I can't say why, but I'm a Nikon fan myself. If used Leupold scopes in the past too. I have to agree and say that once you hit the $300+ range, all scopes are pretty much equal. I've shot a somewhat cheap Redfield on my .300 Win Mag for years (I beat that gun up pretty bad) and I never had a problem with it. I used to work in a retail store (I'll tell you why I got fired in a bit) and I couldn't tell the difference between a Vari-XII and a $2,000 Zeiss! I think that it's all in a name to be honest. I think that, up to a point, you get what you pay for. But Leupold and Nikon offer, to me, the exact same scope as a Zeiss or Swarovski, without the spendy price tag. I got canned from where I worked because I was overheard by my money grubbing manager saying, "I think that this Leupold would work just as good for you. Zeiss and Swarovski aren't much different, they just cost you more." The customer came into some cash and all he wanted was a decent scope. I didn't believe in selling someone something that they didn't really need. That is why I'm not good at sales!