Kinda seems hard to beat the Vortex Viper lineup for available features and pricing

Buddy's looking for an optic for his Tikka T3 308Win and is looking at either a Leupold VX-III 6.5-20x50, a Leupold Mark 4 6.5-20x50 or a Vortex Viper PST 6-24x50 FFP

Only problem with the Mark 4 is it is out of his price range, and is near to impossible to find used
Problem with the VX-3 is it doesn't have a fully illuminated reticle, just the Firedot

Vortex has the illumination, Turrets, is cheaper with the illuminated reticle and is a quality piece of glass available in FFP

What do you guys use? Which one would you choose for Long Range Target shooting and Mid Range Hunting?

No way is Leupold better than Vortex. They are riding on a name, and have been out of the long range game for several years. I've shot lots of long range precision matches and have seen less than 5 Leupolds and literally hundreds of Vortexes.

Long range target and mid-range hunting? Vortex every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

X2

I tell you what they stand behind their product. Did you see that review i did on their warranty. I told them i ran it over with a 4-Wheeler and they told me to send it in for replacement.

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/u...res_warranty_re

I only by Vortex after writing that review. I own 3 now.

LOL! You made me think better of NcStar, something I never thought possible.

One thing I've learned in life is to surround yourself with people that are better at things than you are and you'll become better yourself, so when these guys say that about Vortex, I'm gonna listen. I wish I'd never have bought my last Lupy now but it's decent for what i need it for. Can't wait to build a rifle and let Fireman show me how it's done. I'll say this, he could prolly write my build sheet and I'd build it ver batum

Ha! Thank you!

Send me your CC # and a budget, and I'll build a tack driver for you. Driving it is up to you.

Never tried a vortex, but I'm still happy with my 1980 era Leupolds, they have yet to fail me

I compared the mark 4 and the PST side by side and bought the PST

Vortex is in no way better than leupy in apples to apples type of scope. Don't get me wrong vortex has a great warrantee and will replace ur scope when it fails. The thing I measure this with is not by the folks shooting Sunday matches, but the dawgs who bet there lives on their scopes and hands down they use schmittys, nightforce, and leupys...in that order.

I'm not saying vortex is a bad scope...I've used them before and they work fine for their intended purpose...which is an inexpensive alternative.

I still rank my VX3 LRT 8.5-25x50 over my Vortex in terms of overall optics quality. Unfortunately, it'll probably be the last big Leupold I buy. Bang for buck, Vortex wins. When I can go snag an SFP Vortex Viper with more features for $300 less, that's a big deal for me. $300 goes a long way in my budget. So for the price range that they're in, the $300 and the extra features win out. I'm sure that's 98% of the reason they're gaining market share. Unfortunately Leupold has been pricing themselves out of the blue-collar market for years. Hence the reason I have more Burris' than any other scope.

Beyond that, if I had 2x the cash, I'd go with a Nightforce every time. I have kids however... and they're better and more important than any scope. So for now, I go with that I can afford.

I'm very proud to say I no longer own a luppy scope.

I have several Leupolds and I have nothing bad to say about them. I don't shoot long range so don't care about having a "busy" reticle or MOA knobs or any of that to mess with. I hunt and shoot paper and gongs a little but not passed 450 yds. I have 2 with the CDS dials and that feature is pretty cool.

What I like about Leupold (and Vortex may be the same IDK) is that when I call them a person in the USA answers the phone who speaks clear English and has a brain.

The 2 times I've needed their service they were fantastic. I wrecked a four wheeler and had my gun strapped across my chest. The VX3 hit the handle bars and caved in the turret caps on it. Called them to order new ones and the guy said they'd send them for free and they were in my mailbox 2 days later. The other time I screwed up one of their QRW mounts (my fault) and they wouldn't let me pay for the replacement then either. Again 2 days later at my door. They will continue to get my business.

All that said, if I decide someday to shoot long distance I will probably buy a Nightforce.

Never had a leupold I didn't like... iv had a 3x9 for over 10years now on the same gun and its never gave me trouble

Vortex is same you get a good ol boy or gal from wisconsin

They are both good optics. I own 5 Leupold Scopes, a bino, and a rangefinder. They earned a good reputation by making a quality, American-made product, and standing behind their warranty. I have never had anything less than terrific service from them, which matters quite a bit. I trust my scopes to stay on zero without fail, and they deliver. Being the leader for many years eventually meant they could ask a premium price for their stuff, which they do.

However, I would say Vortex now fits in this same category. I have heard nothing but good things about their service. I will be giving them a try for a new rifle scope in January, and will probably buy one of their spotters next year.

I don't think you can lose with either company. However, be aware, both companies now have some products they produce over-seas. Check that before you buy on price alone, it matters.

Leopold is just over priced for what you get. They make a good product but the cost to play with them is way too high when compared to other scopes. I played with a Vortex Viper HS the other day and was very impressed to say the least.

I wanted to see what other people wrote before I commented. Leupold's bread and butter is the hunting scope market, period. They offer some high end tactical models, like Mark 4, but hunting scopes is what they do. They make thousands of scopes a day and have a large market share. They make a decent product. They do have some failures, and have good customer service to fix it. And I have seen several Leupold Mark 4's go down during a match. I own 1 Leupold, and it's a VX 7 with crystal clear glass and collapsible turrets. It's a freakin' awesome hunting scope. I haven't put it through it's paces to know how durable and reliable it is, but it's worked perfect so far.

Now, if you look at Vortex and understand the internals of a scope, Vortex has most scope mfg beat. The internals of a scope is what normal breaks when a scope goes down. Vortex has engineered their internals the same as Nightforce, and they are made at the Nightforce plant. Nightforce is one of the top mfg when it comes to durable and dependable scopes. Vortex brags about how little their customer service is needed for repairing scopes. They make a very good scope. My only issue with them is the glass they use is not that clear. I have struggled when shooting some of their scopes.

Value wise, Leupold has better glass, but the Vortex internals are built like a brick poop house, and are great for the shooter who dials for elevation/wind. It depends on what you want in a scope as far as to which one to go with.

Concur, but I fear vortex is creeping up on their price point. Don't get me wrong, I use vortex in my bino, range finder, ss and even a scope or too. I just hope Vortex stays put on their pricing model and not creep up

Leupold has been a top US optic maker for a long, long time and has EARNED their reputation. I believe I will be able to send my scopes to them for the next fifty years under the current warranty. Vortex is enjoying a good reputation at present but I'm not do sure a Vortex warranty will mean anything even five years from now. You can say you know otherwise, but that does not make it so. If they can maintain their reputation and not start cutting corners, they may be around for a while. The temptation to cash in will be tremendous and you see it happen often enough. I'll stick with Leupold for the time being. If I make a change anytime soon, I'll be buying a Swarovski or Zeiss.

Army snipers have been killing bad guys for a long time with junky old leupolds.

You do know that vortex's owners Dan and Margie Hamilton have been in business since 1986? While I personally think there isn't a better hunting scope line the swaro, its not in everyobes price point

And they were forced to convert the splash they saw in their reticle, in Mils, into MOA for their turrets. One Mil is 3.43 MOA, do that on the fly! That's part of the reason there was a mystique surrounding shots at a US Sniper's range. Now there are lots of shooters that can get it done, very quickly. Leupold held out having a reticle that didn't match their turrets for much longer than they should have. Is their stuff junk? Not at all, but I've not seen very many of them at practical long range matches. They're catching up with the functionality of their equipment, finally.

after 18 years of use, I have yet had an issue or the need to call service on any of my leupolds. With a 9 and 15 yr old using them now, that may change