Looking to upgrade scopes and struggling with choosing a scope. Mostly considering the Leupold VX 5HD or Zeiss Conquest V4 (possibly the Nightforce SHV) in the 3-16 power range; will use the turret to dial. I like the weight of the VX5HD...not sure how the glass matches up to the V4? Durability of either? Looking to put on a 6.5 PRC - Will be used to hunt whitetails in the midwest to deer and antelope in the west.
Thanks.
Also considering one of the above mentioned scopes for a bench AR...so weight isn't a concern.
VX5 glass is on par or better than the other scopes mentioned. Its light too, comparatively speaking. I dont "dial" per se but I do use the CDS system and found it to be accurate. I imagine people will come along soon and talk about the lack of tracking of the Leupolds. Especially given the recent thread on it where it didnt track perfectly. I imagine the SHV would fair better.....but the trade-off will be weight. Will likely come down to what is more important to you. For me, it was low light usability and weight. I haven't tested the tracking on any of mine to see how precise they are. All I have are animals on the ground with bullet holes where I wanted them to go. I use VX5/VX6 on 90% of my hunting rifles. I even sold a couple Swaro and Zeiss in lieu of them. I was also factoring cost/value.
Like you even when weight wasnt a concern(on my bench AR) I still went with the VX5 3-15x56, although I did look really hard at the SHV line for that one. The CDS won me over as it makes my life simple.
I think the v4 is the best optically. It’s truly a wow scope to me. Unless proven otherwise I would trust it better with tracking than leupold. I have been wanting to static test a v4 for tracking
I have not had the opportunity to put my hands on a V4 yet. I'm not sure how they compare but but I own 2 Conquest DL's which I like a lot. I did recently look through both the SHV and VX5HD side by side in a shooting store and to me the SHV was the clear winner except for the weight. The SHV was a TANK imo but glass and overall field of view I liked better. I think the VX5HD may have had a tad better eye relief. I'm not sure how to explain it but the SHV just seemed to have a larger sight picture and the edges were very well defined and clear with no blur. The edges on the Leupold were not as clear (which to me) would distort the sight picture at first or last shooting light. BTW I was comparing a 3-15x56 VX5HD to a 4-14X56 SHV.
I have a VX-5HD 2-10, and like it very much so far. Good glass and very good in low light. It was free, so there's no pride factor involved in my opinion. Haven't tested the tracking, but sight-in went as it should, no futzing around needed. It's a nearly perfect scope for here, I think, even though 10x is more than needed. Almost sold it during the peak of the Leupold hating, but I'm glad I didn't now.
If I were spending my own money, and had it, I'd go SHV, no question, because of how they're tested and the deserved reputation. Since you want to dial, that goes double.