I NEED a scope for my wife's new rifle! Which one should I get??? Leupold or Vortex!

Originally Posted By: CaliCoyoteCaller

How would you compare your Diamond back to your VX111 in clarity and quality? If you had to choose 1 to hunt with, which one would you choose?


two different worlds of scope. the vxIII is over double the price point of the diamondback - we're talking a $200 scope vs a $550+ scope. vxIII wins hands down ... especially in the clarity at distance stuff.



when i was comparing the two companies - i meant to suggest more of a side by side of scopes that are priced about the same cost. the diamondbacks to like a vxI, and the vxIII to something in the viper line.



for my use - hunting in the woods with distances of around 100-125 yds as my top shooting distance the diamondback more than gets the job done when it comes to its dawn dusk performance. i have the 4-12x40 (non AO) it shoots respectably well at 200 yds punching paper. i dunno if it'd be enough scope for precision work at 300+, but i'm betting it could do minute of groundhog type performance at that range.

i think they're a nice 'working grade' scope. a scope that gets the job done, but you're not worried about scuffing the finish while crossing a fencerow like you would be with something really nice like your prized vxIII.


my VXIII is one of my i want to play long scopes. and my intent is to do the same with the 6.5-20x44 viper i just got this winter. IN fact its going to end up on my 308 and replace the VX III which is only a 14x max so that the 550 yd field at the farm is a little easier to work on. as long as my 1:7 WOA 20" barreled upper that's in buildout even give me an inkling of being a shooter, the vxIII will end up there.

my 204, blackout and 16" 223 upper all wear various versions of the diamondback. My vxI is on my 450 bushmaster.
 
I've owned both Vortex and Leupold's, the Leup VX3, now VX3i 4.5-14x50mm 30mm SF with Mil-Dot is my favored scope out of everything I've ever owned or tried.

I've yet to have owned a Vortex which impressed me, but have owned several which have let me down. Not necessarily bad scopes, just nothing to write home about. They last a while for me, then I end up selling them and buying the Leupold I should have bought in the first place. I'd rather have a Bushnell than a Vortex, for that matter.
 
I think the OP was asking for options between a Leupold VXII and Vortex Viper, in his first post. Granted there is a world of difference between the VXIII and Diamondback.

This thread has morphed in several directions. The OP doesn't provide much information about himself or wife, or how along they have been together. What if he began hunting as a teenager and hunted only with a shotgun or a hand me down rifle for those twenty years. What if he is in his early 30's and recently married. He said he had just bought his wife a CZ 527 in .223. Sounds like this maybe her first gun, so she could be young. If it were a young family would you advise spending the cost of a VXIII on a scope for a wife. How offend or long would she use it? What happens when children come along and school activities and etc. A lot of ifs here.

I think of my own experience. As a kid I grew up with air rifles. I began hunting fox and groundhogs at 12 years old in CT, in 1960. I used a .218 Bee which I reload for, built on a Winchester low wall action which I put a Lyman 6X scope on it. I also loaded .38 specials for the local police in the back of a gun shop from 12 to 18 years old. During that time I hunted deer in NH and Maine and took three bucks. After HS I went to college and then did 28 years in the military. After HS for 24 years I didn't have much time for hunting and shooting, my two most favorite activities. I didn't keep up with scope development. They were mostly on hold. My last 9 years of service were in Germany and Alaska and I hunted a lot. I started buying rifles and put only VARX-IIIs on them. I've been retired since 97 and have had a lot of time to catch up on shooting and hunting.
 
I shot more coyotes in my younger years with a Remington 788 and a $29.95 Bushnell scope then now with my fancier equipment.

I've come to the conclusion the best way to kill more coyotes is to spend more time hunting them, not in front of a computer screen or at Cabela's.

My odds of killing a coyote with a slingshot in the mountains is far greater than my current location..at home pecking away..(and staring at my Rock River ATH!)
 
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Not sure about the viper but I had a diamond back and the eye relief was crappy at higher end magnification. Maybe the vipers are different. Never have owned a Luleupold so can't say anything about them
 
Originally Posted By: JeepyjerYou need to settle down with the name calling....

Dont call me a liar, and there wouldnt be name calling. If you were to call me a liar to my face, and not over an internet forum, youd have more than a few names to deal with. I dont lie and Im not a liar, and when someone refers to me as a tale barer, they will have trouble to reckon with...no brag, just fact....I dont have time to deal with immature, internet ninjas that run their mouth from a keyboard. Where I am from, if I ran my mouth, I had better be prepared to raise my fist cause You'd get the crap knocked out of you you in a hurry. Again, just fact.
 
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In respect to those men who offered helpful advice and much appreciated input, Ill tell you what we purchased....I went to a local store, and looked at/through a Leupold VX111, a Vortex Viper and a Burris Predator Quest....We took the scopes outside and looked at various distances and details, and to my surprise and in my eye and the eye of the store clerk, the VX111 did not offer the clearest sight picture. I was SHOCKED to say the least when I looked through the Burris. Probably one of the most clear scopes Ive ever looked through. It blew me away..That being said, I bought the Burris. The clarity was VERY IMPRESSIVE. Here is a link to the scope I purchased. Thanks for all the input and help guys.

http://www.burrisoptics.com/scopes/preda...ope-4.5-14x42mm
 
Originally Posted By: xphunterI really, really like the Burris XTR-II's, but they were not part of the original question.

You are right, I never mentioned Burris beause quite honestly, I never considered them...Until another member sent me a PM and recommended I take a look at them. Boy, Im glad I did....I was overly impressed by the clarity and features of Burris. From what I read, and see, they appear to be great scopes at a reasonable price. It appears to be more clear than the Leupold and Vortex I compared it to. I was SHOCKED.
 
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Originally Posted By: xphunterI have three XTR-II's and will be adding a fourth in the near future.

If you have 3 of them, you must be a Burris Fan.....them seem to be great optics, esp for the money. Im excited about receiving my Predator Quest Burris.
 
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