Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Burris Droptine vs Leupold VX1

Looking for opinions from owners, let 'em fly.

I have had both. I was for many years a very avid Leupold person, but my 3-9X40 went down the road and the Burris Droptine 3-9X40 I still have. I found the glass to be clearer on the Burris than the VX1 and that is the most important to me. My eyes are not what they used to be and are very sensitive to glass clarity/sharpness. I've switched a lot of my other VX2's to Burris Fullfield E1 3-9X40 and a couple of Fullfield 4.5-14X42 side focus also. The Leupolds are lighter and I like that but only by a few oz.'s or so.

Looks like no one else cares. I at least expected a few Leupold haters.

I just put the droptine on my boys 10/22. I can't speak for it's durability over time, but its pretty clear glass. Certainly on the same playing field as the VX1 to my eyes.

I have 2 Droptines but no Leupold so I can’t compare. I don’t have a lot of money so I don’t purchase expensive scopes. I have been very happy with the scopes, the glass seems good to me and the clicks are close to 1\4” adjustments. I do like the holdover stadia lines. Will be purchasing more of these in the future.

I just bought a droptine from cabelas, should be here tomorrow. It's the 4.5-14 with balistic plex reticle and it comes with a set of burris zee rings for $159. Seemed like a fair price, but I used a 10% off coupon and https://www.activejunky.com/invite/215741. Got 26% off / back so that made it about $120, didn't see where I could wrong.

To me “How tough the scope is!” Is the very most important thing.
I’ve read where the Fullfield II is tough. Have not read or had any experience with the droptine.
When I went to Alberta a couple years ago I sent Leupolds a request as to whether a VX-3 was a tougher scope than the VX-1. They replied they were equal in “toughness”.

I don’t know what rifle/cartridge you are mounting this scope.

What are you wanting as far as comparisons?

I've been interested in the fullfield 2 line for a simple cheap scope.

From a droptine to a fullfield is only a $30 jump on camera land.

As far as vx-1 goes I've had one. One of the last years made, been good but pretty light use on a 243.

Leupold has the better eye-box which is much appreciated by those who hunt. Burris is not bad but they are a step behind on the eye relief zone compared to Leupold.

I have several FF IIs and only one Droptine. I like them and see no difference in the glass. Haven't owned a Leupold in a while. I prefer the Burris fast focus to the fine thread on Leupolds. Sometimes I hunt wearing glasses and sometimes not. The change of focus is fast and easy. I do agree with the above post that Leupolds have better eye relief.

The reason I was asking is that I was thinking about selling the scopes that I have on my Kimber 22 and my Evanix PCP air rifle and getting a pair of the rimfire setup Droptine 3-9's. I currently have a 2-7 VX1 on the Kimber and Nikon 3-9x40mm AO on the air rifle. I'd like more magnifcation on the Kimber, less weight on the PCP plus not that enthralled with an AO on it, plus I do like the Ballistic Plex reticle on the Burris scopes having had one before with that reticle. Just get the scope change itch occasionally like most of us do and want some info on the Burris Droptines before any decisions are made.

The Droptine 3-9 22lr. scope is a pretty nice scope and very clear. The eye box as noted by other posters is not quite as good as a Leupold, but on a Squirrel rifle that is not much of a concern to me. I've been using Burris Fullfield II's for awhile now and I have to admit I really like them. I wish that Burris would make a 6X Fullfield II scope and especially a rimfire model.
I don't think you will regret picking up a Droptine for your Kimber.

On a .22 RF I want an adjustable AO.

Two of the finessed Squirrel hunting scopes I ever ever owned (and still own) has been a Leupold VarxII 3-9×32 Compact/AO. and a Leupold VarxII 4-12×40/AO with a fine cross hair....no amount of money could buy either scope.

You want small groups with a .22 get a scope with an AO....when you go hunting set it on 50 yards and forget about it.

Both scopes are discontinued and you wil pay dearly for a clean Leupold 3-9x32/AO Compact $500 up...a really clean Leuupold 4-12x42/AO wont be cheap either $400 up

This in my opinion was the finest Squirrel hunting scope ever made.

Looks like a good fit for that rifle. Older Remington? Rifle &scope specifics, etc?

I started buying Burris scopes last year. Based on how much I liked my FF II I ordered a Droptine for a 77/22 that had an older Leupold Vari X 2c with friction adjustments on it. The Droptine wasn't a bad scope but to my eyes it wasn't as good optically as the old 2-7 Leupold and nowhere close to my Burris FF II which only cost $25 more. YMMV.

IMO the optics in the Droptine do not come close to the Leupold VX-1, the clarity and sharpness is lacking on the Droptine, eye relief is more critical also. The Droptine is more finicky about having to have ones eyes directly centered on the scope, but I do love the Ballistic Plex reticle. I bought a couple of them last year when Cabelas had them for $99 with free shipping and at that price I think that they were a bargain.

drover

I agree. I have a Droptine on my Kimber 22, and while it's functional and useable, it's not on the level of VX-1 or Redfield Revolution. I can live with it for now, but I'm not fond of the distortion around the edges of the view at higher magnification. It's not a rip-off, but it is a $115 scope that performs like a $115 scope.

I am not on the outs with the optics of the 2-7x VX1 that I have now. The majority of squirrel hunting shots are taken at less than fifty yards and for that 7x is enough. There is the occasional longer shot plus some target shooting where a little more magnification would help out. 3-9x 32mm would be a perfect size, but they are mostly out these days. The Athlon Neos and Talos have good specs and the pics look good in a 4-12x side focus, but I know nothing about them and they seem to be pretty bulky and heavy. The Sightron 3-9x32mm made for rimfires might be okay but I'm leary of the plain reticle plus not seen any in person either. The SWFA 2.5-10x32 in the rimfire might be a good scope but $350 is more than I can do anymore sadly.

I looked at the Sightron 3-9x32 a couple of times and I can honestly say that it is the only Sightron I ever looked through that I was disappointed in. It had a very narrow view, sort of like looking through a paper towel tube, and was lacking in brightness.

drover