Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold VX2 vs. Meopta Meopro/Cabelas Euro

Looking to pick up another piece of glass to put on one of my .300's or possibly my 7RM. Rifle/scope will be used for general big game hunting, from trips for elk to whitetails to hogs in Texas to possibly plains game in Africa in a few years. I currently have a Cabelas Euro in 3-9x42 with the EXT reticle on my .280, and absolutely love it. Couldn't ask for more for the buck. I had been planning to get another in 4-12x50 to put on one of the above rifles, but was looking at the store and got to play with a new VX2 for awhile. They seem very nice indeed. I could get a 4-12x50 VX2 for about $50 less, but I am not sure if the savings would be worth not getting the Euro/Meopta. It's hard to compare the two inside of a store. Anybody have any experience with a new VX2 that is also familiar with or an owner of a Meopta or Euro, or even a Conquest or Minox- which are comparable to the Meoptas? Any input would be appreciated. I don't want to spend in the neighborhood of $500 on a scope and not be happy with it.

No personal experience, but I have read that the meopta stuff is more on line with the new vx3- if not still better than those. I doubt you would be disappointed with the meopta.

The way to separate "wheat form chaff" is to take two scopes and look through each of them at star lit sky at night. The difference in resolution, image quality and sharpness at edge of FOV will be readily apparent especially among those where price difference tends to be significant.

The 30mm Meopta is far superior to a VX2. The high end Meopta scopes are more in line with other good euro scopes. You cant go wrong with a conquest either.

The Meopro is a low end Meopta though.

I'd like to try one myself.

The Meopro is a 1" scope, not 30mm. I believe the MeoStar's are 30mm. I have no doubt that the Meopta is better, I'm just curious how close the new VX2's are, and if they are close enough to justify me saving a few bucks. Thanks for the replies thus far!

I like my VX-IIs/2s just fine and they are made in the USA by American workers. Just my way of thinking. . . .

I have had a VariX-2, a Zeiss Conquest and currently own two Minox ZA5 3-15x42 scopes. I compared the Minox side by side to the Zeiss and couldn't see a difference out to 400 yards. They are great scopes for the money, and for the "Made in the USA" crowd, they are assembled here with German glass. The Leupold just didn't seem that great when compared with a Burris Fullfield II or a Bushell Elite 3200. I have yet to try to Meopta, but have read great things about them.

Leupold naming seems to be confusing so if you have the VariX version that is two generations older and not as bright as the new VX-2 (not to be confused with the VX-II that came out between the Vari-x-II and the VX-2).

Not sure if it is on purpose but at local gun shows there is an older gentleman that always has his older VX-III and Vari-X-III labelled as VX-3's!

Leupold's nomenclature is asinine and confusing.

Constantly see VX-II's labelled as VX-2's and VX-III's as VX-3's.

I agree. Just so my question above is clear, I'm referring to the brand new VX-2's, not the previous generation VX-II's. The new model is supposedly a significant upgrade over the older VX-II.

I understand that Cabela's has a new Meopta made scope, and I think it's the Euro, that is made with super hard coatings like the latest VX2. If that is so, then that feature is certainly worth having. Scopes with standard coatings degrade easily even with the best of care.
I seriously doubt one could easily see any difference in image quality between the two. With careful testing you might find a small difference, but not a significant one.
I suspect the big differences would be in eye relief and especially eye box lenths. You'd have to find a store with a stock setup to allow customers to try scopes mounted on a rifle stock. I know my local Sportsman's Warehouse has such a setup to try out different rifle scopes, so you might consider looking for one in your area. E

Thank you very much E. The Cabelas nearest me has a stock to use, which is part of what brought this question up in my head in the first place. I could tell no difference between the VX2 and Euro when looking through them in the store. I also know that indoors is not the best place to evaluate a scope. At this point I'm inclined to spend the extra $50 and stick with the Euro, which was my original plan, but I may still end up getting a VX2 of some sort for another rifle eventually. I have read in numerous places that the Cabelas Euro is identical to the Meopta Meopro, and the paperwork that came with my 3-9x42 Euro seems to confirm this. I love my Euro, so I guess maybe I should stick with what I know...

I really can't say much about the Meopta scopes. But I do understand that Cabela's puts out some very good stuff in optics.
What I've found when trying out scopes on rifle stocks is that it allows me to compare eye relief and eye boxes. In the field, when I have to shoot in a hurry, shoot either up hill or downhill, shoot from different positions, or even just from wearing different layers of clothing, extra fore and aft leeway, i.e. eye box, is worth having.
I have alot of faith in Leupolds because they have put up with alot of rough field use and always performed quite well in spite of this in the field. So, I for one, tend to go for them first, simply based on my own experiences with them and that of alot of other very experienced hunters that I've met over the years.
If you feel the same sort of confidence in the Cabela's Euro, then why not ? E

Eye RELIEF is fore and aft latitude.

Eye BOX is starboard, port, up and down latitude.

Eye relief is expressed as one number. It is that point in the middle of the scope's eye box. The eye box is the fore and aft leeway one has while still being able to see the scope's image.
I know of no term that describes the side to side leeway one has in viewing the scope's image. But it is determined by the size of the scope's exit pupil. E

Meopta meopro/cabelas euro = same scope. And both handily make an ass out of a leupold. comparing the meopta/cabelas scope to a leupold is like comparing a f-18 to a bi plane. To clarify for the OP Meopta makes the Cabelas euro. And Leupold cant hang with either

I see that Cabela's claims the Cabela's Euro scope has 3.75 inches of eye relief. If this is so, and such figures are often not, it may well have about the same eye box as the Zeiss Conquest 3-9X40. Which would be acceptable in my book.
However, I seriously doubt it's anything like the "much better" claims than the Leupold Vx2. From what I've seen, such claims are made by those who don't understand that it is desirable to focus both the reticle and the image of the Leupold not just the reticle. E

I'm impressed so far with my new VX-2's but they do have the fast focus eyepiece which you loathe E!

I like the FF eyepiece myself and pretty much all scopes are going to sport one soon.

The reticle does gold out still on the new VX-2's.

Hyperbole runneth amok here methinks!