Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics 24 Hour Leupold Hater Forum

I don't doubt that JB writes good words on scopes, but there are lots of things I choose to see/do for myself instead of trusting someone else.

My only comment is light transmission..... best animals are usually close to dark plus I hunt pigs.

To me it makes no sense to spend money on a firearm thats not usuable because you can't see the game or crosshairs early or late... Especially what some folks invest in a rifle, tags, the trip, the time etc...

Thats a big reason I tend to shy away from Leupold and other lesser scopes.

Do they work for most folks? Yep. But I did take one of my Zeiss to CO once, cloudy overcast day, still legal light... and we saw a bigger bodied muley... 28 inches or so but only a big fork through my scope... buddy was going to shoot, said he had to be big enough... (3 point rule) and I said no and handed him my gun.... he was not only amazed, but went back home and promptly shelled out not much more for a better piece of glass on his gun... commented that could have really cost him and he could NOT believe how much brighter my scope was that late and dark.

Now OTOH I often hunt with irons... and enjoy that and the limitations it gives, but I'll do the best I can with what I choose to use. So taht means with scopes I'll simply choose one that allows me to shoot in any condition basically, until past legal hours a bit to be on the safe side.

Bottom line though folks are more than welcome to run what they have... I have tasco, bushnell, burris,weaver, and Leupold on some of the guns. The ones that are serious all have Conquest line Zeiss as a minimum.

rost495
That should be required reading for just about everyone....
dave

Eremicus,

A Schmidt & Bender that didn't resolve any better than a 6x Leupold? Maybe you just don't know how to focus an S&B.
_________________________
JB

Eremicus,

I have tested a lot of scopes on my line-chart at night, and the one that has done the absolute best was a Schmidt & Bender, and yes, it was a variable.

Leupolds of various grades of have done OK to good, and many a lot better than some people would give them credit for. But there hasn't been one that is as good as an S&B, and even most other Euro-scopes haven't matched an S&B.

Either the S&B you tested was faulty, or your "testing" was faulty. Or maybe your wishing for something made it so. There is increasing evidence that our pre-conceived notions of quality can not just prejudice us, but actually "fool" the brain into working differently.

But in as scientific an optics test as I can make, no Leupold has matched an S&B. This is not shameful, because not many scopes match an S&B, and I still own and use over a dozen Leupold scopes. But they aren't magic.
_________________________
JB
Eremicus,

You need more experience with some of today's bigger, heavier variables. Things have changed in the past 10-15 years.
_________________________
JB

Steelhead,
Ill tell ya alittle story.
In another life before I became the anti E.
I owned Leupolds.I used Leupolds.I still own and use Leupolds.I own many Leupolds.In fact I most likey still own more Leupolds than you do.Leupold was "the" scope for me,for many years.I recommened them to friends.And felt as you do,that loopies were all that was "needed". I was very much a "just needs to put a bullet where it's supposed to go" type of guy.And thats alright.Lord knows for many years thats all I could afford.
And then I bought my first 1.5-6x42 from Dunns in 86.I didnt much care for the reticle that got "bigger".Seemed goofy to me.I didnt much care for the ,at that time,very short eye relief.Only 3.1 back then.Took a couple of seasons to get used to it.At that time I only had one rifle.A Nelson Berger built 280 AI.But over the course of several hunting seasons.It grew on me. It grew on me as younger man when I dropped it out of tree stands,fell on it.And used it to part brush with.It grew on me as I repeatedly turned it into a popsicle in frozen hell Alberta 7 years running.It grew on me as I always found myself comming out of the woods later than my friends did.They had to quit because they couldn't see where the bullet was supposed to go.I could.It grew on me sitting at the rifle range as it got dark and everyone else was caseing there rifles and I was just getting ready to squeese off another group.They couldn't see.
The people I have converted.....
It grew on me on very expensive hunts when I had the opportunity,from time to time,to take shots in lighting conditions that in my mind I knew a lesser scope would fail me.
Over a long period of time I've pretty much come to the conclusion that although an aiming devise will get the job done.Great glass and hand built, build quality, make more than a "gnat's difference" TO ME.
Be warned.You buy one,your gonna end up like BobinNH.It will cost you.
Trust me.
dave