In your opinion, which brands track the best? I have had some Leupolds that have been all over the place and some cheaper scopes that did well. Just wondering what your opinion is. By the way, not all my Leupolds had problems.

In the span of 40-some years I've owned and used a lot of scopes. Some cheap ones and some not-so-cheap respected names.

The best "tracker" I've experienced is a K-Mart type Bushnell 4X. It tracked perfectly when new, and it still does today. I've owned it for over 30 years....still in use today.

The others? They all seem kinda "moody". Sometimes they'll track good, sometimes not so good.

I'm currently wanting to buy some respected brand 3-12X variable priced not over $600....that tracks good _ALL_ the time. All the time!! This to go on a hunting 30-06 weighing 9-10 pounds.

FjLee in Denver CO

For Cheaper scopes Weavers with micro-trac system. Classics, T's, and K's.

For more expensive scopes I like NF.

That said, I own mostly Leupys......

Nightforce.

SWFA SS has been very accurate thus far.

Leupold VX 3s have been stellar for me.

That is a group at a little over 1 Mile in front of a few guys and in some pretty tough conditions.




About 60 MOA of elevation and 25 MOA of wind.

I have never owned a Zeiss of any stripe that did not track perfectly. I have never owned a Zeiss that once adjusted needed to be shot or tapped to settle in.

I have.

I love my 4 Conquest scopes, but wouldn't trust them a bit for spinning turrets. Was out just last week with one of my 4.5-14s and had it act similar to my others: 250yd POI 3" high, 2" rt, move 3 clicks left and 5 clicks down. Next shot moved 5" down and stayed 2" rt. 2 clicks up, 2 more left. Next shot level with bull, but 2.5" left. Move 2 clicks back rt, next 3 zeroed. That was with a very accurate rifle, just swapped load and needed to reset zero. BTW, I was bumping the scope all over with my palm out of habit with each move. Same story with my other Conquest as well, adjustments not close to advertised and sometimes need a settling shot. The main thing is they stay put when finally there, so I'm cool with it. I wouldn't spin turrets on any of my Conquest and feel confident with where the next round is going. Maybe the newer Zeiss lines are a diff story.

My Weaver T-Series always go exactly where I dial them. The Micro-Trac works as advertised.

Leupolds are very good for the money.

But if you asked for the absolute best, I would have to go with a Schmidt&Bender PMII.

Zeiss turrets suck, plain and simple...........

nightforce is the best tracker I have seen. leupold hasn't worked that great for me and have been hit and miss. I will never ever trust a leupold to twist turrets on.

I've had a few Conquests and all tracked perfectly, and I love their turrets. Different strokes...Leupolds are a joke.

I have yet to own a scope that I would trust the tracking on. That includes Leupold (the worst), Zeiss, Burris, Weaver, Redfield, Bushnell. Burris has, as a manufacture been the best at tracking for me, but those 1/4 minute clicks aren't.

Just helped a friend set up a new Swarovski Z3 4-12 with Ballistic turret last weekend and the tracking was shockingly bad.

I know many of you are turret spinners and I'm sure you have great results, but I've never witnessed it. I would really like to use a scope that would make repeated, precise adjustments. I guess I will have to wait until I break down and buy S&B or NF!

The SWFA SS stuff has tracked flawlessly for me. So has Nightforce and a Bushnell DMR.

All my Leupolds have tracked consistently, but the adjustment values have been all over the board. I mostly moved on from Leupold as I've had too much trouble with them shifting POI.

weaver micro trak

Ed

Sightron SIII series at or under $1000
Nightforce over $1000

Don't trust anything else and that includes Zeiss and Swarovski, Leupold.

Weaver Micro-Trak system seems to work.

But then again, old friction Leupolds have done fine for me also, even if the values don't always come out as exactly 1/4".

It seems to me that some folks have an easier time in life getting things to work well; others can't get anything to go quite right. I wonder why?

Remember when competitive "Silhouette Shooting" was popular? Those folks didn't usually "hold off/up" for the various targets/distances. They twirled turrets.

Musta been somewhat repeatable and accurate for them. I know that Redfield made a dedicated "silhouette scope" at that time.

The scopes that were popular with the contestants.......I wonder how the respective manufacturers achieved that popularity?

FjLee Denver CO

I agree with Micro-Trac Weavers. Problem is that they haven't been made in thirty something years. My click Leupolds have been pretty easy to adjust, but I do not (at least not yet) spin dials. Once set, they do seem to stay put.

Not a gun writer, just an old fart with a bit of experience.

Jack

I have shot silhoutte competition for a few years now . Optics for this game need to be very repeatable. resonably light weight (the heaveist gun you can run is 10#2oz. ) and the sport is dominated by Leupold, than a number of weavers followed by sightrons and elite 4200's followed by a mesh mash of other stuff.yes you will see a few NF . but they are heavy when you get to the 20+ X

I also shoot silhouette. As mentioned, Leupolds dominate. You also see Nikon's, old Weaver T's and Redfields.

Not very qualified to speak on this one, but I'll add my .02.

Been using Leupolds for 30 years. Never been impressed with their tracking. Been VERY aggravated at times as I'm a perfectionist. Once tried a Swaro about a decade ago.....was equally unimpressed plus the parallax sent it back to the factory and then I dumped it.

Bought 2 Zeiss Conquests 1.5 years ago. One is on a .338 RUM and the other is on a .375 H&H getting ready for an Africa trip one of these years (both are 3.5x10-44mm).

Both of these Zeiss Conquests are by far the best tracking scopes I've ever owned, no question.

Me neither...

PH

also one might want to remember that leupold, tasco, NF, bushnell , ect most companies make different quilty of scopes to certian price points so a high end bushnell may very well be better than say a leupold rifleman

Exactly. One of the most repeatable scopes I have is a Leupold Mark 4 10x. Have also had very good luck with recent VX-3's and the Leupold fixed-powers with the same basic erector/adjustment system, as well as the VX-6's. Also had very good luck with a VX-2 3-9x40 for several years, until it didn't work so well when sighting-in the rifle for hunting season. Right now it's back at Leupold.

Right now have a Bushnell Elite Tactical 10x on one rifle, and it's adjustments are dead-nuts repeatable. Have had excellent luck with one Weaver Super Slam 3-15x, and a Vortex Viper 4-16x.

One of the other questions aside from repeatable, accurate adjustments is how the long the scope will go before the adjustments aren't so repeatable--as in the VX-2 3-9x mentioned earlier.

The one Nightforce I've owned was dead-nuts, but it was larger model topping out at 22x that I couldn't imagine hauling around on a hunting rifle, though it worked fine for distant varmints. One of the best I've tested in a hunting-size scope is my Schmidt & Bender Summit 2.5-10x. Have been meaning to test one of the SWFA Super Sniper scopes but haven't gotten around to it yet, but like the Nightforces they're pretty heavy.

Most Swarovskis I've used have pretty good adjustments. Zeisses have varied some, but recent models have been pretty good, including Conquests and the one Terra I've tested.

One of the best was a 4x Bushnell cheapie that came as a package deal on a Ruger 77 .30-06 I bought from a store during a pre-season sale in 1983. It adjusted perfectly. My cousin has had it on his .30-06 for 20 years now and it still works perfectly. The optics aren't Zeiss, but they're good enough to kill most Montana deer and elk.

I've got a Vortex Diamondback that is horrific. Two clicks to the right may be right on, but then bring it back and it's 6 clicks off. Just brutal chasing shots.

I've got a Burris that is pretty dang good.

Here is the funny thing, one of my Redfields is on the money every time no matter what, but I've got a VX3 that you have to bang with a 4lb sledge to assure adjustment.

I can tolerate some tracking issues as my scopes are all for hunting and none are in the elite price point. But Lord, some just suck if you have to twist the turret.

I shoot silhouette and use a Leupold FX-111 12X that I bought second hand here on the 'fire. When I got it the tracking was a joke so I called Leupold and the man I talked to said they would fix it so I sent it in. It wasn't any better when I got it back. I shot a few matches with it hoping that it would settle down. It didn't get any better so I called Leupold again and asked what I had to do to get them to fix it so it would work for silhouette. He said, "Oh, you shoot silhouette! Send it in!" Well, guess what? They fixed it! They replaced all the adjusting mechanism in it and it tracks beautifully now. Unfortunately it still doesn't turn misses into hits. Maybe I'll call them again!

I have a Leupold VX-11 3-9 that tracks so well it's scary. I would put a turret on it if it had better glass in it. I have one of the close-out Conquests that I am going to test thoroughly. If it tracks I am going to have a turret put on it.

Sightron Big sky is good

Sold all five of my Leupolds due to tracking issues. Now I have one Nightforce and several Vortex Viper PST's that all track perfectly. No problems cranking them out to 1000 yds. and back to 100.