This is tough, for me I have been very satisfied with Leupold, Bushnell Elites and recently (although in marraige phase
) my Burris Sign. Series. For arguements sake I will leave Burris off the list, since our relationships is only 7 months
Leupold make a good product, CS is probably the best in the biz. Not many can argue the turn around of 2 weeks on leupold scope failure. Warranty is lifetime and transferable - very good for orginal owner and awesome for resale value, as well next owner or owners. Product is reliable, optics are good, excellent eye relief, light transmission good and very loyal following. However up here they cost a pretty penny, so they ain' t cheap by no stretch. To me the Varix III is a great hunting scope. But, I also don' t believe the VX 1 or VX II are quality...I am sorry those who disagree. For the money your chucking out for the Loopy name and warranty, my vote would go to the Bushnell Elite series. I mean for the buck there ain' t much better folks. The knock on the elites is weight, eye relief and overall styling (with the 50 objective). Found them to be very clear, bright and in my experience reliable. They now have fast focus models(like zeiss) and rainguard is standard on the 3200 & 4200 models. Pretty impressive for price. Almost all scope have Lifetime warranty now a days, but still only a few offer transferable, like leupold, zeiss, swarovski...that is a big plus. Bushnells CS in my case was outstanding, I had a problem with my elite and they told me to goto the closest dealer and they would fix me up, done! I was very impressed as season was right around the corner.
However since I have a budget I would lean towards a Leupold Vari x III or Zeiss Conquest at this point. (By the way I love my signature series Burris, however it is a bit heavier than the two mentioned and finding them here is pretty hard)
Here is my thoughts:
Higher range scope(price is not an option)
German - Swarovski, S&B, top end Zeiss
Higher range (But price is a ?)
Leupold Varix III
Zeiss Conquest
Medium Range Scope
Bushnell Elite 4200
Low-Medium
Bushnell 3200