James B

I am not sure. I do however know that the Aetecs have always been top notch rifle scopes. The Whitetail Classics were pretty darn good scopes as well. I have very limited expierence with any of the other Simmons Scopes.

8mm/06

I bought 2 Whitetail Expedition scopes after reading about how they had the same optics as the Aetecs....and that they had very long eye relief just like the Aetecs also.....I didn't find that to be the case with either of them.,. the relief was just a little less than my older Leupolds...but only about a 1/4 inch.
I don't have any actual Aetec's to compare the Whitetail Expeditions to though. And you are certainly not the first on here to speak of the generous eye relief of the Aetecs.
I've recently been purchasing some older Weaver scopes from the 40's, 50's and 60's and am surprised at how much eye relief they offered on the K 2.5', the K3's, and k4's.

James B

I still have a couple of the old K4's and recently picked up a Weaver Marksman 4X. Man those Weavers were good old scopes. They were made to last a life time.

kappelmd

I have bushnell, tasco, and leupold scopes. I personally am sold on the Leupolds for Optical Quality and guarantee. I can't afford Swarovski, Zeiss, or Schmidt and Bender; and even if I could I would probably still buy a Leupold. IMHO it is hard to compare scopes inside a store. The early morning and late evening hours are the best time to compare scopes; however, most stores aren't open before sunrise and most won't let you take them outside the store for comparison either.

I have compared a friends mil-dot Sightron S2 3.5-10x 44mm (1" tube) with my Leupold mil-dot Mark 4 M1 3.5-10 x40mm (30mm tube) before sunrise to just after and just before sunset until there was not enough light to make out objects. I could definitely discern objects about 15-20 minutes longer after sunset with the Leupold than the Sightron. Both scopes are nitrogen filled and have equivalent guarantees; however, the Leupold cost more. It is a personal choice if that additional time is worth the additional cost. Isn't America great. Just remember that just because one can make out a deer before sunrise or after sunset doesn't mean it is legal to shoot. I would use the Sunrise/Sunset times by zipcode on the internet or use the Sunrise/Sunset times on your GPS.

A wise man and avid hunter once told me to expect to pay an equivalent amount for the scope as you pay for the rifle.

You wouldn't put a $1000 scope on a rifle you paid $300 dollars for; therefore in theory it should be equally true not to put a $200 scope on a rifle you pay $600 dollars for.

I have friends who have the Leupold Rifleman scopes, and they seem to like them fine. MidwayUSA carries the Rifleman scopes also, so I wouldn't consider them the Walmart Leupolds. Walmart does have them though.

The variety of choices confuses me too; however, I am glad we have the choices available.

Northernforest

Get a VXII!You will spend $200.00 for a new riflemen.Go to Ebay and buy a used VXII 3-9x40mm ($200.00 used)or a VXII 3-9x50mm ($225.00 used).I Have both of them and nothing compairs at that price range.The VXII 50mm picks up more light in the dark than the VXII 40mm.I would buy the VXII 50mm if I where you.

stubblejumper

If you can afford a vxIII you can afford a ziess conquest,they cost about the same.

Northernforest

A Leupold VXII and VXIII 50mm is just as clear,crisp and picks up just as much light as a Ziess.Why spend big $$$ on a lower graid upper class scope when you can spend the same amount on the top graid scope or a good brand.

stubblejumper

Because a 3x9x40 ziess conquest can be mounted lower than the 50mm leupolds without sacrificing brightness.And by the waythe vxIIIis not leupolds top line scope.The lps for one is a higher grade leupold scope making the vxIII a mid line leupold,and the vxII even lower in the line.Would you rather own amiddlegrade chevy,or a lowergrade mercedes?.

Northernforest

You can buy the lowest line of Ziess for $450.00 and you can buy a VXIII for the same amount.The features on the low line Ziess are not as good as the VXIII.Also the Ziess 40mm will equail the light of a VXIII 40mm and less light than the 50mm.Trust me I had the low end Ziess and sold it to buy my leupold 50mm.I would take the high end Chevy.You get more bang for your buck that way.It would be like sitting in a low end Mercedes with no radio,air conditioning,moon roof or power windows over a high end Chevy with a radio,mp3 Player,Air conditioning,Moon roof and power windows.I think it is a eazy pick.

stubblejumper

Quote:

The features on the low line Ziess are not as good as the VXIII.

Which features?Do you mean the constant eye relief.No that is not available on the vxIII.

Quote:

It would be like sitting in a low end Mercedes with no radio,air conditioning,moon roof or power windows over a high end Chevy with a radio,mp3 Player,Air conditioning,Moon roof and power windows.

I think that you need to look at the list ofstandard features on even o lower level mercedes.