Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold VX-II 6x18 Target AO scope

Water's warmin' up here. Trout are going deep in the lakes ... too far from shore to cast to them anymore.

Looks like it's time to start stalking bass around the edges.

You?

DFTFT

Well, ain't got no bass in these here parts. No sir...we hunt slough sharks up here....

I have not finished my evaluation of the 4.5-14 Conquest. Its on a 243 and the rifle shoots well with it.

The resolution is nothing special so far. I can't see shots in the black with it at 200 yds but my spotting scope can. Also its adjusting knobs turn the wrong way however I don't usually click off but just shoot right away or get closer.

The Leu. 4.5-14 was on the same 243 for a while and its a good scope with good resolution except when looking towards the light however its crosshairs turn pink and fade. I have not compared the two against each other except to my memory.

I did have a AO Sightron for as long as it takes to send it back. I could not stand the ugly blurred running paint on the AO graduations. Otherwise it was clear.

A club member had a 40X made up into a match rifle in 6mm-250 with a Hart barrel. He selected a Leu. 6.5-20 30mm target scope.
He had accuracy problems at long range that were finally discovered by himself even after returning the scope to Leu. It turns out that the graduations were off on the AO adjustment so he had parallax at 600 yds. The scope is still off but now he knows where to set it for various ranges. He did win a match with the rifle finally.

I still have a Unertl Ultra Varmint and some Supertargetspots. Except for the lack of variable magnification and being long and heavy they give up nothing to the current fashion. I have enough varmint scopes for now. To be frank of all the go to scopes that I can see and shoot the best with I really like the 3-9 Conquest.

Hmmm, I've got a pair of 6.5-20 50MM LRT's and a 8.5-25LRT 50MM. All have the center focus with hash marks but they don't have yardage reference numbers. Even Leupold will tell you that the yardage numbers they put on their A.O. ring are for REFERENCE ONLY!. You wouldn't believe how many people I run into that will set the ring at the exact number for the yardage their going to shoot and think the're paralax free. Their not, it's like pulling teeth to train em how to set the A.O. properly. ALL scope manufactures should leave the numbers off the ring.

Your friend should have seen the paralax error while shoting.

I will talk to him again about the scope. Of course he saw the problem. He won a match. Let me get the story again this summer.

To add he is on the left shooting. Those are leather shooting coats. I have two and both are too small. Leather shrinks?

Thanks for your report Savage99. I appreciate your frank response.

I also agree with your above quote...that 3-9x40mm Zeiss Conquest is a heck of a scope and a great buy, especially with its' 4" of eye relief.

Have a good day and thanks again for your input.

I'll have to look through a Conquest. I do like Euro optics; I have some Swarovski binoc's that I treasure.

What's a target-style Conquest go for, though? In my case, I'm setting up a longer-range screwaround rig... in other words, it's ALREADY money that probably shouldn't have been spent, so I'm trying to keep the scope on it as rational as possible. I want a decent scope but I can't in good conciounce pay MORE than what the VX-II 6x18 costs, which is about $450.

Did I tell you all what's on the DPMS now? Gulp. It's a Tasco World Class 3x9. How cool is THAT!

-jeff

The Conquest is an American-made (read that assembled) euro....they use glass from eastern Europe, use Zeiss proprietory coatings, Zeiss German erector assemblies for precision and the rest comes from wherever...maybe even the USA. The glass is excellent for this price range but I don't think you'll find a 4-14x44mm for $450....they run $950 up here so that puts them around $799USD with a mil-dot reticle.

By the way, I mentioned previously that the Bushnell Elite was half the price of the Leupold VX2 6-18. That was true at the store where I got it here in my hometown but I could have bought the Leupold via mail order for just $150 more than I paid for the Elite. I think in the USA the prices are much closer. Either way, the Elite does have better glass. The Leupold has other virtues though, like more eye relief, bigger eye box, faster service, etc.

i hope you find the right one for you. Good shooting.

Thanks EE54 for all the great info!

It is KILLING me to not just go buy the Loopy. Aagh! I HATE having that tasco on there. I'm a Realtor in my first year and I've gotten some sales, have some coin in the bank, but "they say" you need to watch your sheckles in this business... so I could go buy any scope I want, but... on another level I have to tell myself "no" and I'm not good at that! Witness the DPMS.

-jeff

Jeff....here is my take on scopes.....you'll never regret buying the best you can afford and after a few weeks, you'll forget that you spent more. You will always regret not buying the best you can afford....settling for a distant second sucks. If the Leupold VX2 6-18 is your choice, then go get it and don't look back.

I went cheap the last time and bought the Elite.....I have always regretted not spending more back then and getting the Zeiss 4-14x44mm. I own a Zeiss 3-9x40mm for my main hunting rifle and it spoils me. The optics are outstanding in this price range.

I don't know about the vxII 6x18,but with my vxIII 6.5x20x40efr,the eye relief changes so much from 6.5x to 20x,that I have to move my head as I change magnification.I have tried to mount the scope so that this wasn't necessary,but it just wasn't possible with this scope.

I have several of the older Vari-X III 6.5-20x Leupolds and have never noticed that problem.

Jeff

Yeah, I remember that from a Vari-X 3 6-20x40mm that I once owned. The eye relief on the current production 6-20x40mm LR model shows as 3.6-5.0". 1.5" variation is a lot!

Well, being weak and all I went ahead and bought the scope. So far I love it. It's not going to be used in low light, so how well it does or doesn't do there isn't relavant. It seems plenty clear and crisp. And the best thing? On my DPMS 308-LR, with 46 gr of Varget and 155-gn Nosler J-4 BTHP's, I put (10) rounds into .85" at 100 yards yesterday!

So now the fun begins. I'll zero it with that load next time up, then head over to where I have the steel plates hanging at 340, 410, and 500 yards and start figuring out how many clicks gets me to where, and if it will then come back to zero.

Love it so far! I'll report as I progress.

-jeff