Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Which Scope?

I have a Nikon Monarch 3-9X40 and love it. I recently bought a Leupold 6X42 and to be honest, I'm contemplating selling it and buying a second Nikon if that tells you anything.

That makes it easy. A Leupold 3x9 VXII comes in a silver finish. It will be money you will not regret spending.

If my opinon is worth a hoot: Avoid the 50 mm objectives, they are not any brighter and they get in the way at the worst times.

I've owned scopes other than Leupold, I am sorry to say. They have all been replaced by Leupolds excecpt the one B&L 6 x 24 I have on a 222 varmint rifle. Someday it will go too.

There are better scopes than a leupold for sure, but those are out of my price range.

Is price a concern? From those scopes listed, most are from totally different price categories. My personal liking is, at $200 it is certainly a Nikon Buckmasters; at $300, it may be a 4200 or a Monarch; above $350 Leupolds become competitive. Above $450 it makes sense to go to Zeiss. I think price to performance curve is quite flat above, say, $250, and you gain 1% in optical performance for every $150 spent.
Another consideration I found extremely important was sensitivity to eye positioning. Nikons I tested were the best in this regard, compared side by side to Leupolds, Sightron II, 4200 and even Zeiss far outside the Nikon's cost. I found Buckmasters and Monarchs to have the least sensitivity to lateral and axial eye movement of all scopes I compared at Sportsmans. Mind it, it is hard to compare optical quality in the store - so I am not voting on that one, though I could clearly see that B-3200 were inferior to any others, and Nikon Prostaff was dimmer than other Nikons. But for its $150, it seemed better than any other $150 scope.
-P

Gun came in today and it's a little naked. The price range for the scope will probably be around 250-300 bucks.

We have a 4 point on one side rule in Northern Missouri. At 15 minutes before sunrise and 15 minutes past sundown, the only scopes that work are the Zeiss 3x10 and Nikon 3X12X50mm OL. Can't afford a Swarovski....I understand they work in low light too. The Zeiss works for 10 minutes longer......past 30 minutes! ...same price as the Leupolds which just don't cut the mustard.

I agree 100%
I have had em all...and when you go to the range on an overcast, dark day and look through them side by side...

The Zeiss is remakably brighter than the VariX II and I feel so is the Monarch UCC...
You can find Zeiss Conquests on SWFA (sample list) for about $469
I feel the top of the line Leupolds are wonderful...but in the under 600$ range hard to beat a Zeiss. I would get the Nikon in the under $300 budget you mentioned.

IMHO....... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

what does UCC stand for?

I have and own both Leupold and Zeiss. I can tell no difference between the two at the range or in the field as far as brightness. I think those who pay more for the Zeiss subconsiously think its brighter. Now, in my opinion the best scope I ever owned was a Leica. It was clearer than anything I have ever had, but just hated the way it looked and swapped it for a shotgun shell reloader. Wonder why Leica quite making them?

I have to agree that the Zeiss allows more light, at least to my eyes, but my Elite 3200 and Doctor Optic are right there with it. None of the Lupy's I've owned come close.

I've owned alot of scopes over the years, and was most happy with quite a few, but to this date the Leupold mark 4 precision rifle long range 4.5-14x40mm part #56140 is by far my most favorite scope, I have been selling many scopes lately to be replaced with this scope.

There are other brands too that offer excellent optics, but to me the most bang for the buck is with leupold. Should mention lightweight too...

Another model Leupold you cant go wrong with is the VX-III 3.5-10x40mm or its tactical version precision rifle with target turrets.

ok i have narrowed it down to the sightron II 3-9x42, Nikon Monarch 3-9x40, and the Leupold vxII 3-9x40. From what I hear the nikon and he sightron are better value for the buck, but the leupold's customer service cant be beat. What I dont know is about Nikons, and Sightrons customer service and warranty. Does anyone have any info that i might find useful?
If so, thanks.

The Sightron warranty is unbeatable. Bring it to the store, and they hand you a new one.

i haven't heard anyone say anything bad about the sightron so far.. except something about eye relief, but its 100 bucks less than the leupold. and 65 less than the nikon.. http://theopticzone.com/detail.aspx?ID=3700

I am shopping for a scope too at the moment (to go on a 300 Wby), and I made my final comparisons yesterday at Jax. They have a good selection of Weavers - something Sportsman doesn't. I held them side by side with Nikon Buckmasters, Monarch (btw, I personally see no difference between these two), Leupold (VX2 I think, $395), and a 4200. I had a friend along to help me judge.
Jax had no scope stocks, so it was holding them by hand, which hindered eye relief comparisons. I wanted to see the 2-10x38 and 2-7x32 Weavers. Have to say, they are brighter than Buckmasters, which I determined to myself by looking across the store at white signs on the raf wall of the store. Field of view is larger on Buckmasters (3-9x40). Any Weaver is noticeably lighter than the Nikon. And the brightest of all was Weaver 4x38 K series, fixed power.
Now I am torn apart about what I want: fixed 4, 2-7 (which is the shortest and lightest), or a 2-10x38, which seems the most versatile. I am not sure how much I would use variable power, so I am still in decision mode. Prices? $200, and $130 for fixed power. I think I might buy several and try them, to see which one I like better. My friend suggested I get the 4x38, which seems adequate for hunting up to 400 yards, and has fewer points of failure than a variable.
And not to start a flame war, but I did not see any superiority in the Leupold. Seemed just as good as others, but fixed 4x38 Weaver was brighter.
-P

i have a sightronll and it will be the only one i ever buy,not really impressed with it,especially when cranked up on the higher power end of it...and the resolution and clearity is not all that..i orderd it off the computer ,or i would have not of bought it if i have seen through it first...just my opinion....i like my leupoldvxll, and my pentax which is brighter,but my bushnell 4200 is the best of em...

hum.. now that i think about it, i haven't heard anything bad about the bushnell 3200, or the burris fullfield 2. Anyone heard anything about these scopes? They are much less than the monarch and the vx-2, are they that much worse? The 200 buck price would be alot nicer, and i could buy some accessories. Do you pay taxes on scopes on the internet?

I have not used either but checked out both at stores. I like Burris in all but one thing: how they made power ring and ocular bell into one piece. Not that its particularly bad but I think I will want to put caps on it, and which way will they flip open now at differnt power settings? Nah, I don't care for this design.
A 3200 is Ok but to me it looked dimmer than Nikon Buckmasters or a Weaver, for the same price. 4200 is at least as bright as these two but is a bit more expensive. I am thinking seriously about a Wever 2-10x38 or 2-7x32 now that I can get it off the web for less than $150. One reason I am inclined this way is that they are lighter and brighter than Nikons, although eye relief I like a little less on the Weavers.
I plan to get a $200 scope, and either Weaver or Nikon fit the bill, as well as Fullfield if you are Ok with the one-piece ocular and power ring. What I like about Burrins is their ballistic-plex reticle! Nice.
No, you don't pay tax on internet purchases (edit: unless the internet store has a location in your state - then you will). You pay shipping instead. Most of the time, as I found, the price on the web with shipping is less than at the store. But it is not as easy to return items if you don't like it. The price difference (say, $200 at the store vs. $167 on the web for Buckmasters, or $140 vs $105 for a K4 Weaver) is appealing enough for me to buy on the web.
-P

go with the bushnell 3200,cant go wrong at all for the price,they are compared and alot say brighter than the leupold vxll series,,they are good scopes ,my fatherinlaw has one,and its just the same as his leupold vxll,in everyway,and they have precise click adjustments.

I've got a couple of Bushnell trophies, (made in Japan) one's a 4-12x40, the other a 6-18x40, they seem ok - but I was told to avoid any scopes that are made in china.
Also, any opinions on Burris?...lately I've had my beady little eyes on their 4.5-14x42 ballistic-plex. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I could of wrote that word for word...glad to hear somebody else say what I've been saying since I bought that POS....