WA7MM, I had heard the same rubblings last winter and emailed Leupold about the tube construction on the VX III the reply was it was a 1 piece tube design same as previous Vari X III end of convo. Now this is in direct contrast to what others received from Leupold here on BBS and now it seems public knowledge that it in fact it is a 3 piece tube. Writer and heavy Leupold supporter John Barness (sp?) claims this to be true and infact backs the notion provided that 1 piece is a myth and not a requirement for durabilty. This coming from the same guy who reccomended the Vari X III for stiff recoiler's largely based on 1 piece tube know to be both durable and reliable! I am not an expert of scopes but anytime you have 3 sections vs 1 it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out this arguement holds little water. After hearing the right honourable JB's claim I sent Leupold another email and they admitted it was 3 piece. They also included darn near word for word why it was a non - issue. I have no quams with my previous Leupold stuff and consider myself a supporter of their products but this 3piece is as good or better as 1 piece is nothing more than a snow job to reducing cost and make them more competitive. In the USA prices may not have shifted much but here in canada a VX III can be bought for 100 and up less than last years Vari X III.. something just doesn't add up! While the VX III has some nice features added like fast eye focus, in all honesty I see no difference in optical gains from it and the Vari X III it displaced. In fact I would be hard pressed to buy a VXIII over the VX II given it is optically the same as the Vari x III and construction wise is also a 3 piece tube if I was to only want a Gold Ring on my new scope! As for me as stated I will stick to recommending the Conquest for those looking for a good quality scope in the affordable package..no hidden dragons and it is better in all forms at this point any way.