of us and our practices, it is an easy change in practice and will surely speed up the process for many people. For several hours I found myself simply picking out different targets all across the deep snowy canyon and engaging them individually.

The Wind MOA reticle has plenty of good hold points for offsetting the wind, which I found to be very helpful as the wind and distance changed during the day. But I found that the reticle’s elevation holdover points were significantly fewer. This makes sense, though, as theoretically, most if not all elevation will be counted for with the turret.

Maybe I’m just old school, but I like to have options; when measuring targets with the reticle, I found myself having to use the horizontal windage marks to try and measure vertical targets since there weren’t enough vertical marks to do so. Again, this is not a huge deal, just something I noticed.

Score Card

Reliability (10/10)

I experienced no failures during testing

Ergonomics (8/10)

Everything felt great except for the elevation turret

Customization (9/10)

Some very cool features with the connect app. I wish there was an MRAD version and perhaps the connectivity to allow drop tables from other ballistic apps

Appearance (10/10)

Good looking scope with all the right curves.

Value (10/10)

I was actually blown away that this scope was priced at $1200 MSRP, but even more seeing it go for $999 in the market. I figured any scope with an internal digital display was going to cost at least $1500 or more.

Accessories

Burris Signature 2000 Laser RF

I got to use the Burris Signature 2000 laser rangefinder, which worked out to be a great companion to the Veracity PH. The 7X Signature 2000 rangefinder is rated to reach 2400 yards, which is pretty good for most hunters as they will not need that much range.

Whether you use this one or another rangefinder, you definitely want one to fully take advantage of the Veracity’s capabilities.

NightForce Ultralight Mount

I like one-piece mounts over rings, but there is nothing wrong with a good pair of rings.

Make sure you get a quality set that matches your purposes. You may notice that in my pictures, I have the scope mounted a little high. I would prefer a mount that keeps the scope much closer to the top of the rifle.
I used a Nightforce Ultralight unimount, but there are countless good options. Whether you buy rings from Burris like the XTR series, or something like Warne Mountain Tech rings, you should be fine.

Alternatives

Revic PMR 428

The Revic PMR is perhaps the only choice for an internal digitally displayed riflescope; though it is significantly more money, it also comes with many more features.

Conclusion

I must say I was very pleased with the Burris Veracity PH. It was one pleasant surprise after another. The scope was optically excellent, or at least better than its price-point, I would say.

The features were outstanding, even though I would have changed some slightly to suit my personal taste better. I think the Veracity PH is designed with the average long-range hunter in mind, and I think it’s a perfect fit for them.

It brings a pretty impressive technology suite to a good riflescope that is competitively priced. And so far as I can tell, it seems to do everything it claims to do. Most notably, reducing the activities between spotting my game and hitting it.

This scope gets me even more excited than normal for hunting season to come back around. With technology creeping into everything we do, what are your thoughts on the Burris Veracity PH?