Quite the contrary my dear friend. Given those two choices, I'd take the Conquest for most applications.

I'm not sure why in this day and age. Hunters are looking at products from over seas.

In my opinion, the VX-R has a slightly lower quality glass. Compared to the VX-III. It does have a 30mm tube as has been pointed out. I also believe, the illuminated recticle makes up for this slight downgrade.

Good hunting.

I have expereince with many, many different makes and models of shooting scopes ...from as far back as the mid 1960's. In my book the Conquest line is one of the better values out there right now.

Looks like the Conquests are assembled here in the USA. IIRC they are actually assembled on the same Meopta production line as the Swaro Z3 and some Minox scopes.
http://www.exploreproducts.com/zeiss...iflescopes.htm

Ive heard the new Conquest HD5s may be coming from Germany but i haven't seen one yet.

Some parts are imported but Leupold also uses imported parts including glass on cheaper models. About the only thing they don't out source is the tube. The Conquest and Leupold Schott lenses are actually made here in the USA with some imported glass like Ohara.

Considering the OP asked about the Conquest 3x9x40, i dont see how the Conquest eye relief can be labeled as "stinks". Its so close to a similar magnification VXR and VX3 but it remains at a near constant 4" when you increase magnification. The Conquest is also very close in weight and length to the VXR 3x9x40.

The sub $400 deals on the older 3x9x40 Conquests make it one of the best values you can find.

Conquest..

Buy the Conquest.

So are you advocating for the Luppy or the Zeiss, I'm confused...as Luppy's use a great deal of imported parts and while an "American" company...the Conquest is probably as "American" as the cheaply made Luppy...

+1

I just don't want to pay for "their" marketing and "a" box with a famous name on it ?!?!

If there's one thing I've learned over time, it's that the biggest difference between the famous names' scopes and some of the lesser known brands is the size of advertising budgets.

There's a lot of really good scopes out there that are really affordable and as good, if not better than the big guys. You just have to be willing to look.

Lol - I don't remember seeing much for Zeiss advertisements. I think they are just content making the finest mid-range scopes in the world.