Higher End Scope Options

[marine6680]

Been thinking about picking up a higher end scope sometime.

Max magnification 10-15x... I am not doing 1000yd bench shooting, so I do not want really high magnification.

Reticle. Does not need a BDC, but having some MIl or MOA hash markings would be good. Something to make holdovers easy, and allow ranging and the like.

Price... $1000 + or - a few hundred.

Was eying the Leupold VX-6HD and the VX-5HD. Really liked the locking turrets, and the light weight. The VX-6HD had locking windage as well, plus some other nice features. Its at the top end of the price range, assuming a discount code at opticsplanet.

The higher end PST scopes from Vortex were nice, but the scopes were not as nice overall as the Leupold.


Any one have suggestions? Thanks

[eastbank]

if you buy the leupold, you will only have to buy one in your life time as they will repair or replace it and if they can,t fix it or stop making that model they will replace it with a better model. eastbank.

[Don Fischer]

Originally Posted by eastbank

if you buy the leupold, you will only have to buy one in your life time as they will repair or replace it and if they can,t fix it or stop making that model they will replace it with a better model. eastbank.

I know that the same exact thing can be said for Redfield and Nikon. Bet other's too. The so called entry level scope's have come a long way!

[marine6680]

Mostly trying to get a feel for whats out there, and peoples experiences.

I like going over options, and weighing the experiences of others into my choices, along with my experiences and opinions from hands on at the store.

[eastbank]

send your old redfield or old Nikon in and see what happens. I will repeat what I have posted before, I sent a leupold 4x scope over 40 years old in for repair and was sent a new FX11 4x leupold scope # 58530. totally free including postage, let me know how you made out after you send your older scope in from any scope maker today. yesterday grice in pa. was selling 3x9-40 leupolds for 169.00 with their full warrenty, repair-replace with no quastions ask. eastbank.

[Nathan]

Leupold makes a fine product with a good warranty.....they are also known to have turrets not work when driven hard and their coatings tend to make seeing clearly hard for my eyes in a perfectly focused scope. It is a color issue. Their coatings produce a yellow hue to me.

Burris will fix or replace for lifetime. I sent one in and it was fixed. I cannot complain.

Vortex is said to have a great warranty...I may use it someday, but have never.

Nikon same. Never needed it.

That said, all of those scopes have a much more balance color display that let's me see extremely well and comfortably. I have not challenged the turrets hard enough on any of these brands..

I pretty much stick to Burris, Vortex and Nikon.

[std7mag]

Vortex has unlimited life warrenty also.
Drop it in the fire pit.. Covered. Run over it with your truck.. Covered..

I've been looking at Sightron lately. Namely the STAC 4-20X50 with MOA reticle.
The SII series i think has an MOA reticle also.

For some unknown to me reason they are suppossedly a US company that is relatively unheard of here. The Europeans and Aussies LOVE them.

[AlaBusa]

Originally Posted by marine6680

Been thinking about picking up a higher end scope sometime.

Max magnification 10-15x... I am not doing 1000yd bench shooting, so I do not want really high magnification.

Reticle. Does not need a BDC, but having some MIl or MOA hash markings would be good. Something to make holdovers easy, and allow ranging and the like.

Price... $1000 + or - a few hundred.

Was eying the Leupold VX-6HD and the VX-5HD. Really liked the locking turrets, and the light weight. The VX-6HD had locking windage as well, plus some other nice features. Its at the top end of the price range, assuming a discount code at opticsplanet.

The higher end PST scopes from Vortex were nice, but the scopes were not as nice overall as the Leupold.


Any one have suggestions? Thanks

2-12×40 or 3-18x40 VX6.

You do realize these are 30mm tubes at least and can't be had in a 1"tube?

Do not cheap out on mounts.


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[ms6852]

Just to be different, I recommend Sightron, they have a great product and lifetime replacement warranty.

[jmr40]

Leupold is never a bad choice. Particularly with mid priced hunting scopes. But when you get above $500 I think there are better choices. And there are some options under $500 today that will give Leupold a run for the money at that price range.

[MarkCO]

Take a look at the Burris XTRII line. (1-5, 1-8, 2-10, 3-15, 4-20). The are 34 mm tubes, have perfect tracking, are very durable and have a Forever Warranty. For the price point and feature set, can't be beat.

[Troy800]

Leupold is a great choice. I have several. Both my big game rifles have Zeiss Conquest with Rapid Z reticles. Great glass and reticles work great for large game. May be a little above your buget. I got my 5-15 50# with rapid Z for $1200 with a discount. Think the HD5s may be in your price range.

Vortex offers good military and LEO discounts. Zeiss also offers some military discounts.

[marine6680]

2-12×40 or 3-18x40 VX6.

You do realize these are 30mm tubes at least and can't be had in a 1"tube?

Do not cheap out on mounts.

Umm... Yes... I don't go for 1in scopes usually.

Take a look at the Burris XTRII line

Looks nice. Little heavy, but not bad. Nice price.

Leupold is never a bad choice. Particularly with mid priced hunting scopes. But when you get above $500 I think there are better choices

Tell me what they are!

[AlaBusa]

Zeiss, Kahles, Swarovski and Schmidt & Bender to name a few.

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[Nathan]

Zeiss, Kahles, Swarovski and Schmidt & Bender to name a few.

Can you give us a run down on the models you own and shoot in these brands?

[OzeanJaeger]

The optics market is as or more competitive than the firearms market. As was mentioned, even entry level scopes are way better than the best were 40 years ago. In my experience you get what you pay for. Not many marksmen turn their noses at Leopold.

[marine6680]

I'm not as familiar with the real higher end stuff, and the German glass.

I tend to not fuss over scopes until I'm in the market for a new one.

[Nathan]

....Not many marksmen turn their noses at Leopold.

I hate to burst your bubble, but the benchrest guys say the turrets go to crap and require replacement more than the Weaver.

The .mil guys say they can hardly get them deployed before something breaks.

I just think their lens coatings look a bit yellow. Still I rate them as a good optic. If Burris, Vortex, and Nikon ever stop making scopes, I'll give them a try.

If somebody could show me how spending over the $2500 for the Vortex top model gets bullets on targets better, I might look at the super high end stuff. Frankly, I'm pretty happy stopping my budget at Burris XTR II.....wish it was still US made.

[Nathan]

The higher end PST scopes from Vortex were nice, but the scopes were not as nice overall as the Leupold.

Sorry to ask.....can you explain this. I truly don't understand...would like to..optical quality? Warranty? Weight? Field of view? Some intangible? Color?

To be clear, I think Leupold makes a great 1" or 30mm basic hunting scope in 3-9 or 4-14 sizes.

[Jim Watson]

My Leupolds are good scopes EXCEPT that the side "focus" is very coarse and makes it hard to get the reticle in focus and parallax out at the same time.
I know side focus is very tackytickle, but this one does not do the job.

My LR friend is a staunch Nightforce aimer. Just got an ATACR with lots of elevation to support him in the mile shooting club he joined. But for say 1200 yards, he uses their Benchrest scope with adjustable objective. I would too.

[ocharry]

might give the Sig Sauer scopes a look,,,nice glass,,life time warranty

i have a couple and they are pretty impressive ,,,the ones i have are the whiskey line,,,think i may have to try the Tango line some day,,,those are the higher end ,,,,may be just what you are looking for,,,lots of nice features too,,,zero set,,and stop,,,you should give them a look

my .02

ocharry

[marine6680]

Sorry to ask.....can you explain this. I truly don't understand...would like to..optical quality? Warranty? Weight? Field of view? Some intangible? Color?

The glass wasn't as nice, the turrets didn't feel as nice to move. Stuff like that.

Not that they were bad, but that they just didn't seem as nice overall.

[TXAZ]

I have a Steiner T5Xi, an excellent scope out of Europe. The little brother of this one can be had in your price range, (look at gunbroker, amazon and ebay) which is similar without the higher magnification you indicated you don't need.

[OzeanJaeger]

Huh, no one uses Leopold in the matches I go to either, but as soon as that MK VIII comes out that may change. I haven't seen one yet.

I don't shoot benchrest, so I don't know what they say, but I know lots of guys who shoot NRA High power who have been shooting Leopold for longer than I've been alive. I know it's also the choice of a lot of hunters who could afford anything they wanted.

I have Leopolds on several hunting rifles (non-turret) and they seem very high quality to me. I know nothing about their turret scopes. I have NF, Vortex, and Kahles on my comp rifles. That said, I am not a fan of FFP scopes for hunting at all. I much prefer a SFP scope with a normal sized reticle, because 95% of the time I'm on the lowest power with the highest field of view. FFP scopes get too small for me on the low power, and I find it really annoying. Of course, SFP almost doesn't work for 10 shots in 90 seconds from 300-1200 yards.

[reynolds357]

Meopta, Meopta, and Meopta.