Leupold Vs. Vortex

[Big_Sloppy75]

To give a brief introduction, I am looking to buy a scope for a savage .308, and am planning to shoot at long ranges. Ideally, I'm looking at scopes with max ranges of 16-20. My question is, which company offers better glass, and which have you had better experiences with? Another question I hope to hear from you all, is how big of an objective should I be looking at buying? I have a pretty good idea of what reticle I want, but am definitely open to your thoughts! Price range is around 1500

 

[MCMXI]

You can buy a nice Viper PST Front Focal along with some quality rings for well under $1,500.

http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-viper-pst-6-24x50-ffp-riflescope-with-ebr-1-moa-reticle

I own optics from Swarovski, Nightforce, Premier, Leupold, Vortex, Zeiss and Aimpoint and feel that you'd be hard pressed to buy a more feature packed scope for the money. I have a couple of the PST scopes and like them a lot.

 

[Big_Sloppy75]

Thanks for the input. Vortex seems to be a fast growing company, but with the lifetime warranty and other good features I understand why.

 

[taliv]

shooting at "long ranges" is not a requirement in and of itself. it may have implications depending on a number of things.

what matters is...

what type of targets are you shooting?
will you have to search for the targets before you see them? will they be furry or camo'd or high contrast white/black paper/steel?
do you need to be able to identify a face? or count the points on antlers? or determine if something is male or female?
how fast do you need to shoot them?
are you shooting just one (e.g. NRA F-center bullseye) multiple times, or switching around to lots of different types?
what conditions will you be shooting in? rain? dark? extreme heat/cold?
are you shooting alone or will you have a spotter/teammate?
is anyone shooting back at you?
how far do you expect to carry the rifle?

that sort of info will determine whether you need features like
adjustable objective vs side focus
appropriate magnification range
type of reticle
type of turrets and turret features
size of objective
size of tube
etc

 

[MCMXI]

And after you've read through taliv's list and answered all of the questions, add a Vortex PST Front Focal 4-16 or 6-24x50mm to your cart. Don't forget the throw lever as well which makes magnification changes really easy.

http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-switchview-throw-lever-sv-1

In all seriousness, you can't go far wrong for an MSRP of around $1,150. I prefer the mil/mil 4-14x50mm model over the 6-24x50mm but either are good all around scopes.

 

[taliv]

but if by "long range" i meant "shooting F-TR" for the same $, a nightforce benchrest 12-42x with an NP-2DD reticle would be a much better choice

if by "long range" i meant "everything from PRS matches to p-dogs" yeah, go with the PST or a bushnell HDMR 3-17x or 4-27x

 

[Ks5shooter]

Go American with Leupold great customer service if you ever need it. I had a 20 year old scope that needed to be fixed. Parts were no longer available and Leupold replaced the scope with current model of same configueration. Just bought my 25th Leupold scope 6.5-20 30mm VX-3 40 mm. Go with a larger tube rather than objective IMHO. Never been disappointed with Leupold and many years in the business.

 

[MCMXI]

but if by "long range" i meant "shooting F-TR" for the same $, a nightforce benchrest 12-42x with an NP-2DD reticle would be a much better choice

if by "long range" i meant "everything from PRS matches to p-dogs" yeah, go with the PST or a bushnell HDMR 3-17x or 4-27x

Good points. Given the OPs budget of $1500 one of those HDMRs would be a great choice if he's interested in PRS style matches. I seem to remember that you have one of those.

Go American with Leupold

Once maybe but not any more. They outsource many aspects of their products.

Talking of Vortex, they introduced the 100% American made RAZOR HD AMG at the SHOT show this year.

 

[Big_Sloppy75]

Well really, I don't paper punch currently, and haven't even bought my rifle. By long range, I mean around 800 yards confidantly, in fair conditions. I live in the middle of nowhere in Colorado, so I have lots of space but a long way from any competition so I don't need the absolute best on the market. I'm also planning on using it as a backup rifle for hunting, so I'd like it to be solid in a low light situation. I won't generally have a spotter, and I sincerely hope nobody is shooting back at me haha.

 

[BigBore45]

Look at SWFA

 

[Big_Sloppy75]

Wow. Thanks BigBore. Those are incredible prices

 

[Ks5shooter]

[/QUOTE]Talking of Vortex, they introduced the 100% American made RAZOR HD AMG at the SHOT show this year. [/QUOTE]



$3200 msrp buy for $2700 over his budget of $1500.

 

[Ks5shooter]

From Leupold website...

Leupold & Stevens is a fifth generation, family owned company that has been in business for 102 years and employs over 600 American workers. All Leupold Golden Ring® Riflescopes are designed, machined, assembled, and tested in Leupold’s state of the art manufacturing facility in Beaverton, Oregon, USA. Leupold uses over one million pounds of aluminum, amounting to over 100 miles of extrusion, in its facility every year and has the largest installation of Index Turning Centers West of the Mississippi River. The current average tenure of Leupold’s all-American workforce is approximately eleven years, with the longest tenured employees being on staff for over four decades.

Leupold & Stevens pioneered such ubiquitous technologies as waterproof scopes, side focus parallax adjustment, compact riflescopes, and the Duplex® reticle. Each Leupold Golden Ring Riflescope model, from the least expensive Rifleman® to the industry leading VX-7™ must pass Leupold’s uniquely punishing durability testing, which no other competitive scope brand or model has ever consistently passed, regardless of price or country of origin. Leupold’s Golden Ring Lifetime Guarantee is the standard by which all other customer service agreements in the sports optics industry are judged, and is the industry leader today, after over 60 years in use.

Leupold uses foreign sourced components for some parts of Golden Ring products, primarily lenses. This is because at this time, there is no American manufacturer that can supply the quantity of high quality lenses that Leupold needs for its annual Golden Ring Optics production. Leupold’s lens systems are designed at Leupold, by American optical engineers, in its state-of -the-art optics lab and then procured from outside vendors who must meet stringent quality standards.

Incoming parts are carefully inspected in our testing facility before they are accepted into the assembly process. Incidentally, all major optics producers worldwide acquire some or all of their glass from the same sources as Leupold. Some of these sources are located domestically, some are European, and some are Asian. Leupold has acquired its lenses this way for over 50 years.

As Frederick Leupold said: “The Customer is entitled to a square dealâ€. These are the words Leupold has lived by for over a century and continues to live by today.

 

[MCMXI]

$3200 msrp buy for $2700 over his budget of $1500.

That's why I suggested Vortex PST models in my first post.

 

[RainDodger]

I went through exactly what you're doing. I needed a scope for a Rock River LAR-8 (.308) and I wanted the same thing you do - a good quality scope. I already knew pretty much what I wanted, so I compared 2 scopes, side by side on the same trip to the range.

One was a Leupold Mark 4, 8.5-25X, M1, illuminated reticle and the other was a Vortex (can't remember the model but it was NOT their top of the line) with a max magnification of 16X. It is noteworthy that the Vortex was just over half the price of the Leupold. Both scopes look and feel like they're really nice quality instruments.

I did the "box test" with both scopes. Both performed excellently and returned to the initial point of impact very well. I had no issues with the turrets on either scope. Both were bright and clear. I noted one thing about the Leupold that I liked better than the Vortex, and I've verified that it is also a factor with their other scopes I've looked at....
I've found that (in my opinion) the eye relief is more forgiving on the Leupold. It's not quite so critical that the scope is mounted EXACTLY where you need it to be in order to get a full-field-view through the eyepiece. With the Vortex, it seemed as if your eye had very little front-to-rear movement available while still getting the full picture. The Leupold wasn't so critical in that regard and I found it nicer to use because of that. I could get a little more comfortable behind the Leupold because I could move around a little more.

All that being said, at just over half the cost of the Leupold, the Vortex is one heckuva scope for the money. I know from personal experience that their warranty is just as good as Leupold's so that's no factor in the decision. If I was "pinching my pennies" as they say, I would not hesitate to get a Vortex and I know I'd be happy with it. In my particular case I was able to get what I had wanted for a long, long time, and I bought the Leupold Mark 4. It's just a personal thing... I have almost all Leupold scopes with the exception of one Zeiss.... and one Vortex on a .17HMR.

A friend has a Vortex Razor front focal plane scope and he really likes it a lot - there's not much NOT to like about it. I think you'll be good with either scope. With the Leupold, you're going to be paying a bit for the name, but you also get an excellent scope out of it.

Edit! - Vortex has a cool deal that not many people know about. It's a law enforcement OR military (active AND retired!) discount.... 30% OFF MSRP if you order it directly from Vortex. You have to prove your status with a copy of a DD-214 technically, but usually a photocopy of your military ID will suffice. It's a good deal and usually works out to be somewhat less than you can find the same scope online for. To get this deal, find a phone number or email address on their web site and contact them directly.

 

[Nature Boy]

I chose the Leupold Mk 4 LRT 4.5-14x50mm for my .308. It's a great scope and I paid around $830 for it.

 

[farmerboy78]

I vote VORTEX! !! I have 3; a razor gen 1, a pst ffp, and an hst... all 3 are amazing scopes at their pricepoints. I will also look at swfa and ior

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Leupold....They have been in business a very long time....Vortex has not....Leupolds warranty reputation speaks for itself.

If you hold onto a Leupold long enough, you can sell it and get your money back easily.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

both have equally good warrantees. I prefer the lower line vx1 to the lower line diamondback. Any farther up the price scale they are pretty much equal. Resale value definitely favor the leupolds if that's a concern.

 

[cdb1]

The first thing you ought to do is look through both brands of scopes in the same price range. If you see better through one-and you almost certainly will- that is the one you purchase.

I've owned several Vipers, they went down the road, I still have Leupold. For me Leupolds have better eye relief as mentioned above and better glass. In low light Leupold blows Vortex out of the water to my eyes.

 

[Mike C2]

You guys do funny math. $1500 plus $2700 is $4200...

I recently bought a Leupold VX-3 LR with the fine duplex reticle in the SFP, 6.5-20x40 with 30mm tube. It may not be the latest and greatest, but is a really nice piece of glass that should excel at longer distances. Even better it rang up at $485!

 

[HKGuns]

Leupold, easy choice.

 

[Ks5shooter]

I recently bought a Leupold VX-3 LR with the fine duplex reticle in the SFP, 6.5-20x40 with 30mm tube. It may not be the latest and greatest, but is a really nice piece of glass that should excel at longer distances

I just put the same listed above with side focus on my Ruger Precision Rifle and it awesome.

 

[Casefull]

The glass in the lower end leupolds has improved noticeably the past few years...ie vx1 glass is like vx2 used to be. I have some low end vortex that have amazing glass. I only hunt with leupold because they are generally lighter in wt than competition and have never lost zero for me.

 

[tarosean]

Leupold..

FWIW I just chunked my Vortex Viper in the trash Sunday... When youre that pissed, you dont care about a warranty. (Lost zero on a 22LR, wouldnt adjust back, then jumped all over the place)