Any have one? Opinions? Thinking of buying one to put on a DPMS 308-LR. It'd be for target use, from 100 to 600 yards. I don't need the ultimate scope (for instance, low-light performance is not crucial in this case) but want durability, accuracy, repeatable adjustments, and good optics.

I have several of the older Vari-X III's, and as I understand it the VX-II's have the same lens coating as the old Vari-X III's. If so, that's plenty good for this use.

They cost about $400. Anything better for the money? I'm biased towards Leupold because, well, every Loopy scope I've ever bought made me happy and I still own it, while every time I didn't buy a Leupold, I regretted it.

-jeff

Look through it before you buy and if you like,and run it through the power settings.. If you like what you see then buy it...........

Have a couple of them. Can't tell any diffrance in them and My Older 4.5-14's. Well worth the money.

Thanks for the reply!

I will of course do what you say with this or any other scope purchase, but this will be my first long range, target-oriented high power scope so I'm fishing for more information than that, if anyone has any. Like, do they typically offer repeatability when you dial the turrents around for different (long) ranges? Are they likely to hold up to the strange recoil of an AR-10? Etc.

Unless you just left off the "It's a great scope..." part! In which case, I understand your post completely. It's a great scope, look through it and buy it if you like it.

-jeff

Your talking about Leupold right?????

I've got a Vari-XII on a .223 bolt gun that works pretty good for precision work at 100 yards. Having shot MR-1 targets at 600 yards 18X will be fine, you won't have a problem holding in a specific quadrant within the X ring. I wouldn't recomend a large Leupold Dot because it will cover a sighting disc.

At the last match (600 yard) of the year this past fall I was in a groove, keeping my shots in the X ring ( I drilled the 3" spotter disc a handfull of shots). All of a sudden I drop a pair of 9's at 5:00. The shots were within 1/2" of each other. I scratch my head cause it's the perfect day to shoot a match weatherwise, it's a trigger pulling contest. I finish the relay with the rest of my shots in the X ring.

There's a reason F-Class shooters are dumping Leupold scopes and gravatating to Nightforce.

I've had very good luck with my Leupold scopes, which consist of (4) Vari-X III 2.5x8's on my hunting rifles. However, I zero them and leave them alone, whereas with this scope, since I'm putting it on a dedicated long-range screwaround rifle in the 3080-LR, I will be messing with the elevation adjustments all the time...

Anyway, nothing in my experience so far with Leupold would give me any reason to doubt their ability to hold a zero. I don't doubt your experience; it's just not concurrent with mine!

One problem I have with the brands that the gun-shop guys are trying to pimp to me, like Bushnell Elite series, is that I know how good Leupold is if you do have a problem, and the one problem I've had with a non-Loopy scope, a Burris, turned into an 8-week pain in the ASS. I can only imagine that Bushnell is just as bad or worse.

I guess the good news is, these are the "good old days" of scopes, right? Lots of good choices out there!

Thanks for the reply.

-jeff

Jeff if you talk to some of the F-Class guys you'll hear that they hold-off for windage once they are close instead of clicking to chase their bullet. Leupold will work fine for dinking around but I've got a feeling once you start shooting at extended ranges you'l get bit by the accuracy bug. I watched Eric Bear's son drive an AR-10 one match. He was shooting off a bipod, 600 yard F-Class match in a driving rainstorm. Once he found the X ring he had his way with her. I was impressed with the rifles accuracy potential.

I'm thinking a Mark 4 would be a plus factor in the reliability department.

The Leupy shift of POI is well documented by many competitive and long range shooter that have experienced it as well.The problem in reporting it here at the camp fire is thet the Leupy forces will set upon you and they don't want to hear it or believe it exist.The Leupy's ussualy do not degrade to catistropic failures,just in small degress that will not let you are you rifle shoot to it's full potential.The price of the scope are very attractive to many.

Here is a link to an ongoing review of the S&B 4X16 PMll and notice the last of the post talking about a match in Washington

http://precisionlongrangehunter.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/7921005821/m/3021002222

Here is the last paragraph of that post;

"My partners Leupold tracked great until the 600 then 500 then back to 600 event. It didnt track back to 600 and i know he had the knob where it needed to be. After messing with it, it worked again. It only cost him some points. Imagine if that was a 200" whitetail buck....

Trust in your equipment is a good thing..."

I had one of those same scopes that you are talking about,it worked fine for a while and then began to degrade in it's ability to hold POI.I was about so send with rifle to get a new barrel as it was a 1/4 MOA gun and it slow became a 1 to 1 1/4 moa.For grins I changed scopes and it wnet back to a 1/4 moa shooter again. That was my first experience with that problem and you will not believe that this is a common problem until you experience it.I am convinced of that here at the campfire,other sites not so..........
YMMV

I have a Vari-X II 6x18 AO scope. I like it alot. When I get another scope for prairie dogs I will be getting the VX-II 6-18 Targer AO scope.

Scotty,

Thanks for the reply.

It looks to be perfect for what I want- on paper. I like Leupolds, the power range is right, and the price is not out of reach. The big question is whether I'll be able to dial it up for a 600-yard shot then dial it back down for a 400 yard shot, I guess! And I guess there's really only one way to find out for certain.

-jeff

Jeff, the new style VX2 are decent and the glass is much improved over the old Vari-x 2 lineup. I almost bought that same scope a few months back but got the Elite 4200 4-16x40mm instead. The glass was better on the Elite and the price was about half that of the Leupold. My concern with any Leupold, as has been pointed out, is the tracking and the reticles. A scope like this will usually get its' POA changed a lot and unless the tracking is perfect, you'll be a very unhappy camper. The saving grace is that Leupold is very good about repairs and you'll have it back pronto. The other consideration is that if you don't like it, any gun shop will take it on trade or you can seel it fast without a hassle. With a Bushy or a Burris, maybe not.

Enjoy your scope...I sincerely hope it performs the way you want.

Thanks, EE54.

Well... If an Elite (Bushnell, right?) is really half the money I'll check it out. Everything the gunshop guys were showing me was basically the same price - up around $400- and for that money, I'll go Leupold. If there's something competitive at HALF the price, that changes things.

Hmmm... just went and Google'd Elite 4200's and the one that popped up was $549...?

-jeff

Some choices you can look at:
Leupold VX-II 6-18x40 around $450, Nikon Buckmaster 6-18x40 around $350, Busnell 3200 is 5-15x40 and x50 around $300 and SWIFT 6-18x44 around $200.

I bought a lot of SWIFT scopes to a friend about six weeks ago and topped a Mauser 98 action with a 26 bull barrel in 25-06 AI with the 6-18x44 scope (before it was topped with an AETEC 2.8-10x44) and for the price I'm really satisfied with it but prefer the Nikon or the Leupold.

I have a variety of Vari-X IIc, Vari-X III, VX1, VX2, and VX3 Leupolds. They all seem to work well and I have yet to have a Leupold come apart when mounted on a Ruger 10/22, something I can't say about several other brands. Most of my long range shooting is at pdogs with several different rifles mounted with Vari-X III 6.5-20x40 scopes. With the advent of light weight laser range finders, I don't have any trouble shooting pdogs in the 600+/- neighborhood, as long as the wind isn't gusty. I have a couple of older Vari-X IIc 6-18x40AOs that also work fine and would think that a VX2, with the improved lens coatings, in 6-18x40AO would be work fine out to 600 yards under most non-competative/non-critical shooting situations.

Jeff

The 6-18 Vari-X 11 that I have works well however its kind of big. Now that I have found the Conquests optics and in particular its crosshairs better for my eye I am not buying any more Leu's.

The ten Leu's that I have, with one exception are better than most of the even older scopes here but the Leu uses old technology. So unless Leu. comes up with something that competes with the Conquest I am not buying them any longer.

The last scope in that class that I got is a 4.5-14 Conquest. They have side focus which is much easier to use than an AO.

Hey Savage, I am looking at a Quest 4-14x44mm as well...are you happy with it? Whats' your take on this category...best buy?

Not Savage, I've got a 4.5-14 Conquest mounted on a custom .300 Ultra Mag. Having the AO on the turrent housing is definetly a plus, the "Z" Plex reticle works very well in low light. I sent mine back to Zeiss to have target knobs installed. I bought a 3.5-10 Conquest due to the performance of the 4.5-14 Conquest.

I'm another looking at maybe getting a 4.5x14 conquest or one of the new big sky sightrons. I've got a 4x16 elite that tracks and holds poi perfect,good optics also, forget exactly what it cost now, was around $350. For as many leupy fans as there is out there its getting a lot harder to sell em'...and nobody ever wants to swap a conquest for one. That side focus is pretty nice on the conquest huh?


Got a couple 3.5x10's very nice scopes.....just need one for load development and varmint hunting now. Maybe the 4.5x14 will be the choice.
woods

Yes, the side focus on the Conquest (or the Leupold LRT scopes) is a nice feature. It's quicker/easier to adjust than the type that are on the objective bell.

Wow, look at that!!! Over an hour has gone by since the word Conquest came upin this thread and the Leupie Groupies haven't pounced yet!

Hey AJ, how has the Conquest 4-14 been for you? Any complaints, tracking isses and such? I have a Conquest 3-9x40mm and it has been perfect thus far.

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