Scope choice
 

I just wanted a few thoughts. My gunsmith found me a vintage pair of Sako rings. I am planning to go with a Leupold VX3 in 4-12X40,a Bushnell elite 4-12X40 or a Nikon Monarch 2.5-10x42. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
I liked the conquest,but the fine crosshair is a bit difficult for me to see.

Personally I would go with the Leupold or the Bushnell Elite, I have several Leupolds and I also have a Busnell Elite 3200, 4200 and a 6500. All are very good scopes. I have a strong dislike for Nikon, I have had terrible luck with them in the past and would not recommend one to anybody. They do have great optics but in my past experinces they just dont hold up, look in a Natchez catalog, they have pages of refurbished Nikons, those are scopes that was returned for some reason or another and rebuilt. That in itself will speak for there durability, also there customer service sucks.

IMO, the VX3 is a solid choice.

The Nikon Monarch would certainly be my choice. I really like the Monarchs. I've had a couple of them and they seem durable, they have pretty decent glass, and they seem to track perfectly. I really like them. The glass isn't spectacular in them, but it's more than good enough, and the rest of the scope more than makes up for the glass imo. There are other good options out there too. I'd see if you can find a Conquest with a reticle for you. It really is a lot nicer. The Vortex Vipers are another one to check out.

What's your budget? We can probably make more suggestions if we know what your budget is.

I also want to mention that you will get a ton of recommendations for Leupold on here for some reason. However, if you go to many of the other forums you will quickly realize that at this point in time, Leupolds are very overpriced for what they are, and seem to have more issues than they should especially for the price. I'd check out SnipersHide.com, Opticstalk.com, 24hourcampfire.com, etc. and talk to people that do more with their scope than just sighting it in and occasionally hunting with it.

That being said, Leupold seems to be halfway realizing that they need to make some serious product line changes, but it's just starting to happen and at this point and time, I just don't feel they are the way to go.

As for the Bushnell, I've never had that particular one, but I've used a couple of their Elite scopes, and while they have had good glass and been decent, I've just never been a big fan of them. They are still a Bushnell, and that shows imo. The tactical models I've had have been pretty decent, but you still get stuck with Bushnell's horrible customer service. Their regular non tactical models have good glass, but they just don't seem to track very well at all or at least the ones I've seen haven't.

I prefer the elites. I have a 3200 5X15X50 AO that sits on a 270 Weatherby and a 4200 6X24x40 MOA dot that is on a 2506. I traded a friend a leupold target scope for the 4200. I found that the optics are cleaner in the elites than in the leupolds, and I have had many of them. The Leupolds are excellent scopes too, but I like the elite line better.

Cabela's has some kind of Bushnell Elite sale going on now you might check. I like 4200's.

Regarding Bushnell, the 3200 and 4200 elites are being discontinued as Bushnell appears to be trimming their lineup. If you will be hunting with the scope, Bushnell's Rainguard appeals to many. Personally, I'm a fan of Vortex in terms of price, quality and warranty/customer service.

Leupold !!!!!!

Bushnell
 

I will not ever buy another bushnell, I had a problem with my 4x12 not holding zero, Lifetime warranty! NO WAY, I called they said pack it up and send it in with $10, so after 2 weeks it comes back with a note thay says, its to old to fix but they kept my 10 bucks. I always figured lifetime was as long as I owned it.

Not Happy, Stan

I want to thank the person who sent this to bushnell and also bushnell for saying it was an error and my scope should have been repaired ot replaced. I received a brand new 4x12 scope today and I thank all who helped.

Thanks again, Stant

At the end of the day it was a zeiss conquest 3-9. Just seemed to be the best value.