I'm looking for some good optics, I'm knida leaning toward a bushnell 4200 4x-16x-40mm, was wondering how it compaes to the VXIII line, the VXIII's are a little more expensive, are there any significant advantages to either? Have you had bad experiences with either? Which one is the better scope??

Yes, the Leupolds have far better Eye relief.

I would check out this forum...

http://www.opticstalk.com/

They are some very helpful people out there... I would say from what I hear the 4200 is better optically but has really poor eye relief for it's price. The Leupold is a great rugged scope with exceptional eye relief, but is really overpriced due to their longstanding reputation of excellent scopes.

By the way the Bushnell 4200 is "really" a Bausch and Lomb... Same specs, now with the rainguard coating.

Also look at Sightron SII's, they compare very favorable to a VX-III as they are the same glass (Sightron makes Leupolds glass). I have a Nikon Monarch UCC and think it is better than my Leupold VX-III for a little less, I think the Leupold looks cleaner though.

yes one of my friends has a bushnell elite, and i can say that the eye relief is horrible,(knock you hat off horrible not black n blue eye horrible)

The 4200 appears to be optically superior to my eyes.The eye relief is better with the leupold but the difference is not all that dramatic.I have used the elites on 7mmremmags,300winmags and 338win mags with no eye relief problems.If you are using the 4x16x40 on a varmint rifle(I assume this because it is far more suited to a varmint rifle than a big game rifle),you should have no problems at all.I do agree that the leupold is very much overpriced.

Leupold would definately be a better scope.

The 4200 is much clearer, brighter, and crisper than the Leupolds but they only have 3 inches of eye releif.

Before you buy you should also take a real hard look at a Burris signature select or their top of the line Black diamond. Either of these two lines beats a Leupold of Bushnell.

I was in this position just days ago with the 4200 vs. VX-III vs. Zeiss Conquest. After really comparing all at the same time I ruled out the Zeiss. The 4200 is awesome optically but as they mentioned earlier eye relief is less than the VX-III. I bought the VX-III 3.5-10x40 not because it looked better but because of the awesome warranty and the Leup's I already own have never given a minute of trouble. I think the 4200 is top shelf all the way.

I don't know If I agree that the 4200 is clearer, brighter, or more crisper than a leupold. IMHO I couldn't tell a difference between the two, but for others the 4200 might be clearer? One thing I have heard is that if you ware contacts or glasses, sometimes the leupold scopes are not as clear? Have no idea if that is true or not, but I have had more than one person tell me that. I have 20/20 vision so that wouldn't be a factor for me if its true. Have any of you heard that before?

I had a problem with an Elite,the crosshairs broke after 30-40 rounds with a .300 Weatherby! I when back to Leupold after I got my money back...