Can't decide between leupold vx2 or Nikon monarch 3

winchester1852

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Well I've been looking at scopes for awhile and finally got to look at them Yesterday I can't see a difference between the two. if I were to get the leupold it would be in 3-9x40 and the Nikon would be in 4-16x42 just cuz cabelas has it on sale. I'm leaning towards leupold because of warranty.
 
They are both good scopes. The Leupold 3-9 is nice hunting glass and will be more compacted in size compared to the Monarch 3 4-16. I don't have this particular Nikon scope but have a couple Monarch 3`s and they are great with bright, sharp glass. You can`t go wrong with either really just pick the one that will work best for your application.
 
i just read the fine print on nikons warranty i find it open for interpretation on nikons part, so I'm going to go with the vx2 thanks for the opinions guys

2. This warranty shall not apply to any product which has been subjected to misuse, alteration, abuse, negligence or accident, general wear and tear or has had its serial number altered or removed.
 
Looks pretty good to me. Looks like Nikon Canada will look after you unless you intentionally damage it. You on the US website?



no-fault-lockup.png
for Binoculars, Riflescopes and Fieldscopes

Nikon Canada is dedicated to quality, performance and total customer satisfaction. If your Nikon Binocular, Riflescope or Fieldscope requires service or repair not covered by our Limited Lifetime Warranty, just send it to us and Nikon Canada will repair or replace it.
*Excludes products with electric components, lost or stolen products and intentionally caused damage.

http://en.nikonsportoptics.ca/service-and-support/warranty.page
 
I'd go with the Nikon personally.

Don't much care for the VX-2 series, VX-3 is much better and the VX-1 offers more bang for the buck when compared to the VX-2.
 
Looks pretty good to me. Looks like Nikon Canada will look after you unless you intentionally damage it. You on the US website?



no-fault-lockup.png
for Binoculars, Riflescopes and Fieldscopes

Nikon Canada is dedicated to quality, performance and total customer satisfaction. If your Nikon Binocular, Riflescope or Fieldscope requires service or repair not covered by our Limited Lifetime Warranty, just send it to us and Nikon Canada will repair or replace it.
*Excludes products with electric components, lost or stolen products and intentionally caused damage.

http://en.nikonsportoptics.ca/service-and-support/warranty.page


heres the link for the page i found with the fine print, its on the us website but its specifically written for the Canadian warranty. the part were it mentions not covered for general wear and tear is were i get lost the rest is straight forward.

https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/ni/NI_article?articleNo=000004605&lang=en_CA
 
VX-2
Just jumped to a 3.
Can't beat a leupy.
Glass isn't the equipment to cheap out on.
Brother in law went on a pig hunt stateside this summer when down on a business trip.
His cheapo tasco quit him during the hunt.
Had a nice older rem mod 7 in 7mm-08.
Good rifle.
Crap scope.
Spoiled trip.
 
Id buy a Leupold...owned many and all are excellent. Very quick turn around for warranty work. Ability to change out reticles and add CDS dials or turrets. If you can't see an animal in a VX 2 its probably not legal shooting time anyway. Plus the gold ring just looks cool.
 
I like them both. As mentioned by the OP very little difference in quality between them. As for the warranty they both offer, I would call each of them closer to an iron clad guarantee. I have returned scopes to their repair facilities and never once had them questioned and always repaired to as new or a replacement issued.

Now let me make a suggestion to you. If you aren't in a rush to purchase this "first" scope, there are a few things you need to know.

I really dislike ordering scopes online that I can't look through first. The turnaround time if it isn't right can be atrocious.

The two main things you need to look for is how sharp and clear the images are in low light conditions and parallax. When checking for sharpness and clarity, make sure the reticles are sharp as well when the image is in focus for your eye. I have seen a lot of scopes out there that the reticle and image focus are only sharp at a specific range. There needs to be a decent depth of field for proper use of a hunting scope. All of this is in the set up when the scope is assembled and this is one of the things you pay a premium price for.

Rare earth coatings go a long way towards clear, sharp images at the first light of day and the last light of legal shooting time.

The scopes you mention both have multiple grade levels. I would hate to have to say which is better or worse when the grade levels are equal. That's why I like to get close up and personal with a scope before I purchase it. Not only that, as long as you're not dealing with Canadian Tire or another big box outlet, you can usually get a local shop to match the price of "on sale" scopes at WSS or Cabela's.
 
Nikon. I have (among numerous Nikon optics) a pair of older 8x,30 Nikon porroprism binoculars which I am VERY fond of. I believe they are circa 1960's making them 45++ years old at least. I purchased them second hand. Last year when it looked like the image was very slightly out of collimation ... I contacted Nikon Canada (and Travis) ... Nikon took the binoculars in for repair... corrected the image ... and the binoculars are as good as new. There was NO CHARGE!!!! Try to get that kind of service with most other makers and they will giggle at you. DO NOT WORRY about the Nikon Warranty!

(as an aside -- despite their age and their single coating --- these hold their own or exceed the image I get from my other binoculars which include the 'big three' germanic brands Swarovski, Zeiss and Leitz ... I keep them handy so I can check out new birds etc in the area .... and keep an eye on my bee hive about 75 ft from the house. I can easily see the workers evicting the drones and 'booting' them off the bottom board.)


I have 2 Leupold scopes left ... and have sold off the others in favour of more repeatability
 
I'd go with the Nikon personally.

Don't much care for the VX-2 series, VX-3 is much better and the VX-1 offers more bang for the buck when compared to the VX-2.

I have a vx1 and a vx2 and I can't tell them apart. They seem to perform the same
 
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