Leupold Rifleman
 

What do ya all think of that scope in general?

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Save your money for a Vari-X II or better, or look at another manufacturer in that price range (Sightron, Nikon, etc.) if you can't afford the Vari-II.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Dido on what he said. Hold up a Rifleman next to a VX-II and see the difference. I dont know why leupold sells the rifleman, it just tarnishes there rep.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

The rifleman is no where good enough to cost $200 that most places want for a 3-9X. IMHO it should cost about $79.99.

Look at just about any other scope in the same price range and nearly all of them will be better optically as well as in construction.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

I have a couple of the Rifleman and also the VX- l. Try as I might, I can't find a thing wrong with them. The VX-l has a little better optical quality but both are good rugged scopes. Look through one in the stores and take it outside and check it out. I think they make these lesser priced scopes because they want a piece of that market. Can you find a better scope? Most Likely. Will you get your monies worth from the Rifleman? I did.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Why anyone would pay the same for a non-one piece scope without fully multicoated optics when you can pay the same amount of money for a Burris Sightron or Bushnell that has these features just so they can say "I have a Leupold" makes no sense to me.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

I guess some of us are not as smart as you.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

if wanting a leupold spend the few extra bucks and get a vx 11 just my 2 cents

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

I wonder if it was designed to sell at Wall-Mart...

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Ive heard alot of people call it the Wal-Mart Leupold so maybe it was.

James its your $ if you want to spend the same on an inferior product thats your choice. Has nothing to do with being smarter or not. Maybe what I think is common sense-- isnt-- we can argue that on way or the other.

You can't argue that these scopes have less features for more $ though,---- its a fact.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

With Luepold, the VX-l is my first choice. The Rifleman were on sale at Walmart and were a good value.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

At Midsouth the Vari-Xl is two dollars less than the Riflemen.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Right. However, Walmart had them 30 percent off. I bought one for my 308 and one for the shelf. The one on the 308 has been a very good performer. The one on the shelf works great too.:D

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

I prefer a "fully multicoated scope as opposed to a multi-coated scope (like the rifleman). And I stay away from chinese made optics (or Chines made anything escept silk and woks).I also prefer US made (higher end Leupold, Burris signature, and Redfield), Japanese (Bushnell elite, Burris, Nikon Monarch or Better, or Sightron, etc), or European scopes (Docter, Zeiss Conquest, IOR for the cheaper ones).
I think the best deal in the scope world right now is probably the Sightron SII 3-9x42 with NO ADJUSTABLE OBJECTIVE! you can get this one for around 200 bucks. Probably as good as the VXII as to optics but I don't know about durability and customer service. The Bushnell elite 4200 is an awsome scope. The Burris full field alot of scope for the money. But the Nikon Monarch and the VXII by Leupold reign supreme for the 300 dollar range.
I just feel that scopes have gotten so cheap and good lately that there is no reason to settle for a bad scope. If you are willing to spend 200-300 bucks, you can get a scope that will be 90% as good as the best out there.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

I agree on the 200.00 part.:DThats my limit until price raises force me to go a bit higher. I will be happy using my Aetecs for many years yet. I may try a new one but I hate that they dropped the 5 inch eye relief. I liked that.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Thanks everyone for replying!

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

If you were looking at the Rifleman (same as a VX1) I'd seriously consider the Nikon Prostaff.. they normally run about $150 for a 3-9x40 and when compared side by side... the Prostaff is much clearer and brighter.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

I'm no expert on scopes but I've found that Leupold has the MOST eye relief and the relief it offers is also much less critical and much more forgiving than almost everything else I look through. I do notice some other scopes are a tiny bit brighter. But they also have much less eye relief and the operating relief has a narrow margin of error.
I think Leupold offers the most value, for me, since eye relief is very important to me.
My hunting guns get their fair share of knocking around during the season. The Leupolds on my rifles haven't skipped a beat...yet.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Nor have my Aetecs and have even more eye relief. At least they did until this year.[:@]They no longer have the five inches of eye relief.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Are the older Aetecs with the greater eye relief from a particular assembly plant? Were they produced in a certain location and the newer ones are now made elsewhere?
I only ask because I had heard multiple rumors that Simmons scopes produced in the Phillipines were of good quality.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

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.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

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.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

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.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

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.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

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.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

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

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

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.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

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?.:D

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

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.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Quote:

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

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

Quote:

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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.

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

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Did you think about the Adjustable objective that lets you move the scopes adjustment to shoot diffrent yardages without re sighting it in or playing the high low gessing game.You are also able to add a sun shade to reduce glair.The VXII and VXIII has a Multicoat lens system.The noncritacal eye relief matches your constant eye relief.I never had a problem with mine.You also get allot more diffrent cross hairs to pick from than a Ziess.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Do you honestly believe that the adjustable objective compensates for trajectory?It adjusts parallex,nothing more.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

I always thought you set it at the yardage you wanted the animal to come to before you shot it. Never got it to work correctly though. I always set it on 25 but they never would get that close.;););)

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Objective Lens Size
The second number in the formula (4x40) is the diameter of the objective or front lens. The larger the objective lens, the more light that enters the scope, and the brighter the image.
Ocular Lens
The lens closest to your eye.
Parallax
A condition that occurs when the image of the target is not focused precisely on the reticle plane. Parallax is visible as an apparent movement between the reticle and the target when the shooter moves his head or, in extreme cases, as an out-of-focus image. Bushnell center-fire riflescopes under 11x are factory-set parallax-free at 100 yards; rim-fire and shotgun scopes at 50 yards. Scopes of 11x or more have a special range focus to adjust for parallax.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Im so glad I found this site! There are so many informative people on here and it's easy to get an idea of what and how to go about doin things! thanks everyone.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

Yes, save your money for the VX-II or VX-III. You can't send in the Rifleman to the custom shop to put on a different color on the scopeor change the reticles. Not to forget, Leupold came out with Alumina Accessories and has a wide variety of lens to add to your scope. Remember people to accessorize!!!

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

AO adjusts for parallex. Period. I bought a Rifleman ( 4x12 ) last summer to work up loads in a new rifle. The 12x is just sooooo much better for benchrest shooting. It has performed flawlessly for me so far, and I expect it will continue to do so. Just depends on where you want to put your money for what you want to do.

RE: Leupold Rifleman
 

I agree sir.