every leupold I've owned, finish has been poor, vx-i, vx-ii, I mostly have vx-iii,

knobs are hard to turn, ie the mag adjustment, on 1 I'm gonna have to send it back, it's ridiculous!

quality control must not be what it once was or they just don't care anymore.

even my vx-III's while easier to turn adjust are rougher.

compared to my conquests which are like swaros compared to a leupold IMO, everything is tight, compact, smooth,

I've never had eye relief problems with any of my scopes.... I'm not sure how much more a leupold 4.5-14x40 has over a 4.5-14x44 conquest, I assume it's less than 1/2"

Nikons aren't aesthetically looking as the leupolds IMO, but at least the finish, quality control seems higher.

I would say a conquest is closer to a swaro, where as a leupold is closer to a nikon, with a large gap in between the two camps.

So yup, I've bought my last leupold.

of course when I buy my 375 or 458 I really don't want to spend swaro money on a scope, and conquest doesn't offer a lower power option, but if it were today I'd just have to fork out the cash and buy a swaro.