Four operational keys are located on top of the housing and allow the user to maneuver through the various set-up menus, change units of measure, and adjust the LCD screen's contrast and backlighting. The keys also allow shooters to toggle between various loads stored in the computer. Waterproof, screw-on caps tethered to the unit cover both the computer port and battery compartment. All the controls are simple and intuitive.

A military sniper or prairie-dog shooter could travel from his home base a couple hundred feet above sea level to an Afghan or Wyoming mountain, set up, and shoot without computing the differences that elevation, temperature, and inclination will have on his bullet's point of impact. And he could do it from 100 yards out to the end of a cartridge's effective range. This eliminates the need for spotter shots and a double handful of little electric gizmos.

The BORS has four buttons that allow the shooter to set up the unit, swap between preset loads, and adjust the LCD screen.

The advantages to military marksmen are pretty obvious since the sound of .50-caliber spotter shots echoing through the mountains is a pretty big clue that a new kid is in town. Varmint or predator hunters do not have to fumble with calculations while a coyote slips over the hill and out of sight. The BORS exponentially increases the speed with which a marksman can make a shot and increases that first shot's accuracy since the opportunity to introduce human error is reduced.

The unit comes with 100 preset ballistic tables for commonly used long-range cartridges, including .50 BMG, .416 Barrett, .338 Lapua, .300 Winchester Magnum, .30-06, and .308 Winchester. More importantly, a new software program allows a shooter to create his own ballistic table for any cartridge/bullet/rifle combination and program the BORS with the information. The program needs the bullet weight, ballistic coefficient, muzzle velocity, and the optic's height above the bore line. Any caliber from .22 LR to .50 BMG using any bullet can use the system. The ballistic algorithms were developed from the work of several different ballisticians and data generated at Barrett. As long as the bullet is spinning and stable, the BORS can predict where it will hit.

As the name implies, there is a rangefinder function built into the BORS. The shooter has to preset a value from 1 to 20 feet or from 1/2 to 6 meters. The crosshair is then placed at the top or bottom of an object of known size--like a tank, a fence post, or a prairie dog--and the select button pressed. Using the elevation knob, the crosshair is moved to the opposite end of the target. Pressing the select button again yields the range, which is displayed on the LCD screen. The system is less accurate than a laser rangefinder and is meant as a backup in case a primary system fails.