Down to 5 ---- WINNER ANNOUNCED!! - SEE POST #18

[REDPATCHUSMC]

I have seen all of these first hand. The glass & the warranty are good or great.
Mounting on Weatherby Vanguard 30-06 - Elk & Deer & Target shooting


1. Weaver Grand Slam Rifle Scope 4.5-14x 40mm Adjustable Objective Dual-X Reticle Matte

2. Vortex Diamondback Rifle Scope 4-12x 40mm Adjustable Objective Dead-Hold BDC Reticle Matte

3. Nikon Buckmasters Rifle Scope 4.5-14x 40mm Side Focus BDC Reticle Matte

4. Leupold VX-ii 3x9x50 ( vx-i 4x16x40 )

5. OTHER --- Considering - Minox ZA-3 3-9x50 Rifle Scope German #4 Reticle

[Spyder]

Vortex, by leaps and bounds.

[REDPATCHUSMC]

Vortex, by leaps and bounds.

Wow! I would have put you as a Leupold or Weaver guy!?

Good to know!

[postal]

Not familiar with diamond back but the pst and razor are very nice.....

Knowing the quality of the pst/razor... I imagine it's hard to go wrong with the diamond back...

I also have that buckmaster 4.5-14... it's a good scope too.

Either would be my first choices.

[Spyder]

Leupold has been riding their name for ten or fifteen years. Dollar value and features of the Vortex stuff that's at the same price point of the Leupold, blows Leupy away.
I've got a Vortex PST on my Surgeon, with plans to upgrade to a USO at some point in the far future. Had a Diamondback on another rifle a few years ago and had no problems with it, and it was excellent for the price. If anything DOES go wrong, their customer service is bulletproof. And quick.

...I'm currently looking for some Swarovski v. Leica info, as I've got a set of 8x42 HD Leicas and a 10x42 Swari HD...but the Swarovskis no longer hold a focus and they're only a year and a half old. Pisses me off.

[NorCalFocus]

Vortex. I got the Crossfire II with the BDC reticle and love it. What I really like about their BDC reticle is it has MOA hashes horizontially to range with.

[sholling]

None of the above. By far the two best scopes from your group are the Weaver Grand Slam and the Leupold VX-II, but for most situations that Weaver has too much magnification for an ideal hunting optic and you don't need a heavy 50mm scope for hunting in California. For hunting out to 250yds or so a Weaver Grand Slam 3-10x40 or perhaps a 2-10x42 Super Slam would be about ideal. On the other hand the Weaver 4.5-14x40 Grand Slam should make a decent target scope for those same distances.

The Vortex Diamondback and Nikon Buckmaster are good scopes but not in the same league as a Grand Slam, Super Slam, or VX-II.

[xMAC1x]

I watched this video on YouTube. Very wise man shooting is his life & according to him those all have way to much power. That magnification will make field of view troublesome.

[Spyder]

Ha. Of the listed scopes, Vortex > Leupold, by a mile.

[REDPATCHUSMC]

Interesting development... Buckmaster is pulling ahead in the poll!

[Divernhunter]

Leupold 3.5X10X40 with duplex reticle. This and the 3X9X40 has served me well from very close to over 600 yards in Ca/Nev/Wy and Africa.
Do not like the 50mm scopes as it puts your head in an un-natural position for shooting.

[sholling]

Interesting development... Buckmaster is pulling ahead in the poll!

That's because of brand loyalty trumping the reality that every manufacturer makes scopes for different price points that have different optical quality levels. It's like saying that Chevy is best or ford is best without taking into account that Chevy makes a Sonic, a Malibu, and a Camaro and ford makes a Fiesta, a Taurus, and a Mustang. It's a case of I have a Ford Taurus so Ford cars are best, or I have a Chevy Malibu so Chevy makes the best cars.

Getting back to scopes, Nikon's Buckmaster is roughly equivalent to Leupold's VX-I, Weaver's Classic V line, Bushnell's Legend, and Vortex's Diamondback products. Those are all good scopes but not quite as good higher end optics such as Nikon's Monarch, Weaver's Grand Slam, Leupold's VX-II, Bushnell's Elite, or Vortex's Viper line - which are all pretty close to each other in optical and mechanical quality.

[crufflers]

I have seen all of these first hand. The glass & the warranty are good or great.
Mounting on Weatherby Vanguard 30-06 - Elk & Deer & Target shooting


1. Weaver Grand Slam Rifle Scope 4.5-14x 40mm Adjustable Objective Dual-X Reticle Matte

2. Vortex Diamondback Rifle Scope 4-12x 40mm Adjustable Objective Dead-Hold BDC Reticle Matte

3. Nikon Buckmasters Rifle Scope 4.5-14x 40mm Side Focus BDC Reticle Matte

4. Leupold VX-ii 3x9x50 ( vx-i 4x16x40 )

5. OTHER --- Considering - Minox ZA-3 3-9x50 Rifle Scope German #4 Reticle

I have the Vortex Diamondback 4-12 BDC reticle on a remington bolt gun and I like it alot. Very nice for the price. The online calc and printable cheat sheets are nice too.

[REDPATCHUSMC]

Getting back to scopes, Nikon's Buckmaster is roughly equivalent to Leupold's VX-I, Weaver's Classic V line, Bushnell's Legend, and Vortex's Diamondback products. Those are all good scopes but not quite as good higher end optics such as Nikon's Monarch, Weaver's Grand Slam, Leupold's VX-II, Bushnell's Elite, or Vortex's Viper line - which are all pretty close to each other in optical and mechanical quality.

Excellent comparisons --- Thank you!

So with this logic -- we have very few Weaver users?

[sholling]

Excellent comparisons --- Thank you!

So with this logic -- we have very few Weaver users?

Weaver has changed hands several times over the last 20 years or so and most of that time it didn't have parents with deep marketing pockets or (as now) it has a parent with little interest in putting a bunch of money into marketing them.

Just to be clear I demand quality but I'm not a brand bigot and own several Weaver Classic V and K series scopes, a Weaver T24 target scope, and a Grand Slam; I also own a couple of Bushnell Elites; a few Nikon Monarchs; a Burris Signature Select and one of their Tactical models, as well as Leopold VX-I and VX-II scopes and I know from experience that all of these companies make good scopes. I also own and really like Vortex Viper and Diamondback binos and have played with and was impressed with their scopes. My advice is to pick a magnification range that will fit your intended use and then buy the best scope that you can afford. I find this comparison guide a handy tool for comparing quality and hopefully it'll help you put brands and product lines in prospective.

Note: Leupold and Vortex have the best warranties. Weaver and Burris require a receipt to prove you were the original purchaser. I'm not sure how Nikon is.