The one that surprised me the most was my 1.5-5x20 Leupold with the Heavy Duplex. I put it against my 30 mm tube Zeiss & Swarovski 42 mm objective Euro scopes and that Leupold Heavy Duplex stood out well past legal light. The standard Duplex reticle in the Leupold 2.5-8x36 disappears in low light much faster.
And THAT my friends is key. Our own JJ Hack pointed this out to me years ago and a HD really helps to close the gap of superior glass. For example, my Z6's incredible glass, but thin crosshairs, when compared to one of my Leupolds VX3s both set to the same magnification and similar objective lenses (42mm V 40), the heavier X hairs on the Leupold allowed that scope to hang in there and in some cases surpass the Z6, all due to the heavier reticle. The down side to this is of course target fidelity, but it is a tradeoff.
