i don't know why the gloss would be that much less than the matte. i think they are discontinuing the vari-xII line and maybe the hot sellers are the mattes so they reduced the price on the gloss. i personally
would not be afraid to go with the gloss leupold if that was all i could afford.i have a varixII in gloss finish on my .270 and i never remember any deer saying it glared too much. then again they never said anything, they just went down.