PaJack

I would get a Zeiss Conquest also! I have always owned Leupold but I like Zeiss better after " playing" with one...[8D]

Solitary Man

I' ve had nothing but good luck with the two Zeiss Conquests I own and the optics are definitely superior to the Vari-X III. You can get a 3-9X40 for quite a bit less than $500. Try one of the following:

www.swfa.com
www.bearbasin.com
www.dnrsports.com

D & R Sports will probably have the best price, even on Leupolds if that' s what you decide on.

hambones

I have used both Leupold and Nikon for bunches of years and while my best gun enjoys a Leupold variXlll my clearest scope of all at dawn and dusk is a Nikon monarch.

kshunter

The Zeiss will let in more light, so I' d go with the Zeiss

huntinginga

I am a Leupold man myself.

Jim

AJ52

I' m a bit confused. I have a Leup Vari II - great scope. Have 2 Simmons Pro 50' s (50 objective). I bought the Simmons 50 objective due to its ability to gather light at dawn dusk situations(woodland setting). They gather light very well at there lowest setting.

If you were to buy 2 top of the line scopes from SAME manufacturer;1 with a 42 objective the 2nd with a 50 objective. The 50 should gather more light at its lowest power setting compared to the 42 at same setting??

Now if you try to compare Simmons,Bushnell optics with a Leup,Zeiss,Nikon etc, IMO there is no comparison. I find scope optics are like Camera and Binoc optics. You generally get what you pay for in lense optics. I love my Simmons Pro 50' s, - BUT - I wish I could afford the same advantage of the 50 objective in a Leup or better scope. We talkin some serious money now!! I live in a shot gun only state - can' t justify any more Leup' s.

GTBuzz

Here' s the scoop. These boards are all full of people that have quite a bit of shooting experience. Almost all of us have owned a scope that has failed. If you haven' t - you probably will.

I' ve always been a Leupold fan, still am. However, I' ve broken 2 of them in the last week. One was used pretty heavily for quite a few years hunting. The other was a BRAND NEW Vari X III 1.75x6. Yep $382, and it lasted less than 20 shots on a .45-70. That is by far the quickest failure I' ve ever seen. It never did zero in. I turned the windage click about 20 times and it didn' t even move. The Verticle adjustment caused it to go down and to the right. All in all, not happy with this purchase. However, I am not about to tell you that you shouldn' t buy a Leupold because this one busted. It can happen to ANY of them!

I thin k the same thing goes with Zeiss. I have one on a .270 that has had several hundred rounds of ammo though it. No problems yet!

BTW, $500 is a complete rip off for a 3x9 Conquest. I paid $389 for mine.

Vapodog

I' ve got $2,500 custom guns with Tasco scopes on them......I' ll never understand why people pay more for a scope!!!

woodseye

Because in optics you truly get what you pay for,and quality lenses cost more to grind and better scopes and erector systems cost more to build.Inexpensive scopes can do the job in 90%of cases, but sometimes that brightness or higher defination can save the hunt and thats where the more expensive flavors come in to play.Also if you use a higher end scope a while you will have a hard time switching back to the lower and mid ranged scopes again.JMHO.I think if they could combine the best features of the Zeiss Conquest(finish,brightness,reticle defination,largest field of view,and ease of focus),the Vari X lll(ruggedness,resale value,weight,eye relief,and warranty service) the Elite 4200(clarity,defination,price,lens coatings,and raingard) we would have one fine hunting scope but for right now each has their own strong points.

woods