Leupold VX7*L* experience?

mtnkid85

mtnkid85

Member
Hello gang,

Something Id eventually like to invest in is a higher end scope. This would be for a dedicated Coyote rifle that might see the occasional Pdog town.

I like the idea of a Large light gathering obj. for low light/night calling, so this has really narrowed me down to two scopes.

The Nightforce NXS 3.5-15-56 and the Leupold VX7L 4.5-18-56.

Now there is plenty of opinions and information out for the NF, but I cant find hardly anything on the Leupold, especially the "L" version with the strange cut out to allow for lower mounting.

Pricing wise they are similiar, the Leupold might be a bit more spendy- but it comes with rings.
Leupold has a 34mm body- which should give it the edge in the low light departement, correct?
NFs 30mm body absolutely gives it the edge in the ring options department though.
I would like to buy used- Im not rich by any means, so saving money is important, I see alot more used NFs for sale than the Leupold VX7Ls...

So what experiences have you guys had with the Leupold scope?
 
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No experience with NightForce but it it costs about the same as a VX7 I would guess it would have to be a great scope ot they would not sell very many.

Once you get to the VXII the Leupolds are great scopes. By the time you get to the VXL or VX7 they are fantastic! Lots of used Leupolds on ebay. I have never looked for NightForce. Just search "Leupold" on ebay and you will find lots and lots of Leupold scopes.
 
Sumrifle,

Yes there are alot of Leupolds on ebay, but type in VX7/VXL or any variation of that and youll see there isnt much available used... lol.

Im not so much looking for experience on Leupold in general as I am specifically for the upper end VX7s and the "Extended Twilight lens system" compared to other high end optics.

I guess I should also add this is more of a "Im broke as [beeep] rightnow-shouldbeworkingonschoolworkbutam day dreaming of guns instead" kind of question. Ill likely not make this purchase tell next summer when work picks up again.
 
comparing a leupold to a nightforce is an insult to nightforce. now, before all the leupold guys start whining, let me say that i have never had a problem with a leupolds performance. other than the fact they are way overpriced for what you get. nightforce uses better glass,clicks are repetable every time, stronger tube, the list goes on.
i would suggest you go to an f-class match and see which brand is on most guns on the firing line. competitive shooters rely on repetability, durability, and clarity. for the money nightforce can't be beat.
 
"Leupold has a 34mm body- which should give it the edge in the low light departement, correct?"

No!
Tube diameter has absolutely no effect on light transmission. Light transmission is determined by:
Objective diameter.
Quality of lenses.
Power. More power = less light.

Jack
 
Originally Posted By: Jack Roberts"Leupold has a 34mm body- which should give it the edge in the low light departement, correct?"

No!
Tube diameter has absolutely no effect on light transmission. Light transmission is determined by:
Objective diameter.
Quality of lenses.
Power. More power = less light.

Jack
But given they both have 56mm objectives, wont the scope with the larger body gather more light?
Quality of lenses- this I am very interested in which scopes have better quality lenses? Ive read a few reviews stating that NFs clarity isnt "the end all be all"... ???
Power- this I understand, and I also understand Im comparing two scopes of different magnifications. I dont want to step up to the 5.5-22 NF, but I would really prefer the 4.5-18 power of the Leupold. So sure the 4.5x might gather less light than the 3.5x.

Originally Posted By: sumriflehttp://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=leupold...6.c0.m270.l1313
123 results for "Leupold VX7

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=nightfo...6.c0.m270.l1313
297 results for "Nightforce scope"

Not tring to start anything here, but the whole reason we brought up the ebay thing was for the USED market... of those 123 scopes you got in your search how many of those are used? Again, Im just saying Id prefer to buy used to save a few bucks- Ive seen more NF NXSs than I have Leupold VX7Ls.

PS guys, thanks for the responses. I enjoy hearing from those of you in the know.
 
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Originally Posted By: rwcathuntercomparing a leupold to a nightforce is an insult to nightforce. now, before all the leupold guys start whining, let me say that i have never had a problem with a leupolds performance. other than the fact they are way overpriced for what you get. nightforce uses better glass,clicks are repetable every time, stronger tube, the list goes on.
i would suggest you go to an f-class match and see which brand is on most guns on the firing line. competitive shooters rely on repetability, durability, and clarity. for the money nightforce can't be beat.

If comparing a Leupold to Nightforce is an insult to Nightforce the comparing Nightforce to Swarovski or Zeiss is blasphemy.
 
Originally Posted By: rwcathuntercomparing a leupold to a nightforce is an insult to nightforce. now, before all the leupold guys start whining, let me say that i have never had a problem with a leupolds performance. other than the fact they are way overpriced for what you get. nightforce uses better glass,clicks are repetable every time, stronger tube, the list goes on.
i would suggest you go to an f-class match and see which brand is on most guns on the firing line. competitive shooters rely on repetability, durability, and clarity. for the money nightforce can't be beat.

I've got a somewhat lower opinion of Nightforce. Their glass is pretty good but doesn't come close to European glass in brightness, contrast or clarity. SWFA rates them the same as Bushnell Elite 6500, Leupold VX-7, IOR Valdada, & Vortex Razor.

Their turrents are better than many but IMO aren't as good as S&B, IOR, Premier & USO. A friend who is a USMC sniper school instructor at Quantico told me after 2-3 weeks of dialing a Nightforce the turret adjustments are shot. If NF was all that a lot more real life snipers would be using them.
 
i agree austrian glass is the best i've looked through. the op was asking about leupold and nightforce so that's where my reply was directed. if the op asked what was the best scope money could buy? i would have said get a march. s&b, uso, and swarovski are all at a much higher pricepoint than upper end leupold or nightforce and i agree that they are better all around scopes but you need to spend another $1000 to buy one.
as for having problems with turret adjustments on a nf all i can say is i've put 4000 rounds through my target rifles in the past couple years dialing between 300-600 yards and my nf [br model] has perfomed like a champ.
check out some of the stress tests the snipershide crew have done on scopes and you will see what a nf can take and still function.
for me it all comes down to getting the most bang for the buck in whatever price range your buying in. for under $1800 which is alot for me, imo you can't beat nightforce.
if you want to support a company that does business with china buy a leupold.
 
I can't really comment on how the two compare because I don't have any experience with the VX7's but I would imagine that NF would give you the best in terms of resale. Regardless of what you think of NF (particularly the NXS) they have a cult like following and they bring good money on the back end. I have two used NXS's that I paid through the nose for... Good scopes but in my opinion are on par with some of the midrange Swarovski stuff (Z5).

I had a VX3L for a while and really liked the scope. Mine was the 50mm version and did not have a side focus or I would have kept it for my primary deer rifle, as it is I replaced it with a Bushnell 6500 and I'm pleased with the current scope.
 
Originally Posted By: Ghostman


Their turrents are better than many but IMO aren't as good as S&B, IOR, Premier & USO. A friend who is a USMC sniper school instructor at Quantico told me after 2-3 weeks of dialing a Nightforce the turret adjustments are shot. If NF was all that a lot more real life snipers would be using them.

Do you own any of these high end scopes or used any of them?

IMO, NF turrets are better then IOR and USO. My USO had some pretty mushy turrets, heck, my Leupold tactical had better turrets then the one USO I owned. Played with one IOR and I and a buddy wasn't impressed at all at the range.

S&B turrets are VERY nice.

I have yet to had a chance to play with Premier myself.


This is the first problem I've heard of that the NF turrets failing after 2-3 weeks of dialing...
 
Ghostman A friend who is a USMC sniper school instructor at Quantico told me after 2-3 weeks of dialing a Nightforce the turret adjustments are shot. If NF was all that a lot more real life snipers would be using them. [/quote said:
I'd love to see this posted on Snipers Hide .
crazy.gif
Click to expand...
 
I've had the nightforce scope and it was a very very nice scope. I didn't need the target turrets so I changed over the the vx-7 for that reason more than any, as I am bad about packing my guns int the front of the pick up bewtween the consol and the seat. So I prefer the regular type turrets. You can't go wrong with either scope both are fantastic scopes. I just got a new sxarvoski z6 in 5-30 and wow!! just my .02.
 


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