IMO the Leupold line of scopes are fine for the average hunter/shooter... Once a guy starts to push the product failure is imminent... I used to be a Leupy guy at one time... Its what I learned on and used primarily... The leupys of old were solid but leupys as of late are lacking in all realms... I can not seem to keep a variable leupy together no matter the genera.... Tracking reliability, internal malfunctions/failures, reticle issues, ability to hold zero, etc... All makes, not just the VX... The tactical line appears to be no better...
I'm not a fan boy of any product/manufacturer... I am a fan of reliability, repeatability, robustness and a product that flat out works when called on... So far NightForce has done that... The things just work and work... Are they indestructible...Hell no they're not... I've had 2 failures thus far with them... One I dropped on the elevation turret and it locked up, the other just recently on a 2.5-10x32 compact that appeared to have moisture/condensation in the tube... This compact has been on 3 rifles... All 308's... the last rifle was/is a truck/atv rifle... Never comes inside, rides the truck or the atv, gets hosed off once or twice a year... This rifle has right at 8,000 rounds via that scope and I would guess the scope has seen 20-25,000 rounds total...
The only Leupold I have owned that has never went back to repair was a 10x M3 MK 4... I've owned 13 Leupy's that were all 30mm Tubes, variable and fixed in Vari-X III, VX-III and Mark 4 models... I now own one... a Fixed 10x MK 4...
I currently have 16 NF scopes with one on order and will purchase 2 more after the Mule deer hunts in January...I will continue to use NF until something comes along that does the job better...
IMO a VX-3 will only trump a NightForce in price... In all other areas there is NO comparison... You get what you pay for and I'll gladly pay the price for what I look for in an Optic... YMMV...
