Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Weaver Scopes vs. Leupold VX-3

I am considering a new scope. I want near top quality class. I can't afford 2-3k for Zeiss or S&B so want something under 1k.

I have read some reviews about the Super Slams and they sound impressive. I have always been a Leupold man, but just your plain jane VX-II from the 80's.

How does the Super Slam or Grand Slam compare to the VX-3? What other scopes would you recommend I take a look at?

The rifle will in all liklihood be a .243, 7mm-08 or 260. I have never owned a variable over 9 power so this one will be a 4-12 or 4-16 just becuase I would like to have that capability.

What would you look at beside the Weavers?

Dan

You can get a Zeiss HD5 and a Swarovski Z3 for under $1K at Cameraland.

I would jump on one of these.
http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/zeiss.pl?page=521490

I'd take Conquest over any Weaver or VX3

I wouldn't,IMO to step up from a vx3 i'd be looking @ a Swarovski or s&b

Which models in a 4X-12X or 4X-16X for under $1000? In that range the Conquest is hard to beat.

For roughly $20-30 more i'll take this each and every time:http://www.cameralandny.com/optics2/leupold.pl?page=leupold_vx-3_4-14x40

Yep!

The conquest WAS a great scope but no longer made, the lower end Swarovski has return to zero issues, never seen a S&B in this price range.....Just go with a VX3 the 4.5x14 is the best scope in the price range

Actually i'm wrong on the price ,the leupold is about $100 cheaper than the zeiss. I looked at a demo price on the zeiss. Also I didn't mean you can get a zawro or s&b for the price of a conquest, sorry if that got confusing. I was referring to a leupold .

I have owned a number of Weaver Super Slams and Grand Slams.....the SS have superb glass and light gathering.....they will hang with the best... They are just a bit heavy. The old Grandslam was a sleeper.... Very good glass, just a bit shy on eye relief. Very good scopes. Leupold makes a fine product, but I would not say they are optically as good as some...just my opinion. The newest from Leupold are better , but they offer superb service. Weaver changed hands 2-3 times in the last 10-15 years....that does not help dealer support etc., but the product was always pretty decent. I think both companies are making fine products. I think Weaver just revamped the Grandslam.....should be pretty nice. Goodshot

For a $1000, you could get a Leupie VX-6 series 2-12x42. That would be the way to go. If necessary, buy it used.

What is the difference between the VX-6 and the VX-3?

I have a Weaver Tactical 3-15x50 and a Leupold VX-3 4.5-14x40 Long Range. Both were produced within the past 18 months, but the Leupy is roughly a year newer. For the purpose of this comparison, the Tactical may be thought of as Super Slam glass in a stronger/thicker/heavier tube with much more adjustment range.

The Leupold has ~15 minutes (also ~15%) more adjustment range than the Tactical. The Super Slam doesn't have anywhere near as much adjustment (only 40 - 50% of what the Tactical has, IIRC)

The Weaver has noticeably more 'pop' to the image than the Leupy; it appears distinctly brighter. It also has more CA, but most who've looked through it have to be looking for it in order for it to be noticeable/distracting.

In super-low light (well past legal shooting light; more like astronomical twilight or quarter-moon light), the Weaver is significantly brighter/better and offers significantly better detail resolution on distant objects such as trees, cliffs, etc. It is better regardless whether you match magnification, exit pupil, or anything else. I expect the larger objective is responsible for at least some portion of this. I do not know whether optical quality is or is not also a significant factor.

The Weaver is dead reliable in its adjustments and return to zero. I have not tested the Leupold as thoroughly, but it has been equal in performance thus far.

The Tactical has more-consistent eye relief at a constant 4", but when the scopes are set up properly this is a non-issue. The Leupy has more eye relief for much of its magnification range. I find both scopes easy to get behind, but I find the Leupy easier. The difference is most noticeable at max mag.

I have the Weaver on my competition gun because it's FFP and has a useful reticle for that purpose. I have the Leupy on my '#1' hunting rifle. Both are subjected to rough service in different ways.

Both have lifetime warranties, but IF I ever have to use the warranty on either one, I like the way Leupold works much better. I also appreciate being able to talk to Leupy. I have not been able to raise Weaver on the phone since ATK 'consolidated' a bunch of support people. That was a LARGE mistake by ATK, in terms of my desire to deal with them to an increasing degree in the future.

I would buy either scope again, provided I got the right price. I've looked at & through some super-nice and super-expensive scopes on the competition guns in the long-range precision rifle club I shoot with. I'm satisfied with these two scopes vs. the prices I paid. I paid more for the Weaver, and I think I got a bit more in return. They're definitely different scopes, though. More-expensive scopes do not offer _me_ enough more to justify the required expenditure. I offer this last bit merely for context in evaluating my comments.

For a hunting rifle, I'd buy another Leupy. For a competition rifle, I'd need a different Leupy, and given their competition line's prices I'd likely buy another Weaver Tactical.

If I were to choose between this Leupy and the Super Slam version of the Weaver, that would be tough. They're both excellent scopes, but they're also distinctly different. Hopefully I've highlighted some areas that'll help you choose, based on what _you_ are looking for.

I have some Weavers, I have some Leupolds...BOTH great scopes IMO. The Super Slam is every bit the scope the vx-3 is. From what I've noticed the Super Slam seems sharper and the VX-3 a touch brighter. Both VERY close as far as image goes. The VX-3 is also much lighter if that matters to you, however the Super Slam has a 5x erector and side focus, two very different designs, which is better? Depends on what you want really hard to go wrong with either...Natchez has the best price on the Super Slam by a big margin. I'd also take a long hard look at the Meopta Meopro...Doug has pretty good prices on them and they are some pretty nice scopes in that same price range...

Now I see that ATK bought out Bushnell....so now we have Bushnell and Weaver under the same parent co. That will be interesting......they also bought Savage Arms......that's a bunch of brands to manage. Should be interesting to say the least. Sure seems like the sign of the times, I'm not sure it's a good thing only time will tell. Goodshot

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That was helpful....! I'm sure we all learned from that post!

OK so iambrb is a smarta$$. I'll take a smarta$$ any day over a dumba$$.

Hard to beat a VX3 3.5-10x40 with an M1 on it. New for around $550 from custom shop. I looked at the VX6 and was just not impressed really for the extra money.