Bought this Burris Timberline 4.5x-14x 32mm AO a while back to use on my Evanix air rifle. Academy Outdoors was selling them for $179.95 + tax, which is quite a bit cheaper than anywhere else, so if you want one you might look at Academy to see if they still have them for this price.
The scope weighs right at one pound, the length is dead on specs, and the AO focuses down to 7 yards. The field of view is smaller than most full sized scopes of this magnification range, but I found it not a bother to me at lower magnifications. Keeping a squirrel in the FOV is not a problem at 4.5x even as close as 20 feet. Higher magnification to me is reserved for specialty shooting, such as target testing and the occasional very long ranged game animal shot, and in those situations, field of view doesn't matter much, as the target won't be dancing around then like a squirrel would be in a tree. Overall brightness and flare resistance is excellent, as good as the Burris Fullfield II's and equivalent scopes; the lenses are fully multicoated throughout. Adjustment clicks are 1/8 MOA, very crisp and have a very positive click feel, although not very audible you can feel them at each click notch. They may be more audible to some people than they are to me, as I am very deaf in one ear and damaged a lot in the other. The adjustment range is small, and on some mounting situations might require shimming of mounts or better yet use the Burris Signature rings and the offset kit for them to do the bulk of zeroing in, saving the adjustments for the final bit of movement. I had enough adjustment range to zero in the PCP air rifle without shimming, so I can say that it may be a small range, but it was enough for it to work for me. The eye relief is pretty long, it is as long as the specs say, and on some rifles the scope will be forward enough to require offset rings to get it far enough away. Would be hard to tell without actually trying to put it on a particular rifle, some work fine with the scope's body length and eye relief, some might not. I like the longer eye relief, I don't care for scopes to be hanging several inches past the back of the action over the guns grip. Eye relief isn't critical until past around 10x, then eye position gets picky. At the 12x -14.5x settings, the exit pupil is getting pretty small, making the scope dim quickly in poor light. Again, I found this no problem for my intended uses, as any shooting done with the magnification turned up that far is not likely to be in poorly lit situations. Shooting paper targets isn't likely to be done in the dark, and I can't see a squirrel 75 yards away through the trees and it half dark anyways. Down at 4.5x, the scope is very bright, and looking into shadowy areas in the woods reveals a lot of details I can't see with my bare eyeballs, very good resolution. Due to cramming so much magnification into so short and small a package, the field of view is not perfectly flat at all magnifications, but any distortion of the image is less than that of a whole bunch of cheapo scopes that I have used and looked through with nowhere this much magnification. The adjustable objective works very well, not too hard to turn but firm enough to stay put when rubbed against clothing when carrying. The marked yardages on the AO ring are right on the money for the parallax free distance. The scope comes with Storm Queen type lens covers, a flat cap at each end connected by heavy rubber bands. Also, the Ballistic Plex reticle can be useful for holdover at differen ranges. I am using this one at 11x, the first mark below center for fifty yards, the third for seventy five with my air rifle. It takes some experimentation to see what magnification gives you the holdover distance you want at a certain range. The scope comes with a card of stickers showing the holdover markings used for several different ranges on several common cartridges, including rimfires.
To sum it up, it's a specialty scope, unique in it's size and magnification range, and also unique in it's price range, nothing else comes close for the dollars. It does what is intended of it, providing a very large range of magnification in a small package. This scope won't make everybody happy, nor will it fit well on some rifles due to the long eye relief making it sit so far forward. I like it a lot and would buy more of them in the future if I needed a scope like this.
The only gripe I could have would be the magnification ring markings. They are small and you can't see them from the rear.
If they made a 3-9x 32 AO Timberline I'd bet they could sell a motherload of them. The price would beat the stuffing out of Leupolds and even Weavers 3-9x compact AO scopes, and since the magnification range would be a lot less, some of the criticisms of small FOV and optical distortions would be a lot less in a 3-9 compact than in a 4.5-14.
The scope weighs right at one pound, the length is dead on specs, and the AO focuses down to 7 yards. The field of view is smaller than most full sized scopes of this magnification range, but I found it not a bother to me at lower magnifications. Keeping a squirrel in the FOV is not a problem at 4.5x even as close as 20 feet. Higher magnification to me is reserved for specialty shooting, such as target testing and the occasional very long ranged game animal shot, and in those situations, field of view doesn't matter much, as the target won't be dancing around then like a squirrel would be in a tree. Overall brightness and flare resistance is excellent, as good as the Burris Fullfield II's and equivalent scopes; the lenses are fully multicoated throughout. Adjustment clicks are 1/8 MOA, very crisp and have a very positive click feel, although not very audible you can feel them at each click notch. They may be more audible to some people than they are to me, as I am very deaf in one ear and damaged a lot in the other. The adjustment range is small, and on some mounting situations might require shimming of mounts or better yet use the Burris Signature rings and the offset kit for them to do the bulk of zeroing in, saving the adjustments for the final bit of movement. I had enough adjustment range to zero in the PCP air rifle without shimming, so I can say that it may be a small range, but it was enough for it to work for me. The eye relief is pretty long, it is as long as the specs say, and on some rifles the scope will be forward enough to require offset rings to get it far enough away. Would be hard to tell without actually trying to put it on a particular rifle, some work fine with the scope's body length and eye relief, some might not. I like the longer eye relief, I don't care for scopes to be hanging several inches past the back of the action over the guns grip. Eye relief isn't critical until past around 10x, then eye position gets picky. At the 12x -14.5x settings, the exit pupil is getting pretty small, making the scope dim quickly in poor light. Again, I found this no problem for my intended uses, as any shooting done with the magnification turned up that far is not likely to be in poorly lit situations. Shooting paper targets isn't likely to be done in the dark, and I can't see a squirrel 75 yards away through the trees and it half dark anyways. Down at 4.5x, the scope is very bright, and looking into shadowy areas in the woods reveals a lot of details I can't see with my bare eyeballs, very good resolution. Due to cramming so much magnification into so short and small a package, the field of view is not perfectly flat at all magnifications, but any distortion of the image is less than that of a whole bunch of cheapo scopes that I have used and looked through with nowhere this much magnification. The adjustable objective works very well, not too hard to turn but firm enough to stay put when rubbed against clothing when carrying. The marked yardages on the AO ring are right on the money for the parallax free distance. The scope comes with Storm Queen type lens covers, a flat cap at each end connected by heavy rubber bands. Also, the Ballistic Plex reticle can be useful for holdover at differen ranges. I am using this one at 11x, the first mark below center for fifty yards, the third for seventy five with my air rifle. It takes some experimentation to see what magnification gives you the holdover distance you want at a certain range. The scope comes with a card of stickers showing the holdover markings used for several different ranges on several common cartridges, including rimfires.
To sum it up, it's a specialty scope, unique in it's size and magnification range, and also unique in it's price range, nothing else comes close for the dollars. It does what is intended of it, providing a very large range of magnification in a small package. This scope won't make everybody happy, nor will it fit well on some rifles due to the long eye relief making it sit so far forward. I like it a lot and would buy more of them in the future if I needed a scope like this.
The only gripe I could have would be the magnification ring markings. They are small and you can't see them from the rear.
If they made a 3-9x 32 AO Timberline I'd bet they could sell a motherload of them. The price would beat the stuffing out of Leupolds and even Weavers 3-9x compact AO scopes, and since the magnification range would be a lot less, some of the criticisms of small FOV and optical distortions would be a lot less in a 3-9 compact than in a 4.5-14.
