Leupold vs. Vortex

[Lee11b]

I got to play with thermals at Fort Irwin, got to witness what they could do from the ground in Iraq, via the AH-64 and the Warthog. PVS 14s aren't bad.....but thermals....a whole new world!!!!

 

[tradertator]

You guys need to knock off the IR and thermal talk, my wallet can't handle it right now I have a feeling that playing with my buddies PVS-14 this winter, is going to turn into an expensive new hobby.

 

[42769vette]

You guys need to knock off the IR and thermal talk, my wallet can't handle it right now I have a feeling that playing with my buddies PVS-14 this winter, is going to turn into an expensive new hobby.

Thats a fact. I have no issues buying expensive equipment if the job calls for it, but Ive bought things since getting into the NV/thermal game that made me cringe. Ive also bought a lot of cheap units, and know they dont work, so I guess its just the price of admission.

 

[LarryC]

I have been collecting and shooting for many years (I'm 73), I have used Leopold, Burris, Weaver, several other less known brands. I have absolutely zero problem recommending Leopold as a great scope. However, My last purchase was a Vortex (mounted on a LR .308) and in my opinion, it is as good a quality as a Leopold costing nearly twice as much! Zero is retained perfectly, glass is very good, adjustments are as good (or better) than Leopold costing much more. I don't think the customer service with Vortex can be beat, although I am just relying on others that have used them, as my scope works perfectly so I have had no reason to contact them.

The May issue of Shooting Times has a comparison of several scopes "The Right Long-Range Riflescope", in this article the author states he uses a Vortex Viper PST 6-24X for his use in long-range cross-country competition. At $1,049 MSRP, its features are compared to 7 other scopes including the Leupold VX-6 4X24X at $1,874.99 MSRP. Interesting read!

 

[Gabriel]

I'm not willing to spend the money on, say a Nightforce and I question when you jump up that much does it become a case of diminishing returns? I don't' know as I have never looked through one.

I'd never looked through any higher end scopes until a couple years ago. A gentleman I was shooting with had some Leica (IIRC) optics. He let me use his binoculars and then look through his rifle scope for a while. I'd been staring through my Leupold all week and the difference between the two was unbelievable. The difference was big enough that I wish I hadn't.

 

[Full Recovery]

You can't just compare brands because each brand has its tier 1,2,3,4,5,6.... levels of price/quality. You do get what you pay for up to a point. Diminishing returns and all of that. You really have to just go to a few stores and look through them and compare.

 

[seedubs1]

You can't just look through them in a store. That won't tell you how they will perform in dawn/dusk conditions, won't tell you about fogging, etc... It also won't tell you how the scope performs. You won't know if the scope will maintain zero, track well, etc...

You can't just compare brands because each brand has its tier 1,2,3,4,5,6.... levels of price/quality. You do get what you pay for up to a point. Diminishing returns and all of that. You really have to just go to a few stores and look through them and compare.