I am looking at the 3-18 VX6HD with a firedot classic reticle. The scope will be used on a 223AR as well as an occasional trip out west on a 7 Mag. I didn't start my search with this scope. I was looking at Meopta R2, Zeiss Victory, Swaro Z5, NF NSX 2.5-10x42. All of these scopes can be found for similar money if you are talking used. By similar, I am saying from $1000-1400. This is a lot of money for me for a scope and I really cant line these scopes up in one group to compare. On paper, I keep coming back to the Leupold as it has about everything but I don't think it excels at anything. The new HD seems to address the issues with the regular VX6. However, I still hear some quality control issues. I actually looked at a new HD over the weekend and it had a speck inside the lens. I hunt coyotes at night and it is not legal to use lights. I have a heck of a time picking up the center of the cross hair on moonlit nights on the VX3, and thought the firedot would be the answer. Sorry for the long post. I would like to hear from anyone that has experience with these scopes. Does the firedot go dim enough to not wash out night vision? Maybe the glass is good enough in the Swaro that you don't need an illuminated dot. The leupold is hard to beat on paper. Thanks in advance for any input.